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

Pizzaland - that's the one. Thank you @FourForksSake !

I would say that lots of places have gone downhill.
Pizza Express back in the 90s absolutely was one of the better chains. There was Pizza Hut, another one whose name I forget, Domino's didn't exist. I haven't been recently so can't compare.

However, I have been to other restaurants recently (since Covid) which used to be reliably decent and have been shocked - restaurants cold, food cold, menu items unavailable, not cooked well, shoddy service. The list of places I won't go to now is getting rather long.

Yes it was good.
Chicer (navy and marble) than its competitors Pizza Hut (red) and Pizzaland (bright green) and more refined offerings.

Like a lot of these chain restaurants the golden age was in the 90s. Pizza Express, Pizza Hut etc running costs used to be reasonable so prices were affordable. People, including teens, were out and about more as it was pre-internet and phones and once again, affordable. As a result the food and service was much better. The financial crisis of 2008 was the real nail in coffin and we’ve never really recovered. The business model simply isn’t sustainable any more. Those hanging on have ridiculous prices and cut costs to the bare bone, so quality and service suffer and they perpetuate their own death.

like most casual dining restaurants flipped from private equity investor to the next, the original idea has been overinflated and diluted and entirely lost in their determination to squeeze every last penny out for its investors. I still go there (we have a local one with the most delightful staff plus I have mastered the complicated system of stamps and freebies) — but it bears no relation to the upscale place I visited as a big treat in the 90s.

Was it good, or is this just nostalgia talking? Because I hear the same thing for every single place, that it’s going down hill and isn’t the same. Can someone confirm???

For a chain pizza restaurant I think Pizza Express is fine. Its not a super hot sourdough place but it does reliably edible and not horribly expensive pizza. The service is fine and it’s family friendly.

Its never pretended to be fine dining though.

I’m not sure what its niche is nowadays. It was popular in the 80s and 90s because it was good and there was far less choice. Not the case any more. I guess it probably needs an overhaul.

They used to do loads of offers and we would go but once those stopped there was no incentive to pay £50 for a couple of pizzas and a couple of drinks and sides.

I’ve been to two recently. One was really disappointing and wouldn’t go back. The other was tasty pizza, cooked well (cheese not obliterated) would happily go back.

Ahhh one of my happiest memories is my dad driving us from our Sussex home up to the Dean Street PE one night to listen to some live jazz and letting us order whatever we wanted from the menu as our reward for tolerating it.

Two weeks before Christmas went with some of my friends to Megan's in (my nearest Surrey town).

Yes it's a chain, but I wouldn't call it charmless.

We went there because we know what we're going to get, we can share lots of stuff, and everyone likes it. We're not Grace Dent and we don't need a new tastebud explosion to talk about, where 50% of the group may be disappointed.

I think Mumsnet loves to rave about "independent" places all the time because its a signifier that where they live is a cut above Basingstoke or whatever.

😂😂😂😂

Back in the dark ages it was great, and reliable. Then Clubcard vouchers and deals made it a good place to take the DC, and they went to a few parties too. DH and I frequented the Live music venues a lot when we lived in London and saw some excellent acts. Tickets were cheap and with antipasto sharing plate and a bottle of red wine were a good date night. The antipasto is long departed, sadly.

It would be my pizza restaurant of last resort these days.

See, this is what I'm talking about. @Nutmuncher .

Like I said in the earlier thread, I've been to La Famiglia, Sale e Pepe, Polpo, Padella. Those are considered to be "sophisticated" Italian restaurants in London, which I happen to frequent because I work here.

But I still go to Pizza Express. I love it .

Surely, SURELY in this day and age, we can love and respect both?

Does that make my palate unsophisticated because I disrespect my tastebuds with Pizza Express every so often?

What I meant was - PE is expensive. Unfortunately for us my kids won’t eat gastro type foods and we wouldn’t be able to afford a steak house for all of us.

I think it’s a shame it’s gone downhill like some say - tempted to try our fave one soon and see! It was always lovely. Only last year I think. Nice building, great staff, clean and friendly. Was a listed building I think too so did have some charm. Maybe it’s location dependent.

We like pizza express. I know my kids will eat the food there so for us that's a win.
They have made a lot of cuts I think. Our nearest did close down and the rewards scheme which was really good at one point has been chopped back (I recall getting a free drink and dessert, free fizzy drink, free dough balls, and a free kids meal as part of the scheme at one point, now I get the kids meal and dough balls).
Service is also quite poor. I am glad you can now pay on the app as trying to get a member of staff over was always hard work. I can only assume they have cut staff down too as a cost saving effort.

And to me, too.

Chain restaurants generally are pretty charmless, imo.

Me too! I loved the noci pizza, I would be straight there if they brought it back!

We do go to pizza express quite regularly, as it is one of the few places I can rely on to meet the combination of dietary needs and fussiness in my family.

those saying it’s cheap - where do you normally eat??

Local gastro pubs and steak houses, independent restaurants of various cuisines. You don't really getting cheaper than pizza express without going to fast food joints, wetherspoons etc.

I think it's expensive because they know about 90% of customers are using the vouchers or their employer is paying. My kids are in their 20s now and they still have a soft spot for PE because of going when they were young. But, Rudy's is definitely the pizza chain of choice now.

Came here to say exactly the same. If I owned Pizza Express this was not an association which would have pleased me at all.

Exactly @peridoteage

All the chain restaurants have been financed over the last couple of decades using cheap debt. Now that's come to an end, and other costs have increased, are they even viable any more?

It lost its charm about 18 years ago

Used to be much better 25-30 years ago. It can be convenient but it’s expensive for an average pizza in a chaotic, not particularly clean environment. Service isn’t great either.

THAT SAID, the Soho Pizza Express is excellent, the food is similar to other branches but downstairs there is live music, decent service and a nice atmosphere.

For £70, not worth it.

But £70 is barely anything? 20% of that is VAT that goes straight to the government. So you have £56 to cover:

• all the ingredients
• the wages of the chef, servers and manager
• the energy costs of cooking the food & heating & lighting the restaurant
• cleaning products & bathroom stuff, water bills.
• the rent/lease payments on the restaurant premises and the costs of providing the furniture
• payments for IT software used for bookings, payments & the till
• interest expenses on the debt the business initially takes out to get set up and start trading

They will not be making a massive profit. Pizza express went bankrupt in the US and are restructuring at the moment as they are barely surviving.