Joliet's Pizza Hut On Jefferson St: Has It Closed Forever?

JOLIET — Joliet has had a sit-down Pizza Hut on West Jefferson Street since around 1970, but now that February has arrived, the Pizza Hut is nothing but an empty building. If you look into the glass, you can see that all the tables and benches have been removed from the dining room.

Equipment from inside the Pizza Hut restaurant has been pushed against a wall. No one was on the property on Monday afternoon. Late last week, Joliet Patch noticed the Pizza Hut appeared to be empty. On Monday, Joliet Patch returned to find the Joliet Pizza Hut restaurant is indeed empty.

"We apologize for the inconvenience, but we are temporarily closed," the sign on the Joliet Pizza Hut door reads. "Please visit our locations in Shorewood, New Lenox and Homer Glen. Those are the closest. Thank you for being awesome customers."

Incidentally, last week, the Morris radio station WSPY reported that the Yorkville Pizza Hut closed permanently amid parent company bankruptcy.

The following statement has been posted on the Pizza Hut corporate website:

"We’ve made the difficult decision, together with certain franchisees, to close a limited number of locations in the U.S. The good news is that more than 6,700 Pizza Hut locations are open nationwide and serving you the delicious Pizza Hut pizza you know and love.

"Though a limited number of U.S. locations will close, the vast majority of Pizza Hut locations are open and ready to serve you. Many customers will be redirected to other nearby stores."

The Pizza Hut website store locator lists the Joliet restaurant at 1156 W. Jefferson St. as "store closed."

On a positive sign, if you enjoy the taste of Pizza Hut, the Joliet Pizza Hut takeout and delivery restaurant at 3038 Caton Farm Road, the strip mall near the corner of Caton Farm Road and Essington Road, remains open, and it is not closing.

Joliet's Caton Farm Road Pizza Hut and the now-shuttered Pizza Hut on West Jefferson Street were owned by different franchises.