There’s something oddly comforting about seeing an old Pizza Hut building, even if it’s no longer serving personal pan pizzas. I have memories as a kid going to Pizza Hut restaurants to eat dinner with the family.
Slice of Life, a new documentary from Brooklyn filmmakers Matthew Salleh and Rose Tucker, takes that strange nostalgia and turns it into something surprisingly meaningful.
They crisscrossed the country visiting former Pizza Hut buildings now reborn as a karaoke bar in Texas, a cannabis dispensary in rural Colorado, and a LGBTQ+ church in Florida,
These places, once symbols of mid-century American chain-restaurant charm, now reflect the evolving communities that inhabit them. As the filmmakers put it: “A contemporary portrait of America, observed within the walls of former Pizza Hut buildings across the country.”
Slice of Life also draws a line back to the brand’s humble beginnings, weaving in the story of the Carney brothers, who launched Pizza Hut in Wichita, Kansas, back in 1958.
The film smartly positions these transformed locations as mirrors of modern America, each new use layered over memories of childhood birthday parties, jukebox songs, and endless breadsticks. “These nostalgic spaces hold memories of a bygone era,” the filmmakers explain, “but through the power of transformation, they provide something new and special for the communities that continue to flow through them.”
It’s an unexpectedly heartfelt reminder that even the most ordinary buildings can live extraordinary second lives.
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