Closure of Pizza Hut chain feeds into Lebanon’s deepening sense of loss

Lebanese are feeling a sense of loss after the news Pizza Hut would be closing its Lebanon outlets earlier this month. (AFP/Supplied/File Photos)
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Updated 30 May 2021
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Closure of Pizza Hut chain feeds into Lebanon’s deepening sense of loss

  • International franchise becomes the latest casualty of economic crisis made worse by pandemic
  • For many Lebanese, a pizza at any outlet symbolized an occasion to enjoy with family and friends

BEIRUT: It was Valentine’s Day and grand plans for the perfect date had been set for a young woman in Beirut. Unfortunately, a last-minute work trip intervened and forced the postponement of the romantic night out. To console their heartbroken friend, Haya and Mel picked up the perfect comfort food. 

“We ended up going to her place and I surprised her with pizza from Pizza Hut,” Haya told Arab News. “The restaurant was empty when I went to pick up the pizza. The chef let me decorate it with heart-shaped pepperoni.”

It might not have been the grand romantic gesture Haya and Mel had hoped to arrange for their friend after her boyfriend left, but they all enjoyed the evening and look back on it fondly.

They were therefore greatly saddened by the news that Lebanon’s favorite pizza chain was closing its doors, the latest culinary casualty of the country’s economic crisis.

In a message posted on Facebook on May 23, Pizza Hut Lebanon said: “We will never forget the excitement on your face whenever you get your cheese stuffed crust pizza ... Offering you the best quality and experience has always been our top priority. Until we are able to do that, with a heavy heart, we say goodbye.”

To some it might seem silly or trivial in a country where people have faced so much adversity in recent years to be upset about a fast-food joint closing down, particularly an international brand as ubiquitous as Pizza Hut.

But for others, a pizza on the table represents a social occasion to enjoy with family and friends, in a restaurant or at home, in a way that tacos or burgers and fries simply cannot match.

It is therefore understandable that the sense of loss goes beyond simple regret that the chain’s pizzas will no longer be available, and is perhaps more a reflection of the realization that precious memories of time spent in good company were often created while enjoying a slice or two.

Lebanon’s Culinary Decline

* 4,200 - Fall in restaurants and cafes since summer of 2019

* 2,000 - Establishments damaged in the Aug. 4 2020 blast

* 896 - Food and entertainment businesses that have shut in 2021

“My favorite memory is when they introduced PHD (Pizza Hut Delivery),” Farah Tabsh, a consultant in Dubai, told Arab News. “My mom was finishing her doctoral degree at the time. My brother, who was young, overheard us saying we were going to order PHD and he looked confused and said: ‘I thought that was mom’s job.’

“I think in general we equate Pizza Hut with a reward after school, like for doing well on a test or something. It was motivating when your parents said, ‘If you finish your homework, we’ll order Pizza Hut.’”

Other nostalgic customers said they will miss the restaurant experience the most.




Lebanese were greatly saddened by the news that Lebanon’s favorite pizza chain was closing its doors, the latest culinary casualty of the country’s economic crisis. (Supplied)

“It’s like a place where you connect with people — that was what Pizza Hut was for us,” said Sarah Siblini, an engineer who is studying for her Master of Business Administration.

“It wasn’t just delivery and takeout. When I think of Pizza Hut, I think of being at the place with people, enjoying my time with them and enjoying good pizza.”

The pizza chain — which was founded in 1958 in Wichita, Kansas, and is the biggest in the world based on number of branches — is the latest international brand to pull out of Lebanon or scale down operations there.

Others include soft drinks manufacturer Coca-Cola and its subsidiaries Fanta and Sprite, and sportswear company Adidas, which has closed its stores in the capital and is focusing on selling through third-party vendors

The brands are reacting to Lebanon’s overlapping crises, manifested in a plunging currency, skyrocketing inflation and mounting social unrest. The situation has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, the devastating explosion at Beirut’s port in August last year and the ongoing political paralysis.

Many local and regional businesses have also been forced to close, such as Cafe Em Nazih and Grand Cafe, as has Couqley French Bistro.




Some Lebanese view the departure of Western brands such as Pizza Hut as an opportunity for local businesses to step in and fill the void. (Supplied)

“The sequence of crises since the summer of 2019 has reduced the number of restaurants and cafes from 8,500 establishments to 4,300,” said Tony Ramy, president of the Syndicate of Owners of Restaurants, Cafes, Nightclubs and Pastries. This year alone, 896 venues have closed so far, he told Arab News.

More than 2,000 establishments were partly or completely destroyed by the Beirut blast last year, which killed at least 200 people, injured about 6,000, and destroyed a large section of the city, including some of its hippest dining spots.

Many of the businesses that survived the devastation are struggling to survive the financial crisis and the effects of the pandemic. Even the famous, five-star Le Bristol Hotel — which in days gone by welcomed illustrious guests such as the last Shah of Iran, Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, Prince Albert of Monaco, and former French president Jacques Chirac — has succumbed to financial pressures, closing last year after nearly 70 years in business.

In a kind gesture to help ease the suffering of the community that hosted them for so long, the hotel’s owners donated all of its furnishings to local non-profit organization Beit El Baraka, which is helping to support those in the city who lost their homes or livelihoods in the port blast.

The explosion, caused by nearly 2,750 tons of improperly stored ammonium nitrate, was the final straw for many business owners struggling to survive the pressures of the financial crisis and stringent coronavirus restrictions.




Pizza Hut was just one of 896 food and entertainment businesses that have shut in Lebanon in 2021. (Supplied)

“Following several total and partial lockdowns in 2020 and 2021, and despite the opportunity to be back in business, the restaurant sector is wary about reopening because operational costs now outweigh profits,” Ramy said. The reason for this is that purchases from suppliers are based on the exchange rate of the dollar in the parallel market, he said, which is much higher than the official rate and has caused prices to soar.

Even before the pandemic brought normal daily life grinding to a halt, Lebanon was experiencing an economic catastrophe of unprecedented proportions, with its currency losing 80 percent of its value.

According to the World Bank, real gross domestic product growth contracted by 20.3 percent last year and the inflation rate hit triple digits. The financial meltdown, the worst in the country since the 1975-1990 civil war, triggered social unrest across the country.

Restaurant Closures

October 2019 - Grand Cafe Downtown

April 2020 - Le Bristol Hotel

Aug. 4, 2020 - Cafe Em Nazih

October 2020 - Couqley

May 2021 - Pizza Hut

Fights have broken out in supermarkets over basic items such as cooking oil and powdered milk, while soaring unemployment and inflation have plunged half of the population into poverty.

Meanwhile, a temporary caretaker government, which took over when the elected authority resigned in disgrace following the Beirut explosion, remains in place 10 months later as politicians continue to squabble over the composition of a new cabinet.

The Lebanese people, who have endured so much hardship in recent decades, have a habit of finding silver linings even in the midst of seemingly impenetrable gloom. Some, for example, view the departure of Western brands such as Pizza Hut as an opportunity for local businesses to step in and fill the void — a cleansing, perhaps, that might make way for a social and cultural renaissance.

“There is a lot of hope among local companies, so I’m not saddened that Pizza Hut is closing, because I see the opposite: the local flourishing,” said Siblini.

“Even though we had good memories, they are just memories — and memories are in the past.”


Five things to know about the St Catherine monastery in Egypt's Sinai

Updated 04 June 2025
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Five things to know about the St Catherine monastery in Egypt's Sinai

  • The monastery was founded by Byzantine Emperor Justinian in the sixth century at the biblical site of the burning bush at the foot of Mount Sinai
  • According to UNESCO, "the entire area is of immense spiritual significance" to Christianity, Islam and Judaism

CAIRO: Nestled in the Sinai mountains, the ancient St Catherine's Monastery has been the centre of recent tensions after an Egyptian court ruled last week that it sat on state-owned land.

Dating back to the sixth century BC, the UNESCO World Heritage Site is the world's oldest continuously inhabited monastery, attracting hundreds of pilgrims and tourists every year.

Following warnings from the authorities and Orthodox Church in Greece that the ruling threatens the monastery's status, a government delegation is travelling from Athens to Cairo on Wednesday to discuss the situation.

The monastery was founded by Byzantine Emperor Justinian in the sixth century at the biblical site of the burning bush at the foot of Mount Sinai, where Moses was believed to have received the 10 commandments, according to the world's three major monotheistic religions.

It was named for Saint Catherine of Alexandria, whose remains are housed in the church, along with rare iconography and manuscripts.

It is headed by the Archbishop of Mount Sinai and Raithu, under the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem.

According to UNESCO, "the entire area is of immense spiritual significance" to Christianity, Islam and Judaism.

The organisation says the monastery is "the property of the Greek Orthodox Church and belongs to the Archdiocese of Sinai".

Last Wednesday, an Egyptian appeals court ruled that the monastery "is entitled to use" the land and the archaeological religious sites dotting the area, all of which "the state owns as public property".

The ruling, only a brief of which has been published by Egyptian media, has drawn criticism from the Orthodox patriarchates in Athens, Jerusalem and Istanbul.

Archbishop Ieronymos, head of the Greek Orthodox church in Athens, warned the monastery's property could now be "seized and confiscated".

Egypt has defended the court ruling, saying it "consolidates" the site's sacred status.

President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said Egypt was "fully committed to preserving the unique and sacred religious status of Saint Catherine's monastery", in a phone call with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

Mitsotakis meanwhile emphasised the importance of "preserving the pilgrimage and Greek Orthodox character of the monastery".

The delegation from Athens is expected to lay out its position on Wednesday.

According to Greece's state news agency, that position "is supported by a UNESCO document, which proves that Egypt had acknowledged in writing since 2002 that the ownership of the land and buildings belongs to the Greek Orthodox Church and the Archdiocese of Sinai".


Construction began in March 2021 in the Saint Catherine area, which includes the eponymous town and a nature reserve, for a government megaproject known as the 'Great Transfiguration' of Saint Catherine.

The project aims to bring upwards of a million tourists a year to the serene mountain village.

Its many construction projects include an events hall, hundreds of hotel rooms and a new residential area housing hundreds of units.

Observers say the project has harmed the reserve's ecosystem and threatened both the monastery and the local community.

According to a report by World Heritage Watch, the project has "destroyed the integrity of this historical and biblical landscape".

UNESCO in 2023 requested that Egypt "halt the implementation of any further development projects", conduct an impact evaluation and develop a conservation plan.

The government, which is campaigning for former tourism and antiquities minister Khaled al-Enany to head UNESCO from October, said in January that 90 percent of the project was complete.

The peaks and valleys around Saint Catherine attract large groups of hikers, peaking at 2,000 visitors to Mount Sinai in a single day last December, local authorities reported.

The area, 1.5 kilometres (one mile) above sea level, is particularly popular with both Egyptians and foreign tourists seeking a reprieve from overcrowded Red Sea resorts elsewhere in Sinai.

The area is home to the Jabaliya tribe, whose name derives from the Arabic word for "mountain".

Said to be the descendants of the Roman soldiers who came to guard the monastery in its early days, they maintain a close connection to Saint Catherine, with many working as tour guides today.

For decades, they have been calling for better infrastructure, including reliable water supply, emergency services and telecommunications coverage to improve their work and daily life.

According to World Heritage Watch, they are currently outnumbered by the thousands of labourers building the megaproject.


A falling tree in Venice injures a dozen people, including foreign tourists

Updated 03 June 2025
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A falling tree in Venice injures a dozen people, including foreign tourists

MILAN: Foreign tourists were among a dozen people injured when a 50-year-old tree fell next to a bus stop in the Italian lagoon city of Venice on Monday, authorities said.
The oak tree fell on a group of people waiting in a shaded area at Piazzale Roma, the last stop for buses and taxis ferrying visitors to and from the lagoon city from the mainland, city officials said. It wasn’t immediately clear why the tree fell.
The most seriously injured was a 30-year-old Italian woman, who was sitting on a wall near the tree with her two small children when the tree fell, Italian media reported. The woman was in critical condition with abdominal injuries, while her children weren’t seriously injured and placed under psychological care, according to hospital officials.
Another Italian woman in her 50s also was in critical condition after suffering chest injuries.
A video from the scene showed the tree had snapped at the trunk, just above the roots.
“The tree was apparently healthy,” Francesca Zaccariotto, the city’s top public works official, told the news agency ANSA. She added that the tree was monitored along with others in the city, and there had been no signs indicating a possible collapse.
A 60-year-old American was under observation for a head injury, a 70-year-old American suffered facial injuries, and two tourists from Eastern Europe suffered multiple bruises. Four other Italians were slightly injured.


Strauss’ ‘Blue Danube’ is beamed into space as Vienna celebrates with a concert

Updated 01 June 2025
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Strauss’ ‘Blue Danube’ is beamed into space as Vienna celebrates with a concert

  • The European Space Agency’s big radio antenna in Spain beamed the waltz into the cosmos Saturday
  • Operators aimed the dish at Voyager 1, the world’s most distant spacecraft more than 24 billion kilometers away

VIENNA: Strauss’ “Blue Danube” waltz has finally made it into space, nearly a half-century after missing a ride on NASA’s twin Voyager spacecraft.
The European Space Agency’s big radio antenna in Spain beamed the waltz into the cosmos Saturday. Operators aimed the dish at Voyager 1, the world’s most distant spacecraft more than 15 billion miles (24 billion kilometers) away. Traveling at the speed of light, the music was expected to overtake Voyager 1 within 23 hours.
The Vienna Symphony Orchestra performed the “Blue Danube” during the space transmission, which actually sent up a version from rehearsal. It’s part of the yearlong celebration marking the 200th birthday of Johann Strauss II, who was born in Vienna in 1825. The Strauss space send-off also honors the 50th anniversary of ESA’s founding.
Launched in 1977 and now in interstellar space, each of the two Voyagers carries a Golden Record full of music but nothing from the waltz king. His “Blue Danube” holds special meaning for space fans: It’s featured in Stanley Kubrick’s 1968 sci-fi film “2001: A Space Odyssey.”


Bee alert: US police warn after 250 million insects escape

Updated 31 May 2025
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Bee alert: US police warn after 250 million insects escape

  • Roads in the region, which nestles the border with Canada and is just 30 miles from Vancouver, have been closed as bee experts help with the clean-up

LOS ANGELES, United States: A truck crash that set 250 million bees free has sparked warnings in the western US, with police telling people to avoid swarms of the stinging insects.
The accident happened in Washington state in the far northwest of the country, when a semi trailer carrying a load of hives overturned.
“250 million bees are now loose,” wrote Whatcom County Sheriff on its social media page.
“AVOID THE AREA due to the potential of bee escaping and swarming.”
Roads in the region, which nestles the border with Canada and is just 30 miles from Vancouver, have been closed as bee experts help with the clean-up.
While some beekeepers aim only to produce honey, many others rent out their hives to farmers who need the insects to pollinate their crops.


In Marseille, a shadow becomes art in Banksy’s latest street mural

Updated 31 May 2025
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In Marseille, a shadow becomes art in Banksy’s latest street mural

  • On Friday, the elusive British street artist confirmed the work by posting two images on his official Instagram account

MARSEILLE, France: The lighthouse appeared overnight. Painted on a wall tucked away in a quiet Marseille street, its beam aligned perfectly with the real-life shadow of a metal post on the pavement. At its center, stenciled in crisp white, are the words: “I want to be what you saw in me.”
Banksy had struck again.
On Friday, the elusive British street artist confirmed the work by posting two images on his official Instagram account — without caption or coordinates. Fans quickly identified the location as 1 Rue Félix Frégier, in the Catalans district of Marseille’s 7th arrondissement, near the sea.
Since then, crowds have gathered at the site. Tourists snap photos. Children point. Locals who usually walk past the building stop to take a closer look.
There is no official explanation for the phrase. But its emotional pull is unmistakable — a quiet plea for recognition, love or redemption. Some speculate it references a country ballad by Lonestar. Others call it a love letter. Or a lament. Or both.
The image is deceptively simple: a lone lighthouse, dark and weathered, casting a stark white beam. But what gives it power is the way it plays with light — the real and the painted, the seen and the imagined. The post in front of the wall becomes part of the piece. Reality becomes the frame.
Marseille’s mayor, Benoît Payan, was quick to react online. “Marseille x Banksy,” he wrote, adding a flame emoji. By midday, the hashtag #BanksyMarseille was trending across France, and beyond.
Though often political, Banksy’s art is just as often personal, exploring themes of loss, longing and identity. In recent years, his works have appeared on war-ravaged buildings in Ukraine, in support of migrants crossing the Mediterranean and on walls condemning capitalism, Brexit, and police brutality.
The artist, who has never confirmed his full identity, began his career spray-painting buildings in Bristol, England, and has become one of the world’s best-known artists. His mischievous and often satirical images include two male police officers kissing, armed riot police with yellow smiley faces and a chimpanzee with a sign bearing the words, “Laugh now, but one day I’ll be in charge.”
His work has sold for millions of dollars at auction, and past murals on outdoor sites have often been stolen or removed by building owners soon after going up. In December 2023, after Banksy stenciled military drones on a stop sign in south London, a man was photographed taking down the sign with bolt cutters. Police later arrested two men on suspicion of theft and criminal damage.
In March 2024, an environmentally themed work on a wall beside a tree in north London was splashed with paint, covered with plastic sheeting and fenced off within days of being created.
Despite the fame — or infamy — at least in Marseille, not everyone walking past noticed it. Some didn’t even know who Banksy was, according to the local press.
On Instagram observers say this Marseille piece feels quieter. More interior.
And yet, it is no less global. The work arrives just ahead of a major Banksy retrospective opening June 14 at the Museum of Art in nearby Toulon featuring 80 works, including rare originals. Another exhibit opens Saturday in Montpellier.
But the Marseille mural wasn’t meant for a museum. It lives in the street, exposed to weather, footsteps and time. As of Friday evening, no barriers had been erected. No glass shield installed. Just a shadow, a beam and a message that’s already circling the world.