Pizza Hut’s Big Dinner Box is a good deal
This week I reached out for a Big Dinner Box at the world’s No. 1 pizza chain, Pizza Hut, with 6,000 restaurants across the U.S. and another 5,600 in 94 countries. That’s global domination. It’s like Pizza Hut played Domino’s and Papa John’s in a game of Risk and won — big.
The Big Dinner Box doesn’t include any new food items from the Hut; it’s about packaging and price. The packaging is a cardboard footlocker that neatly packs a whole lot of dinner. It’s like the Golden Corral in a box.
When you’re done eating, you can use the box as a self-storage unit. Just remember the rules of “Storage Wars”: You have five minutes to look, but no going inside. You’ll never make five minutes with the Big Dinner Box, though.
The price point is the main point. You get $26 worth of Pizza Hut dinner for $19.99. That leaves six bucks for the soda or beer. Or it wouldn’t kill you to give the delivery guy a good tip for once.
Here’s the Big Dinner Box blueprint: two medium one-topping pizzas, eight wings and five breadsticks with marinara dipping sauce. The breadsticks are sprinkled with Italian seasoning, just like the never-ending breadsticks at Olive Garden. Here’s your foodie trivia question: What food is pictured in Olive Garden’s logo? Clue: It’s not olives. Answer: grapes. Makes perfect sense.
Total calories in the Big Dinner Box: more than 5,000. The food police are having a field day with this — as though the Big Dinner Box were dinner for one. It’s not. It’s dinner for four — at least.
So let’s give the nutritional information for one slice of a medium pepperoni pizza. Total calories: 230. Fat grams: 12. Dietary fiber: 1 g. Carbs: 25 g. Sodium: 610 mg. Manufacturer’s suggested retail price: $19.99.
The medium pizzas are rectangular, very similar to Domino’s new line of artisan pizzas. Now, there’s a coincidence. The pies are cut into eight squarish pieces.
The wings are breaded and deep-fried. Pizza Hut’s wings are hand-tossed (I didn’t think they used their feet) in your choice of eight wing sauces: Buffalo Burnin’ Hot, Buffalo Medium, Buffalo Mild, Spicy Asian, Spicy BBQ, Honey BBQ, Lemon Pepper and Garlic Parmesan. You also can eat your wings naked — the wings, not you, although we’re not here to judge lifestyles. Naked means no sauce.
The breadsticks are made with Pizza Hut’s unmistakable hand-tossed pizza dough. They’re seasoned just right with garlic and oregano, with a hint of Parmesan. Think about throwing the marinara dipping sauce in the microwave for 30 seconds. The breadsticks are delicious, but don’t fill up on them. You’ve got pizza and wings waiting back in the box.
The best part of Pizza Hut’s Big Dinner Box? If everybody stands around the box (to keep tabs on each other) … no dishes.
And it’s Pizza Hut pizza. There are no surprises. We like no surprises.