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Once, Pizza Hut was the go-to for parents and children to feast on its unlimited dining experience, unlimited salad bar, and make-your-own dessert.

However not as many customers are choosing the restaurant nowadays, and it is reducing 50% of its UK locations after being rescued from insolvency for the second time this year.

“We used to go Pizza Hut when I was a child,” explains one London shopper. “It was like a family thing, you'd go on a Sunday – spend the whole day there.” But now, as a young adult, she comments “it's fallen out of favor.”

For young customer Martina, some of the very things Pizza Hut has been known and loved for since it started in the UK in the mid-20th century are now outdated.

“How they do their buffet and their salad station, it seems as if they are lowering standards and have inferior offerings... They provide so much food and you're like ‘How?’”

Because grocery costs have risen sharply, Pizza Hut's buffet-style service has become very expensive to operate. As have its outlets, which are being sliced from 132 to just over 60.

The business, like many others, has also experienced its expenses go up. Earlier this year, staffing costs increased due to increases in the legal wage floor and an higher rate of employer taxes.

A couple in their thirties and twenties explain they would often visit at Pizza Hut for a date “from time to time”, but now they order in Domino's and think Pizza Hut is “too expensive”.

Based on your choices, Pizza Hut and Domino's rates are comparable, explains an industry analyst.

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

“The rival chain has managed to dominate the takeaway pizza sector thanks to strong promotions and constantly running deals that make customers feel like they're saving money, when in reality the standard rates are quite high,” notes the analyst.

Yet for these customers it is justified to get their special meal delivered to their door.

“We absolutely dine at home now more than we eat out,” explains Joanne, matching latest data that show a drop in people frequenting informal dining spots.

In the warmer season, quick-service eateries saw a notable decrease in diners compared to last summer.

Additionally, one more competitor to ordered-in pies: the frozen or fresh pizza.

Will Hawkley, global lead for leisure at an advisory group, explains that not only have retailers been selling high-quality ready-to-bake pizzas for years – some are even promoting home-pizza ovens.

“Shifts in habits are also playing a factor in the performance of fast-food chains,” comments Mr. Hawkley.

The increased interest of high protein diets has driven sales at grilled chicken brands, while affecting sales of dough-based meals, he notes.

As people dine out not as often, they may look for a more premium experience, and Pizza Hut's classic look with vinyl benches and red and white checked plastic table cloths can feel more dated than upmarket.

The “explosion of artisanal pizza places” over the last decade and a half, such as boutique chains, has “dramatically shifted the general opinion of what good pizza is,” says the industry commentator.

“A thin, flavorful, gentle crust with a select ingredients, not the overly oily, dense and piled-high pizzas of the past. That, arguably, is what's resulted in Pizza Hut's downfall,” she states.

“What person would spend nearly eighteen pounds on a tiny, mediocre, unsatisfying 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.”

Dan Puddle, who runs a pizza van based in Suffolk comments: “People haven’t fallen out of love with pizza – they just want higher quality at a fair price.”

The owner says his mobile setup can offer gourmet pizza at reasonable rates, and that Pizza Hut struggled because it failed to adapt with new customer habits.

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

“You now have slice concepts, artisanal styles, New Haven-style, fermented dough, Neapolitan, deep-dish – it's a heavenly minefield for a pie fan to discover.”

Jack says Pizza Hut “should transform” as newer generations don't have any sense of nostalgia or loyalty to the chain.

Over time, Pizza Hut's market has been fragmented and distributed to its trendier, more nimble competitors. To keep up its high labor and location costs, it would have to raise prices – which experts say is tough at a time when family finances are tightening.

A senior executive of Pizza Hut's international markets said the rescue aimed “to ensure our dining experience and protect jobs where possible”.

He said its immediate priority was to keep running at the surviving locations and delivery sites and to support colleagues through the transition.

But with large sums going into operating its locations, it probably cannot to allocate significant resources in its delivery service because the sector is “complicated and partnering with existing external services comes at a expense”, analysts say.

However, it's noted, reducing expenses by withdrawing from crowded locations could be a smart move to adapt.