PIZZA HUT? WE KNEW THEM WHEN THEY WERE JUST A HUT

1958, two Scottish-American brothers, Dan and Frank Carney, borrowed $600 from their mom in Wichita, Kansas and opened a little hut that could only fit 8 letters on the sign.

In 2025, a Scottish-American guy named Gilmour and his Jersey Deli Queen wife named Noonan borrowed a lot more than $600 from... well, let's not talk about food truck loans... and opened a little hut in Ridgway that could barely fit a 20-inch pizza peel.

Coincidence? Yes. But also no.

The Carneys: Paisley-adjacent Scots. Us: actual Paisley Scots. Same thrift. Same "we'll make it ourselves" attitude.

The Carneys: They saw America wanted pizza and there were no pizza places in Kansas. We saw Orvis Hot Springs wanted pizza at 9pm and there was no pizza place in the hot springs. Same vision, different hot water.

The Carneys: Had to explain to Wichita what a pizza was. We have to explain to Colorado what "Jersey Style, folks!" means when we leave it in a little long.

The Carneys: Sold to PepsiCo for $300 million in 1977. We have been offered $3.50 and a bag of ice for the truck and we said no.

The connection is spiritual.

Frank Carney later said the secret was "The pizza was awesome. The service felt like home. And the customers were treated like family."

Our version: The pizza is screaming hot on stone. The service feels like a Jersey deli counter. And the customers are treated like family — especially if family means we yell "PICK YOUR SLICE!" at you.

We are not Pizza Hut. We are Pizza NOW. We are what happens when the Paisley weavers and the Cork beloveds skip the franchise meeting and just build a wood-sided truck with a 20-inch oven.

The Carney brothers had their mom's $600.

We have our mom's recipe for yelling at us to fold the slice.

Same thing.