Pizza Express

As chain restaurants go you wont be disappointed if you have never dined at a Pizza Express before. The quality of the food and menu choice is very good. Often available on A Tastecard do check that out if you own one! My pizza came as described on the menu despite asking my waiter to exchange peppers for red onion, clearly a language barrier. All staff were ‘ok’ giving the bare minimum of a forced smile and minimal contact. Of 4 staff that served me in total not one spoke the Queens English, and it was evident they were not intending this to be their main career choice and no doubt be moving in in weeks or months time and as such the ethic and their heart and sole was non existent. I did feel like a tourist jn my own capital city… Strange feeling but true! I have typed up this review and thought about the content and they still have not cleared my table, and the restaurant is max half full…

I ordered the margarita minus the cheese and a mushroom pizza without cheese as well. The mushroom one was too spicy and the margarita just boring. Was cooked properly though and could have done with salt. Good prices for the size as well.

Everything half decent was full and with two hungry kids at 7pm on a Friday in Holborn we were faced with Tesco Express food in our hotel room or Pizza Express. We live in California and loathe chains but I must say, we were pleasantly surprised. The restaurant itself is quite beautiful, large, light and airy with attractive spot lighting and the menu with enough variety to satisfy most pizza lovers.
Service was typical of London these days with the impersonal central European staff rushing you along. I don’t know whether it is language or just the lack of in-​built customer attitudes that cause this but it made me realize just how good American service really is and how poor London service has become (we’ve been eating at all manner of expensive, middling and budget restaurants all week). I love the waitresses response to my request for a glass of red wine as she was once again rushing off from our table…“large or small?”.
If it wasn’t for the impersonal service and bland kids pasta, I would have given this place a 4. Gbp42 to feed and water all of us was great value and I think we would definitely come back again.
In terms of food, our boys had the kids menu, carbonara and bolognese and at gbp6.25, really good value — dough balls, salad, pasta or pizza and a good sized dessert and «bambinoccino» which was just a little cup of cappuccino type milk froth. We had a «romana» pizza and a salad. Why can you buy just a good honest large leafy salad in London with more than a small handful of green stuff? This is a green and pleasant land after all. Tasty rocket and mushroom but expensive at over gbp9. The pizza was delicious but the romano pizzas are thinner and wider than regular Pizza express pizzas (which are already quite thin) so it really was like eating a layer of cheese and tomato on paper. Delicious stuff but we did end up at Tesco Express after all to fill the gaps with bags of crisps and a (large bottle) of wine…

I like your food for a little sneaky chain-​restaurant indulgence, but you, Pizza Express on Southampton Row, are crap.
Indubitably, emphatically, decidedly, undeniably, indefensibly crap.
On repeated visits, you’ve left me standing at the entrance of your half empty restaurant for upwards to five minutes. You’ve left me sitting at my table for upwards to ten minutes waiting to order drinks. Then you’ve left me writhing in hunger for thirty minutes for my food. Finally, you’ve left me wondering for twenty minutes just how it is that your servers have so flawlessly perfected the art of eye-​contact avoidance when I could want for nothing more but to pay the bill and leave.
I hate you.
But sometimes I just want some of your damn pizza.

Your never ever going to get bored of the most famous Italian cuisine in the world — Pizza! A restaurant dedicated to this everyday snack like food item. Pizza Express have given this dish a dining experience. Along with a wide variety of pizzas and a wider variety of toppings, they also have a good selection of pastas to choose from. The basic beer and wine service does this meal justice.
I have often visited this larger franchise restaurant with a group of friends. They seem to attract big groups and lots of foreign tourists too since its in Bloomsbury which is close to the British museum and the many hotels in the area. One can be truly spoilt for choice with lots to choose from in case your fed up of hotel food.

I wouldn’t normally review chain restaurants but I suppose that it’s always good to know which ones stand out particularly in a good or bad way.
I had a spot of lunch here yesterday after a class nearby.
This branch is very pleasantly decorated, and it’s quite large. Lots of warm colours and wood.
The waiters were pleasant, and smiled often. The service was quick but not rushed. I ordered one of the new Theo Randall pizzas — it was delicious! I am sometimes a bit hesitant about Pizza Express on Sundays where it’s not a busy area — the food/​vegetables aren’t always that fresh I find but the rocket on my pizza could have been freshly picked! I was so pleased I even ordered Tiramisu for dessert, which was very nice indeed.
I would definitely recommend this branch of Pizza Express if you are in the area.