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Original poster

Pizza Express about to go into adminstration?

252 replies

QuimJongUn · 07/10/2019 12:29

I've seen people talking about this on social media but can't find anything about it online. Anyone heard anything/got any links?

It's daft but I've got a real fondness for the place especially with money off from Clubcard vouchers

OP posts:
heartsonacake · 07/10/2019 15:15

Oh no I love Pizza Express Sad

smellybelly1 · 07/10/2019 15:16

chains not chasing!!

MissDollyMix · 07/10/2019 15:18

It's things like this ... PE used to feel so sophisticated and upmarket. It just feels a bit grubby now. www.hertsad.co.uk/news/harpenden-pizza-express-mess-1-6303356

RevealTheLegend · 07/10/2019 15:19

Oh no.

We’re in one of those naice provincial northern towns with absolutely NO decent independent Italians.

PE is our go to place. I’m very partial to the one with the spicy sausage (totally not worth the 15 quid they charge for it though)

I totally agree with the pp about the pricing though, it’s a total con if you don’t use a voucher. So the menu items are Fixed deliberately too high to compensate for all the vouchers. FWIW I don’t think we’ve ever paid the menu prices. We sit there in the restaurant and search for offers as we are ordering.

I

RevealTheLegend · 07/10/2019 15:20

I predict Wagamama will be next, similarly overpriced. Great food, but way too expensive for what it is.

Hope not because I’m addicted to DuckDonburri.

TheStuffedPenguin · 07/10/2019 15:20

Nooooo I love their goats cheese pizza!

Grumpyperson · 07/10/2019 15:21

There are far far better pizza places (chains)

Are there? What are they?

I find the service pretty good at all of the Pizza Expresses I've been to. Recently I was in one in Liverpool (Hope Street) and it was very good. My local one is good.

I find the independent Italians tend to be style over substance.

DimensionalShambler · 07/10/2019 15:21

@Lifebi - 1. if you (or anyone) pays full price at PE you’re a mug, they always have massive discounts available and they inflate the prices to make up for it. 2. If you (or anyone) are still ‘starving’ after eating an entire pizza the size of a dinner plate or larger you should probably seek treatment for ED and/or tapeworm.

MaybeitsMaybelline · 07/10/2019 15:23

Gutted. Pizza express is the only place I can rely on pizza tasting how I love. A Romano American hit is the only one I eat.

Lifebi · 07/10/2019 15:27

@DimensionalShambler - no need to bring my Erectile Dysfunction into this!

dimsum123 · 07/10/2019 15:27

Not wagamamas! I love it! Like PE too, but Tbh hardly ever go there, maybe once a year if that and always with vouchers.

Go to Wagamamas much more often, would really miss it.

WingDefence · 07/10/2019 15:33

Looking at the articles linked on here, PE isn't going into administration just yet so don't panic people! However, it clearly hasn't been good for a while and as @Ursaminor points out, their accounts aren't great.

It's the same way as a lot of these chains have been going recently - see also Prezzo, Jamie's Italian, GBK etc. This is a really interesting article from last year: www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2018/feb/22/casual-dining-crunch-jamies-italian-strada-byron-struggling

BarbaraofSeville · 07/10/2019 15:34

I don't understand the expensive comments, isn't it 2 courses for £13 which is pretty much the same as Franco Marc

It's the add ons like drinks that are expensive. They don't do draft lager for a start, so you have to pay the best part of £7 for a pint size bottle.

All the independents in my city will sell you a pint of draft lager for about £4.50 tops. Glass of wine usually a couple of quid cheaper too and soft drinks will often be a can for £1/£1.50 instead of about £3 for a coke in PE.

MoltoAgitato · 07/10/2019 15:35

Any restaurant that runs on vouchers won’t last long. Too expensive for what it is - if I’m going to spend £70 odd on a family meal, there are better options (our local pub, for example) - or I could spend £20 and have change for fish and chips for all of us, which goes down just as well.

Freefalling123 · 07/10/2019 15:37

Too many outlets, many of which will be loss making due to vastly over inflated rents and business rates, some in provincial towns which just no longer work. I would expect to see, like Prezzo, a closure programme but a retention of the core locations which trade well.

It's a very tough market they operate in (mid market casual dining) and they rely heavily on pizza only rather than a good mix of decent pasta dishes and alternatives, like ASK, Zizzi or Bella Italia, which have a wider choice, and better locations.

As for Frankie and Benny's....don't get me started. Overpriced s* food, but they are also condensing locations, alongside their sister brand Chiquito, and are expected to be closing c150 leisure park locations, if not converting them to Wagamamas, which they have started doing. Since they bought Wags, I can't even contemplate eating there now either!

SweetPeaPods · 07/10/2019 15:38

The vouchers are always a bit of a con. Mostly excludes Fridays and Saturdays. And most exclude places like NEC, O2 so the dinner there always feels like a rip off as I can’t use a voucher!

RevealTheLegend · 07/10/2019 15:38

dimsum. I have no knowledge, im just guessing at a similarly positioned competitor in a saturated market. I really hope they are not in any trouble.

Tbh I’m willing to make great sacrifices to ensure the continuity of my supply of donburri (with a fried egg on top) so I am willing to commit to eating there weekly if not daily if it would help.

I’ll take one for the team here, and force down that delicious saucy rice...(even though my nearest one is a 70mile round trip) Just need to do a crowdfunder for the astronomical cost of the food.

Passthecherrycoke · 07/10/2019 15:39

I think PE have played a blinder with their vouchers. They started them in 2008 after the financial crash when people weren’t spending on luxuries. Those vouchers could’ve given them another 10 years in business

RevealTheLegend · 07/10/2019 15:41

Oh god...

... but not if they’ve been taken over by frankie and bennys.

Deeply unimpressed by them despite several visits in different locations to give them the benefit of the doubt.

RaquelWelch · 07/10/2019 15:41

Daily Mail have an article on it

Skinnychip · 07/10/2019 15:47

We never go because DH is quite snobby particular about eating out and we are lucky enough to have a couple of nice independent places near where we live however the Pizza express is always busy near us. It does have a very prominent location in the town though.

littlepooch · 07/10/2019 15:48

Our kids love it. I have 3 under 3 and very rarely eat out with them as it's mayhem but in our local branch the staff are just so lovely and kind and helpful to me when I'm trying to keep 3 entertained and quiet so if we do want to treat the girls we go there or mcdonalds

The food is fine to me, it is what it is, my kids adore the kids menu with the little dessert and babycino etc. I think the pizza is pretty good too. Never ever go without a voucher though.

I will be sad if it goes. I'm one of the few who doesn't like Franco manca much and we don't have any good independent pizza places near us as an alternative.

Frazzled2207 · 07/10/2019 15:50

It's pretty much the only place we can take our kids where we know they will reliably eat.
Definitely overpriced, we never went without tesco vouchers and it still cost over £50 to feed us.

lololove · 07/10/2019 15:50

We don't have a PE here or anywhere nearby, but I have tried their ready meal pizza's a couple of times. They were very nice but nothing that another ready meal pizza wouldn't be. I have heard people who do have a branch nearby or who have travelled and eaten at one saying it was nice food.