To think that eating out in chain restaurants like pizza Express without some kind of voucher/discount is madness

[Whistleblower0]

Went to PE at the weekend. We had some Tesco vouchers about to expire.
We, (me dh and dd) had two courses each, a salad, and some bread to share, two large glasses of wine, a diet coke, and hot chocolate, and two coffees.
Te bill came to £74 something.
It was very nice, and we all got our pizza fix, and the atmosphere was lovely. We had just been to see a film beforehand, so all and all a really pleasant relaxed evening.
However, i would never have paid £70 odd in hard cash had we not have the vouchers!!
We had £50 worth of tesco vouchers, so handed over £20 in cash for the balance as well as leaving a tip.
There was a couple next to us who were using some sort of voucher, and the family behind us were also paying with tesco deals.
Who pays full price in chain restaurants any more?

I never use vouchers can't be bothered with the hustle of their t&c

I don't shop in Tesco, and when we go out for a meal we just want to eat rather than picking from a restricted menu.

We do sometimes use a voucher if one suits what we want to have but I'm not going to faff around thinking 'oh I can't have xyz'.

£70 is a lot, we mostly spend less than that and there are four of us.

i eat at tgis if im going chain but then again i work for them so i get my food for 50% discount so i can go mad on food without breaking the bank

I 'boosted' £25 worth of clubcard vouchers to get 5 £20 vouchers, each for a different chain (PE, prezzo, ask, Bella and strada) that's us sorted for a few months.

Drinks often aren't included I think, that's where they want to make their money if you buy lots of wine etc. Shame for them DH and I don't drink :o

Ooh, 50% off at TGIs I am

We were planning on going there for DH's birthday (yesterday) but we are all ill! So hopefully next week. I love their mozzarella sticks :o

We don't shop in Tesco so don't get their vouchers, but there's always vouchers on the PE websdite anyway, or googling 'Pizza Express offers' usually nets you something as well. We rarely ever pay full price there either, can always find vouchers for a minimum of 15% and often up to 40% equivalent too.

I don't shop at Tesco either but all my Sainsburys shopping and many other expenses on my Tesco credit card. I then pay it of in full each month. We usually exchange points for about 1k of restaurant voucher plus quite a few magazine subscriptions each year.

I have never eaten at Pizza Express. I like Pizza Hut but go once in a blue moon and its usually me, a friend, her 2 year old and my 4 year old.

I also dont order from Dominos as that's too expensive for me

Paying full price at PE is a waste of money but so are lots of other things, eg buying a new car when you can usually buy essentially the same car for half the price but with a 3-year old plate.

There's a very naice, independent pizza restaurant near me which is cheap. A pizza 1m long (feeds about 6-7) costs £20. Kids pizza which is the same size as an adult one in pizza express and much tastier is only £4. The food is amazing and so cheap we eat there all the time.

I just want to thank you OP because we're taking the DC for a quick dinner at GBK tomorrow evening. Without this thread I would have never thought to do a search for vouchers. I now have a voucher for 2 burgers for £10.

Prezzo is much better value, especially if you have a (free trial) Tastecard or a voucher.

Excellent Taz, GBK are another chain who are terrible for dual pricing.

The thing is now, I wouldn't eat at PE (or Handmade Burger, GBK, Zizzi's, Cafe Rouge) without vouchers now, so on the odd occasion they don't have vouchers, I wouldn't go. So it's just one big vicious circle.

I tend to use VoucherCloud on my phone.

DP and I recently joked that the new definition of having more money than sense was to eat at pizza express or a similar chain restaurant without some kind of discount voucher.

Their drinks especially are fucking extortionate. Four quid for a bottle of beer that costs less than a pound in the supermarket or £2.50 for a can of pop that you can buy six of in waitrose for virtually the same price.

We like PE and don't have any independent Italians near us, but only go when we have tesco vouchers to pay for the food.

If I don't shop at Tesco, where can I get vouchers for PE? We eat there all.the.time. I've never used a voucher. They require a lot of organization!

Go onto their website and sign up off emails or get the app.

We go to Pizza Express lots and lots. Always with a voucher code from Internet though. It would be crazy to pay full price.

Crowler , paying full price at P.E is the food equivalent of buying a full price sofa from DFS

Do you have a smart phone, Crowler? If so, with voucher cloud, you literally just tap on the offer you want and it pops up a code which you show to the waiter.

I had no idea PE was so dear, haven't been in one in years. Much cheaper to buy the pizzas in a supermarket, with a bagged salad and cheap plonk.

PropertyNIGHT does DFS have sales? They never mention it in their adverts!

I've heard so, Creamy, but I think they keep them on the downlow. You generally have to be in the know, and get there quick, cos they never last very long...

agree with havant that PE is a rip off
i am happy to go to pizza hut, and happy to spend much more at a decent restaurant, but PE is basically fast food at inflated prices.

plus the service is usually so slooooow that "express" is laughable. and the wine is shite.

We have little money so only time we can justify eating out is using tesco points to pay in pizza express. OH has a coke, me and the kids have water so all it costs us is dh's coke.

If we are really splurging for a special occasion at home we get dominos but only with 50% off otherwise its way to pricey plus we discovered that Chicago town frozen takeaway pizzas you cook at home are just as nice.