Northern Ireland’s only Pizza Hut has completed a £500,000 expansion on Belfast’s Ormeau Road adding a sit-in dining experience to the existing delivery and collection options.

New kitchen, fixtures and fittings are in place, with five more jobs being added to the existing 10 staff members.

Owner, Sandeep Sharma explained that this is the first stage in a planned expansion of the Pizza Hut presence in Northern Ireland.

“There is a demand for the quality, menus and fun of the Pizza Hut experience,” he said.

placeholder image — Owner Sandeep Sharma, delivery driver Janos Dunaujvarosi, pizza chef Preetham and general manager Bhavishya Chauhan

“The ability to offer that to sit in and dine was an obvious step. I plan to make a further investment with three more over the next two years that will represent a total investment of £1.2m in Belfast and the greater Belfast area.”

The expanded premises will also include extended opening hours from 12pm to 2am, as well as a restaurant liquor licence enabling it to offer a range of wines and beers to the existing soft drink options.

“We will be able to seat up to 25 people at a time in the new premises, and we will be offering an extended range of offers to the current fantastic Pizza Hut range of choices,” said Mr Sharma.

“For me and my customers Pizza Hut represents convenient, quality food,” said the Belfast-based entrepreneur.

“We are already expanding the offers and deals, to make it affordable.

“The new Peri-Peri chicken pizza and stuffed crust is proving a hit, and weekday deals such as Two for Tuesdays, and Monday Madness will continue.

“And, no, we don't judge people who want pineapple on their pizza.”