Iraq finally gets its first Pizza Hut restaurant

(Image credit: Twitter)

last updated 8 January 2015

Iraqis now have a new option for dinner: Pizza Hut.

The world's largest pizza chain opened its first location in the Middle Eastern country Wednesday, as Pizza Hut continues its push into emerging markets. The restaurant — located in Erbil, the capital of the Kurdistan region in northern Iraq — is built to seat 120 people, and boasts a "vibrant, youthful design."

The menu is in Kurdish and contains Pizza Hut's usual array of pizza, pasta, and salads. Pizza Hut plans to open four more Iraq locations this year — all in the same region. Yum! Brands, Pizza Hut's parent company, said the new stores will employ 150 people by year's end. --Jordan Valinsky

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Jordan Valinsky is the lead writer for Speed Reads. Before joining The Week, he wrote for New York Observer's tech blog, Betabeat, and tracked the intersection between popular culture and the internet for The Daily Dot. He graduated with a degree in online journalism from Ohio University.