Big Changes Are Coming To Your Favorite Pizza Chains In 2025

Practically everyone loves pizza, and nothing proves that more than the wide variety of popular pizza chains in the U.S. that serve up everything from New York-style to hot-and-ready-to-eat to "Southern"-style pizza. With so many chains competing for our pizza orders, the biggest ones have to stay on their toes to edge out the competition. And with that comes innovation.

Big changes are coming to fast food chains in 2025, and this holds equally true for our favorite pizza brands. Whether it's adding cutting-edge tech, expanding, focusing more on sustainability, or rolling out retail products, some of the nation's most popular pizza restaurants have new ideas and plans in the works that we can expect to see take shape in 2025.

It's not just about what's on the menu — it's also about revamped dining spaces and ordering upgrades that will help you get your pie faster (and hotter) than ever. So, we're here to slice into all the details about what new touches you can expect from your favorite pizza chains next year.

Pizza Hut has long been at the forefront of harnessing technology to get pizza into the hands of hungry customers (in fact, we can thank Pizza Hut for online ordering in general). So, with a new restaurant design being piloted in Plano, Texas, we may just see a glow-up spreading to some of the chain's brick-and-mortar locations in 2025.

This new concept, as described on the Pizza Hut website, features an upgraded design where customers can order through self-service kiosks and even watch their pizzas being made in the open kitchen. The prototype has already rolled out in almost 2,000 international locations, but this is the first time it's hit U.S. soil. For anyone who needs pizza fast, the new design has also introduced a drive-thru option for its pre-made Hut 'N Go menu. But don't worry, the new store still has inside seating for those who prefer to dine in.

Sustainability is also a major focus of this new concept. Pizza Hut has introduced some equipment upgrades that are more energy-efficient than its standard operations, including new ovens, fryers, lighting, and an energy management system.

We've seen the rise, fall, and rise again of the Little Caesars empire over the years, but the pizza chain is betting on big expansion in 2025 and beyond. Little Caesars celebrated its 65th birthday in 2024, and it's currently hanging onto third place in terms of pizza restaurant sales in the U.S. What better way to celebrate that status than to open more locations?

In a September 2024 press release, the company announced plans to add more than 23 new U.S. locations in cities like Los Angeles, Greenville, Baltimore, and others. The chain specifically wants to expand further into the northeast states, with plans to add 10 new locations in New York City alone by 2026. Other states in the crosshairs include New Jersey, Maryland, and Pennsylvania.

Aside from all the new restaurants Little Caesars plans to open, it also wants a bigger piece of the pie in non-traditional locations. For example, we may be seeing more Little Caesars popping up in airports, amusement parks, and even casinos (and honestly, hitting the slots with a slice in hand sounds pretty awesome).

While Chuck E. Cheese sits at the lower end of our worst-to-best ranking of 30 popular pizza chains, it does have its devoted fans among kids — and parents looking for a break (and maybe a beer while their kids work off excess energy). So, it's no surprise that the chain's newest development is not on the menu, but rather with Adventure Zones for little ones to run wild in.

As described in a November 2024 press release, the new Adventure Zone play areas feature a Ninja Run obstacle course and a netted area for trampoline fun meant just for smaller kids (up to 56 inches tall). The company claims it has already received promising feedback from parents in its first pilot rollouts of the concept.

In the release, Chuck E. Cheese announced it has already installed adventure zones in select locations, with a nationwide rollout scheduled for 2025. There are also new play attractions like trampolines, zip lines, and bouncy houses set to be introduced internationally, including in Chuck E. Cheese locations across Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Latin America.

The truth about Mellow Mushroom, aside from the fact that it's delicious and a total vibe, is that it's grown a lot since its humble beginnings in Atlanta, Georgia. This Southern pizza chain has been around since 1974 and specializes in stone-baked pizza with a side of not-so-subtle stoner counter-culture references. Now, Mellow Mushroom is fully embracing modern technology as the chain continues expanding.

According to a press release, Mellow Mushroom has partnered with QSR Automations to incorporate ConnectSmart Kitchen tech into its restaurants. As this collab rolls out, we can expect to see streamlined kitchens that run like clockwork — and without a noisy printer giving line cooks a migraine in the background. This tech eliminates paper tickets, replacing them with screens that update orders in real time.

As a former Mellow Mushroom guru, this writer can recall that it wasn't until the early 2000s that most Mellow Mushroom stores began incorporating technology like POS systems and kitchen printers. Before then, customer orders were conveyed by hand start to finish, usually with those green guest checks often seen in diners (some stores, including several where I worked, even developed their own pizza code, like drawing a triangle to indicate a calzone order). This new tech promises to optimize kitchen organization, meaning customer orders could come out faster and with fewer mistakes.

Domino's Pizza Enterprises, based in Australia, is the world's largest franchisee of the U.S.-based Domino's brand. It's the exclusive franchisee for Domino's in Australia and New Zealand, as well as several international markets, including The Netherlands, France, Belgium, Germany, and Luxembourg. It also runs the Domino's presence in Asian markets like Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, and Cambodia.

In November 2024, Don Meij, longtime CEO of Domino's Pizza Enterprises, retired after helming the company for almost 40 years. His replacement is Mark van Dyck, who has held senior executive roles with Compass Group and Coca-Cola, so he's well-equipped to take the reins.

Although this likely won't affect any Domino's stores in the U.S., it could mean big changes in 2025 for international Domino's locations. That's because a big part of Van Dyck's job will be improving sales that have slowed in recent years. For example, shortly after Van Dyck took over, he announced that the company may consider closing stores with poor performance, which would include almost 10% of Domino's stores in Japan and France (via RetailWire).