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In the past, the popular pizza chain was the top choice for families and friends to indulge in its eat-as-much-as-you-like offering, endless salad selection, and self-serve ice-cream.

Yet not as many diners are choosing the brand nowadays, and it is reducing half of its British locations after being acquired following financial trouble for the second time this calendar year.

I remember going Pizza Hut when I was a child,” explains a young adult. “It was a regular outing, you'd go on a Sunday – make a day of it.” However, at present, as a young adult, she states “it's fallen out of favor.”

In the view of young customer Martina, the very elements Pizza Hut has been recognized for since it started in the UK in the mid-20th century are now less appealing.

“How they do their buffet and their salad station, it appears that they are cutting corners and have lower standards... They provide so much food and you're like ‘How?’”

Since food prices have increased significantly, Pizza Hut's unlimited dining format has become increasingly pricey to maintain. As have its restaurants, which are being cut from over 130 to 64.

The business, like many others, has also experienced its costs increase. In April this year, employee wages rose due to higher minimum pay and an higher rate of employer taxes.

Two diners say they would often visit at Pizza Hut for a date “from time to time”, but now they choose Domino's and think Pizza Hut is “not good value”.

Depending on your order, Pizza Hut and Domino's rates are similar, notes a culinary author.

Although Pizza Hut does offer takeaway and deliveries through delivery platforms, it is falling behind to larger chains which focus exclusively to the delivery sector.

“The rival chain has managed to dominate the delivery market thanks to aggressive marketing and frequent offers that make consumers feel like they're getting a bargain, when in reality the base costs are relatively expensive,” says the specialist.

However for the couple it is justified to get their date night delivered to their door.

“We definitely eat at home now rather than we eat out,” comments one of the diners, echoing latest data that show a decrease in people going to casual and fast-food restaurants.

During the summer months, informal dining venues saw a 6% drop in patrons compared to last summer.

There is also a further alternative to restaurant and takeaway pizzas: the supermarket pizza.

An industry leader, head of leisure and hospitality at an advisory group, explains that not only have retailers been offering good-standard ready-to-bake pizzas for quite a while – some are even promoting countertop ovens.

“Lifestyle changes are also contributing in the popularity of quick-service brands,” comments the analyst.

The growing trend of high protein diets has boosted sales at chicken shops, while reducing sales of high-carbohydrate options, he notes.

As people go out to eat not as often, they may look for a more premium experience, and Pizza Hut's retro theme 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 several years, for example boutique chains, has “fundamentally changed the public's perception of what quality pizza is,” notes the industry commentator.

“A crisp, airy, digestible pizza with a carefully curated additions, not the massively greasy, heavy and overloaded pizzas of the past. That, arguably, is what's resulted in Pizza Hut's decline,” she comments.

“What person would spend £17.99 on a small, substandard, disappointing pizza from a large brand when you can get a beautiful, masterfully-made classic pizza for under a tenner at one of the many real Italian restaurants around the country?

“It's a no-brainer.”

An independent operator, who runs a pizza van based in Suffolk explains: “People haven’t stopped liking pizza – they just want higher quality at a fair price.”

He says his flexible operation can offer gourmet pizza at affordable costs, and that Pizza Hut faced challenges because it was unable to evolve with evolving tastes.

At a small pizza brand in a city in southwest England, the founder says the industry is expanding but Pizza Hut has neglected to introduce anything fresh.

“Currently available are by-the-slice options, regional varieties, thin crust, fermented dough, wood-fired, rectangular – it's a wonderful array for a pizza enthusiast to discover.”

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

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

A senior executive of Pizza Hut's international markets said the rescue aimed “to safeguard our customer service and retain staff where possible”.

He said its key goal was to continue operating at the remaining 64 restaurants and off-premise points and to help employees through the restructure.

But with large sums going into running its restaurants, it probably cannot to invest too much in its off-premise division because the market is “difficult and using existing external services comes at a expense”, experts say.

Still, experts suggest, lowering overhead by exiting crowded locations could be a smart move to adapt.