To think pizza express has officially lost its charm and is not the same place it once was.

I like their pizzas. I wouldn't compare it to McDonald's but I also wouldn't say it was amazing before.

Pizza express is hardly cheap, so idk what you’re talking about!!

I change my Tesco vouchers up for prezzo now. Not too keen on pizza express. It was fine when the children were small as family friendly.

I have t been in about 4 years but it wasn’t particularly good then! We used Tesco vouchers when DC were young which worked well as it had the ‘picollo’ menu, but it def gone downhill in more recent times.

Same in Manchester, what with Rudy's and Double Zero etc. Went to PE last year with DD as it was convenient for the theatre and we had a voucher. The pizza was very poor quality, just a small step up from a frozen pizza IMO.
It's still popular with my in-laws though, now in their 70s, for them it's still a nice place to go, as they are familiar with it.

Probably a bit like most AI hotels. Only really attractive if nice food, atmosphere and service isn't your main priority so the mediocre predictability is actually a selling point.

I agree with those saying it isn't cheap. The drinks are extortionate and the food is more than independents, unless perhaps you have a voucher.

It's just suffered by comparing to newer and better places.

When it was Pizza Hut, Pizza land or Deep Pan Pizza Co, Pizza Express looked more chic, and was the only place to get Italian rather than Chicago style pizza.

Now the world and his dog can sell you a sourdough pizza, so PE looks a bit outdated.

OK with the many vouchers (has anyone ever paid full price? It's like double glazing pricing) and for families with young children, but past its best.

I agree.

We used to wonder if our local Pizza Express was used as a training environment because the quality of service seemed to go through a cycle. For a period of time they would be very slow and seemed all over the place, then after a while it improved and they were very on the ball. But a few weeks later it seemed to have gone back to square one again.

However, our local one does seem very well run now and has been for a while with friendly efficient staff. We go every few weeks and, yes, it is consistent quality. I mean, it's pizza, it's fine.

Always found it over priced and over rated.

nicer environment than Pizza Hut and feels more of a ‘restaurant’ but find the pizza very mediocre.

all style and no substance and the prices are just ott.

does nothing for me - even when they did the 2 for 1 vouchers that they used to do with car insurance( think it was compare the meerkats) always left feeling ripped off as just so expensive for what you get.

I think it's good for a time in your life, I.e kids under 10

I haven’t been for a long time but my view is everything has got worse so there’s no reason to think PizzaExpress has dodged the inferior to what it used to be opinion either.

Sums it up perfectly!

It was both better during this period and not competing with superior sourdough pizza places. When the main high street pizza brand was Pizza Hut, it was the fancy option. The only way to compete now is with deals and gimmicks, which to be fair I think it has been successful at. Although it’s not somewhere I’d choose above other options it has outlasted many chains from that period (which was The Age of the Chain in my mind).

I think a lot of these places is down to the management of the individual restaurant. Local pizza express isn’t too bad. Go quite a lot to the local one. Local Ask on the other hand is awful. Long wait, floors are really slippy and it’s just meh.

I go to some amazing restaurants but I have a fondness for Pizza Express and their wine is always good. A trip to the cinema then a chat about the film over pizzas and red wine is a perfect night out.

I love a bit of Pizza Express- definitely not a cheap option without vouchers but my friend and l go twice a year for old times' sake and we always have a nice meal

This is why we go. DH has several anaphylactic allergies and I’m coeliac. So if we’re away, we know it’s a safe choice with decent options on the menu for both of us. Bill’s is another example. We tend to stick to chains that we know because it’s easier than researching restaurants, downloading the allergy menus, and scrolling through to find that the only gluten free thing is a steak, which I don’t like, or that there’s nothing for DH.
We’re not labouring under the impression that it’s fine dining. But we’re not big foodies and it gets us fed.

It’s just snobby people who have more money to burn. Or highly likely they don’t and it’s all lies! 😂

people like to pretend they live in upmarket places with all these bougie independent places. One poster said they have zero chains. Whoopie for them.

maybe they do, maybe they don’t

but don’t look down at and start chastising people for liking pizza express for F sakes.

I’ve never liked pizza express much anyway

Prefer Bella Italia or Zizzi for a chain Italian restaurant

The one in my town is great, service is really good. Went there just before Christmas and had a really good seasonal pizza. I was surprised by how expensive the pizzas are now, over £20 for some of them. And I think the leggera is an absolute rip off.

Maybe they need to address that with some kind of offer perhaps?

’pizza so good it’ll make you sweat’ then half price pizza plus free ice cream to cool down 🤩

It was good 20 years ago. It’s awful now. The last time we went, my 2 children wouldn’t eat more than a few bites and I struggled to eat mine. It was quite horrible. Haven’t been back since.

Pizzaland was my student job. I still hanker after their calzone. I don’t miss the hideous green skirts we had to wear. Pizza was served in the pans with a little spatula, and it had a salad bar with crescent shaped plates. Customers would create a wide frill with lettuce leaves to pile on as much salad as possible. And cover it with bacon bits.

I disagree…who the hell proposes in a Pizza Express?!

I rather like pizza express and don’t think it’s on a par with Pizza Hut. it’s a much better chain. Less ‘fast foody’
I go a few times a year and always have a good meal. It’s good for families. Nice variety. I like the modified dough balls like pigs in blankets style.
it’s not fine dining and doesn’t advertise itself as such.

No. I don’t need to define my opinions to you.

Opinion stated as fact is a common rhetorical device.

I’m sorry I upset you by not liking Pizza Express any more, though.