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At one time, the popular pizza chain was the top choice for groups and loved ones to feast on its all-you-can-eat buffet, unlimited salad bar, and self-serve ice-cream.

Yet fewer patrons are frequenting the chain currently, and it is reducing 50% of its UK restaurants after being acquired following financial trouble for the second occasion this year.

“We used to go Pizza Hut when I was a child,” explains one London shopper. “It was a tradition, you'd go on a Sunday – make a day of it.” However, at present, aged 24, she states “it's no longer popular.”

For young customer Martina, certain features Pizza Hut has been recognized for since it opened in the UK in the seventies are now not-so-hot.

“The way they do their buffet and their salad station, it feels like they are cutting corners and have lower standards... They're giving away so much food and you're like ‘How is that possible?’”

As grocery costs have soared, Pizza Hut's buffet-style service has become very expensive to maintain. Similarly, its restaurants, which are being reduced from 132 to 64.

The business, like many others, has also faced its operating costs increase. This spring, employee wages increased due to rises in minimum wages and an higher rate of employer social security payments.

Chris, 36, and Joanne, 29 explain they frequently dined at Pizza Hut for a date “every now and then”, but now they order in another pizza brand and think Pizza Hut is “not good value”.

Depending on your order, Pizza Hut and Domino's costs are similar, explains a food expert.

Although Pizza Hut provides takeaway and deliveries through third-party apps, it is missing out to big rivals which solely cater to the delivery sector.

“Another pizza company has succeeded in leading the takeaway pizza sector thanks to strong promotions and frequent offers that make consumers feel like they're finding a good deal, when in reality the original prices are quite high,” notes the specialist.

Yet for Chris and Joanne it is justified to get their date night delivered to their door.

“We predominantly have meals at home now more than we eat out,” explains one of the diners, matching current figures that show a decline in people frequenting informal dining spots.

Over the summer, quick-service eateries saw a 6% drop in customers compared to the year before.

There is also one more competitor to ordered-in pies: the supermarket pizza.

A hospitality expert, global lead for leisure at an advisory group, notes that not only have grocery stores been offering good-standard oven-ready pizzas for years – some are even offering home-pizza ovens.

“Shifts in habits are also contributing in the success of casual eateries,” states the analyst.

The growing trend of low-carb regimens has boosted sales at grilled chicken brands, while reducing sales of carb-heavy pizza, he notes.

Because people dine out less frequently, they may prefer a more high-quality meal, and Pizza Hut's retro theme with comfortable booths and red and white checked plastic table cloths can feel more old-fashioned than premium.

The growth of high-quality pizzerias” over the last decade and a half, for example popular brands, has “completely altered the general opinion of what quality pizza is,” notes the industry commentator.

“A thin, flavorful, gentle crust with a select ingredients, not the massively greasy, heavy and overloaded pizzas of the past. That, I think, is what's led to Pizza Hut's struggles,” she comments.

“What person would spend nearly eighteen pounds on a modest, low-quality, underwhelming pizza from a franchise when you can get a beautiful, masterfully-made Margherita for under a tenner at one of the many traditional pizzerias around the country?

“It's a no-brainer.”

A mobile pizza vendor, who owns a small business based in a county in England comments: “People haven’t fallen out of love with pizza – they just want higher quality at a fair price.”

He says his flexible operation can offer high-quality pie at reasonable rates, and that Pizza Hut had difficulty because it could not keep up with evolving tastes.

At an independent chain in Bristol, the proprietor says the industry is broadening but Pizza Hut has not provided anything new.

“You now have slice concepts, London pizza, New Haven-style, sourdough, wood-fired, Detroit – it's a delightful challenge for a pizza enthusiast to discover.”

Jack says Pizza Hut “must rebrand” as younger people don't have any sense of nostalgia or loyalty to the company.

Gradually, Pizza Hut's market has been fragmented and distributed to its trendier, more nimble competitors. To maintain its high labor and location costs, it would have to increase costs – which industry analysts say is difficult at a time when family finances are tightening.

A senior executive of Pizza Hut's overseas branches said the buyout aimed “to protect our guest experience and protect jobs where possible”.

He said its first focus was to continue operating at the open outlets and delivery sites and to help employees through the change.

However with so much money going into running its restaurants, it probably cannot to invest too much in its takeaway operation because the industry is “complex and using existing external services comes at a cost”, commentators say.

Still, experts suggest, lowering overhead by exiting oversaturated towns and city centres could be a smart move to adjust.