La Piazza

Just got out if this shithole run by the rudest and incompetent waitresses ever.
Food is very average, pasta looked ok but pizza was really gross and tasted like a kebab more than anything else. House wine was like vinegar, like the bottle had been opened for 7 days.
These people are not Italian, they did not ask for pepper or chilli oil on top of your meal when they served you. At one point, we asked for chilli flakes, the waitress said «I have already put some in the dish» in the worst tone of voice ever, so we had to insist to get some (which was for another dish anyway).
When finished, we waited 10minutes and no dessert menu ever came so I just asked the bill. They obviously never came to check on us during our meal, these two ugly big cows were too busy sitting at their table in the bloody restaurant having their dinner. Unbelievable.
And then we got the bill, only to see they charged £1.25 for the chilli flakes as «extra toppings». They would not remove it from the bill saying it was all justified and normal to charge for anything that’s not on the table.
These shameless two cows are just not up to the task, I would not even want them in the slaughter house. Looking forward to seeing the place go bankrupt — it is for sure gone within six-​12 months. To the few who will read this, please don’t go waste your time and money there and pass on the word out there: la piazza is shit and so are the two waitresses.

The food is phenomenal, the menu and range is truely Italian, a proper Italian owned place. We went with a native Italian speaker, who helped a great deal, but the service could be lacking at times — if it weren’t for his knowledge of Italian customs we could have sat waiting for ages!

I came in here because the other restaurants were closed. The service here is terrible! The waitress just threw the menus down on the table and got our orders wrong. We asked for regular water and the waitress gave us still water and gave us sprite instead of lemonade; when we asked her about it, she insist it was lemonade and not sprite. The calamari was terrible too, it wasn’t crispy and it was soggy. The lasagna tasted alright but you can’t tell if they made it good or not since it was baked in a whole dish rather than being served separately. The penne was average, anything anyone can make. The pizza was a bit soggy and not crispy enough. Overall, avoid this place if you want better Italian food.

Very good gnocchi! Huge plate! Tasty sauce! The fresh basil comes through nicely!!! Very nice little place on a side street.

Didn’t love, didn’t loathe. There are a number of chain pizza restaurants on The Strand and in nearby Covent Garden and I didn’t personally think this place was any more authentic. To rub salt in the wound, you can often get vouchers for the chain restaurants, making them even cheaper, so this seemed even less cost effective.
Pizza options weren’t particularly adventurous, and I sampled some of my friend’s cannelloni, and wasn’t exactly blown away. Drinks were a little on the pricey side as JaneB said, but that’s to be expected (everyone knows a can of coke doesn’t cost £3).
Don’t think i’d ever venture back here. Service was fine, if a little bit pushy. Best left for the tourists who don’t know any better.

Other reviewer here obviously had an especially bad time but to be honest this place was ok the three years later I came! Not the best place in the world but was cheap. Real good value! Two courses for under £8? In London? The Pizza was good and so was the Minestrone Soup!

The photo and accurate first review are of the excellent little café at street level entrance to Barbican station where I often stop for tea.
The other reviews are of a restaurant on Villiers St beside Charing Cross some distance away and obviously quite different…

I was confused when looking at the photo above as this is not the restaurant at 29 Villiers Street, but in view of the first 3 reviews, I know I have got the right place.
Food is poor, staff are rude, everything is overpriced — they have the cheek to charge a cover charge for olives and bread that is not mentioned on the menu. We didn’t get a bill as the printer was broken, so who knows if 50 quid for a bottle of wine, a peroni and 2 mediocre pizzas was right.
Needless to say we ate here en route to somewhere else, but will never make that mistake again — just a shame qype won’t let me leave no stars, as this restaurant was so bad. Its a wonder it remains open in the current economic climate. Avoid it!

Recently ate here after a drink with work mates, it was quite late about 10.30 and surprised they had a table, but were still letting people in.
They had run out of diet coke/​pepsi or fizzy water — I had a dreadful thirst but they offered tap water — bog standard warm London water — no ice or lemon. My dining partner had wine — which was unremarkable.
I asked for some bread they had run out.
My spaghetti Carbonara — wasn’t too bad — the portion was quite small but for so late at night anything to stop the hunger pains…(well soak up the white wine spritzers) was okay by me.
My friend had a Four Seasons pizza — the four seasons all seemed to be in December — two sorts of pepperoni, olives and ham. He tried to explain to the waitress that usually you get four distinct toppings and got no where. Pizza was small but okay but too much meat and should have been called a meat feast…
Everything going fine until we came to pay when they tried to charge us £3.50 cover charge, this was not mentioned on the menu or anywhere around the place. We queried this and they said it was for the tap water. We tried our best to get them to knock off the £3.50 but they were not going to budge… We grudingly paid — so we could escape and get last train home.

I visited this rest. 3 weeks ago on A Sat evening. I ordered 2 glasses of wine approx 15 mins later I attempted to order One dish of pasta & garlic bread to share. I was then told I HAD TO ORDER 2 DISHES, I informed the waitress that we were not that hungery but she insisted I had to ORDER 2 COURSES I then told her I did not have to order 2 dishes as I was paying & duly left. NEVER TO RETURN.
The waitress was of Eastern European accessent very rude.
We went 3 doors up Villiers St & was accomadated NO PROBLEM

Villiers Street is tucked around the side of Charing Cross Station. This small street is lined with a number of restaurants, pubs and eateries (nothing spectacular, but there is some selection) as it slopes downhill to the entrance to Embankment Station. There was nothing in particular that would draw you into La Piazza over another establishment, but it appeared to be as good as any other for a break in the middle of the work day. Like many London restaurants it is quite constricted for space and the tables are placed closely together making navigation through the restaurant difficult (On on occasion the person I was with got bumped quite hard by a waitress passing by).
Our lunch included sea bass and rigotoni. It took about 35 minutes for our food to arrive. For a lunch in the middle of the work day this is far too long. The sea bass looked pancake thin, as if they had sliced the edges but forgot to add the meat of the fish. The rigotoni was fine, but nothing to remember. The menu consists of several lunch specials for 9.95, a selection of pizza, pasta and other dishes.
We had to request the bill early just to try to get out of there and back to work. It seemed as thought the wait staff were not that interested in the guests. The attitude was nonchalant. If you are near Charing Cross Station and want to spend under 25 pounds for lunch La Piazza is an option, but don’t expect too much.

A very run-​of-​the-​mill Italian in Villiers Street, in an area rather starved of decent places to eat. We’d eaten there before, though, and last time (about two years ago) it was perfectly good and reasonably priced.
It’s slipped a bit since then: the food was OK, but nothing exceptional — and it’s the first time I’ve been served Bruschetta on slices of white pizza bread. This might have worked, except the pizza was a bit chewy. The prices have risen a bit, too, and two fairly humble courses with wine came to £25 a head. The décor’s also a bit lacking — plain, clean and bright, but pretty soulless. And they were a little fast in taking my starter plate away, even though they weren’t that busy and I hadn’t finished.
I know you can’t expect much near Trafalgar Square for £25, but I think next time I’ll walk up to Spaghetti House in St Martin’s Lane.

Popped in this cute little café today and it was such a pleasent and satisfying experience. Firstly one of the staff helped me with my huge bag that i couldn’t get through the door, but then he also pulled my chair out for me. I found this so polite and very unusual for a café in rush hour in london. The menu was basic but very appetizing and thats exactly what i need this morning-​alittle quick bite to start my eventful day off. This place includes seating in and outside so its perfect for summer time and the café itself was very clean and modern-​i believe it has actually just been refurbished. A delightful little place that i will definately be using as my breakfast stop more often!