Zizzi Restaurant

I’m not a huge fan of chain restaurants, but I make an exception for Zizzi! I just absolutely love this place!
Newly opened in the extension of Silverburn, the décor in here is lovely and modern and I absolutely love the huge wood fired oven you can see in the open kitchen!
We’ve been several times and the service has always been fantastic. On one occasion, my little fusspot had chosen cheesy pasta from the Kids menu. After one bite he decided he didn’t like it. The waitress noticed he wasn’t eating, and I explained it had nothing to do with the food and that he was a fussy eater. Within minutes the plate of pasta had been replaced with a cheesy pizza, free of charge! How’s that for service!
We often make use of our Taste card in Zizzi meaning that we get 2 for 1 on mains. We’ve sampled the pastas and risotto but my absolute favourite is the Rustica pizzas. They have such a varied selection of toppings and the crust is to die for, dipped in some of the chilli oil served on the table. Another favourite of ours is the Chicken and Proscuitto salad. This is a total meal in itself with a gorgeous dressing.
The ice cream they serve is so so creamy and delicious; and I’m not a huge ice cream fan. I recently had a Chocolate fondant from the lunch menu and it was gooey and runny and absolutely lovely!
If you like consistently good Italian food id definitely recommend Zizzi!

We were on a mission, having to get the messages, fed and get back for the Scotland rugby all in a couple of hours or so. We drove to Silverburn and plumped for a quick lunch in Zizzi. It didn’t work out that way, but luckily we had the game on record anyway. We got seated outside in the mall, and given it’s in a food court that’s pleasant enough. Service was slowwwwww though! The waitress was nice — although she completely ignored my merry wee japes, hmmm — but the food took too long to come out.
I went for the Zizzi Antipasti and the Rustica Smoky Calabrese Pizza (peppers, prosciutto and sausage), my dining partner went for the Arancini (risotto balls) and the Spaghetti Zucchine (courgette and chicken in a cheesy, creamy saffron sauce).
So we sat and we talked and talked and after a fair wait the starters came out. The antipasti were served on a long bit of wood, nicely presented and with good flavours, and the Arancini were apparently good, but then came the next long wait. By the time our mains came we realised the rugby would be starting within minutes of us finishing. It tasted good to be fair, but the chopped tomatoes were not spread enough, so the pizza edges were a bit bare and consequently there was a tomato juice puddle in the centre that made the bread soggy. Hmmm again. The Spaghetti Zucchine was nice though… a person of few words my dining partner.

Zizzi is now at Silverburn in the new extension — alongside Pizza Express, Carluccio’s and there’s a Prezzo too. With so much choice for Italian, how do you pick where to go?
Personally, I’ve always been a Zizzi’s fan. Sure, they’re a chain but I’ve had a few good meals at the Cresswell Lane one (and I love that they had Glasgow School of Art students decorate it) so chose here for an early dinner on a Friday night over the other Italian options.
The restaurants in this section of Silverburn have an «al fresco» area as well as seating inside the restaurant. I say al fresco but of course you’re still inside the shopping centre out of the rain which is always a good thing. We sat in a booth which was mostly quite good although you are pretty close to people walking to/​from the bus stop which means it’s not the most intimate of dinners.
Zizzi offers pretty standard Italian options but maybe a little more modern than other places and I like that the daily specials are stuck to the menu with a post-​it note (stationery geek). We ordered the arancini starter to share, and I got the wild boar ragu pappardelle for main.
The arancini arrived quickly and it was a good sized portion of three balls and dip. The menu doesn’t say so I’m not sure if it was right or not, but the balls were lukewarm and the sauce was cold which was a weird combination. I’d say this was a pretty disappointing starter and I’d rate it as one of the worst things I can remember having at Zizzi’s so I wouldn’t recommend this at all.
By this stage I was wondering whether we’d made the right choice eating here but thankfully my main improved things. The pasta was delicious, soft and delicate and the perfect amount of bite and the sauce was lovely and rich. A good sized portion and really tasty, I’d definitely get this again if I went back to eat.
We skipped dessert and grabbed the bill which was a hefty £35 for a late lunch/​early dinner for two with a couple of soft drinks. Pretty pricey when you compare it to city centre dining at a nice independent restaurant. Service was fine — nothing to complain about but nothing to rave about either. Personally I wish there was a bit more variety at Silverburn in the dining options — 4 Italians and 4 burger places don’t really get me all that excited — all ready for Cineworld opening in the coming months. I think I’d still probably pick Zizzi’s over the other options though.