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

[fruitful]

• toilet cubicles that are clean and big enough to get me and a couple of children in and still close the door
  

• some really plain food on the menu, such as cheese sandwiches or jacket potatoes with cheese. Dh, dd, and I all love pizza and pasta. Ds1 and ds2 view them as cruel and unusual punishment.
  

• wet wipes / baby wipes for cleaning up the post-eating disaster zone that is my sons. I mean, I bring my own, but if you're talking about excellent service ...

[sethstarkaddersmum]

the highchairs have to not have broken straps. Honestly, sometimes it feels like the majority of restaurants we go to (not PE) have highchairs with broken straps.

[sethstarkaddersmum]

and there have to be enough highchairs, not 2 for the whole restaurant (though I'm sure you've thought of that).

[NotanOtter]

clean loos would be good

[TheFallenMadonna]

An in-between menu would be helpful. DS is 9 and a children's menu is either too small or too limited, and an adult meal is both a little too large and too expensive.

]

[DontCallMeBaby]

I love our local Pizza Express - when it's quiet. I'd agree with others that the service can be astonishingly slow, given the nature of the restaurant (not like it has a complex menu involving lots of fancy plating up in the kitchen, after all). So my one big request would be the same one I would aim at a lot of restaurants - serve me. Keep serving me. I do not cease to exist when I've had all the food I've ordered, which is a good job as far as you're concerned, as otherwise I wouldn't pay. Amazing how many restaurants ignore you when all you have left to do is ask for the bill - annoying at the best of times, but screamingly frustrating when you have a small child which has reached the end of its sitting-still tether.

[Tikkabillajive]

Love pizza express and think the children's menu they do at the moment is great (although the side salad is literally one titchy bit of cucumber, half a cherry tomato and a tiny bit of pepper!)

My suggestions would be:

Breadsticks and olives on arrival to immediately placate hungry children.

Waiters/waitresses who are able to spot when a child has reached the end of his/her sitting still ability and can pick the perfect moment to lead them over to watch the pizza chefs while the harassed parents at the table, who are desperately regretting their attempt to bring their children out for a 'relaxing' lunch, have two blessed moments of peace to finish their food.

Really good colouring/activity packs, maybe things to spot, or wipe clean doodle cards, or a game that can be played at the table. Stuff that toddlers can do too - maybe blank paper best? And decent crayons/pencils. Or what about a scribbler thingy like this to borrow? (Jamie's Italian near us has the kids menu on a retro style viewfinder which is a BIG hit). I'm not keen on the colouring table idea - if we go out for lunch it's because we want to spend time as a family, I don't want to be struggling to keep the kids at the table with us. And it sounds too much like some sort of creche!

Olives available that aren't marinaded in chilli - lots of kids LOVE olives!

Doors that can't be escaped through easily by a bolting toddler...

Agree that the video screens sound like a BAD idea.

[tkband3]

My DDs all have coeliac disease and consequently our eating out choices are limited. Pizza Express is great because we take our own gluten free pizza bases and they cook them for us.

But, given the increasing prevalence of gluten/wheat allergy/intolerance, why not offer your own gluten free pizza/dough balls. All the major supermarkets now have own-brand gluten free pizza bases and there are many other types available - it would be very easy to source a good supplier. Ditto gluten free pasta - Carluccio's do gluten free pasta (although only one variety), and it is extremely readily available.

Given that when we bring our own bases, we are only charged for the toppings (for which I am very grateful), but if you offered gluten-free alternatives you could charge full price for them, I would have thought this would make sense.

Definitely no video screens - we go out to lunch to have some enjoyable family time, not to stare at a screen without talking to each other for an hour or so. And surely the separate colouring areas will simply encourage more children to run around, and be a distraction from eating with their families. Agree with those who've said plain paper/simple pictures for colouring in. Word search games are not that great unless you can read and spell!!

[lisad123isgoingcrazy]

Please please, if you plan to do a buffet lunch for set price, DO NOT charge for kids stupid prices when they eat 2 pieces of pasta and a slice of bread!!

Make sure highchair straps are cleaned, doesnt take much to put them in washing machine.

[Mumi]

I've only ever been to Pizza Express once (Charlotte Street) and have never been back. Quicker, more polite service and less crowding of tables, please. I was fine with DS in a sling but a buggy would have been impossible.

General restaurant wishes:

• Basic first aid trained staff. Don't just watch from afar when a child is choking and not even offer a free drink of water afterwards (as happened in one of your competitors branches)
  

• Children's food first and at appropriate temperature
  

• Crayons in a pot so they don't roll away while swapping colours, leading children to fetch them off the floor and smack their heads on the table on the way back up
  

• Don't offer things directly to children without consulting parents first if you want a quiet restaurant. You don't know whether they can have depending on allergies, what they want to spend etc.
  

• Educational information about pizza making on colouring sheets for older children, or viewing window
  

• Illustrate each item on menus, with photographs not drawings
  

• Many autistic children will refuse to even enter the premises if they can hear music playing too loudly
  

• NO SCREENS! Bookcases clearly visible from each table with a range children's books
  

• Fruit juice without bits
  

• Plastic cups - the ones with a curly straw through a lid that can seal the cup are good
  

• Squeezy condiments bottles, not sachets
  

• Turn the temperature down. I know eating seems to raise the body heat but shivering waiting or food or others to finish is no fun.

[IMoveTheStars]

Mumi - it's not a frigging creche!

[stillcrying]

I think PE in general is pretty good but the order in which food arrives can be baffling - we ordered kids' menus and just a starter for me, and my starter came first and the children has to wait. Just ask when we want things if you cant work it out.

Not really a staff training point but a lower sink in the loos would help as dd can go on her own but cant wash her hands.

Make your own pizza is a great idea - bring the base and the toppings, let them do it then bung it in the oven.

[HowsTheSerenity]

It does seem that the majorty of posters have quite young children. I do hope that PE is not going to turn the RIchmond store into a creche. It is the place where a lot of the older kids (aged 8 -12) in the area have birthday parties. If it became a Charlie Cheese kind of place then I know I would take myself and the DC's elsewhere.

[grumpypants]

Child sized cutlery

Booster seats incorporated into the chair design so that they don't get grubby underneath and so teeny five year olds don't have to get wedged in high chairs/ reach up to eat

Box of wet wipes on the table

[TheProvincialLady]

Free bibs, free baby food, free masses of toys and activities? Does one else agree that if you have children you should expect to feed, clothe and entertain them at your own expense? It's a restaurant for everyone, not a nursery.

[notnowbernard]

Colouring-in equipment given to children on arrival

Children's food to be served first

Staff to ask the PARENTS first if the child can have pudding, not the child!

Adequate space to store a buggy/pram etc

[notwavingjustironing]

a gluten free option would be fantastic. We love Pizza Express as a family, but we take a gluten free base for DS1.

I would love it if there was either a) a gluten free pizza base or b) a gluten free option that was child-friendly.

It's only a small thing, but they've even got rid of the risotto now, so there is literally NOTHING he can have.

That would be amazing. I'll even bring my own pencils if they did .

[ShirtyGerty]

Staff that keep their eye on their tables and use a bit of judgement! I can't stand it when they interrupt you during each course to ask if your food is ok and then when you need the bill they are nowhere to be seen.

Tables that are not too close together so that you have a bit of room to manouvre.

Traning for staff on how to adjust their service for a table with children (getting plastic cups, asking children who are old enough for thei own choices etc). When I worked as a waitress I was a student. I didn't have a clue how to deal with kids and a little bit of know-how would have gone a long way.

[notwavingjustironing]

Sorry tkband3 I appear to have cross-posted with you!

Incidentally, at our local Pizza Express, we still get charged full whack for DS1 even though we do bring the base! A consistent policy would be good.....

[TheChewyToffeeMum]

Helping people through the doors - not just buggies, people with mobility issues or even just lots of shopping.

That's about it really - I agree with TheProvincialLady on this. I don't expect special entertainment for my kids just polite helpful service for everyone.

[heaintheavy]

I would like to see:

• much, much faster service (our local one is so tardy we think twice now before going). THIS IS THE REALLY IMPORTANT ONE.
  
• friendly service (usually pretty good on this) with chatty staff who interact with my children.
  
• as wider range of children's menu items and / or option to have half ortions off the full menu.
  
• better children's activities while waiting (they have really gone downhill over the past 5 years). Colouring in, stickers, there were once fab threading cards - we loved those.
  
• NO, NO to separate communal children's areas, and NO, NO, NO, NO to video screen games. I go to the restaurant to be with my children, plus two of my three need a high level of attention (age and disabilities). Places with separate children's areas put me off.
  
• jugs of free water and breadsticks on arrival.

[mummytime]

Staff who like kids! (Petit Blanc are very good at this btw.)

[llareggub]

If the plate is too hot for the waiter to carry without a cloth then it will be too hot for a pre-schooler. Common sense, really.

I just want some basic things like plastic cups, small cutlery and a slightly bigger table. My eldest son is 4 and fine with a glass, I'd only expect it for our toddler.

We bring our own toys and books, and thought that most people would. But keep a supply of wipes and bibs, I often forget these.