For those not familiar with this popular Pizza and Pasta chain, they have now quite an extensive number of branches around the country, and in my opinion, are one of the better chains of its type. I have eaten at my local branch in Loughton, Essex several times, most recently for a midweek ... Read review
A review by Essexgirl2006 on Zizzi November 17th, 2006
Author's product rating:
Value for Money
Excellent
Standard of Menu
Good
Atmosphere
Average
Standard of Service
Average
Advantages:
Fresh, tasty food . Excellent value
Disadvantages:
Limited atmosphere
Recommend to potential buyers:
yes
Full review
For those not familiar with this popular Pizza and Pasta chain, they have now quite an extensive number of branches around the country, and in my opinion, are one of the better chains of its type. I have eaten at my local branch in Loughton, Essex several times, most recently for a midweek meal with some friends which is the experience I am reviewing.
The restaurant is very spacious, with a large entrance area, we were greeted almost immediately by a waitress who was whizzing past, and told us she would be with us shortly. To one side are the chefs with a pizza oven in an open plan area of the kitchen (although I think there is probably a busier part round the back!), the rest is taken up with a bar/sofa area, and plenty of well spaced, good sized tables As the five of us stood huddled in an untidy bundle by the menus we were queue jumped by a couple, but our waitress was more alert than that and made a point of seating us first which I was impressed with. We were given a choice of non-smoking or smoking, and we sat in the non-smoking area. I didn't notice the smoke from the smoking area which was nice, our waitress brought us our menus, including the Specials menu and told us the soup of the day. Rather oddly the Specials menu was on the same pre-printed card as the regular menu, which made it somewhat less special! On previous visits there was normally a blackboard by the door with two or three dishes on it. The card had about four or five starters and mains on it, with two changeable dishes printed on business card sized pieces of card which slotted into this 'Special' menu. It looks like whatever is on 'special' has to be special for several months.
Our waitress took our drinks orders, although my request for "no lemon" in my drink got translated as "extra lemon", fortunately my friend's orange juice was a grateful recipient. We were also offered olives, which we declined.
It took a while for our orders to be taken, but this suited us, and our starters arrived fairly promptly. We had opted to share three portions of Bruschetta al Pomodoro which was toasted ciabatta topped with chopped yellow and red cherry tomatoes, garlic, basil and red onion with a balsamic drizzle. They were delicious and very fresh tasting. The menu offered a range of bruschetta or crostini type starters as well as garlic breads, and a few salad and pasta starters. The typical starter price was between £3.50-£4.50 and I would say for two generously topped bruschetta slices £3.65 was very reasonable and it was a good sized portion.
For my main course I ordered Pomodoro (tomato) pizza from the Specials menu, which came with mozzarella, red onion and spinach. It was absolutely huge (I would guess about 15-16" across), fresh and tasty, although the topping didn't quite go to the edges. My only other complaint is that the knives they give you are quite inadequate to cut the pizza unless you are prepared to risk it flying across the table. All pizzas and pasta dishes at our table were pronounced delicious and filling, and chicken risotto (served with prosciutto ham and mozzarella) was also a popular choice. Pizzas average about £7.75 in price and Pasta dishes about £8.45. Typical dishes include classics like Spaghetti Bolognese to Pappardelle Zafferano (crayfish and leeks with saffron and mushroom sauce). They also offer Calzone (folded pizzas), Lasagne and salads. The menu is very heavily pizza and pasta influenced, so you need to like these types of foods.
They have an extensive bar and wines are very reasonably priced starting at £11.95 per bottle for the house variety, going up £30 for champagne (although there were more expensive ones on the specials menu for some reason, I think this went up to £45). A bottle of Pinot Grigio will set you back £13.95 or £3.40 for a small glass.
There was a selection of desserts available from ice cream to tiramisu and something rich involving banana, chocolate and waffles that I was far to full to take in, let alone eat. We didn't partake of desserts this time, which are priced reasonably between £2.25 and £4.25. In the past I have forced down an ice cream which was more than sufficient for a lightweight like me. There also offer a selection of teas and coffees.
Mid week was a quiet night and we had no trouble being seated, although weekends are a different matter and I would advise booking, particularly if your local branch is quite small. Service was good, although not exceptional, it was a quiet night, yet we there did not seem to be many staff around and we did have to wait a while to flag someone down for extra drinks and the bill. Toilets (Ladies, at least) are modern and tidy, if rather hot due to the heat from the hand dryer. This branch has facilities for disabled diners, but that is probably worth checking with your local branch, as it may depend on the building it's in. Ours was in the building that was a former large pub, so there was plenty of space for any adaptations. The restaurant is family friendly with a number of high chairs available, but these are of the high wooden seat variety to allow the little person to reach the table, they don't come with a tray. They also cater for parties and have a Christmas Party menu available. Although the place itself may not have the greatest atmosphere, a lot of it is what you make of it, so if you are looking for an informal, good value meal with friends or family, I think you could do a lot worse.
In total our bill for three starters, five mains, a round and a half of drinks and 12% tip came to £16 per head which we agreed was very reasonable as we were rolled out of the restaurant….
I ate at the Loughton branch, 2 Church Hill, Loughton, Essex IG10 1LA. A full menu and a list of restaurant locations is available online at http://www.zizzi.co.uk/
Advantages: Good all round Italian Fayre Disadvantages: Chain, can get smokey inside!
I live very close to a branch of the now national Italian restaurant chain 'Zizzi's.' I go there from time to time so I thought it would be worth a quick review. Ive been to a few branches, but my experiences are mainly based on the Finchley Central (north London) branch. I think they are pretty consistent between branches however!
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So what is ZIzzi's?
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Zizzi's is a chain of Pasta and Pizza restaurants. ... ...or two branches but they now seem to be sprawling everywhere. Ive seen them in Milton Keynes, Bristol and Ipswich (some of the places Ive been to recently!). Despite being another pizaa and pasta chain, it looks, tastes and feels very different to the Ask and Pizza Express brands, which makes a refreshing change. It is very family friendly, and my local branch is always full of kids, which you may see as an advantage or a disadvantage! Prices are ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Advantages: excellent service, very good quality food and choice of dishes Disadvantages: unable to book small tables on fri or sat after 6.30pm
There seems to be a Zizzi in every self-respecting town these days. It isn't hard to see why they're popular with all age groups and usually very busy.
There is a good range of starters, pizzas, pastas, salads and desserts, and a specials card that changes every few weeks. There are a number of vegetarian options.
It is very easy to adapt meals to your own requirements, for example by swapping one ingredient for another, which won't cost you, or ... ...of the best things about Zizzi is the standard of service. Every month they send in a mystery diner to check standards are up to scratch. This includes ensuring that things are done promptly so you won't sit there for ages waiting. If you have a problem with your food or drink they will happily do their best to put things to your satisfaction.
What more can you ask for?
They don't even mind if you want to take in your own birthday cake and have ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Advantages: Food was delicious and the pudding was heavenly Disadvantages: Waiters not interested in customers
...friend and I went to Zizzi on Sunday 1st March at 5.45pm for a pre-gig meal. Even though the restaurant was nearly empty, we weren't shown to a table for 5 minutes. We ordered main courses and they were delicious, not huge portions but very tasty. Then we attempted to order pudding. After 15 minutes we still hadn't been able to catch eye of one of the 3 waiters. When one eventually deigned to take our order, he said that there was no coffee, as the ... ...only wanted one pudding (my friend had wanted a coffee instead). The pudding also took ages to arrive but it was heavenly by the way.
Then we tried to get the bill - again no one seemed interested in us. We were sitting near the door so we actually discussed getting up and walking out to see if they took any notice of us. When the waiter did eventually bring the bill, I was roused for the first time I can remember into NOT leaving a tip (I was a ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Advantages: Family Friendly; nice Staff Disadvantages: Small Portions
Went to Zizi's in Milton Keynes with a party of seven yesterday evening (July 5th, 2008) with two small children. We were seated quickly, and found the staff to be very family friendly. The waitress was wonderful. Portions were small considering the prices: 8-10 GBP. Tiramisu for dessert was somewhat short on flavour, tasted OK, but was embarrassingly small; 4.25 GBP for a piece approximately 3 inches square. I asked a manager for an explanation ... ...He quickly sent a double sized portion to the table, but didn't offer another diner at our table having tiramisu the same. Final analysis - Food quality/taste: 7 out of 10; Service 9; Family friendly - 10; value for money: 3. If their portion sizes are standard across the chain, they will be out of business in 3 years, unless they change the model, because the food quality is not good enough to draw the higher income customers in consistently. Had ...
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Value for Money
Standard of Menu
Atmosphere
Standard of Service
helpful
06.07.2008
Quick review of Zizzi Review ofZizziby
Tabithareed29
For a relatively cheap meal Zizzi's offers a friendly relaxed atmosphere and a good Italian menu. The are usually a number of seasonal specials and the classic pizza and pasta dishes are all available. Although Zizzi's is a chain it has much less of a fast food feel than Pizza Express. The service can be a bit slack when its very busy though. There are regularly 241 offers going around on the internet so it is worth checking before your visit. The downside is that you can not book tables for less than 8 people, however you can normally get a table if you call in and are prepared to have a drink at the bar for a short wait.
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Advantages: Attractive Decor, Quality food, good prices Disadvantages: None
...It is awfully hard to write about a chain style restaurant and then limit your review to one particular branch. Indeed it almost seems meaningless as with the proper training and procedures then eating in one should be pretty much the same experience no matter where you go up and down the country.
That said - a restaurant which is the same pretty much up and down the country is normally a chain of restaurants I prefer to avoid, unless eating when on the road is more of a function (e.g. like those beginning with W.....!!) than wanting it to be an enjoyable culinary experience. Zizzi's is a chain owned by ASK, a company formed within the last 12 years, recognising a gap in the quality end of the pizza and pasta market. There are over 60 Zizzi's chains in the UK, and a further 60+ ASK restaurants at the current time, with the group...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Advantages: Good food at reasonable prices Disadvantages: Waiting for a table
...Take Pizza Express and Cafe Uno, put them together and then make 20% better and you have Zizzi. My local Zizzi (St Albans) can get very busy but it's worth the noise and clatter for the good food they offer at reasonable prices.
~ Prices ~
Zizzi provides good quality food at reasonable prices. Starters are priced from £3.10 to £4.45. Their pizzas are from £5.30 for a basic Margarita pizza, up to £8.50 for a Calzone de Pesci which contains oak roasted salmon. The menu also contains a wide range of pasta dishes, ranging in price from £5.80 to £8.65, and a small selection of main course salads, priced from £6.85 to £7.95. Desserts are priced from £2.25 for ice cream, up to £4.45 for a Mela Crocchate which is an Italian Apple and Amaretto crumble served with cream or ice cream.
It's possible therefore to have a 3 course meal...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Advantages: good service, food, price Disadvantages: theres cheaper out there, loos upstairs
...All this eating out I have been doing over the summer isn't doing me any favours at all, but I figure I might as well do ciao one, by writing another restaurant review and adding to the catalogue. On Saturday Afternoon, I went to Maidstone with my boyfriend and as we were famished we set about finding somewhere to east immediately. We headed to Earl Street, which is home to the Pizza Express, Nando's, Mexxa Mexxa of Maidstone but decided that as we had already been to all three, to go to Zizzi instead, for a bit of a change.
Zizzi is a quickly expanding chain of Italian restaurants, owned by the same people that run the Ask restaurants. They are currently opening 25 new restaurants per year and there are branches all over the UK, in cities such as Birmingham, London, Newcastle, Edinburgh and Milton Keynes. I have only been to one...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
