Pizza Express V's Zizzi's

And now for something a little different...

Zizzi’s or Pizza Express? But which is better? There's only one way to find out...FIGHT!

Round 1: Restaurant

Both restaurants are fresh out of the ‘Catalogue for Chain Restaurants’ and so have that standardised, slightly sterile feel about them, but unlike Zizzi’s, Pizza Express managed to resist hanging plastic strings of garlic and vegetables around their restaurant, so one point to them.

Round 2: Food

Zizzi’s menu appears more exciting than your average pizzeria...lots of Italian named dishes with lists and lists of ingredients underneath. Very exotic. But as I came to discover, things aren’t always what they ‘read’. The description of the ‘Bietole e Ricotta’ salad for example, included a grand total of eight ‘wholesome’ ingredients but when it arrived this pretty much equated to a pile of dressed rocket. I can’t say I noticed the ‘loaded toppings’ on the ‘Rustica’ pizza either.

Pizza Express on the other hand did manage to produce some food as described. Their menu also offered some genuinely original dishes such as the ‘reduced fat’ Leggera pizzas. 500 calorie pizzas made with reduced fat cheeses and served with a salad in the middle of the pizza. Thinking outside the ‘pizza’ box, I like it! The children’s menu was particularly impressive. Three courses including dough balls, side salad, pizza or pasta and a really cute, little sweet consisting of an Ice cream Sundae and a Bambinoccino (an espresso cup of frothed milk served with chocolate sprinkled on top). I think I might order the kids menu next time! Point to Pizza Express.

Round 3: Service:

No contest. At Zizzi we received pretty much zero service. There was a long delay before our order was taken. The Pizza arrived late (and half-burnt), then the ‘salad’ and eventually our drinks.

At Pizza Express we were well looked after by a very pleasant young man. He did have a bobble hat on for much of the service which was slightly strange but it didn’t seem to distract him from his duties. Zizzi’s you’re going down!

Round 4: Value for money:

This is where Pizza Express can deliver its knockout punch. At Zizzi’s we paid £14 for our pizza and £10 for the salad. Yes that’s £24 for what is fundamentally cheese on toast and a giant pile of rocket (with a sprinkling of other ingredients over the top). Neither were very filling and so both represented poor value for money. Drinks were the same. A 175ml glass of wine started from around £4.50 and a bottle of lager was £4. Pizza Express however, was much more reasonably priced. You can expect to pay more like £10 for a main course. The children’s menu, (although could be considered expensive at about £6.50) did represent good value for money.

So it’s all over! Pizza Express easily wins the battle of the high-street Italian chain

restaurants!