Pizza Express Restaurants

We are regular visitors to this branch of a well known chain. Went there once more just after Christmas and the experience was as always very good.
Since we always have pizzas here rather than salads or pastas the starters are usually mozzarella and olives which are always tasty.
As to pizzas, I’m a big fan of Rustichella — rocket salad+pancetta+Caesar salad dressing and sun dried tomatoes go remarkably well together, so I guess I can probably even say that it’s one of the best pizzas I’ve ever tried (even most of the ones I tried in Italy weren’t that good).
The service is pretty much always spotless, I’ve never had any of the problems mentioned by the other reviewer.
All in all I think this branch of Pizza Express is a way better alternative to Prezzo or Zizzi…
But I’d say they could definitely improve on the selection of beers cocktails.

Solid. Cheap. Reliable. Good.

I’ve said before that Pizza Express is Pizza Express. This one is one of their larger establishments and set to get bigger with their purchase/​rental of another adjacent premises. As such, it has the trappings of a bigger Pizza Express, with live jazz regularly scheduled. However, the food and service are not up to scratch for me. It just seems to lack organisation. Dough balls always turn up cold, when they’re supposed to be warm. One pizza will turn up cold, the other hot. And I can never seem to find a waiter when I want one. I went with a large group, we seemed to be waiting hours. Maybe it’s a victim of its size but I would rather drive to the much-​smaller Pizza Express in Bromley and pay the parking than walk to Pizza Express in Beckenham.

On 15^th April ’10, while waiting to go to the cinema across the road, I and 2 friends went in to this Pizza Express on Beckenham High Street. 1.- I asked if they’d be long. I jokingly said «more than 5 minutes?». She said, jokingly, «yes». It was over half an hour we had to wait. 2.- I wanted my drink with my pizza and not before, so I said I would order my drink later. When the pizzas did arrive I was half way through it before being able to order the drinks. 3.- On first entering, there were approx. 6 tables occupied, 5 of which had at least one or two small children. I have nothing against children, only when the guardians aren’t able to keep control of tantrums and walking or running about the restaurant. Also the sight of a parent every so often smelling their babies’s bottoms and then going to the rest-​room wasn’t conducive to a pizza lunch. By the time we left, approx a dozen tables had small pre-​school children. (A headache had started even before the cinema.) 4.- A smile every so often from one of the waitresses would have helped slightly. 5.- Pizza itself was adequate, although the topping was rather sparse. I could count the bits of whatever it was on one hand. 6.- We were overcharged at the end. When this was pointed out, there was no apology, only a «that’s no problem». It WAS a problem — at least to me, the paying customer. 7.- I felt it was on the slightly expensive side. It was about £38.00 for 3 pizzas and a drink. I didn’t feel full at all afterwards, either. 8.- One of my friends ordered a sparkling water. One of the more expensive waters arrived — already opened. I kept thinking that it would have been so easy to fill it with some cheaper water beforehand. They should bring it to the table (like wine) and open it there. 9.- When trying to leave a review for this restaurant on their web-​site, I found that it was impossible to leave a negative review — only a positive one. They obviously don’t like to know what’s going on, or they get too many negative reviews to cope. Need I say more? To put it in a nutshell, I felt it was only slightly better than MacDonalds — only much longer to wait for, just as noisy and much more expensive. I WON’T be going again.

Probably one of the best known and best used restaurants in Beckenham, Pizza Express is actually massive inside and can seat 100+. The restaurant is always cold though! Sometimes you have to wait for a seat. The food is generally good, but the waitressing service not always very good. Can be expensive if you choose the wrong food.