To think Jamie's Italian failed due to being shit rather than brexit

[Ll81]

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5377965/Jamie-Olivers-Italian-restaurant-empire-racks-debts.html#article-5377965

Brexit is going to cause lots of problems for many years to come, but it's just a cheap shot blaming brexit. I've eaten in his Italian places twice and it was pretty shit food and bad value. Brexit or not I'm sure it wouldn't make much difference to his buisness this quickly.

Have only been the once. Wouldn’t go back because the black ink squid rice stained my teeth and the waitress was too in our faces.

I've been to one (twice - two different branches) and agree with a lot of the comments - worse food than Pizza Express but more expensive, and a bizarre lack of veggie options given that it's a cuisine where it is very easy to find interesting and tasty vegetarian food. The one in Cambridge is in a lovely building, though - its one redeeming feature!

I think it seemed like a business that got too big too quickly.

We've not been as I heard they were bad for gluten free, which bucks the trend for Italians restaurants.

Agree, I went once and it was like "meh". Wouldn't go again, it's definitely not worth the cost or the hype that surrounds it. Plenty of other restaurant chains are surviving Brexit so far.

But I may be a little biased because I think Jamie Oliver is an obnoxious twat who stole Turkey Twizzlers from innocent children.

I went to our local Jamies for an occasion dinner with a large group several years ago. There were about 6 people on our table who’d chosen the same pasta main & every single one of them said the pasta sauce was salty to the point of being inedible. We called the waiter over, who went off to investigate. Came back and said: “the chef’s checked the sauce and he says it’s fine!” And that was it! Six people left with an inedible main which none of them ate. There were about 20 of us at that meal & we all took a very dim view of the service/experience. I only visited once again with kids & it was dismal. The Carluccios in the same part of town is so much nicer & the kids meals are great value.

Totally ageee! Once and never again. Overpriced and awful. Also JO I personally have a problem with chillies being in every damn recipe!! If I wanted to eat Mexican I wouldn't choose Italian!! no wonder!!

So that makes it unanimous (apart from one contribution). OP we agree with you. Nothing to do with Brexit, the food is unremarkable and vastly overpriced.

We've been to the Glasgow one too and were very unimpressed. Food was OK but it was very overpirced for what it was and the service was shockingly slow. Just awful, especially as within 5 minutes walk there's a Prezzo, two Zizzis, a Wagamama, Pizza Express and dozens of other places.

We have never been back which says it all.

false that's the one. Really limited veggie options. Not surprised it shut.

We went to a Jamies and were thoroughly disappointed. It was bland and over priced.

Expensive and crap. I didn't like the general atmosphere either (Aberdeen)

For some unknown reason, we went twice, despite visit one being shite.

Awful food, total pretension and massively over-priced.

Also massively irritated by the salad in a jar/food on boards and slates nonsense. We could hardly move for all the crap on our tiny table.

I haven’t ever eaten at one of these restaurants, but someone up thread said they serve spaghetti bolognese. No Italian would ever cook that dish. Bolognese (or Ragu) is served with tagliatelle.

Short answer: yes.

Brexit is shit and I believe a lot if businesses will have issues as a result. However Jamie's Italian is way overpriced. I went once and never again. The descriptions on the menu and dishes just didn't match up, also overpriced. Agree there are far better chains if that's what you want.

We went to the Manchester one when it first opened. It’s was dreadful, overpriced shite.

Far better Italian restaurants in Manchester to choose from!

Iain Dale had a rant about Jamie Oliver's claims that the closures were due to Brexit last January. One of the things he highlighted was the bad choice of locations for some of the restaurants, citing the one he knew best in Tunbridge Wells. That and the relative cost compared to e.g. Pizza Express. Basically, bad business decisions were behind the closures last year, Dale argued.

I had salmon there the one and only time I went. It was the size of my little finger and expensive.

Never again.

The Bluewater one is an exercise in narcissism. There are pictures of JO everywhere and videos of him on all the screens.... then to top it off - a timeline of his life, starting from conception at Southend pier 🤢. Not the most appetising environment!

Never been because I've heard bad things about it, that's probably why it failed.I don't really eat at Italian chains. We don't have any where I live but we have a local independent which does fab pizza ,the pasta is pretty good too. If we have a family meal Fils favourite is in a seaside town, Never had anything bad there but the seafood is amazing. Finally if we do go t a chain it would be San Carlos, not just because it's opposite a Spoons

Blaming it on Brexit is just PR and spin. The reason why the chain is in trouble is because the food is shit and overpriced.

As PP have already said, the mid-market 'fast casual' sector is very competitve; you've got Prezzo, Zizzi, Pizza Express and ASK all competing in the same pool. You know that 98% of the menu has been mass-produced and vacuum packed in a factory in Slough and shipped out to the branches. But there's an expectation of it being tasty, reasonably priced and consistent which is why people go there.

The problem for Jamie is that all of his competitors just do it better and they aren't hampered by the PR message of the owner espousing fresh and cooked from scratch. By sticking his name over the door and churning out crap he looks like a hypocrite - and worse, a hypocrite who does not actually give a shit about what he sticks his name on.

I've never been in one, but it does seem obvious that in this country if you want to start a chain of Italian restaurants, they're going to have to be good. We have a few decent cheapish chains and most towns have a decent independent Italian restaurant, usually with good food, good service all for a very reasonable price.

Never been into Jamie Oliver restaurant, but Bella Italia is lovely, and probably half the price, as is Frankie and Benny.

Yanbu! I went to one in an airport as it was the only thing open. It was disgusting. Not clean, hardly any food choices...too trendy but didn't give a crap about the customers.

YANBU jamies italian was hands down the worst food AND service Ive ever encountered.