I remember when this country was great.
It was a time when men refused to talk about their feelings there were no mobile phones.
It was when there were no influencers, or the option to work from home.
It was when property prices were low, disgruntled teenagers smoked cigarettes instead of vaping and footy players staggered around the field all game completely concussed with no medical intervention.
This simpler time – before everyone went woke – was the 1990s.
And one of the highlights of the decade was stuffing your face at Pizza Hut’s all-you-can-eat buffet.
But like Mel Gibson – another 90s icon – I thought they’d all been cancelled by now.
It turns out one solitary restaurant still remains in Windsor, on the north-western outskirts of Sydney… and it only costs $24.95 for all the pizza, pasta, salad and jelly-covered desert you can eat. It’s even cheaper for kids, on weekends and for lunch.
Pizza Hut’s last-standing all-you-can eat buffet in Windsor is pictured
The pizzeria was built in the 1980s and has barely changed since
Like stepping back in time: The restaurant still has the original lino tiles
Behold… Pizza Hut’s last all-you-can eat buffet station
The old-fashion booths spark warm feelings of nostalgia
I stepped through the doors and was immediately struck by warm feelings of comfort and nostalgia.
It’s exactly how I remember it – with staff bustling through the dining room slapping down pizzas straight from the oven onto the heated buffet station.
The décor – which includes the original signage, seating booths and lino tiles from decades earlier – is so out of style it makes Velcro shoes and hypercolour t-shirts look cool.
But to me, it’s perfect!
Franchise owner Santnam Ahuia, who took over the pizzeria with his wife Jenny in 2006, told Daily Mail Australia he wanted to keep the retro relic just like it was in its heyday.
‘I’ve kept much of this Pizza Hut like it was when it was built in the 1980s because it just gives you that old feeling in your heart,’ the 66-year-old Indian who moved to Australia in 1989 said.
‘I think that’s what people really like about it.’
While smorgasbord dining has largely gone out of vogue in Australia – particularly in the wake of the Covid pandemic – Mr Ahuia’s Pizza Hut restaurant not only continues to survive, but thrive.
Freshly baked pizzas are pictured on the heated buffet station
Franchise owner Santnam Ahuia (pictured), who took over the pizzeria with his wife Jenny in 2006, told Daily Mail Australia he wanted to keep the retro relic just like it was in its heyday
Diners often line-up for over an hour on Saturday nights to get a table
While smorgasbord dining has largely gone out of vogue in Australia, Mr Ahuia’s Pizza Hut restaurant not only continues to survive, but thrive
Some pizza lovers travel from hundreds of kilometres away to get a slice
Pizza Hut’s old-fashion soft drink machine is pictured in action
‘I have people coming from hundreds of kilometres away to dine in,’ Mr Ahuia said.
‘From Katoomba to the Northern Beaches, the Central Coast – and we even had buses roll in from Newcastle.’
‘People line up outside for an hour on Saturday night to dine here and during school holidays it’s madness. We are so busy.’
It’s easy to see why. The tucker is excellent.
And I should know because I had four plates loaded with meat lovers, pepperoni, Hawaiian, supreme and hot and spicy.
‘How many slices have you had?’ my photographer asked.
‘Mate, I stopped counting after the second plate,’ I told him.
This reporter is pictured taking a trip down memory lane
Pizza Hut’s dessert station is captured in all its glory
A dessert is topped off with Pizza Hut’s iconic jelly cubes
Mr Ahuia recommends apple crumble with ice cream and caramel sauce – and so do I
Although I was struggling, it is all-you-can eat venue and I wanted to find out if Mr Ahuia’s dessert station is how I remember it when I was an equally gluttonous child.
I cranked on the soft-serve ice-cream machine, topped it off with fudge, Pizza Hut’s iconic jelly cubes, marshmallows, sprinkles and chocolate sauce.
Then I went back for apple crumble… and sat in the car feeling ashamed but satisfied.
The truth is Australia’s last-surviving dine-in Pizza Hut is unlikely to ever be a hit with the Ozempic-dependent celebrities of today – or the plague of trendy Instagrammers looking for the next inner-city hotspot – but I rate the experience five stars.
And if you want to make Australia great again, you should definitely check it out.
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Read more at DailyMail.co.uk