Pizza Hut Opens its First Pizzeria in Medellín and Quickly Expands

Pizza Hut opened its first pizzeria in Medellín in May and quickly added more locations to where it has eight pizzerias in the Medellín metro area including one in Sabaneta and one is Bello.

In early May 2019, the first Pizza Hut in Medellín opened in El Poblado on Calle 10 not far from Parque Lleras. This was formerly a Telepizza pizzeria. The second Pizza Hut opened shortly afterword in the Santafé mall. And by October 2019, the pizza chain had eight location in the Medellín metro area.

Some expats won’t like seeing this expansion of Pizza Hut. But for expats in Medellín that don’t want to see U.S.-based fast food places and restaurants that are expanding globally, sorry.

If you don’t want to see these U.S.-based chains, you have to go to a much smaller city than Medellín. Medellín has a metro population of about 4 million, which has already attracted a total of 164 locations for U.S.-based chains.

The second floor in the new Pizza Hut in El Poblado

Pizza Hut’s History

Pizza Hut was founded in Wichita, Kansas in 1958 by two university students. It has grown to where it had 18,431 restaurants worldwide at the end of 2018, which makes it the world’s largest pizza chain in terms of locations.

In addition, Pizza Hut is a subsidiary of Yum! Brands, one of the largest restaurant companies in the world.

Pizza Hut in Colombia

Pizza Hut in Colombia was formerly under the Barnard SAS franchise. And it reportedly has 10 locations in Bogotá. But the Spanish company Telepizza signed an agreement with Pizza Hut to take over the Pizza Hut locations in Colombia in 2019.

This Spanish company owns the holding company Inverjenos in Colombia, which is essentially the Telepizza and Jeno’s pizzeria chains in Colombia. In addition, as part of the agreement, over the next five years all the Jeno’s and Telepizza pizza brand locations in Colombia will be converted into Pizza Hut locations.

The company is converting Jeno’s and Telepizza to Pizza Hut, as it has been losing market share to Papa John’s in Colombia, which grew sales 32.7 percent from 2017 to 2018. This is while Jeno’s and Telepizza declined from 93 locations in 2016 to 83 locations in Colombia in 2018. And sales at Jeno’s and Telepizza dropped 10.6 percent.

So, Pizza Hut will grow rapidly over the next few years in Colombia, as all the Jeno’s and Telepizza locations in Colombia are converted into Pizza Hut locations. Jeno’s and Telepizza currently have over 80 locations in Colombia.

Supreme, regular size pan pizza at Pizza Hut

The Pizza Menu at Pizza Hut

The pizzas at Pizza Hut come in four different sizes – large (12 slices), medium (8 slices), regular (6 slices) and personal (4 slices). And there are five different crusts – pan, traditional, thin, cheesy pops (sticks filled with cheese) and Hut cheese (border filled with cheese).

Pepperoni pizza, photo courtesy of Pizza Hut

And there are three different types of pizzas on the menu:

1. Traditional – ham, pepperoni or Napolitano – 8,900 pesos for personal, 14,900 pesos for regular, 23,900 pesos for medium and 29,900 pesos for large.
2. Favorites – Hawaiian, Chicken BBQ, Chicken and mushrooms, cheese lovers, corn and bacon or pepperoni lovers – 9,900 pesos for personal, 16,900 pesos for regular, 29,900 pesos for medium and 37,900 pesos for large.
3. Specials – veggie lovers, meet lovers, supreme and super supreme – 10,900 pesos for personal, 19,900 pesos for regular, 34,900 pesos for medium and 43,900 pesos for large.

In addition, you can create your own pizza and select the ingredients including bacon, onions, mushrooms, ham, corn, mozzarella, pepperoni, pineapple, chicken, tomatoes, pork, Italian sausage and olives. Also, sometimes there are special promotions. For example, on Mondays there is a 2 for 1 promotion for medium and large pizzas.

Finally, there is a quattro pizza option with a pan crust and you can select four different types of pizza on the same pizza with 16 square slices for 49,900 pesos.

The Rest of the Menu

Also, there are pastas on the menu including two lasagnas for 18,900 and 19,900 pesos and spaghetti for 22,900 pesos.

In addition, there are four different appetizers including bread sticks, Hut poppers, Hut dogs and wings (five or 10 wings) with prices ranging from 3,900 to 27,900 pesos

For dessert, there are five options including cinnamon sticks, chocolate sticks and sweet rolls for 4,900 to 12,900 pesos.

Also, for drinks there is Club Colombia beer for 5,900 pesos and sodas from the dispenser for 4,000 pesos. In addition, there is lemonade for 4,900 pesos, tea or water for 4,000 pesos and malts for 8,200 pesos.

How to Get to Pizza Hut in Medellín

The first Pizza Hut in Medellín is located in El Poblado on Calle 10 a few blocks from Parque Lleras.

If you aren’t located in El Poblado, the easiest way to get to this Pizza Hut is via the Medellín metro. It’s located about a 15-minute walk from the Medellín metro Poblado station on Line A.

There are now four U.S. fast-food places within a block of each other on Calle 10: Domino’s, KFC, Pizza Hut and Subway

The first Pizza Hut in Medellín is located within a block from three other U.S. fast food chain locations: Domino’s, KFC and Subway.

Website: https://www.pizzahut.com.co/

The newest Pizza Hut opened in Sabaneta on July 4, 2019 near Parque Sabaneta

Here are the addresses of the eight Pizza Hut locations in the Medellín metro area including one in Sabaneta and one in Bello

1. Carrera 37 # 10-15, Local 343, the first Pizza Hut in Medellín in El Poblado near Parque Lleras
2. Carrera 57 # 42-113, Local 2
3. Diagonal 75B # 6-105, Gran Vía
4. Calle 20Sur # 27-55 Local 141, San Lucas
5. Carrera 43A # 7Sur-170 in the Santafé mall in El Poblado
6. Avenida Las Vegas Carrera 48 # 25Sur-136 Local 1021 at the Jumbo in Envigado
7. Diagonal 55 # 24-67 Local 22 in Bello
8. Calle 71 Sur # 43B-93, one block from Parque Sabaneta in Sabaneta

Pizzas from some of the best pizza places in Medellín

The Pizza Market in Medellín – 13 Best Pizzerias

In my opinion, the pizza chains in Medellín such as PizzaDoblePizza and Jeno’s don’t have very good pizzas. But Colombians definitely like pizza.

So, that is why the big U.S.-based pizza chains like Domino’s and Papa John’s are experiencing success in Medellín and other cities in Colombia.

There are also many small independent pizzerias in Medellín. We have an article about the 14 best pizzerias in Medellín. In addition, we have also looked in detail at 13 of the best pizzerias in the Medellín metro area with very good pizzas.

1. Ammazza – a popular chain of three pizzerias in Medellín with excellent thin-crust pizzas.
2. Pizzeria Centro – a pizzeria in El Centro with very good thin-crust pizzas.
3. Café Zorba – a very popular pizzeria in El Poblado with very good vegetarian thin-crust pizzas.
4. Due Amici Pizzeria – a pizzeria in Suramericana with very good thin-crust pizzas.
5. Pizzería Olivia – a popular chain of eight pizzerias in Medellín.
6. Bigotes – a chain of three German pizzerias in Medellín – owner is German.
7. Pizza en Leña – a chain of two pizzerias in Sabaneta – owner is Dutch.
8. Ragazzi Pizzas Y Pastas – a chain with three pizzerias in the Medellín area.
9. Opera – a pizzeria in Laureles with good thin-crust pizzas.
10. Ná Pizza – a popular pizzeria in Envigado with very good thin-crust pizzas.
11. Pane y Pomodoro – a chain of two pizzerias in Medellín with good thin-crust pizzas.
12. Burro Pizzeria – a popular pizzeria in Envigado with good thin-crust pizzas.
13. Cavieli Ristorante Caffe – a popular pizzeria in Belén near Clínica las Américas.

All of the pizzerias listed above in my opinion have better pizza than the big pizza chains in Medellín like Domino’s, Jeno’s, PizzaDoblePizza, Pizzas Piccolo, Papa John’s and the new Pizza Hut.

Which U.S.-based Chain is Next for Medellín?

Medellín has several U.S.-based chain restaurants and fast food places and some have been expanding in the city for several years.

Here is a list of these chains with counts of locations in July 2019 in the Medellín metro area:

• Burger King – 17
• Domino’s – 21
• Dunkin’ Donuts – 23
• Hard Rock Café – 1
• Hooters – 1
• KFC – 11
• McDonald’s – 12
• Papa John’s – 7
• Pizza Hut – 6
• Starbucks – 8
• Subway – 57

So, that is a total of 164 U.S.-based chain restaurants and fast food locations in Medellín in July 2019. This count grew by 31 locations since November 2017, as seen in the following table:

U.S.-based chain restaurants and fast food location counts in Medellín, July 2019

There used to be a Wingzone in El Poblado, which is a chain from the U.S. But it closed. Also, Krispy Kreme closed three locations in Medellín on December 1, 2018, when Krispy Kreme exited the Colombian market.

In addition, many of the expansions over the past 11 months were due to two new malls that opened in Medellín.

The huge Viva Envigado mall that in October 2018 has a Burger King, Dunkin’ Donuts, KFC, McDonald’s, Papa John’s, Starbucks and Subway. And the La Central mall that opened in May 2018 has a Burger King, KFC and Subway.

Bogotá has even more U.S-based chain locations due to being a much bigger city. Most noteworthy, Bogotá has several U.S.-based chains that aren’t available yet in Medellín. These include Chili’s, TGI Fridays, P.F. Changs and Taco Bell.

Inside the first Pizza Hut in Medellín in El Poblado

The Bottom Line: Pizza Hut Opens its First Pizzeria in Medellín

Pizza Hut will be growing rapidly in the Colombia over the next few years, as the Jeno’s and Telepizza locations in Colombia are converted into Pizza Hut locations.

Some expats I have talked to living in Medellín don’t really like seeing the expansion of U.S. brand restaurants and fast food places in Colombia. But these U.S.-based chains are expanding globally because the U.S. market is very competitive. And the U.S. doesn’t have that much growth opportunity.

Also, keep in mind these U.S.-based chains expanding in Colombia employee Colombians. And they provide more dining options. In addition, while you may not like to see these U.S.-based chains expanding there are plenty of Colombian chains expanding as well.

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Editors note: updated on July 3, 2019 to add five new locations for Pizza Hut in the Medellín area.

Editors note: updated on July 10, 2019 with information that the Pizza Hut in Sabaneta opened on July 4.

Editors note: updated on October 26, 2019 to add two locations for Pizza Hut in the Medellín metro area.