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Once, the popular pizza chain was the top choice for families and friends to feast on its unlimited dining experience, unlimited salad bar, and make-your-own dessert.

Yet not as many patrons are choosing the restaurant currently, and it is reducing a significant portion of its UK locations after being bought out of administration for the second time this calendar year.

“We used to go Pizza Hut when I was a child,” says a young adult. “It was like a family thing, you'd go on a Sunday – make a day of it.” However, at present, aged 24, she states “it's not a thing anymore.”

According to a diner in her twenties, certain features Pizza Hut has been famous for since it launched in the UK in the seventies are now not-so-hot.

“The way they do their buffet and their salad bar, it feels like they are cutting corners and have inferior offerings... They provide so much food and you're like ‘How is that possible?’”

Because ingredient expenses have risen sharply, Pizza Hut's all-you-can-eat model has become very expensive to maintain. The same goes for its restaurants, which are being sliced from over 130 to a smaller figure.

The chain, like many others, has also seen its operating costs increase. In April this year, employee wages rose due to higher minimum pay and an increase in employer social security payments.

A couple in their thirties and twenties say they would often visit at Pizza Hut for a date “from time to time”, but now they order in another pizza brand and think Pizza Hut is “too expensive”.

Based on your order, Pizza Hut and Domino's prices are similar, says a food expert.

Although Pizza Hut provides off-premise options through external services, it is losing out to larger chains which solely cater to this market.

“Domino's has taken over the delivery market thanks to intensive advertising and frequent offers that make consumers feel like they're getting a bargain, when in reality the base costs are quite high,” says the analyst.

Yet for the couple it is worth it to get their evening together delivered to their door.

“We definitely eat at home now more than we eat out,” explains the female customer, echoing current figures that show a drop in people frequenting casual and fast-food restaurants.

Over the summer, casual and fast-food restaurants saw a notable decrease in diners compared to the previous year.

Moreover, another rival to pizza from eateries: the cook-at-home oven pizza.

A hospitality expert, head of leisure and hospitality at an advisory group, points out that not only have retailers been selling high-quality oven-ready pizzas for quite a while – some are even selling home-pizza ovens.

“Evolving preferences are also playing a factor in the popularity of quick-service brands,” states Mr. Hawkley.

The increased interest of low-carb regimens has driven sales at poultry outlets, while affecting sales of carb-heavy pizza, he notes.

Because people go out to eat not as often, they may look for a more high-quality meal, and Pizza Hut's classic look with comfortable booths and red and white checked plastic table cloths can feel more old-fashioned than upmarket.

The “explosion of artisanal pizza places” over the last several years, for example boutique chains, has “completely altered the general opinion of what excellent pie is,” notes the industry commentator.

“A thin, flavorful, gentle crust with a few choice toppings, not the massively greasy, heavy and overloaded pizzas of the past. This, in my view, is what's resulted in Pizza Hut's struggles,” she says.

“Why would anyone spend £17.99 on a small, substandard, disappointing pizza from a chain when you can get a gorgeous, skillfully prepared traditional pie for a lower price at one of the many real Italian restaurants around the country?

“The decision is simple.”

Dan Puddle, who owns a small business based in Suffolk comments: “The issue isn’t that fallen out of love with pizza – they just want higher quality at a fair price.”

Dan says his mobile setup can offer premium pizza at accessible prices, and that Pizza Hut had difficulty because it was unable to evolve with evolving tastes.

From the perspective of an independent chain in a UK location, the founder says the pizza market is expanding but Pizza Hut has neglected to introduce anything innovative.

“Currently available are slice concepts, artisanal styles, New Haven-style, artisan base, wood-fired, Detroit – it's a wonderful array for a pizza enthusiast to try.”

Jack says Pizza Hut “needs to reinvent itself” as the youth don't have any emotional connection or loyalty to the brand.

In recent years, Pizza Hut's customer base has been divided and spread to its fresher, faster competitors. To maintain its high labor and location costs, it would have to increase costs – which experts say is challenging at a time when personal spending are shrinking.

A senior executive of Pizza Hut's global operations said the buyout aimed “to safeguard our customer service and save employment where possible”.

The executive stated its immediate priority was to keep running at the surviving locations and off-premise points and to assist staff through the transition.

Yet with so much money going into maintaining its outlets, it may be unable to allocate significant resources in its delivery service because the sector is “difficult and working with existing external services comes at a cost”, experts say.

But, he adds, cutting its costs by leaving crowded locations could be a effective strategy to adjust.