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In the past, the popular pizza chain was the top choice for groups and loved ones to enjoy its unlimited dining experience, help-yourself greens station, and ice cream with toppings.

However fewer customers are choosing the chain nowadays, and it is shutting down a significant portion of its UK outlets after being bought out of administration for the second time this year.

It was common to visit Pizza Hut when I was a child,” notes Prudence. “It was like a family thing, you'd go on a Sunday – turn it into an event.” Today, in her mid-twenties, she states “it's no longer popular.”

According to 23-year-old Martina, the very elements Pizza Hut has been known and loved for since it launched in the UK in the mid-20th century are now less appealing.

“The manner in which they do their all-you-can-eat and their salad bar, it feels like they are lowering standards and have lower standards... They're giving away so much food and you're like ‘How can they?’”

As ingredient expenses have risen sharply, Pizza Hut's all-you-can-eat model has become increasingly pricey to run. Similarly, its restaurants, which are being cut from a large number to a smaller figure.

The company, in common with competitors, has also seen its expenses go up. This spring, employee wages jumped due to higher minimum pay and an rise in employer social security payments.

Two diners say they frequently dined at Pizza Hut for a date “occasionally”, but now they choose another pizza brand and think Pizza Hut is “not good value”.

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

Even though Pizza Hut provides pickup and delivery through external services, it is losing out to major competitors which specialize to this market.

“The rival chain has taken over the off-premise pizza industry thanks to aggressive marketing and constantly running deals that make customers feel like they're finding a good deal, when in reality the base costs are relatively expensive,” says the expert.

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

“We absolutely dine at home now instead of we eat out,” comments one of the diners, echoing recent statistics that show a decline in people visiting informal dining spots.

During the summer months, quick-service eateries saw a six percent decline in patrons compared to last summer.

Moreover, another rival to restaurant and takeaway pizzas: the frozen or fresh pizza.

A hospitality expert, global lead for leisure at an advisory group, explains that not only have supermarkets been providing good-standard ready-to-bake pizzas for quite a while – some are even selling home-pizza ovens.

“Lifestyle changes are also playing a factor in the performance of casual eateries,” comments the analyst.

The growing trend of high protein diets has driven sales at chicken shops, while affecting sales of carb-heavy pizza, he continues.

Because people visit restaurants not as often, they may seek out a more high-quality meal, and Pizza Hut's classic look with comfortable booths and traditional décor can feel more old-fashioned than luxurious.

The rise of high-quality pizzerias” over the last decade and a half, for example boutique chains, has “fundamentally changed the general opinion of what good pizza is,” explains the food expert.

“A crisp, airy, digestible pizza with a carefully curated additions, not the excessively rich, thick and crowded pizzas of the past. That, arguably, is what's resulted in Pizza Hut's decline,” she says.

“Who would choose to spend £17.99 on a tiny, mediocre, unsatisfying pizza from a franchise when you can get a stunning, expertly crafted Margherita for a lower price at one of the many authentic Italian pizzerias around the country?

“It's a no-brainer.”

A mobile pizza vendor, who runs a small business based in a regional area explains: “It's not that stopped liking pizza – they just want better pizza for their money.”

He says his adaptable business can offer premium pizza at affordable costs, and that Pizza Hut struggled because it was unable to evolve with evolving tastes.

At a small pizza brand in Bristol, owner Jack Lander says the pizza market is broadening but Pizza Hut has failed to offer anything new.

“There are now by-the-slice options, artisanal styles, new haven, fermented dough, traditional Italian, deep-dish – it's a delightful challenge for a pizza-loving consumer to try.”

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

Gradually, Pizza Hut's market has been sliced up and allocated to its more modern, agile competitors. To sustain its high labor and location costs, it would have to raise prices – which experts say is challenging at a time when personal spending are tightening.

A senior executive of Pizza Hut's global operations said the buyout aimed “to protect our guest experience and retain staff where possible”.

It was explained its key goal was to continue operating at the remaining 64 restaurants and takeaway hubs and to help employees through the change.

However with so much money going into maintaining its outlets, it probably cannot to spend heavily in its off-premise division because the sector is “complicated and working with existing delivery apps comes at a price”, commentators say.

But, he adds, cutting its costs by leaving oversaturated towns and city centres could be a smart move to adapt.