Pizza Hut opens in Othello

OTHELLO — Othello’s first Pizza Hut opened Tuesday with a ribbon-cutting followed by a line out the door for lunch. 

“Today is day one and we’re looking forward to a wonderful day,” said General Manager David Beaty. “It’s going to be carry-out and delivery. We’re going to have drivers on board and if I don’t have a driver at the time, we have DoorDash set up to be able to come in and help us.” 

Pizza Hut opened two years ago in Quincy and has done very well, said Joe Kerns, director of operations for Columbia Basin Pizza Hut, which owns all the stores in Washington as well as six in North Idaho and one in Hermiston, Ore. 

“They were gangbusters for weeks,” Kerns said. “They’re still gangbusters out there, so I think it’ll be great.” 

The Quincy store is one of the company’s better-performing properties, Kerns said. New restaurants frequently start off crowded and then, as the novelty fades, find their customer base leveling off.

“The ‘boom-splat,’ that’s what we call it,” he said. 

“I’m sure it’s going to start out large and then it’ll come to a nice, comfortable normal for everybody,” Beaty said. 

Beaty came to the Othello store from Hermiston, which he said served a very similar community to Othello.  

“We fed Boardman, Pendleton, people from Prosser would drive down there,” he said. “There's a lot of factories here that are going to probably want to feed their lunch crew, dinner crew… They order a lot so they can treat their employees right.” 

This is Othello’s first chain pizza restaurant, said Greater Othello Chamber of Commerce Manager Jackie Wilhelm, who held one end of the ribbon as the Pizza Hut team snipped it. Othello does have good family-run pizza parlors, she said, but Pizza Hut will fill a significant niche. 

“We're seeing a lot of families go to college, get married and then come back and settle here in Othello,” Wilhelm said. “So, I feel like Othello is growing, and Pizza Hut is going to help Othello grow. I (also) think it'll help bring in people that are just passing through. I know when I'm traveling, it's easier for me to look up a trusted business like a McDonald's or Burger King. You know what you're going to expect.” 

“(Look) how many people work in Moses Lake and grab (pizza) from there to bring it home right now,” Beaty said. “Thirty minutes to get it home and it’s cold. Now they can get it right here where it’s hot and fresh.” 

    The crew at Othello’s Pizza Hut kicked into action at the store’s opening day Tuesday morning. The store employs 23 people and will probably add a couple more, said General Manager David Beaty.
  

    The Pizza Hut in Othello opened Tuesday morning and immediately had lines out the door.
  

    Pizza Hut is located at 155 E. Main St. in Othello, offering carryout and delivery.