Zizzi

I called in Zizi today while shopping in Manchester, looking to try out a new branch of this restaurant, having had good standards shown to me from other branches of Zizi before. I feel it is the perfect place for my 700^th review because it helps add to a list of places which offer good gluten free alternatives to something, which is one of the main reasons for my reviews and use of Unilocal. (And I finally got to use my Tastecard which was a bonus!)
This restaurant is in The Corn Exchange, but it is in the outside part, which you can not get into through the inside. It is accessible by stairs or lift, and the lift is a standard Stanner lift, it is pointless even having it due to its’ low quality, which helps put a dampener on the restaurant experience as a whole, and makes it a place I don’t even think is worth bothering to visit, compared to other branches which are easier to get in and out.
The lift is fairly small, which means a wheelchair or pram will struggle to get in, and that is without an assistant or someone to push the pram. One issue is, if you touch the side in any area, it will just stop and call out a lighting issue, it took about 5 minutes in the lift, to the point I doubted I would get out without having to call the lift company or the fire brigade. I found the lift to be terrible and poor simply because it just didn’t move, and of course it would be hard not to touch the side, as with wheelchairs or prams, they can be large, which means they isn’t enough room to move in a central position.
Now to the main part, the food. The service here was pretty slow, even to get both the menus and the food and even to be served to get them, the staff seemed okay, but were definitely below-​average mainly with the speed they served at. They didn’t seem to be too busy, despite having a low number of staff, they seemed well managed to be able to cope, but they still struggled with 2 chefs and 3 waiters.
I noticed a gluten free menu, which was quite good with pizzas, pasta on the menu. I decided to settle with a gluten free carbonara knowing as the cheapest meal out of the two, this would be free with my Tastecard, which should cost £9.95 (The meal)
I also ordered a Blood Orange San Pellegrino, I can’t really comment on that because it is just a can, you can get from the corner shop, but at £2.50 it was a little expensive, but those seem to be the prices you have when eating out.
The atmosphere here, due to it being on a separate level to the rest of Manchester and The Corn Exchange, very quiet, understaffed and dark, was poor especially compared to other stores such as the one Zizzi have in Piccadilly.
The food its-​self was quite nice, especially for gluten free. The pasta was good quality, and nicer than the one I had at Carluccio’s and the sauce and mushrroms was nice too. The type of ham they used was okay, but I’d have prefered it to be cut up and mixed in, rather than one large piece on the top, this is the only part of the meal where Carluccio’s as brand done better than Zizzi, but still the pasta was overall better, and some of the nicer gluten free pasta I have had.
I also tried some of my friend’s chicken, it was quite tender and nice chicken, and the sauce was nice too, I was upset to here the potatoes had gluten in, otherwise I’d have probably opted for that meal, and I certainly didn’t just want a whole skewer of chicken!
At the end of the evening and meal, I asked for my bill, my server was a little slow once again, getting this and typing in my Tastecard information, but eventually everything was done in a reasonable, yet still poor fashion.
The toilets were layed out quite nice, with 2 toilets for men, 2 for women and one facility for both wheelchairs and /​or baby changing. The toilets were clean, and even had a more positive smell, or aroma if you prefer.
To summarize, due to lift issues and issues with the service and staff (Although the staff did seem nice), although the food was good, it just seems more of a hassle coming here especially with longer wait times, slow service and issue with the lift. Therefore, I feel I can only give 2 stars, despite this being lenient due to the quality of the food, I feel it is much more deserved than a 3, which I would have give providing either one of the lift or services issues would not have been a problem.

An authentic Italian restaurant! I think that this says everything! Whatever I tried, and trust me I tried a lot of dishes, is magnificent! The best part is that it is actually AUTHENTIC Italian! Try any rustica (like a pizza but much bigger and filling) and also the strozzapreti pesto rosso!! AWESOME! The only reason I dont give them 5 stars is because the service is too slow… I’ve been there 4 times, all of them we had to wait so much to give an order, eat and pay the bill! But still guys. Since the food is yammy, there is no reason for you not to try it!

I’ve passed by Manchester eye, the big screen and walked straight past the triangle restaurants into Printworks every single time and never really given their places a chance. So changing that thought, I stumbled there with a friend on a cold December evening. I was pretty awed by the place, it was spacious, dim-​lit and the dark furniture fit the place perfectly well. And yes, I do have a thing for ambience in my visits! The menu was interesting. It could be said a usual Italian do, but I found their variety coupled with the place a much better deal for the price than, say, Bella Italia in town. The food was delicious and I would suggest the big square pizzas with two flavours in one worth the penny!
It’s not a special place to be for deserts, but the mains pretty much make up for it! On a busy day, the place would never really look that crammed owing to the huge spread out it has. A great place for ones who still haven’t looked into it and are in search for another Italian flavour in town!

Despite working in this area, I’d never really bothered with Zizzi’s before, it’s just another Italian-​themed chain restaurant. Pizza Express is two doors down and much cheaper.
But one day I was dragged over after work by some colleagues who were regulars there. I wasn’t expecting much and so I was very pleasantly surprised with how tasty the food was. I had the Risotto Di Pesce and it was gorgeous and the portion was massive!
It’s not cheap and it’s not all fantastic, the menu is a little adventurous for a chain restaurant so they do struggle at busy times. I’d stick to the more simple dishes to be on the safe side.