NOW FINISHED: Help create PizzaExpress' Service Charter and have the chance to win £250 of PizzaExpress vouchers

[Carriemumsnet]

You may recall many moons ago we asked for your thoughts on what makes the perfect restaurant/ cafe for mums (here), but we cannily didn't tell you who was asking the questions as we didn't want that information to skew your answers? Well we can now reveal that the company who wanted to garner your collective wisdom was > PizzaExpress and the reason they wanted to know is that they are in the process - in their words - of "creating the PizzaExpress of the future".

The first of their new generation restaurants will be unveiled on Oct 21st in Richmond (that's London not Yorks - sorry Yorkshire folks) and there'll be invites for Mumsnetters to road test it, with a chance to feedback and tell them what you think of the new concept before they start rolling it out elsewhere. Anyone interested in knowing more now, there'll be a blog about it live from Sept 17th here

They're introducing things that have the potential to keep children happy and occupied, like communal kids' drawing tables, and silent, interactive video screens created by the same chaps who did some of the great games at the Tate Modern. And they promise that there'll be room for buggies - one of the top things to come out of the survey It's going to be open all day, starting at 8.45, serving brunch and freshly baked daytime treats. The idea is that Richmond should feel like a bit like a 'living lab', where lots of new ideas are going to be tested out. The ones that work, they'll roll out, the ones that don't, they'll ditch.

One of the major themes that emerged from the initial survey was the difference good service makes to whether you frequent a cafe/ restaurant or not and PizzaExpress now want to create a Mumsnet Service Charter that they can use to help train their staff. Carrie is going to be videoed as part of their training, talking about what it's like to be a mum and what mumsnetters want and expect from good service. The idea being that this should help their waiters understand parents' needs and help them to help us make it through the day (or at least the bit of the day they spend in PE).

So go ahead - tell Pizza Express what three things would make your day (in terms of service). They can't guarantee to incorporate every single suggestion, but hopefully some themes will emerge that they can build into a realistic Service Charter.

We'll kick off:
Someone helping you with your buggy/ double buggy -rather than tutting when you struggle thro the door
Someone offering you something edible - even if it's just bread and water when you first sit down, and just being nice....
Sharp pencils
Good to get that off the MNHQ collective chest , now it's over to you. Everyone who offers suggestions for the Mumsnet /Pizza Express Service Charter on this thread will be entered into a prize draw where one lucky winner will receive £250 of Pizza Express vouchers.

Thanks and good luck
MNHQ

Stools at the pizza making area so children can watch the pizzas being made. DS is fascinated by watching them go into the oven but is at just the wrong height to see so we have to lift him up, would be really special if every now and then the chefs could make a production of it.

Some of these suggestions of excellent, but please don't turn into Frankie & Benny's

I think pizza express is great already but what I do like in a fast food restaurant are those individual wet wipes for wiping up greasy fingers .

small things make all the difference .

Aitch I worked at one briefly about five years ago. I was ashamed to serve the food and returned swiftly to work in an actual restaurant.
Am baffled by their success tbh.

No hot plates for children.

Somewhere to put the buggy and help carrying stuff over if need be. I was a lone parent and eating out was a nightmare with my DS. How do I colapse buggy and hold DS and bags etc.

DEF No movie screens

We love Pizza Exp when we're going out with the children (3 & 1) and will usually look up the closest one if we're going away somewhere as well as being regular visitors at the one near us.

DS loves all the different courses - especially his 'little coffee'

Agree with others that a small / large option on kids meals would be useful. DS will now eat the lot, but it's annoying to pay £6 for something that DD will usually barely touch (and DH & I like spicy so can't share with her).

No no nooooo to video screens! Please rethink this as it would actually put me off going.

Would like to see a waiter a bit more towards the middle/end of a meal in case we need more drinks etc.

Help with cutting things up /pizza wheel on the table - esp for bf mothers.

No hot plates for children (If it's been under the hot lamp then slide it onto a fresh plate before serving, rather than serve saying "Ooh, the plate's very hot, do be careful to a 3 yr old).

As I say though, I do find PE to be really good for a meal out with the children without feeling like I'm in a soft play.

1.Ready made puree in case one forgets/pops in for pizza without planning ahead-jars will suffice if needs be.

2.Child sized pizzas

3.Plastic cutlery/glasses

4.Crayons rather than pencils complimentary

5.Allergies catered for-esp nut-staff to have some training in this

6.Offers for > 1 child-eg second child free.
Also ?link with NCT /mumsnet with offers-eg 10 % off rolling vouchers.Also ?a family loyalty card?

7.Family pizza making days -kids get to help make the base/add healthy toppings

Pizza Express is already streets ahead of other family friendly restaurants. Possible improvements would be soundproofing- those marble tables are practical but SO noisy. A loyalty scheme would be great- it is worth signing up for vouchers- haven't paid full price since I signed up for them. I went to a family pizza restaurant in Australia where the DCs were given dough to play with; it was then whisked away and baked. More fun than crayons but perhaps UK Health and Safety would forbid it.

Really don't like the idea of screens. Intensely, sorry.

honestly, you guys must all be so badly served by local restaurants if PE is doing a good job of dealing with kids. we've got zillions of better places here to go to... local places, museums etc as well as wagamama etc. i can't believe that you haven't noticed that the food isn't very good at PE...

The best family-type restaurants we've ever been to are those at Center Parcs. DS loves those little play areas they have an is able to get down and play before food arrives and between courses. We spend more time and more money in those than anywhere else as we can take our time without worrying about him getting bored.

I'm sure losing a couple of tables is more than made up for with the extra desserts and drinks the parents order.

1. two sizes of childrens meal. Extra small for toddlers/pre-schoolers.
2. Little area with childrens chairs where they can sit by themselves (obv close to you) to eat their meal for 5/6yo +.

3.Bringing childrens meals first ie quickly, and letting them cool a little so they are not boiling hot.

I would be very loth to see any special toddler furniture/separate tables/toy tables to be honest. The point of coming to a restaurant is to eat together and it's a skill children need to learn.

And wet wipes on the table would definitely send the wrong message for me. If you make Pizza Express into toddler heaven you will lose your adults and older children. They don't stay toddlers for long and there are other places to eat if you really can't cope with no wet wipes, toys, screens and small tables. Don't alienate the rest of your customer base. I couldn't bear it to end up like a Centre Parc restaurant. That IS geared for children. PE doesn't need to go down that route.

Just hurry up the service and follow some of the excellent and common sense child-friendly behaviours on this thread and all will be well.

(Everyone has moaned about staff disappearing after the main course has turned up - are the waiting staff actually told to do this? It's starting to feel deliberate given that so many people have complained about it on here!)

• Crayons or small puzzles for little ones to play with

• Storage for prams and buggies

• Having highchairs provided would be handy

Oh no screens please! Meals out are a social occasion for our family, I would rather my child is interacting with me than staring at a screen.

What I do appreciate is a swift removal of tat such as candles and flowers from the table. Likewise please don't put drinks and food in reach of my one year old.

Keeping an eye out for when we have finished and giving us the bill and then dealing with it promptly would also be helpful.

No seperate play area/tv screens for the children. PE is one of the places you can go where that feels close to being a normal restaurant whilst embracing families, iykwim. It's great that there's no soft play etc to send the children off to - there are anough pubs etc that cater for that kind of thing. DD loves gooing out for a 'grown-up' meal where she sits and chats and learns how to eat out in a restaurant.

Child size cutlery is always great, as is the wait-staff speaking directly to the child and treating them as a customer.

yy to someone to guard the table when you need to take the dc's to the loo. I'm on my own so I don't take the dc's out for meals as I couldn't want to leave everything at the table while I hauled 2 children off to the loo. I only take them to wagamamas when I'm on my own as the food is served in minutes and I know we are unlikely to need a toilet visit in the 40 mins we are there, the chopsticks mean they take longer to eat their food . I would love to take them to PE as well, we only do 'proper' restaurants when mum takes us.

No tv screens!

Space next to the table for the buggy.

Disposable bibs on request, especially if a child chooses something with loads of sauce.

Child sized cutlery but not the ikea style plastic crap!

Worksheets/colouring in that actually lets crayons&pencils draw on; many places have shiny paper that they dont work on!

A pictoral menu so kids too young to read can actually see what they can choose from.

Cheap juice instead of child cups costing a small fortune.

Little babycinnos inc in the price so that kids can have a 'coffee' while adults do.

Fast service in betweeen courses to avert loss of attention!

No, no, NO to screens. Once a child's eye catches sight of a screen, you've lost any chance of stimulating conversation over a meal.

Our local PE is quite good, but service is sooooo slow, so when an Ask opened in the next street, we switched to that instead. Their kids menus are the same price, and much of a muchness, but there is more space between tables in Ask, and much faster service.

Reading the above responses, it seems that parents want what any customer wants - attentive waiting staff who can tailor their service to the needs of the individual.

It irritates me when too many child activity guffy bits are brought to the table - one colouring/activity sheet and some crayons are okay, but when stickers and bits of jigsaw get everywhere its annoying; tone it down a bit.

Also, make sure all staff understand the importance of breastfeeding, as I got a sniffy remark from a PE waitress once, after another customer complained that I should be BF in the loos. However, I did follow it up with the manager and she did tell the waitress that the other customer was in the wrong and that PE supports bf...