Is Pizza’s Popularity Fading?

Pizza used to rule the American dinner table with the unquestioned authority of a family dog parked under it. Friday night meant boxes, grease-stained cardboard, and a universal agreement that no one was cooking. But lately, the crown has started to slide.

The cheese still stretches, the pepperoni still curls, yet pizza is no longer the reflex choice it once was. Delivery apps have turned dinner into a global food court, where tacos, sushi, burgers, salads, and pho stare back from the same glowing screen. Against that competition, a $20 pie suddenly feels less like a deal and more like a decision.

The numbers tell the story. Once the second-largest restaurant category in the 1990s, pizza fell to sixth place by 2024. Some chains have shuttered locations or filed for bankruptcy, while others scramble to adapt. Executives insist demand hasn’t vanished. It has simply changed shape. Inflation has sharpened price sensitivity, health trends have shifted appetites, and consumers now expect more flexibility than a single slice can offer.

Meanwhile, Mexican-inspired eateries and coffee concepts thrive by owning breakfast and all-day habits pizza never quite mastered. Even so, pizza isn’t surrendering quietly. Chains are leaning into value deals, smarter tech, loyalty programs, and menus that stretch beyond dough and sauce. Salmon bowls and lettuce wraps now share space with pepperoni.

Industry insiders call it normalization, not decline. After decades of dominance, pizza is learning to compete like everyone else. It remains emotional, familiar, and deeply American. The pie hasn’t disappeared from the table. It’s just sharing space, waiting for its next reinvention, one slice at a time.

Doug O’Brien