PizzaExpress Feedback Thread - See what MNers and their DCs think of the new summer Piccolo menu at PizzaExpress! NOW CLOSED

[EmmaMumsnet]

PizzaExpress asked us to find 50 Mumsnetters with a DC aged 5-12 to go to their local PizzaExpress to try the new additions to their summer Piccolo menu and experience the new activity pack. While in restaurant, they unleashed their creativity and entered the Dough Ball Adventure story writing competition. Read the comments below to find out what they thought!

Here’s what PizzaExpress has to say: “We know how much families love spending time together in our restaurants and this summer we have a lot to offer and more reasons to get excited about your next visit to PizzaExpress. As well as enjoying new additions to our Piccolo menu and new activity packs, we are encouraging kids to unleash their creativity and be as imaginative as possible in our Dough Ball Adventure writing competition. We’ll be asking kids between the ages of 6-12 to submit an exciting Dough Ball adventure story (up to 200 words) via our website for the chance to have their stories being made into animations, as well as win weekly adventure prize. Plus one lucky winner will win an adventure holiday.”

Testers - to be in with a chance of winning free pizza for a year (£300 PizzaExpress voucher)! please post your feedback on the thread below, including answers to these questions:

1. What did your DC have off the new summer Piccolo menu? Did they enjoy it?
   
2. Would you recommend the new Piccolo menu to a friend or family member and why?
   
3. How did you and your DC find the new in restaurant activity pack?
   
4. Did your DC enter the Dough Ball adventure story writing competition? If so, how did you find it? What was your DC’s story about?
   
5. Would you consider PizzaExpress to be a family friendly restaurant? If so why? If not, why not?
   

Thanks and good luck,

MNHQ

Standard Insight T&Cs apply

[Queenelsarules]

What did your DC have off the new summer Piccolo menu? Did they enjoy it?

They had dough balls followed by margarita pizza.they both ate it all, and then had the ice cream sundae which they both polished off! They often don't finish things so having empty plates is a sure seal of approval.

1. Would you recommend the new Piccolo menu to a friend or family member and why?

Yes I would, the portion sizes are just right, and not too many choices, which is always a plus.

1. How did you and your DC find the new in restaurant activity pack?

The kids loved the masks, they coloured them in and then both wore them in the restaurant!

1. Did your DC enter the Dough Ball adventure story writing competition? If so, how did you find it? What was your DC’s story about?

They didn't do this, it was aimed at younger children I think, my two, 5 and 3 just wouldn't have the attention span.

1. Would you consider PizzaExpress to be a family friendly restaurant? If so why? If not, why not?

Yes definitely it's my first choice when planning a birthday treat or similar for the children. The staff are always welcoming, the service is fairly quick which is what you want with kids, especially as my 5 year old daughter is autistic so doesn't always have much patience. The kids menu is good value and well planned. They love the dessert and the baby chino! We had a really lovely family meal out and we are really grateful we were able to take part.

[MotherofaPirateKing]

Ooh forgot to say was the Beckenham High Street Branch.

[MotherofaPirateKing]

1. What did your DC have off the new summer Piccolo menu? Did they enjoy it?

They all had the doughballs with salad. One child was happy that the butter was no longer garlicky the other child was sad about this, the third child never uses the butter anyway. They were all eaten. I thought the salad element had improved being obviously freshly cut (on previous trips it is often a bit dried up).

Then two margaritas and a pollo pizza (requested with no cheese). The waitress sensitively asked if the no cheese was due to allergies (no, he's just fussy). The kids enjoyed the pizzas but felt they were a bit underdone. Again everything was eaten.

For pudding they had 2 brownies and 1 sundae. The sundae got the thumbs up. They loved the babychinos and the way they came with the pudding. They were less impressed with the brownie "cold and hard" one child said - "needs some ice cream and the brownie should be warmer" said the other. They both ate it though! The down side for us was the drinks - they just wanted a plain juice rather than mixed apple and pear so we had to spend and extra £2.50 each on juice pushing the bill up a lot.

2. Would you recommend the new Piccolo menu to a friend or family member and why?

Yes it was good quality food at a reasonable price, well prepared.

3. How did you and your DC find the new in restaurant activity pack?
The kids really like the mask and spent a long time colouring them in. We also had really great pens and lots of them which was a real bonus. It was definitely a good distraction so my husband and I could eat our food.

4. Did your DC enter the Dough Ball adventure story writing competition? If so, how did you find it? What was your DC’s story about?
Sadly none of them were interested in doing this. I thought it was a great idea but they didn't want to do it.

5. Would you consider PizzaExpress to be a family friendly restaurant
Definitely. There were lots of other families in there, the waitress was lovely to the kids (as they always are in Pizza Express I think) and we felt welcomed there.
Thank you very much for letting us test the menu. I do have lots of pictures but am having problems uploading them at the moment.

[nanimobars]

Thanks mumsnet and pizza express for our voucher. We used ours in Glasgow silverburn shopping mall.

1. What did your DC have off the new summer Piccolo menu? Did they enjoy it?
   

My DD aged 7 had the dough balls for starter and margarita pizza for mains and a ice cream sundae for dessert.

1. Would you recommend the new Piccolo menu to a friend or family member and why?
   

It wasn't a very filling meal, so I would only recommend for a child of 8 and younger. I don't think it would fill up an 11 or 12 yr old child enough.
I really didn't like that there was only one starter for the kids. No choice for anything other than doughballs.
I really didn't like that the piccolo menu didn't even include a drink for the meal. Most other family restaurants include this. We were never offered a baby cappuccino like the others mentioned.
I feel there should have been a meal option involving chicken tenders and chips and I know quite a few kids who don't like pizza or pasta.

1. How did you and your DC find the new in restaurant activity pack?
   

It was ok and did the job of entertaining my DD until her food arrived. I like that the restaurant had decent crayola pencils to colour with, not your basic three pack of red, blue, yellow crayons.

1. Did your DC enter the Dough Ball adventure story writing competition? If so, how did you find it? What was your DC’s story about?
   

DD didn't enter this as we didn't see anything to do about this and no server mentioned it.

1. Would you consider PizzaExpress to be a family friendly restaurant? If so why? If not, why not?
   

I would consider it borderline family friendly. The lack of drinks and choice for the kids pizzas, would put me off returning I think. I thought the food was nice but when our bill arrived for £65 I didn't think it was worth the amount we were charged.

[heinztomatosoup]

Apologies for late response, we went to Greek St branch with 2 kids aged 10 and 12.

1. What did your DC have off the new summer Piccolo menu? Did they enjoy it? Both had dough balls, one margarita pizza, one American, one brownie, one plain ice cream. Both loved it. Appreciate the effort of putting the salad, even if only a tiny bit is eaten. Pizza big small for 12 year old now, used to be better when we could order the larger, thinner base as an alternative on the children's menu.
2. Would you recommend the new Piccolo menu to a friend or family member and why?

Yes of course, it's lovely for them to feel grown up and have 3 course meal!

1. How did you and your DC find the new in restaurant activity pack?

No interest for 12 year old boy, 10 year old enjoyed colouring and puzzles until starter came, which was very quick,

1. Did your DC enter the Dough Ball adventure story writing competition? If so, how did you find it? What was your DC’s story about? No sorry no interest
2. Would you consider PizzaExpress to be a family friendly restaurant? If so why? If not, why not? Yes it is, appreciate 3 course element. Would like something for older children.

Many thanks for the voucher pizza express 😀

[Cagliostro]

Ohhh sorry didn't mean to paste all the bit at the beginning. Phone being weird

[Cagliostro]

Signing in as I had totally forgotten to do this

PizzaExpress asked us to find 50 Mumsnetters with a DC aged 5-12 to go to their local PizzaExpress to try the new additions to their summer Piccolo menu and experience the new activity pack. While in restaurant, they unleashed their creativity and entered the Dough Ball Adventure story writing competition. Read the comments below to find out what they thought!

Here’s what PizzaExpress has to say: “We know how much families love spending time together in our restaurants and this summer we have a lot to offer and more reasons to get excited about your next visit to PizzaExpress. As well as enjoying new additions to our Piccolo menu and new activity packs, we are encouraging kids to unleash their creativity and be as imaginative as possible in our Dough Ball Adventure writing competition. We’ll be asking kids between the ages of 6-12 to submit an exciting Dough Ball adventure story (up to 200 words) via our website for the chance to have their stories being made into animations, as well as win weekly adventure prize. Plus one lucky winner will win an adventure holiday.”

Testers - to be in with a chance of winning free pizza for a year (£300 PizzaExpress voucher)! please post your feedback on the thread below, including answers to these questions:

1. What did your DC have off the new summer Piccolo menu? Did they enjoy it?
   

Dough balls, pizza (plain as always for DS but ham and mushroom for DD - she was a bit sad though that they didn't have any pineapple!) and ice cream for after. All enjoyed happily!

1. Would you recommend the new Piccolo menu to a friend or family member and why?
   

Yes of course, it's good value and with somewhere like PE you know what to expect really so it's a good bet for families I think.

1. How did you and your DC find the new in restaurant activity pack?
   

Nice and varied, I really liked how there were a few different elements to it. DS always digs straight in to any activity sheets in restaurants but DD generally ignores them - but she did do a lot of this one. The puzzles felt well thought out compared to some I've seen. Stickers are always a hit too!

1. Did your DC enter the Dough Ball adventure story writing competition? If so, how did you find it? What was your DC’s story about?
   

Couldn't persuade them yet as they really struggle with creative writing but it does look great, a nice fun idea.

1. Would you consider PizzaExpress to be a family friendly restaurant? If so why? If not, why not?
   

Yes absolutely! Both with the menu and the treatment we have always received from staff at the many branches we've visited over the years. Whether with babies, toddlers or older kids we have always been served by friendly staff and have never felt little guests weren't welcome.

[FireEngineGirl]

Forgot to talk about the puddings. My daughter had ice cream and my son had the brownie. The brownie seemed very small as it came with no ice cream. My daughters ice cream did not come with the cone mentioned in the menu so I asked for it. Neither wanted the hot milk so we said no thank you. They would have taken up the offer of hot chocolate though!

[FireEngineGirl]

Apologies for delay as I left my original feedback on the other thread.

1. What did your DC have off the new summer Piccolo menu? Did they enjoy it?
   

Both DC had dough balls and margherita pizza. They loved the dough balls, my dd even picking the bowl of garlic butter up to lick out (no manners)! They both ate the cucumber and tomatoes and they were just the right amount.

The margherita pizzas were perfectly sized. Both children finished them. I think they could possibly be too small for children with heartier appetites but were just right for my two aged 8 and 11.

1. Would you recommend the new Piccolo menu to a friend or family member and why?
   

Yes would definitely recommend. There is something for all children to choose and it feels healthy and like you are giving your children good hearty food and not processed rubbish.

1. How did you and your DC find the new in restaurant activity pack?
   

I believe we had the old activity pack. There was a puzzle inside and some stickers that we had had before on previous visits. The stickers were difficult to draw on with the crayola pencils provided. This was because of the shiny surface. Some of the crayons did not work.

1. Did your DC enter the Dough Ball adventure story writing competition? If so, how did you find it? What was your DC’s story about?
   

We were not given any information about this.

1. Would you consider PizzaExpress to be a family friendly restaurant? If so why? If not, why not?
   

I'd say pizza express is the ultimate family restaurant. The food for children is freshly cooked, really tasty and you don't feel guilty for what the children are eating! At the same time the main menu has excellent choices for bigger children and adults. I can always find something I want to eat. Please continue doing what you are doing pizza express as it's working very well!

[caprifun]

Thanks for the voucher! I visited Pizza Express in Caterham, with my 2 DC aged 4 and 6. It came to just over £40 for the 3 of us, which I think is good value considering I had 3 courses and a soft drink too.

1. What did your DC have off the new summer Piccolo menu? Did they enjoy it?
   

They both had dough balls, Pasta Napoletana and the sundae. They did enjoy it, and finished almost all of it. I like that there is now a choice of salad as a main even if they're unlikely to ever chose it. I (and they) would like a choice of starter other than dough balls though, I ended up sharing half of my calamari with them. So it would be good if there could be an option to have a small portion of the normal adult starters - I wouldn't even mind paying a small supplement for this option.

1. Would you recommend the new Piccolo menu to a friend or family member and why?
   

Yes I would, its good for younger kids and has enough options to suit most kids tastes. I'm not sure if the portion sizes would be big enough for older children 10+ though. Its good value, as mentioned above I think £40 for three of us having three courses is very good.

1. How did you and your DC find the new in restaurant activity pack?
   

I think there was less for them to do in the new pack than in the old one. I hadn't clocked that there were meant to be girls / boys masks - we got given two girls ones, for DS and DD, but they didn't notice. my DD was very excited about the postcard format though and wants to send them in the post to her friends now.

1. Did your DC enter the Dough Ball adventure story writing competition? If so, how did you find it? What was your DC’s story about?
   

No. DD wrote a story about the dough balls being in a band, taking inspiration from the story already given as an example. But after we got home, she forgot about it and so did I, so we never submitted the entry.

1. Would you consider PizzaExpress to be a family friendly restaurant? If so why? If not, why not?
   

Yes definitely. Its good value, there's good choice of food, staff are friendly to children. Other customers expect there to be children there (I think) so there's no self consciousness about dining out with children, and the ambience is reasonably relaxed.

[yumyumpizza]

1. What did your DC have off the new summer Piccolo menu? Did they enjoy it?
Both DCs (4 and 6) had dough balls for starters - always a hit! I like the fact they come with veg sticks to start the meal off with one of their 5 a day. For main they both had pepperoni pizza (I wanted them to try a pasta dish for comparison but there was no persuading them from pizza!). They both enjoyed it. They are decent sized, especially after the starter, and neither of them could finish it.
For pudding DC1 had chocolate cake and DC2 had ice cream, both went down well!!

2. Would you recommend the new Piccolo menu to a friend or family member and why?
Definitely! It's such great value for what you get, and a good choice. I like the addition of a chicken salad to the menu. It would be perfect if there was some veg as a side with the pizza, but that's the only thing I would change.

3. How did you and your DC find the new in restaurant activity pack?
It kept them quiet whilst waiting for their food. The hats and stickers always go down well, and the mix of puzzles and colouring on the activity sheets suits a range of ages. Top marks!

4. Did your DC enter the Dough Ball adventure story writing competition? If so, how did you find it? What was your DC’s story about?
Sadly no, not this time. Our food came quite quickly so they didn't have time during the meal, and we've been mid house renovation so couldn't take it home. DC1 did design an awesome surfer dude dough ball though with the stickers and crayons

5. Would you consider PizzaExpress to be a family friendly restaurant? If so why? If not, why not?
Absolutely. The staff are good with children, the menu is good and the facilities (high chairs, baby change etc) are good.

Many thanks for the change to take part!

[Starfish78]

1. What did your DC have off the new summer Piccolo menu? Did they enjoy it?
   

DD7 had Dough balls, Margarita pizza and brownie.
Loved the pizza and the brownie but wasn't keen on the dough balls so she gave them to her teenage sisters. They both had pizzas.

1. Would you recommend the new Piccolo menu to a friend or family member and why?
   

It has a good selection to choose from but i think there needs to be a bigger portion option too as the pizza wasn't quite big enough for my DD7 but an adults meal would've been far too big

1. How did you and your DC find the new in restaurant activity pack?
   

She loved it, it kept her occupied but she was hoping for a hat

1. Did your DC enter the Dough Ball adventure story writing competition? If so, how did you find it? What was your DC’s story about?
   

Yes she has written a story but i haven't put it online yet. Its about a dough ball going to space

1. Would you consider PizzaExpress to be a family friendly restaurant? If so why? If not, why not?
   

Service was slow, we waited ages for our food to arrive but it was lunch time and was pretty busy. The food was very nice though. The waitress was very good with our DD7 and chatted to her. We all enjoyed it, however its not somewhere we would to go to regularly as it was very expensive for 5 of us to go for lunch

[ChocolateWombat]

Didn't do the MN trial of new menu but have eaten in PE with kids and lots of other chain restaurants over summer.
Sorry to say, I have several unfavourable comparisons to make.

• It is very unusual for a kids meal not to include a drink with the meal - yes there is a bambicino at the end of the meal but they want a drink with their meal so this adds an extra £1.50 to the meal, making it a pretty expensive kids meal. Think this is a deliberate ploy to get more money out of parents.
  
• pizzas v small for kids of 8/9. Fine for little kids, but you wouldn't expect to have to buy an a adult meal for an 8/9 year old. Many Italian chains offer much bigger pizzas or offer two menus - one for tiny kids and one for bigger ones.
  
• Other places with an equally good restaurant experience but better menu or price include Frankie and Benny - £4.25 for 3 courses and drink. Excellent value. BElla Italia offers huge choice on menu, including any adult pasta in a child portion size, plus unlimited cordials or a good choice of 1 fruit juice or other options. Think it was £6.50.
  

Food is good in Pizza Express. Restaurants are pleasant and good service, but these things are true of most chain restaurants. Faced with a High Street with a choice of several chain, Pizza Express would be low down my list for a meal with a 4 and 9 year old, because I know I will have to pay extra for drinks and the meal won't be big enough for the 9 year old. I think they have become a bit complacent and including a drink and making the pizzas a bit bigger would make all the difference. It's a competitive market, there's lots of choice, so they need to stay ahead of the game and not slip behind.

[Sorbetta]

I posted my review and photos on the original thread, but here are my answers to the questions:

1. What did your DC have off the new summer Piccolo menu? Did they enjoy it?

Dough balls, Margherita pizza, ice cream. Loved it all - the little salad looked very nice and went down well, and the babyccino served in an espresso cup on the side of the ice cream was a nice touch.

2. Would you recommend the new Piccolo menu to a friend or family member and why?

Yes I would. I didn't particularly notice a difference from the old menu though (except for the babyccino). I think we've had the Piccolo menu at Pizza Express about three times - it's really good, and well-priced too.

3. How did you and your DC find the new in restaurant activity pack?

I think this might vary according to location, but I didn't notice a massive difference - there were new puzzles of course, and we got a glasses mask this time rather than a chef's hat (I think I prefer the chef's hat, which we've had in the past). The stickers looked the same as usual - they are nice stickers.

4. Did your DC enter the Dough Ball adventure story writing competition? If so, how did you find it? What was your DC’s story about?

No, 7yo doesn't yet have the concentration (or the inclination) for that sort of thing.

5. Would you consider PizzaExpress to be a family friendly restaurant? If so why? If not, why not?

Yes, very much so. The restaurants are clean and well-provided with high chairs, baby change etc. Obviously having a great, well-priced children's menu is a big signal, as is the activity pack. There are usually other children in the restaurant. The opening hours are also good - you can (and we do) go and have dinner there at 5.30pm. Despite the family-friendly tag, it does feel like a venue for a special occasion - especially our local, which is very clean and new, and where the staff are great. It is our usual venue for birthday meals out.

[confusedofengland]

We went to the Chelmsford Pizza Express a couple of weeks ago - myself, DH & the 3 DSes (8, 6 & 3). Overall, we were impressed with the experience. The food was good & it was good value for money (especially as we managed to combine the gift card with voucher codes found online). The only small gripe was that service was very slow & the DC started to get a bit irritated, but I guess this is to be expected on a Saturday at 5-6pm.

1. What did your DC have off the new summer Piccolo menu? Did they enjoy it? All 3 DSes had dough balls to start, which they really enjoyed. They felt grown-up having their own little dish of dough balls & crudites They also liked the veg to crunch on & I felt it was a nice healthy addition. For main course, DS1 had mushroom pasta, DS2 had pizza & DS3 had Pasta bolognese. They all enjoyed their dishes, DS1 (8) said his was 'brilliant' & it is his new favourite! For dessert, DS1 had brownie, DS2 had ice cream & DS3 had an ice lolly. Again, they all enjoyed it & I felt there was a good variety of desserts, something for everybody even if there are allergies or other dietary requirements. They loved the bambinochino too.
   

1. Would you recommend the new Piccolo menu to a friend or family member and why? Yes, I would recommend it as it is a varied & healthy menu with plenty of choice. It is nice to find something different to the usual chicken nuggets & sausages! Also, there is a good pack with plenty to keep the children entertained while they are waiting for their food.
   

1. How did you and your DC find the new in restaurant activity pack? DS1 loved it & would give it 10/10 because it's 'epic'. He likes that it keeps him busy & there are lots of different things to do. The other DC (6 & 3) enjoyed the stickers & colouring.
   

1. Did your DC enter the Dough Ball adventure story writing competition? If so, how did you find it? What was your DC’s story about? They did not enter it, they were too busy enjoying the other bits!
   

1. Would you consider PizzaExpress to be a family friendly restaurant? If so why? If not, why not? Yes, I think it is family friendly as there is a good menu there for children & plenty to keep them entertained. There are also lots of families at the restaurant at peak times eg around lunchtime & 5-6pm.
   

Overall, a fun night out & a lovely, much-needed treat for us as we're not going away this summer due to DH'S work contract coming unexpectedly to an end. Thanks again MN & Pizza Express!

[Wargghhhh]

Thanks for picking us to sample the menu - we had a lovely time and the kids ate everything up so it was very successful indeed.

1. What did your DC have off the new summer Piccolo menu? Did they enjoy it?
   

Yes, both kids chose dough balls, pepperoni pizza and the sundae - all was wolfed down.

1. Would you recommend the new Piccolo menu to a friend or family member and why?
   

Yes it seems more of a 'grown up' menu to most chain restaurants - the food is really tasty and the portion size is good. The kids can have what the adults have more or less and I think they like the idea that they can do that.

1. How did you and your DC find the new in restaurant activity pack?
   

We thought it was great and the kids were suitably engaged throughout the meal (we have a very fidgety little boy who is sometimes a challenge in restaurants). One thing I would say about the activity pack is that I don't like the answers to the puzzles written underneath - the kids just cheat!

1. Did your DC enter the Dough Ball adventure story writing competition? If so, how did you find it? What was your DC’s story about?
   

Yes both kids entered. Our 9 year old wrote a story about some dough balls visiting a holiday park and the 8 year old wrote about a dough ball in the pouch of a kangaroo jumping around Australia! They both enjoyed entering - and the fact it was only 200 characters made them more inclined to do it!

1. Would you consider PizzaExpress to be a family friendly restaurant? If so why? If not, why not?
   

Yes definitely - for all the reasons above. There are always loads of kids in there which is proof that the 'formula' works. The staff look after the children well and it is always a lovely atmosphere.

[Lorelaiandrory]

1. What did your DC have off the new summer Piccolo menu? Did they enjoy it?
   

DS had the dough balls and pizza -He enjoyed both courses and finished his food, we may need to upgrade him to adult portions soon.

DD 10 had the dough balls and Pasta with creamy tomato sauce, now she is a very picky eater. She ate all the dough balls and most of her main. She did not like the cheese on top of the pasta so next time we will ask for it on the side- then I think she would eat it all.

DS ended up with 2 brownies as DD did not want hers. The coffee machine was broken so no bambichino's for us, but the children did not mind.

1. Would you recommend the new Piccolo menu to a friend or family member and why?
   

Yes it had good choices and good sized portions

1. How did you and your DC find the new in restaurant activity pack?
   

DD really enjoyed it, especially the hat

1. Did your DC enter the Dough Ball adventure story writing competition? If so, how did you find it? What was your DC’s story about?
   

No, maybe if we had not been so busy with childcare/holiday clubs then going away ourselves for few days

1. Would you consider PizzaExpress to be a family friendly restaurant? If so why? If not, why not?
   

Yes very, our waitress was very friendly and DS and DD were very relaxed.

[Cagliostro]

Oops thanks mermaids! :o

[mermaidsandunicorns]

It was online cag

[falgelednl]

I have never noticed any difference between the activity packs. I have 3DC (2 girls and 1boy) and they have always been given exactly the same thing. It is the sort of thing mine would notice - DD1 would not want anything targeted for girls if it was pink/princessy/fluffy animals. DD2 definitely would want anything targeted at girls if there was the option. DS would also prefer a super hero version if there was one on offer.

[Cagliostro]

Or is it just that we do it online and it's not really anything to do with the meal/activity pack? [easily confused]

[Cagliostro]

I didn't see any information about the story competition either, and I looked on the activity sheets. Is this something we can still do?

(had a lovely time though, will do feedback later)

[BettyInc]

We had SUCH a good time, thank you for picking us!

1. What did your DC have off the new summer Piccolo menu? Did they enjoy it? Pepperoni and ham pizza! With dough balls and veggies to start, and a brownie for dessert.

2. Would you recommend the new Piccolo menu to a friend or family member and why? Yes. It was a bargain price for three filling courses, and the DC loved the food. Every scrap was eaten!

3. How did you and your DC find the new in restaurant activity pack? It was really good! It kept the 7 year old entertained from start to finish and we really enjoyed doing the activities. There was loads to do, and stickers too.

4. Did your DC enter the Dough Ball adventure story writing competition? If so, how did you find it? What was your DC’s story about? We weren't given any info on this, so no.

5. Would you consider PizzaExpress to be a family friendly restaurant? If so why? If not, why not? YES! We had a proper, lovely meal out as a family and for once the DC weren't bored!

Thank you :)

[islandchatter]

We went to the Pizza Express in Street. We had had a long afternoon buying school shoes and were in the middle of a week's holiday camping nearby. The children were all excited, not only to be eating out as this has become a rare event for us, but also as we had just been spending some holiday money in The Works so they all had new small toys (including putty!) To top that, I have a broken ankle so we probably looked a motley crew but the staff were all lovely and we had a lovely experience.

1. What did your DC have off the new summer Piccolo menu? Did they enjoy it?
   

All three had the dough balls to start, they all had pizza (2 American and 1 margarita) and then 2 had the brownie to finish and one had the sundae.
They all enjoyed their meals and there were empty plates all round. DD1 (who is nearly 11) is probably ready to have a larger pizza but we would end up taking/leaving some as she is unlikely to actually manage all of it. DD2 (who is 8 would probably also like a larger pizza just because this is one of the places where she likes pizza as she is not usually a fan. DS (who is 4) found it to be the right size.
The dough balls are one of their favourites things - we occasionally buy them at the supermarket as a treat to cook at home. I had an adult portion and both DDs had an extra by swapping their tomatoes for my doughballs! DS loved the salad as tomatoes and cucumbers are two of his favourites. He actually prefers the salad to the doughballs but all were eaten.
The brownies went down really well as did the little chocolate sundae. We did have to ask for bambinochinos but, when they came, DD1 enjoyed them all (the other two are not fans of hot milk but DD1 loves these - DD2 would really love it if it was a mini hot chocolate, DS has no interest in hot drinks at all).

1. Would you recommend the new Piccolo menu to a friend or family member and why?
   

It is really nice that the children get a proper menu that looks like a mini version of the real menu. The food is all mini versions of the adult food which is another plus. For three courses, it is good value but the price really goes up once you add drinks. DD1 had a coke and DS had a juice carton (DD2 only drinks water which was free). The drinks were okay but all bar DS topped up with water after as we only had one drink each.

1. How did you and your DC find the new in restaurant activity pack?
   

The children all enjoyed the activity packs (and meant it was easy to get the putty put away with no fuss). DD2 and DS enjoyed colouring in their masks and chef hats. DD1 and DD2 both enjoyed the puzzles on the pack - many of which were beyond DS. DS especially was impressed with the crayons as he had never seen such things before. he spent some time experimenting how far out he could wind them. DDs both expressed preference for these crayons than others as they don't need sharpening and do no snap.
DD2 and DS also enjoyed adding the stickers to their doughball and we brought all of the stuff home (well, back to the tent, although not sure any of it actually made it home).

1. Did your DC enter the Dough Ball adventure story writing competition? If so, how did you find it? What was your DC’s story about?
   

As we were on holiday, neither DD was interested in entering the writing competition. Had we been at home, I expect they would have been more enthusiastic as we could have followed up straightaway. However, we saw nothing about the competition in all of the stuff the children were given.

1. Would you consider PizzaExpress to be a family friendly restaurant? If so why? If not, why not?
   

We have enjoyed eating at Pizza Express as a family in the past. We have celebrated special occasions their with family and friends and both DDs have chosen to go their with me during one-to-one days out in the past. The staff where we went on holiday, and in our local restaurant in the past, have always been very good and never fuss about having children at the table (or in the vicinity).
That said, we were surprised at how expensive the bill was in the end - although as we had the voucher, I had a starter and both DP and I had a coffee with the small dessert. I think these and the drinks certainly add to the price which would have been too much for us normally. However, for a special occasion it was very nice.

Thank you for the voucher as this enabled us to have a special treat in the middle of a holiday.

[Vickster99]

We visited Pizza Express at Westfield in Stratford on a Sunday early evening , 3 mums and 3 kids, who are all 6.

1. What did your DC have off the new summer Piccolo menu? Did they enjoy it?
   

My DD had the dough balls, a margarita pizza and a brownie, washed down with apple juice. She really enjoyed her food and finished every last crumb, it was delicious.

1. Would you recommend the new Piccolo menu to a friend or family member and why?
   

Yes I think it is good value for money and the food choices cater to kids' tastes.

1. How did you and your DC find the new in restaurant activity pack?
   

The activity pack was great, my DD enjoyed the cut out masks the most.

1. Did your DC enter the Dough Ball adventure story writing competition? If so, how did you find it? What was your DC’s story about?
   

I wasn't aware there was a competition, so no and to be honest at 6 years old it would still be a bit of a challenge for her.

1. Would you consider PizzaExpress to be a family friendly restaurant? If so why? If not, why not?
   

Yes, in general. BUT here is the catch, the wait for food was ridiculously long and the restaurant was only half full. It spoilt the whole experience. When we arrived the drinks order was taken quickly but we then had to wait a long time for the waiter to come back. He took our food order and the kids starters arrived quickly, adults did not have starters. That's when the problem really kicked in. We had to wait around 25 min after kids finished the starters for the mains to arrive. As you can imagine this didn't go down well with them, the kids had already pretty much used up the activity packs while we waited to order. Tears, tantrums and arguments followed and eventually the food came after we had asked the waiter twice. He assured us it was being cooked in the order orders were taken...I doubt this but if true it makes it even worse because it suggests their service is consistently snail paced. After we ate no one came to clear our table or take the dessert order..eventually we sent one of the kids to get the waiter who told us he couldn't take the order yet because he was making desserts for someone else so I asked for the manager. The manager came and I told him that all I really wanted was for the by then extremely grumpy kids to get their deserts asap so we could go home. Thankfully that happened and we got 20% off our bill as well. However, I'd much rather have had swift service and happy kids so I will think twice about visiting Pizza Express again, or at least this particular branch.