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Once, the popular pizza chain was the go-to for families and friends to feast on its unlimited dining experience, unlimited salad bar, and self-serve ice-cream.

Yet a declining number of diners are visiting the brand nowadays, and it is closing half of its UK restaurants after being bought out of administration for the second instance this year.

“We used to go Pizza Hut when I was a child,” explains a young adult. “It was like a family thing, you'd go on a Sunday – spend the whole day there.” Today, as a young adult, she states “it's no longer popular.”

According to a diner in her twenties, some of the very things Pizza Hut has been famous for since it opened in the UK in the seventies are now outdated.

“The manner in which they do their buffet and their salad bar, it seems as if they are cheapening on their quality and have inferior offerings... They provide so much food and you're like ‘How is that possible?’”

Because grocery costs have risen sharply, Pizza Hut's all-you-can-eat model has become increasingly pricey to maintain. Similarly, its locations, which are being reduced from a large number to a smaller figure.

The company, similar to other firms, has also seen its costs go up. Earlier this year, employee wages rose due to rises in minimum wages and an higher rate of employer national insurance contributions.

Chris, 36, and Joanne, 29 mention they used to go at Pizza Hut for a date “from time to time”, but now they get delivery from Domino's and think Pizza Hut is “very overpriced”.

According to your order, Pizza Hut and Domino's rates are comparable, says a culinary author.

Although Pizza Hut has pickup and delivery through delivery platforms, it is losing out to larger chains which solely cater to this market.

“Domino's has managed to dominate the off-premise pizza industry thanks to intensive advertising and constantly running deals that make customers feel like they're getting a bargain, when in reality the original prices are quite high,” notes the specialist.

However for Chris and Joanne it is acceptable to get their special meal brought to their home.

“We absolutely dine at home now rather than we eat out,” explains Joanne, echoing current figures that show a drop in people visiting casual and fast-food restaurants.

During the summer months, casual and fast-food restaurants saw a 6% drop in diners compared to the year before.

There is also a further alternative to ordered-in pies: the supermarket pizza.

Will Hawkley, global lead for leisure at a leading firm, explains that not only have supermarkets been providing high-quality prepared pies for a long time – some are even promoting pizza-making appliances.

“Evolving preferences are also having an impact in the performance of quick-service brands,” states the analyst.

The rising popularity of low-carb regimens has increased sales at grilled chicken brands, while affecting sales of carb-heavy pizza, he continues.

As people dine out less frequently, they may look for a more premium experience, and Pizza Hut's American-diner style with comfortable booths and red and white checked plastic table cloths can feel more dated than premium.

The rise of artisanal pizza places” over the last 10 to 15 years, for example boutique chains, has “fundamentally changed the public's perception of what quality pizza is,” notes the industry commentator.

“A light, fresh, easy-to-digest product with a carefully curated additions, not the excessively rich, thick and crowded pizzas of the past. This, in my view, is what's caused Pizza Hut's struggles,” she comments.

“What person would spend £17.99 on a modest, low-quality, underwhelming pizza from a franchise when you can get a gorgeous, skillfully prepared traditional pie for under a tenner at one of the many real Italian restaurants around the country?

“It's an easy choice.”

Dan Puddle, who runs Smokey Deez based in Suffolk comments: “The issue isn’t that lost interest in pizza – they just want higher quality at a fair price.”

Dan says his adaptable business can offer premium pizza at reasonable rates, and that Pizza Hut faced challenges because it failed to adapt with evolving tastes.

At an independent chain in Bristol, owner Jack Lander says the industry is broadening but Pizza Hut has failed to offer anything fresh.

“There are now slice concepts, London pizza, new haven, fermented dough, wood-fired, Detroit – it's a wonderful array for a pizza-loving consumer to explore.”

The owner says Pizza Hut “should transform” as younger people don't have any sense of nostalgia or allegiance to the chain.

In recent years, Pizza Hut's customer base has been sliced up and spread to its trendier, more nimble alternatives. To sustain its expensive staffing and restaurants, it would have to charge more – which experts say is tough at a time when household budgets are shrinking.

The leadership of Pizza Hut's overseas branches said the buyout aimed “to ensure our dining experience and save employment where possible”.

The executive stated its first focus was to maintain service at the surviving locations and takeaway hubs and to help employees through the restructure.

However with large sums going into maintaining its outlets, it likely can't afford to invest too much in its off-premise division because the market is “complicated and using existing delivery apps comes at a price”, experts say.

But, he adds, lowering overhead by exiting competitive urban areas could be a good way to adjust.