Pizza Express in Basingstoke and Deane

We came all the way from Wiltshire for a Sunday lunch with friends, drawn in by the 'kids eat free' promotion advertised by this establishment. My wife, who handled the booking, clearly stated we were six adults with three well-behaved children. Despite this, our booking was declined, with the excuse of a high volume of reservations. Curious, we later walked by to find the restaurant practically empty, quite the contrary to what they'd led us to believe! It's disappointing that they seemingly declined our booking due to having children in our party, especially while promoting family-friendly offers. What's the point of enticing families if you're not willing to accommodate them? Thankfully, we ended up having a lovely meal at Ask Italian, where the service was fantastic. They even offered us a 20% discount! Needless to say, we won't be bothering to book at Pizza Express again.

I was looking for a venue for a Sunday lunch with friends and tried to book here because they were offering a 'kids eat free' promotion. However, they declined the booking, saying they already had a large number of reservations. When we walked by later to find somewhere else, the restaurant was surprisingly empty—quite the opposite of what they'd claimed! It seemed they were avoiding the booking because we had three children (with six adults, which I had mentioned when booking). I can’t understand why they offer promotions for families if they’re not willing to accommodate them. I certainly won’t bother trying to book here again ever.

What has happened to Pizza Express!! There was a time when we'd love a visit here but this will definitely be our last. I ordered a leggera padana, my usual order if we ever visit, and I have noticed over time the pizza has got smaller and the hole in middle bigger but this time it was basically a crust. The pizza was not even 2 inches wide so I was paying £16 for a pizza crust and a spoonful of greenery. On top of this it was totally tasteless (probably cause it wasn't wide enough to fit many toppings on) . We also ordered halloumi bites. Again tasteless. The garlic bread has shrunk to half the size it used to be as well. I've never been so disappointed in a meal. 3/4 of the food was left. The total bill for 3 of us was over £60 and that was with the restaurant taking off my leggera padanna after I complained about the size. Overpriced, tasteless and not worth the trip. With the amount of pizza restaurants around, pizza express seriously need to up their game.

Pretty good, did feel slightly like u had another customer breathing down my neck as the tables weee pushed together. Service from Elle was great, it is a shame that her colleagues were not pulling the same weight as her as she seemed to be serving nearly everyone by herself, leading her to apologise for having a drink? Seems like management need to take note of this. I don’t see the issue with the server taking a minute to hydrate, but clearly apologising for taking a moment too long means pressure is being put unnecessarily onto service team. 9/10

Pizza was cold in the middle. Would have preferred them offer to make a new one, all they offered was to chuck it back in the oven. Not impressed! Poor service.

Good food and service. Lunchtime so quite quiet

Being GF Pizza Express is the only place I trust. The dough balls were amazing. The pizza was good but sadly wasn't cooked long enough so only the crust/outer edge was enjoyed. I will def ask them to cook for longer next time.

had a meal here for 2 a couple of weeks ago, food was top, and although having 2 large walk in groups service was still great and fast, had a waiter called Elle who helped massively, great place

Conveniently located with the rest of Festival Place's main eateries. It was very busy but the staff remained friendly and the service was quick The pizza was good but the goats cheese and beetroot buddha bowl didn't come quite as described in the menu and was mainly leaves which was disappointing, especially for the price.

I just wanted to say a big thank you to Frankie, who went above and beyond. You just don’t get this level of service from FOH anymore.

Some of the food cold, not happy as was an expensive take away 👎

Kids do NOT eat free. This is a scam and the manager admitted it to my face. Huge sign out front that says kids eat free. Order two adult meals and two kids mains, and dough balls. The bill arrives with charges for the kids mains, dough balls, etc. when I queried this I was told because I didn’t order kids dough balls (just adult) and no kids dessert, I didn’t qualify for the ‘deal’. When I said “ok, but this is cheaper to Pizza Express that we didn’t order more for the kids,” they said too bad, not their problem. And I told them the waitress didn’t explain this to us (and there were literally five groups in the restaurant, all with small kids) but the manager said that corporate told them not to help customers to successfully order the kids eat free so they can charge them. So what should have been a nice cheap family meal out was £60 of rubbish food and worse service. I will not return to any Pizza Express.

Booked a table for the 22nd July, myself and my mum were really pleased with how friendly the staff were, all of the food was perfect and delicious. The restaurant was lovely and spacious. We were amazed at how fast the food came. Thank you very much!☺️

Order was cold and missing multiple components

I arrived at the restaurant at 19:00hrs on 12/07/2024 without a booking, there were two of us. I was turned away being told by the host that the restaurant was fully booked - he made absolutely zero effort to accommodate me. Immediately checking the pizza express website for the same evening showed there was a table available at 19:30hrs. I hate poor customer service and this member of staff simply couldn’t be bothered, when he could have said they were busy, but they had a table in 30 minutes. I most probably would have had a drink and waited. I’ll never eat here again out of principle (I booked a table at 8pm to show that there was availability which I won’t be showing up for).

We have tried for over a week to speak to someone to book a table for a group. We also filled out an online booking form. There has been no response from the Festival Place team and we have transferred to Brighton Hill. Disappointing as the town centre would have been very convenient.

I’ve not had a pizza from here for a very long time and all I can say I was very disappointed

IVE NOT RECEIVED My order it says delivered but he drove off

The pizza was delicious, and the service was quick, but the atmosphere was really lacking. The tables are bare, and some have drink rings on them. We were watching staff prepare empty tables, and we didn’t see a single cloth involved. For such a big restaurant we really expected more!

I ordered 2 pizzas and garlic bread under the offer Ultimate Formation for £34.11. Both pizzas didn't have much toppings. Infact, one was Garlic prawn pizza and it had 1 prawn per slice and hardly any other toppings. Total waste of money.

We were very well looked after on our visit and a nice table had been reserved for us. We did have to wait for our drinks, but the food was served quickly and was really delicious. Plentiful too! All in all a nice evening and good service.

Delivery was cold and 40-60 minutes late compared to the advertised time before ordering

food was edible but not great for price paid

My husband chose pasta and a side of potato salad ( because they did not have fries ) I chose a pizza with extra mushroom . 5 minutes later he was told they didn't have any salad. Our food was brought out minus my mushrooms. I was told it would take another 5 minutes, my husband waited until my meal was served before starting his which was by this time warm. During our meal I would have expected someone to ask if everything was OK ( this is the usual in restaurants) however the only time staff approached the table was to take our plates away literally 30 seconds after I had put my knife and fork down. The food was nice however the visit left a bad taste .

All toppings were not on the gluten free pizza, instead all over the box. I have a picture. We order pizza express all the time and is usually fine.

Food and venue good. Service at Sunday lunchtime was poor. Staff too interested in new customers not with those already eating.

My order never turned up and I’m still waiting for someone to contact me about it

Staff at Pizza Express gave incorrect order to JustEat. Spoke to Pizza Express, poor feedback.

I had a gift card to come here so I thought it would be nice to have a free meal. This was not the case. The food is not what they say it is and the hygiene is quite poor. The menus had crayon all over them. This wouldn't have bothered me so much if the servers had been more attentive and nicer. At the end of our meal we had wait 40 minutes for our bill as no one had come over to take away our plates or acknowledge us. In the end my partner had to ask someone This delayed us quite drastically even after already asking for the bill 40 minutes ago. I am never coming back here its not worth the money as the food is sloppy, the servers are unattentive and the cleanliness is very poor. Would not recommend unfortunately as this was a nice restaurant to go to when I was a kid

Terrible service says shuts 10pm but wouldn't give us table at 850pm

Service was slow slow slow! They walked past and looked at our table so many times I lost count. JUST CLEAR THE PLATES! Would of had desert but could not be bothered waiting longer

I order my food at 20:51 and the food arrives at 22:50, two hours waiting and off course my food arrives cool and uneaten, the pizza was more hard than a rock. Really frustrating how there’s not way to contact just est by live support. I hope you guys will refund my money

Staying locally for a few days, we came looking for a good Italian themed restaurant and Pizza Express hit the spot as it so often does. Here in Basingstoke we were greeted on arriving and shown to our table by a friendly guy who moved tables around to make it right for us. He promised our server would be with us shortly. Service throughout was excellent and Roberta, our server, did a great job. Friendly and efficient, she took our orders and dishes arrived promptly on a fairly busy evening. There where no issues at all. No fuss....it just worked. All in all, everything went really well, we had a great meal with a nice glass of wine, sat, relaxed and chatted. Thanks to everyone at this Festival Place, Basingstoke branch of Pizza Express. A well deserved 5-stars!

Decent. Standard pizza express experience.

The good time kept getting changed. The driver had the food for an excessive time when the map showed him in the next estate. The food was actually inedible and freezing cold when it arrived.

It's a late review but awhile back me and my friend was served by a lovely lady called Sara. She made the whole experience 10 times better and would come back purely because of her. She recommend a mushroom pizza to me which I will get again, all in all it was very nice.

Had a family meal out and the food was really good, Kids menu was better than expected. Would definitely recommend.

Food was hot, driver got a little lost but soon found us. Lovely fresh pizza

Lovely food, great service both manager and waitress were very helpful they were short staffed and explained when we came in there may be a wait but you would never have known.

Fantastic staff, service and food. Value for money it's hard to beat 🤌

Super speedy service. Polite attentive staff. Good food cooked well served hot

Food was cold and took over an hour more that 1st estimated :-(

By the time I got the food it was stone cold, won’t be wording from there again.

There was no visible egg on the pizza and the pizza was overcooked. Dough balls were cold so reheated them

Had a great meal after watching a film at Vue

Chicken Wings were a bit tasteless and the pizza though tasty is definitely not value for money paid.

Awful experience - thanks to the manager.. Visited for my daughters Birthday on New Years Day. We were the only ones in the restaurant and were put on a table with poor seating, small stools and under very bright lights. The waitress was happy to move us to another table. The manager then came over and asked what the problem was. These were his exact words. We said there was no problem - we were just after a more suitable table. My Mum is not able to sit at stools due to her hip. Food came late (over an hours wait for a pizza) and was very dry and overcooked. All 3 meals had to go back and be replaced. The manager came over again and said he was very busy and had lots of other work to do and he was short staffed. Really unimpressed with him and his manner and approach. Avoid this restaurant if you can. Very expensive and my daughters birthday was ruined thanks to the manager and poor service and food.

We arrived without a reservation on New Years Day. Chris accommodated us and Emmy our waitress was so helpful, friendly and accommodating

Great spot for lunch. We had a table upstairs today which had a lovely atmosphere and more relaxed than downstairs. Staff were great and very attentive. We will definitely be back.

Went on a random trip out to get food and this took our fancy, haven’t eaten in a pizza express in years! Well worth the visit, it is a little pricey but food is cooked well, was nice and hot all the way through, full of flavours and good portion sizes. All in all 2 starters, 2 meals and 2 puddings with 4 alcoholic beverages came just shy of £65 and a tip was given to the amazing Grace who took our orders, was well spoken and polite, very chatty and a pleasure to have serving us tonight. Food was spot on and couldn’t fault it at all! Thanks again guys! Keep up the amazing service!

Lots of options and a kids menu.

Do not book here I booked my 12 year olds birthday party months in advance with this restaurant and they cancelled the night before stating I should have precooked 2 days in advance, with not even an email warning nor call out of courtesy before giving out table away

Amazing visit to pizza express last night thanks to the service from Zuu! Polite, happy, helpful, attentive and put a smile on our faces! Best service we’ve received anywhere in a long time! She’s a true credit to the company! Food was good as always!

Great service and good food at a busy time

Chris who looks like he might be the manager was absolutely fantastic. It's a Saturday and so busy but Chris went far and beyond in securing us a table so my little one wouldn't cry as it's his favourite restaurant. I also have to mention that all staff here are just fantastic.....that's probably why my boy loves it here.

Great food and lovely service. Really excellent and patient with our two little ones :-)

Order was 20mins late and when it arrive it was cold.

First time eating here, really lovely Pizzas, we will be returning with our grown-up kids soon.

More than 50 minutes late. Which I realise is probably more just eat’s fault than pizza express. Food was tasty but tepid and my pizza was very chewy not the usual standard of pizza express.

We visited tonight and had a fantastic dinner. Starters, mains and dessert were just so good! The bruchetta was the best we've had at a Pizza Express branch. We also had the great pleasure to meet the GM Bradley, what an amazing employee that Pizza Express have. So professional, attentive and extremly warm in his approach. We had a great evening, and will be returning again very soon.

100 out of 100 for me. I received the best service today from a waiter called Ryan who was absolutely lovely and friendly and took care of our needs. Staff were approachable and lovely to speak to. I enjoyed my service and would recommend this specific pizza express. The atmosphere was lovely and comfortable and I was able to enjoy my time there. I would highly recommend them, I will be going again !

Just little pricey I got chicken salad £13.95 I could make same at home for less price But food was really nice and happy to go again but not all time xx

Pizza Express in Basingstoke is a hidden gem in the area. There are very kind and happy staff working there, who only want you to be happy. The service there was very quick, and my whole experience was just incredible.

The honey dough balls were epic, never cut them they're so good Our Waiter, Imy, was lovely to us and she made the evening brill

Size of food (garlic bread) was small for the price and pizza was not very warm

Our server Sophie was brilliant. Very friendly and professional. Pizzas were slightly lukewarm but well presented and tasted fine. The only criticism is something that we have noticed on the last few visits; the same manager turning away more tables than he lets in. Unfortunately, on all three occasions it has seemed to be tables of younger people that get turned away. On all of these occasions, the restaurant has never been more than half full, with each server having 3-4 tables. As a chain restaurant manager myself, it seems strange to want to have a half empty restaurant and it means that there is no atmosphere at all. Restaurant is run professionally but manager isn’t overly friendly and it really seemed strange to turn so much trade away with so many free tables

Here are the key points from our visit on a quiet Monday evening... - As soon as we walked through the door we were ignored by what we figured out to be the manager/shift supervisor for that period, not even a smile from the young lady. So we just had to awkwardly stand there with our 2 year old, hoping someone would address us. - The table we were taken to was very wet and worn out, with big chunks taken out of the edges of the table, the whole place needs a refresh. - The toilets were disgusting with toilet paper everywhere. - The "King" prawns in the starter were tiny, see photo. Tasted just ok. - Glasses were stained. - Pizza cutters were in very bad condition, with the plastic handles all chewed up. Looked like they were the original ones from when Festival Place was first built (I wish I took more photos). - Pizza tasted just ok. - During the meal a random angry man on a date purposely smashed his glass down on his table (some sort of quiet argument between the couple). Broken glass flew everywhere around him, onto tables with young children present. The angry man stormed out leaving the date there crying. Now obviously this incident wasn't Pizza Express' fault, but the smashed glass was left everywhere for a good 30 minutes after the event until someone started tidying it up. - The card payment machine was all sticky. - Driving out of Festival Place we got the pleasure of seeing the young manager/shift supervisor lady sat out the back by the fire exit bins having a lovely smoke with the 2 chefs. We might have given 2/5 for this review just because the food was ok rather than awful, and it didn't kill us. But the fact that Pizza Express seem to be ignoring all these reviews on here has knocked off another point. We will not be returning, and we recommend you don't either.

If I could have given a 0 star I would have. I have eaten here for the last 4 years, Firstly we called pizza express festival place to book a table of 8 to which Brett said they had no space for 8 people tonight, we decided to go online and book a table as there was one available, when we got there, they only had two tables occupied out of the 20-25 that are downstairs so plenty of room for 8, it was almost like they were turning away the business as they wanted to go home early, Brett the manager working on 20/06/23 was full of lies and fed false information, we went for my brother in laws 19th birthday, me being 25 was asked for ID I was quite flattered, we were also with his mum and dad, which when you have a meal with your parents if you are over the age of 16 you can have a drink with a meal, apparently according to Brett, pizza express don’t do that, which is a law which every restaurant has to abide by, we offered to give Brett either a photo of his ID or passport to prove his age, or even the gov uk identification app, to which Brett also said he has to have an actual copy, he was an absolute jobs worth and this will be my last time eating at pizza express festival place, as the meal wasn’t great we then asked for the service charge to be taken off the bill, to which the lady who was working stormed off to the kitchen to tell him, and then had the face of a slapped a**se, overall, Brett the manager shouldn’t be a manager, I think the power has got to his head, also he did not smile once. It should be a happy environment when you go out for dinner, but that completely ruined our whole dinner Overall my experience would be that I would never go back.

If I could have given a 0 star I would have. I have eaten here for the last 4 years, Firstly we called pizza express festival place to book a table of 8 to which Brett said they had no space for 8 people tonight, we decided to go online and book a table as there was one available, when we got there, they only had two tables occupied out of the 20-25 that are downstairs so plenty of room for 8, it was almost like they were turning away the business as they wanted to go home early, Brett the manager working on 20/06/23 was full of lies and fed false information, we went for my brother in laws 19th birthday, me being 25 was asked for ID I was quite flattered, we were also with his mum and dad, which when you have a meal with your parents if you are over the age of 16 you can have a drink with a meal, apparently according to Brett, pizza express don’t do that, which is a law which every restaurant has to abide by, we offered to give Brett either a photo of his ID or passport to prove his age, or even the gov uk identification app, to which Brett also said he has to have an actual copy, he was an absolute jobs worth and this will be my last time eating at pizza express festival place, as the meal wasn’t great we then asked for the service charge to be taken off the bill, to which the lady who was working stormed off to the kitchen to tell him, and then had the face of a slapped a**se, overall, Brett the manager shouldn’t be a manager, I think the power has got to his head, also he did not smile once. It should be a happy environment when you go out for dinner, but that completely ruined our whole dinner Overall my experience would be that I would never go back

Hi , We do visit Pizza express frequently and have always ordered the Calzone , but when we had the Calzone yesterday 18/06 evening at 9 pm it definitely was not prepared/cooked the way it has to Very disappointing

The food is not even bad, the service is awful

Food pretty average. Staff lovely

Great location and lovely food! Dough balls were very good, as was the Buddha Bowl! Pizza dough was cooked well & toppings a good mix although a little lacking on the burnt ends quantity it was still very nice! Would recommend all that we had! The only negative was it was a shame the outside seating wasn’t open as other restaurants all had outside seating open, but we enjoyed our meal! It just looked a little unloved and untidy outside!

As an Italian, it was a very bad experience. That is not pizza, tasteless black olives, and the tomato sauce was bland... The service was very mediocre, the glasses were dirty and not properly dried after washing, and the bottle of tap water had a thick layer of limescale on the neck and rim. The bill was overpriced considering both food, wine and service.

Very good food although thr service was slow, considering it wasn't busy.

The only thing worse than the quality of food, was the quality of the furniture, it's all ripped and falling apart, we should have taken this as a warning and turned away, I may not have been unwell for the next 48 hours then.

We went there for lunch. No booking was made but nicely greeted. Was sat and the waitress came within few minutes to take our drinks order. No drinks were ordered but just tap water. She then came back with the water and took our food order. 2 kids menus and 1 pizza. All was nice and tasty. I asked for the bill and paid with Tesco voucher previously downloaded with my clubcard and tip them £5. Once arrived at home, I realised that I was overcharged for 2 kids apple juice. Not really bothered for £4 but next time will definitely double check. Nice service and good atmosphere! Will return

Ordered a delivery and as stated due to an allergy phoned the restaurant to ensure they had the information. Took 15 calls to get through. The request was for no cheese on one of the pizzas but extra tomato sauce to compensate. The pizza looked like it had had sauce put on them scraped off. It was so dry it was inedible. Had we been in the restaurant it would have been sent back.

The pizzas are good but the service is hit and miss. Like most pizza express the restaurant looks shabby and in dire need of a refurbishment.

Nice chain restaurant. Good fast service.

The portion size of the sides is tiny and the pizza had barely any toppings.

My first visit to a pizza express in many years and was a group booking. They split our booked group up onto 2 tables at opposite ends of restaurant. This was because they were short staffed and didn't want a big table, despite having enough capacity and easily being able to accommodate us. We were told by a member of that service would not be the best and that they couldn't guarantee our food would come out together. We were there, hungry, a table booked and decided to stay. The restaurant was tired, not very clean and needing attention, food was just bog standard meh that you would expect from a chain, including a chicken pizza which had 3 pieces of chicken on. The staff that served us were friendly, attentive and helpful. No issues with service once seated and our food arrived all together.

Classic restaurant, mildly overpriced but great food, nice view from the restaurant and easy to get to

It’s been a while since I visited a Pizza Express. Food is still tasty but the place was more like a crèche or play school. Of course, they can’t choose their customers, but most seemed to be mums with buggies and noisy kids. Not the place to go for a quiet lunch. I enjoy a good pizza but I think I’d look elsewhere next time.

We visited on 4th March around 2.30 and had a lovely meal here, the food was good and the young lady who served us was very good, we even discussed the Ice Hockey with her.

Visited on a weekday evening, and were shocked by how empty the restaurant was. Service was very quick, and the food was good portions for the price. Unfortunately the dirty/rundown toilets really let the place down, and would have been an easy fix to improve the place.

Deliver great and on time. The pizza was burnt the cheese was crispy and the base was chewy and greasy hardly any chicken on it. I can honestly say it was the worst pizza I have ever had in my whole life. Had to throw it away. So disappointed as I was very hungry and looking forward to it. I will never order from here again. EVER!!!!!

Would of given no stars. My pizza was burnt, chewy and greasy with hardly any topping. I was looking forward to my pizza I was very hungry. I can honestly say it was the worst pizza I have ever had in my whole life. So disgusted with it I threw it straight in the bin outside. I emailed a complaint and asked for a refund. Was told I need to take a photo of it. I'm not about to go rooting around outside in my dirty dustbin. I expect to receive a refund whether I have sent a photo or not. I'm hardly making it up.!!!!!!. I would of rather received a lovely pizza for the money I paid. Very hungry and disappointed customer. I will never ever order from here again. I have been denied a refund because I did not send a photo. It truly did not occur to me to send a photo. I have never had to complain about a food order before.

Yummy food, great staff and so child friendly! It’s a win!

I ordered a pizza without Goats Cheese as allergic and asked for pancetta. The ordered arrived with goats cheese. I contacted the restaurant and was advised a call back by the manager Mario. It’s been a week and still have not received a call back even after leaving numerous messages. Biggest waste of £20 for a meal I could not even eat!’nn Always enjoyed eating at Pizza Express but poor customer services along with receiving a wrong order I will not be returning!!!

The pizza is the mediocre style of Pizza Express and f course no much they can do since this is their style or let's say their flagship, probably the pizza should be cooked better at least. However, something you should do is called cleanliness. Cutlery needs a proper clean either with water and vinegar or you better buy a new one same applies to the glasses and all the rest. The pizza topping station when you go up to the toilet is basically so much exposed to the dirt and dust coming from each one going up and down. And I stop here, the rest in the case is there a store or area manager please step in and give a thorough check. about the team you constantly need to check on them trying to earn their attention. The lack of attention ( I am talking about the basic here) is absolutely... "unique"!

We usually enjoy a variety of pizza, dough balls n cocktails in Pizza Express. We always tried dine-In, but yesterday we ordered pizza n the quality was same as in resto. It was loaded with cheese n toppings, freshly made n very tasty. It's worth paying money as quality n quantity is awesome.

Food was great and so was the guy that sat us with the big beard

Great service! The meal was lovely but attentive waitress really made our visit special thank you so much!

Pizza practically raw felt like I was eating a pepperoni topped crepe staff where nice but food is awful.

Visited on a Tuesday with Family and friends. Had booked so was told to take a seat. Waited a very long time to be asked for our order. Although waiter was not directly rude I felt we were treated with contempt. I didn't want to...

The restaurant was cold++++ The waiting staff seemed to be put out by our party of 8. we had to ask for the usual things I have never had to ask for at a pizza express. We had 4 children sat at the table no crayons or colouring activities offered until asked for. I ordered the premium beer but did not get the nice glass it should have come in. The garlic bread with mozzerella had the least amout of mozzerella I have ever encountered at a Pizza Express. It was dissapointing at best. One of the main orders was messed up. To make things worse in a half full restaurant best we rushed out because of the "next" table coming in.... looking around at all the space it was hard to wonder why we needed to be rushed out. The toilets were a pretty sad state, doors broken, generally dirty at best. Having visited many different Pizza Express restaurants over the years this fell far short of my expectations. We spent nearly £250 and I do not think it was worth it! I definetly will not be coming back anytimie soon.

Got a table with room for our prams as was requested. Grace our waitress was excellent and helpfully warned us that there would be a little wait for food so we could manage toddler expectations. Everyone happy with their pizzas and desserts. Would recommend.

Comfortably the best proper pizza you'll find in Basingstoke. The only that surprised me was the lack of red wine options. Other than that great as usual.

My daughter and I went into Pizza Express in Basingstoke . We hadn’t booked but although we were told that we may have to eat within an hour as they had a lot of pre booked tables we were politely spoken to with a smile...