Zizzi Reviews 114

We visited ZZ’s in Lancaster for my sister’s 40th birthday, and unfortunately, it was a huge letdown. Both the food and drinks were disgustingly overpriced for the quality and portions you get.

The lasagna I had was completely flavorless, and my sister’s beef ragu honestly felt like a pot noodle slapped on a plate—hardly the comforting, hearty meal we were hoping for. The pizza was very poor quality as well, with a crust so thin it was barely noticeable.

The children’s dishes were the worst part of the meal—totally bland and unappetizing. The children’s Bolognese had no meat in it, and the portion size was so small it seemed more suited to a mouse. We had to ask for condiments like salt, pepper, and Parmesan cheese—just a disgrace for the price we were paying.

To top it off, the service was painfully slow. Dishes came out at staggered times, so by the time one of us was finishing, the next person was just getting their meal.

On a positive note, the staff were friendly and polite, but that couldn’t save the experience. Overall, I wouldn’t return, and I certainly wouldn’t recommend ZZ’s to others. Very disappointing for a special occasion.

Turned up at Winchester Zizzi without having booked and although they were very busy due to being the weekend and the end of half term they got us a table within half an hour as she said she would if we came back at that time. Tom our server was great. Very friendly and nothing was a problem for him. Very attentive and although rushed off his feet he remained very calm even when lady on an adjoining table was being very picky and complaining about everything from position of table, her drink, and then after eating half her pizza heartily agree complained it was cold. Tom didn't charge her for the pizza.
Our food was lovely. Excellent lasagne and the desserts were gorgeous.

First time in a Zizzis (Plymouth), and it was not bad at all. The food was tasty enough, a bit of a small portion for the cost, but not horrendous. The staff were lovely and did all they could to make my daughter happy. Their names were Caz and Louena, I think. I forgot to take the card with their names on it. Would recommend going if you're in the area and like Italian :)

The choice was WagaMama's or Zizzi's sadly we chose Zizzi's. Service was efficient and the food was hot. I opted for my 'go to' Calzone Piccante, which normally requires no starter or dessert for me to leave the restaurant 'full up'. On this occasion the calzone looked lost on the normal wooden platter it was served on, had no flavour, and consisted of cheese and chicken only, no meat balls etc. I left the restaurant hungry. The dish was bland and lacked ingredients. Zizzi, you are better than this, stop being stingey!

I went to Zizzi Cardinal Place in Victoria at 8.00 p.m. last night which was a Sunday. The chicken salad I ordered came within about 2 minutes which may explain why it was not just weary but completely exhausted. My friend said her hot chicken dish was pretty awful as well. So I won't go to Zizzi again.

I visited Zizzi in Norwich with my son. The food looked fine at first, but while eating, he found what appeared to be a small cockroach or insect inside his dish. We were extremely upset, and he still has flashbacks of that day with a feeling of revulsion. The staff took my email and told me that the manager would contact me, but no one ever did. Definitely would not recommend to eat there. this kind of experience should never happen. I can provide photos.

It was my first time at Zizzi, took my family out for a day out in London and had lunch at Zizzi. Food was awful!!! I had a chicken dish with potatoes that tasted bland! The Chicken tasted like it was recooked from several hours before (Tasted like when you reheat chicken in a microwave). My 4 year old niece had a pasta bolognaise but only had a few spoonful's as it tasted so bad!
..Also no unused kids menus. My niece wanted to fill out the maze but it was already completed by the previous user.
Avoid this place!!!

My friends and I are extremely disappointed with the service we received today. We were out for our friends birthday and expected a nice time at Zizzi Marlow- what we would usually expect. Outside the front of the door was a sign saying “free garlic bread if you join the Zillionaires members club”- as teenage girls, we took this opportunity to purchase some free garlic bread. Every person who ordered the garlic bread had a Zizzi QR code promising free garlic bread. We also all had a QR code from Uni days promising 30% off our order. We would not have purchased garlic bread or even gone to dinner at Zizzis had we known we would’ve had to pay for it and pay for a non discounted version. We have screen shot proof of these codes and I would also like to state that the waitress had viewed these codes previously when we were ordering our garlic bread. Once we went to pay for the bill, our friend who did not order the garlic bread payed her portion of the bill via the online link to pay. When we all went to pay our portion of the bill, the waiters told us that we could no longer use our QR codes because one of our friends at our table had already payed- a shocking excuse of a cash grab. Our friend had no idea this was store policy as it was not stated- had she known she would have waited to pay. We, teenage girls without employment, had been deceived into thinking we would receive free and discounted food. Once we had payed the extreme amounts for our meal, the manager approached us and stated that we had not payed despite the money coming out of our bank account. The waitress then tried to make us pay again as it “had not come through on their system” With the last train home being 10 minutes away (and it was getting dark and late and dangerous) we did not have time to discuss our concerns- hence why we are making this complaint. We have been deceived into paying a shocking amount of money for things we were promised would be free. We truly believe that if we were grown men, we would’ve been provided with much better service and respect.
To further add to all of this, we requested happy birthday to be sung when our friend received her food on our “requests” notes when we booked our table. Despite our request, happy birthday was not sung to our friend at one point during the entirety of the evening. Not only were we disappointed but also disgusted with the lack of respect we received tonight- I think this goes to show how to the workers at Zizzi Marlow treat their customers. It may be just another shift for you, but it was a birthday celebration outing for us that was ruined by the poor service, deception and hole in our bank accounts.

Raised a complaint about food and was ignored by customer service and the corporate office at the owning group Azzurri.
Terrible customer service and awful food.
I wouldn’t recommend to anyone unless they wanted advice on how not to run a business

Only decent food here is the caramelised online garlic bread pizza.
I'm an absolute lover of Pasta but every single pasta dish I've had from here is just awful. I can easily make a better pasta dish with the cheapest ingredients from the supermarket. Theres no taste and its all so bland. I am surprised the local ZiZi has stayed open as long as it has as it has closed down recently. Staff there were also pretty bad, very slow service, no care attitude..on top of having bad food theres just no chance it would of survived.
Shame, theres not many pasta places near me.

At time of booking and on arrival Zizzi Rushton Lakes were told that one of the 5 visitors was allergic to chilli. At the table we were told that Chilli was not listed as an allergy. The customer was given a pad showing ingredients of only a few of the dishes. We were told if a dish was chosen whose ingredients were not available we were removing all responsibility from Zizzi if they supplied a dish containing chilli. The kitchen staff did not know the ingredients in any "dish", as each "dish" arrived boxed ready for serving. Chilli was sprinkled on most dishes to enhance their taste. We then had to find a dish which was unlikely to contain chilli. Not a pleasant experience knowing the major consequences of making the wrong choice. The time between starters and main course was very long. The food was very low on taste and not enjoyable. One drink in a bottle was served with a hot glass containing ice. Very quickly this became an inch of water in the glass. Approx. 1 pint bottles were served with a half pint glass. The experience was an evening I never want to repeat.

Waited an hour for starters and then got brought the wrong one. Kids meals didn’t come and then when asked how long it would be to get the correct starter, were told ‘ages’.

Mains didn’t arrive and so had to cancel. No offer of complimentary drinks for the delay and so ended up paying for the drinks we had ordered. Manager was nowhere to be seen.

Went to Bridgend Zizzi (MacArthur Glen). Experience blighted by unusually early closing procedures - sectioned off seating, coffee machine off, scarce staff. Had positive experiences in other branches but this was the second visit here, separated by many months and both occasions were a let down. The place needs more staff and better training. The problems I had could have been easily avoided // Got in touch via company website and got an AI penned response. Really!?! How to scupper remaining goodwill and burn bridges.

We have been to the Newcastle Zizzi today. We placed our order, the waiter came back and said neither of the dishes we requested wasn't available because they had no chicken, I struggled to find something I liked. Then we ordered a dessert, again the one we ordered was not available. They did give us a complimentary dessert free (which was good of them). However, to add insult to injury the gift card we had wouldn't work. I don't think the waiter had a clue what he was doing.

EDIT 8.8.25
Since my visit I have been contacted by Zizzi's Ops Director and had explained their process for allergies. It sounds robust and logical and to give benefit of doubt, it appears I was unfortunate to experience a training gap. They have advised they are addressing this and support the team in branch with refresher training.
Although it doesn't change my 1 star experience on that particular day, I do hope the action they advise they are taking will support others to have a better experience and I have to commend Zizzi for their response and for taking responsibility and action from this learning.

ORIGINAL REVIEW:
I attended Zizzi Gunwharf Quays Portsmouth with my family. We have allergies and wanted to order one of our daughters a gluten and dairy free pizza with pepperoni. The menu had this as an option on the kids menu but the staff said we couldn't have pepperoni as they had to order from the vegan menu. I asked if they could simply over ride the computer by speaking to the chef and they said no.
It's unacceptable that they would penalise and limit someone with an allergy to the vegan menu. My daughter is not vegan, she has an allergy. They are not the same thing. It is like grouping different disabilities into one category.

Food is good, and food prices £27 for 3 courses is OK, but the drinks prices are horrendous! £6.50 for a bottle of cider. Seriously? A round of drinks for 4 people is the cost of one 3 course meal!

But our biggest grumble was the background music. Absolutely dreadful, boring, tuneless and repetitive bass notes more reminiscent of a club than a restaurant. The idea of a family meal is to relax, not have to endure such awful stress inducing racket! Never again.

Frozen Pizza - Terrible
The pizza packaging was all stuck to the inside of the box and it was missing the drizzle! Emailed last week, had no response!

Went to Zizi Mailbox Birmingham for a friends birthday.
The meal was disappointing I went for the set meal at £27 and all I can say is that a McDonald’s would have been tastier.
The starter was 2 bits of bread with a mushroom sauce the bread seamed dry and tough to cut, the main I had chicken fries and vegetables the chicken dry and tasteless the fries looked and tasted like they had been there a while and my vegetables were actually cold.
The desert was ok but that was just a strawberry sorbet.
I didn’t complain because it was a birthday meal and didn’t want to cause a fuss but definitely won’t be returning

The worst food I have ever tried.

Service poor. Quality of food totally bland and tasteless.
We were charged for Team Tip which was added without consent, given the poor customer care experienced.
I have been to other Zizzi restaurants without any issues. This restaurant lacked any warmth or staff wanting to assist. The food was very disappointed and over priced for tasteless food provided.