Pizza Express in Canterbury

Food was really good. But service was incredibly slow (on a Wednesday evening) we told the wait staff that we were going to a show too. Took 40 minutes just for a doughball starter to come out. And then 20 minutes for 2 pizzas after doughballs were taken away, even though we asked for both of them at the same time. Tables so close together that could hear every word of people next to us. Also no drinks menu given to us, so thought they only had the drinks shown in the food menu. Won't be going to this branch of Pizza Express again unfortunately.

Waited so long for our mains that we left. Starters were average, we had those and soft drinks and ended up paying £23 which is frustrating to pay when we didn’t even eat a full meal. Multiple people were being apologised to about the wait and offered money off but we weren’t, just ignored. We asked where our food was and weren’t even given a reason as to why we’d waited to long.

Visited this place 3 weeks ago 😊, amazing and very polite workers !! Pizza was definitely delicious. 10/10

Food, as always was delicious. Staff were all super friendly and our server was wonderful - she really took time to chat and was brilliant with out kids food allergies. Love the quirky old building and the atmosphere it gives, lots of different seating areas to choose from.

By coincidence I have eaten here twice with two separate groups within a month. Before that I had not eaten at Pizza Express in about 5 years. First experience, group of 6, Sat late evening. Wait staff were pleasant but very difficult to get hold of. Thought this was due to it being busy but it quietend down quickly and still the waitress was nowhere to be found and good very slow. Starts were 30 mins. Main was also 30-45 mins. We ended up chasing. Dough balls are still good but the calzone was pretty bad. They hadn't mixed the ingredients in the calzone so one section was all the spinach then the next was all the chicken, etc. I had yo mix it up myself which was odd. Even mixed it was quite bland, and less sauce and more just watery. We skipped desert as we didn't want the wait and still had to wait 30 minutes for the bill. Second time was 12 of us, early Sat evening. We were seated alone upstairs on a large table. Service was much better but the food wasn't. Again, dough balls were solid but I went for pasta and it wasn't very nice. It was sludgy and tasted like pesto straight from the jar at home mixed with preshredded chicken and the world's thinnest slickest of red onion. Taste aside I didnt exactly feel I got good value. Still, waitress managed a large group very well, was patient with some awkward orders, and kept the drinks moving. Conclusion - its not terrible but it seems to have gone down hill a bit over the last half a decade. I remember more flavour and better portions. Dough balls are as good as they have ever been, service was mixed, and the mains were a bit sad. I would eat there if others were keen to but I would not pick it myself again.

We are at Pizza express before a show at the Marlowe Theatre last week. We hadn’t booked a table and despite being busy, were given a table instantly. I don’t have the app but the waitress persuaded me to get it at for the great offers and she was bang on! Being a veggie, sometimes pizza places limit what’s available but the menu was great! We had a number of starters: Garlic dough balls 7/10 Halloumi bites 4/10 Mushroom arancini 7/10 Garlic bread with mozerella 9/10 For mains we had: Pollo d’astra on a classic base which was sublime!!! BBQ chicken (no chicken) on a romana. Both pizzas were delicious and a great size!! The staff were brilliant and made the meal even better! Overall, we were really pleased and would certainly return!

The food as always was delicious we have never regretted using PizzaExpress anywhere and the Canterbury branch is one of our favourite choices, always quite busy, a good sign. Luis looked after us he was very professional polite helpful and attentive there when needed but not hovering around. Encouraging with suggestions but not pushy.

Oh dear I feel eating out is turning me into a grumpy old man. We started off with a plate of dough balls,now I have had these at this restaurant many times before and they have been soft and tasty, not so this time what we had was appertaining to crusty old bread, onto our main course of canernoli we both agreed it was stodgy and lacked any semblance of seasoning and oh so bland. On to the desserts,well my tiramisu I have had better here my wife had Sylinian lemon and white chocolate roulade which was much too sweet and did not taste the lemon. All in all not a good night. I noticed on one of my earlier visits here I gave a rave review. Not this time around.😡

Visited with friends before theatre. Friends are vegetarian and I was astonished that, unlike my previous visits to the chain, there were very few options. We settled for 3 Margheritas, which is actually one of my favourites. However what arrived was the flabbiest, least flavourful pizza ever. Given our time constraints, as our order was delayed after someone else’s food was delivered. I did not complain, although I know I should have. On top of everything else our bill was wrong, significantly higher than it should be, which had to be corrected. I’ve eaten at quite a few Pizza Express’s before and never had a problem. However we certainly won’t be back.

My Mum in law was taken ill during the week whilst we were there . The staff and manager were amazing , showed genuine care and called an ambulance . Fortunately she’s ok , but can’t thank them enough . Prior to this , we had a lovely meal as always , and will be back . Thanks again everyone.

Good food but quite expensive for just pizzas. Pizzas were really crisp and tasty though!

Pizza express in Canterbury has a very nice outdoor seating area. I much prefer dining in than delivery and this particular pizza express location is rather charming. Service and food were a solid 4 stars.. no complaints worth writing about. Thankyou come again very very good yes

Very nice meal and friendly staff.

Very disappointed, very average pizza for the price, could have bought better at a super market, and enjoyed it more, an experience, and wouldn't go again

Great service and brilliant food. Always earn rewards on the app, lots of variety on the menu. Kid friendly and great value.

3 stars because of the price, for a chain its easily 20% more than it should be. The food is good but pricey, considering you have authentic Italian restaurants in the area and pizza places of the same standard but cheaper.

Last minute lunch. Great service and food as always.

Canterbury is very big on it; the place, the people, and also this place that welcomed us with joy and friendliness. The pizza is good, excellent ice cream, free children's menu. Congratulations to all the staff. Highly recommended!

Great time today at pizza express all thanks to the great food and our great waitress Elle

Took the family for lunch, it was busy, the service though was good, but the pizza was just plain awful, you’d think a basic pizza with ham would be easy to deal with, it was like eating cold cardboard, no taste, no mozzarella at all, to top it off we had to use blunt cutlery, I mean blunt, no pizza cutter offered, took longer to cut it than eat it, tasted like a supermarket pizza, three drinks, three pizza and a garlic bread over 60 pounds!

I visited this evening with my 2 children (8 and 12) and my mum. Normally I wouldn't review, but because had excellent food and service, it would be rude not to express my gratitude for your efforts this evening. I was pleasantly surprised at the turn around of it all, especially with how busy the restaurant was. There were many members of staff on and they were all very attentive. Our food and drinks order was taken promptly. I was expecting to have to wait for our food longer than we did, so we were all pleasantly surprised when our order appeared. The quality of the food far surpasses that of other restaurants I'd consider in the same calibre. I had the calamari to start, followed by the delicious vegan buddha bowl, and a few sneaky spoonfuls of my daughters honeycomb cheese cake, and a litre of bottled water with my meal [Although they were out of the grains the buddha bowl comes with, I was offered a choice of an extra ingredient as a replacement - I opted for toasted sunflower and pumpkin seeds I was blown away by the variety of food in the dish: rocket, sun-dried tomatoes, spinach, beetroot, toasted sunflower and pumpkin seeds and humous.] My 8 years old had the 3 kids courses and drink, he was very happy and didn't leave a crumb (possibly because I forgot to feed him lunch...): dough balls with cucumber and tomatoes, Margarita pizza, rainbow ice lolly, with a carton of oj My 12 year old had dough balls to start and a sloppy guiseppe pizza (?I think this was the name?) and the honey comb cheese cake slice, and 2 raspberry lemonades Granny shared my Calamari starter- cooked to perfection, and she enjoyed her pasta carbonara. She finished her meal with some little figs, ice cream and a cappuccino. She had a couple of glasses of wine with her meal The atmosphere was lovely, the chairs were cushioned and comfy, and my son and his granny were entertained by watching the boats going past the window. Our waitress was Amy. She was polite, attentive and accommodating.

Fantastic location next to the river. Choice of seats overlooking the river or in the courtyard. Waiter was friendly and very professional. Great food too!

We have visited many times before over the years, even gave the grandchildren a treat there once, but I have never written a review before. The standard of the food is always very good and I love the venue, the river views, the atmosphere and the decor. Over the years, the level of service has varied. When it is not so good, it's always down to a lack of staff. Whether the manager can't get them or doesn't have the budget for them, I don't know. However, because we can, we now visit in the early afternoon. It's usually fairly quiet then and service is good. Unless there is a tragic change of circumstances, we will remain loyal customers.

Food is always good. Service is also good. A favourite place to eat.

I am visit today but in front of door no welcome nathing any thing just standing 5 min after over waiting 10 minutes no one come and take order Only one girl in the floor it's not good Thanks 😊

Me and my friends go there and there is no welcome and nothing we are waiting for 15 minutes in hot area. There is only one waitress on the floor doing everything. She didn’t attend us . And we can’t eat anything.this is not good resultant.

Just could have been better. To start with our table was missing cutlery, some had two knives and most no forks. My son had to wait a while for his pizza after everyone had got their main. We could have done with more water but the waitress was laying other tables, ironic really as ours was so badly laid out. We were asked if we would like to see the dessert menu and the waitress forgot us, so had to ask another waitress for some menus. The puddings came out in dribs and drabs. We opted for coffee and a small dessert. Most came with the correct cup etc. but mine was a smaller cup. Then after asking another waitress for something we learnt ours had gone home. We’ve always found Pizza Express to be very professional but sadly not this one and doubt we will return. It seemed like a bit of a joke to some of the staff. Just wasn’t impressed at all.

Nice family meal before trip to the Marlowe theatre

Very nice service and very delicious food. A bit expensive but everything is within reason

Very frustrating! Great food, lovely place to be, and the staff are really nice. BUT There are several separate spaces for dining and they need to have staff permanently based in each space. We found we were waiting anything up to fifteen MINUTES for someone to come, and if you just want salt, or a beer, that can be really frustrating. Several times we got up from our table and went looking for someone!!

Food was brilliant apart from our waiter one person was still eating but took my plate from the table I paid cash we had to get someone else to get the card machine so we could finish off the bill

The pizzas are nice, the dough balls are the best but the service from our particular waiter was very poor. Miserable, non attentive, didn't care, no offering dessert menu, just chucked the rolled up bill on the table with the card machine already set (we wanted to split the bill)

The waiter Carlos was inattentive, lacked personality, was not bothered in the slightest, didn't ask if we wanted desserts, just slammed the card machine on the table and walked away, didn't ask if we wanted to split the bill or anything. Absolutely appalled by the service of this waiter. The hallomi bites were also just covered in grease, and inedible, and had to be sent back.

The waiter who served us (I didn't catch his name) 29.5.24 was fantastic. He was really friendly and welcoming. Nothing was too much trouble, I did thank him and told his manger as we left. Thank you

I like Pizza Express the most of all the chain pizza places. Simply because the pizza base and the toppings are so good. Service is always helpful. Canterbury Pizza Express has a lot of atmosphere being right next to the river. You need to avoid very busy times because the sound echoes around. Avoid tables right before you but go to right where it's slightly less echoey.

The staff was fantastic, one order was slightly delayed, but the staff were very apologetic, gave us a free drink to those affected and sorted out within 5 minutes. We would happily return again

Lovely food, need more staff on busy nights

Lovely view overlooking the river. Liz was great. Food good

I was on my own but given a lovely secluded table and friendly and efficient service throughout

Great place to eat, friendly staff and lovely pizza

Disappointed. Pizza Express used to be pretty decent. Not any more. Our first choice on the menu was not available, so had penne al forno and an American pizza with extra ham topping. Pasta was basically a tasteless mac & cheese, pizza OK but not special - they used to have a hand made look (and taste) about them but now seem more like one you could buy in a supermarket. And the extra topping (for £2.50!) was almost non-existent. And the beer was horrendously over priced. There are plenty of other Italian / pizza style restaurants in Canterbury, I suggest trying one of those instead and avoid Pizza Express.

Barely made it through the door and asked to move out of the way by a rather sweaty man appearing to be preparing food and maybe greeting people? Not a great 1st impression, the layout was poor with nowhere to stand to wait to be seated, and you could hear the dishwashers radio over anything else. Then he wouldn’t seat us with our baby until he’d seen the push chair. Absolute joke so we left

Got free dough balls which are always great, and then had a lasagna which was delicious.

Lovely restaurant. The atmosphere is great and even on a busy Saturday the food was quick and the service friendly. Standard Pizza Express food but can’t really go wrong with it.

A visit on a Saturday is always going to be busy. The staff were super friendly and accommodating. Food was delicious especially the mini puddings which were a great idea. Would definitely go back.

Our waiter was very friendly and made the meal so much nicer with the first greeting I'm very impressed and I am now thinking of becoming a waiter. Very lovely food and the staff made an excellent job of being friendly and helpful. If you are looking for a place to go for a meal I definitely suggest going here!!!

Very nice and relaxing. Food nice.

I was very impressed with the food quality and the menu options, plus the waitress we had was brilliant; super friendly, helpful and efficient. The only downside was it was getting really busy (because it was a Saturday night) and some of the tables feel a bit squashed in when they are all occupied.

Very nice service Liz was very helpful and polite. Food came quickly and hot thank you Liz. Nice quiet location for something to eat.

Excellent service. Good food and very reasonable.

Such a lovely meal this evening (Thursday 8th) with 3 mates, both food and service were absolutely top class. The service in particular really stood out for a high street chain and our waitress really looked after the 4 of us and was very attentive to our table. Such a pleasant surprise! Well done Pizza Express

Nice to see an open kitchen. Restaurant is set up in such a way that it never feels crowded. Lady who served us did it with such genuine pleasure and confidence that you can't help thinking she loves her job. Good food, nice service and pleasant atmosphere.

Always been out favourite place to come over the years amazing food ,great atmosphere & staff always welcoming Definitely will be back soon

I have enjoyed meals at Pizza Express in Best Lane since I arrived in Canterbury in 2001, sometimes eating each weekday! The food is always exciting, the menu changes regularly, and the staff are lovely, professional and most helpful. The site by the river is enticing, but there are other rooms for larger groups where I used to bring my tutor group for a Christmas meal before I retired. Always excellent food, and my favourite in the city.

A very consistently brilliant pizza express with genuinely lovely staff in an old forge. Love the old photos of the building in its working state years ago.

Visited here on Saturday, didn’t book just walked in and asked for a table for two. The restaurant looked grubby to be honest, dirty tables and items on the floors such as dirty napkins.. far cry from what Pizza Express used to be like. We used the app as their discount is good on there so recommended this before going to download their app, you can also pay the bill on it. Food was good and so was the service but the staff do need to pay more attention to the state of the restaurant.

Food lovely,staff friendly and nice attitude towards kids, however v.cold. Noticed this was also the case 4 wks ago? Surely that is too long, outside temp. a.t.m. -2 wind chill.Toilet particular cold.

Best place for Pizza, shame our local one had to close. One day we hope it might come back.

The food was wonderful, we haven’t been to Pizza Express for years and we thoroughly enjoyed it. Very accommodating staff, they moved us when we asked as there was a terrible draught where we were sitting.

Beautiful place, lots of character. The food is what you'd expect. Staff were very friendly and sensitive to dietary requirements.

Another year of panto and our pre performance meal in this restaurant. This year something has changed. The service was friendly but terribly slow. After an hour we still had no main course, although the party who arrived just before us were nearly done. Our grandchildren had no time for their deserts and were getting very frustrated having to wait so long for food. On challenging the manager, we were informed those around us had pre booked their orders. Strange they were studying the menus! We were given a reduced bill, but I would much rather have had a decent meal.

Can’t fault the food taste although I am gluten free and not much option beyond pizza which was fine by me. Which was tasty but no where near the size of the normal pizza’s. The staff was nice with service but we did wait nearly 30 min for 3 pizzas which seems extreme.

We went yesterday on a busy Saturday evening, the food was really nice and tasty and even though it was busy, we had a lovely and friendly waitress who was very attentive (I unfortunately didn't ask for her name). Overall had a great experience. Thank you

Waitress was lovely. Food was great. But restaurant was so cold. I appreciate the cost of energy has risen but please warm up the place. Not exactly conducive to a pleasant eating experience when you're having to keep your coat on to eat.

They were clearly under pressure and very busy. However the food was great and arrived in good time. The service by Charlie was excellent! Worthy of five stars!

Exceptionally slow service. We went pre theatre and pre ordered to ensure we weren't rushing. This clearly wasn't a benefit as we waited 60 minutes for our food and that was only after chasing them up. They said our food was being cooked when we arrived which was clearly not true. Waitress was nice enough but it was chaotic and very disappointing. Food was normal pizza express fare.

What can I say , personally I think they need to take the word express out of the title . The service was absolutely terrible .

Really disappointed with our experience today which we booked to dine before going to the Marlowe. Firstly when entering the staff seemed busier doing their own personal things rather than seeing us to our table. Then the table we were placed at had such bright spotlights that you would’ve needed sunglasses on to stay there so we asked to move. Took a while to then be asked about food and drinks. We then had our two starters come out and delayed times and then the olives arrived after. Then as we were just finishing our starters the main came out, no time to even breathe, it was as if they just wanted us gone. We ordered the calzone… would advise people to avoid this! Worst looking calzone I’ve ever seen, oddly burnt on top but soggy underneath, tiny portion and as flat as a pancake, the ‘salad’ that came with it was spinach just thrown on the plate. Left without eating mains 😞

Very poor service. We waited for more than 1 hr but they haven't served our food yet. But people who came after us had their food early even if we ordered same food as what they ordered. So unacceptable!! Ended up walking out and eating in another restaurant.

The food was really amazing 🤩 But, the service was too slow. Our food came after 45 minutes (it wasn't even rush). People ordered after us, they received their orders and our order was taking hell lot of time. After ½hr someone came and told us sorry your food will be in 3 minutes, but took 15 minutes to come to our table. We assumed that order was just missplaced or they forgot. Which is not our problem but their carelessness.

Staff were fantastic, had a newborn with me and the waitress was lovely - cutting my pizza for me so I could feed him, and just being so welcoming !! Thank you !!

Great food, and excellent service

We've all eaten at Pizza Express. The service here was excellent. Friendly and engaging. Was even given a cab referral for my onward journey. Thanks

Lewis was our server and was friendly, polite and accommodating we could not ask for better service.

Great service, the food was brought to us quickly, and we left the restaurant feeling stuffed! Used the app to book, which rewarded us with a free dough balls token. We will definitely be back. 🍕👍

All three of us have paid for three full meals and are still very hungry. Quality passable. Quantity severely lacking. Service very commendable. There's other places...

We were on a mission with errands to run everywhere. My wife offered to treat us to lunch and so stumbled across Pizza Express. They had a previous good experience at the Ashford Outlet branch so didn't see any issues here. We were seated upstairs right next to a very loud child's birthday in a very small space. It was loud! There were seats downstairs and we could have sat there. However was placed next to this noise. After my wife went and asked for other seating, we were indeed given a seat downstairs. My wife ordered a chicken pasta dish while I ordered a pizza. My wife's dish was a large slab of breaded chicken and some salad, no pasta in sight! My pizza was a the BBQ brisket, it didn't look like much, in fact I would go as far as to say it was just a brown mess on a base. I quickly found the whole flavour of this was BBQ sauce, as it was smothered in it. I like a BBQ pizza but not a pizza base with BBQ sauce and sprinkling of meat. Would stay away from that one on the menu! The service from our waitress was outstanding. She took the time to interact with the children, which was nice. One point is to maybe consider asking your customers how everything was. Not sure I will want to return here.

A shrimp pizza! But enjoyed, esp the leggara. Lemon roulade not a strong lemon flavour: raspberry couli, and a strawberry on top seems odd

Very slow service, food was all nice, I had the burnt ends pizza which was the best pizza I have had in a long time. We were told it would be a 45 minutes wait to get food but took almost 45 minutes to take orders and then an hour to get mains. Just keep getting told 5 minutes. Other tables that arrived after us all were served first and had almost finished before we got our mains.

Pasta dry, and burnt patches. Great service from out waiter. Very hot, staff unable to work air conditioning and very tight upstairs.

Awful food. Waited an hour. Salty and crunchy pasta. Yuk.

Great service, food was amazing and staff very attentive. Manager (Emma I think her name was) couldn’t be more helpful. Would highly recommend.

I arrived at the wonderful restaurant, known to the people as pizza express, with a spring in my step and a smile on my face. It was fair to say that this was not my first rodeo at the hallowed grounds of the Italy-inspired pantheon, having been there multiple times in the previous months. I ordered a large pizza and sat, licking my lips in anticipation of the culinary adventure I was about to embark on. However, 45 minutes later my pizza had not arrived, and I was beginning to grow impatient. Smoke began to pour from my ears as my anger grew, and I felt myself slipping into the void of pure rage. Then, the moment came. My pizza arrived, along with my Kombucha and Doughballs, and I was instantly placated. Although on the expensive side, it was a very pleasurable experience, and I will be back again soon.

Visited many times previously because the food is very good, and today was no exception. But we waited almost an hour from ordering until we were served, not acceptable at all. So we didn't have time for dessert or coffee, which we had planned. I understand that it's school holidays, and it was fairly busy, but people who came in when we did, ate their food, and departed before we even tasted anything. Not the best experience today. (The few staff were lovely.)

One of the best Pizza Express restaurants we’ve been to. Lovely location, nice atmosphere and great food. Our waitress (Liz) was lovely and looked after us well. We had a nice table located next to the water.

Waiting too long for the order. Very disappointed with sunshine sundae. Looks different on the photo and on real. Just one scope of ice cream and lots of cream. Mango and passion fruit one a piece each. No worth it the price.

Came here with my son a few weeks ago it was very busy but I had booked in advance the service was very poor and slow the waitress seemed very uninterested Like she didn’t want to be there my we waited over an hour for our mains after the starters and then my sons main arrived before mine and he was finished eating when mine finally arrived .. the chefs were just standing around chatting which probably explained the long wait for our food.

Some friends and I, on a trip to the city, popped into this lovely Pizza Express right by the river. We had a really lovely time with good food and fantastic service. I ate a salad niceoise and a billionaire's sundae, with red wine. Our young waiter was so attentive he made a routine meal into a really enjoyable experience.

rushing is one thing but bringing out wrong orders and uncooked pizzas and slapping them with chillies for 'taste' in unacceptable. Uncooked ingredients, very little cheese and tomato paste and an embarasment to what the pizza is. Dropped the ball so bad, we used to go and e decided last minute to give it another try, but after last night, this is never gong to go into our mouths again. Disgusting, eater burnt or uncooked, rushed, dirty bathrooms, the whole place is not clean, or polished or seems to give a damn about its quality of food. Adios.

Our family favourite and go-to for a treat meal out. Amazing vegan options, cosy atmosphere and best of all we always a super enthusiastic server who always goes beyond. Its not a cheap meal out anymore but understand the economic reasons behind this. Sold Pizza Express experience.

very good pizza and very friendly personal 👏🏼

Very nice spot overlooking the river. My server was lovely. Food is always reliable, the Caesar salad was great and the cheesy dough balls were indulgent.

We had delicious food BUT the restaurant was very quiet at lunchtime yet it took nearly an hour to get our main course. That was not the fault of the waiter who was charming, and kept us informed. We ordered dough balls which arrived promptly, THEN waited and waited for our two pizzas. Why was this? If we had been under time pressure, which many people are as the restaurant is very close to The Marlowe Theatre, this would have made the experience very stressful. As I said the food was delicious. My husband said the Padana was the best he’d ever tasted but the experience was spoilt because of the timing. God knows how long we would have waited if the restaurant was busy.

Its ok. Nothing special, nothing offensive, just ok.

We've just been for lunch with our 5 month old daughter. Our server Matthew was phenomenal. He was so helpful, suggesting things on the menu to help us with our choices and having lovely chats about the baby. We don't go out for meals since having Dotty and this felt really special. Thank you for being great Matt! Mel, Will and baby Dorothy xo

Our waiter Gabe was very helpful, bless him on this roasting day. Food was immaculate and the view not bad either. Complements to the chef

Amazing food service and people. Had an amazing night there, the manager on duty hola was fabulous! Would Come back

Ordered the Sloppy Giuseppe, the tomato topping was saturated with sugar and had a fish sauce taste that was overwhelming. The pizza wasn't cooked it was incinerated to the consistency of ship's biscuit. When you look down at your plate, see three pizza slices and despair at the impending mindless mastication you know you won't be coming back. Also clean the windows downstairs, they were filthy.

The nice outdoor seating area attracted us to this restaurant, however it took an hour for our food. By that time, it was freezing cold and the atmosphere was nonexistent. Staff seem rude and cold, not much care for customer wellbeing or satisfaction at all. Very disappointing, the Pizza Express chain is severely let down by this restaurant.

Great visit! We was seated next to the window and had the gorgeous views of the river and passing boats. Food & drink orders were taking promptly by Sam who knew the menu well and offered his recommendations. He was professional, friendly and accomodating. Food was served hot and it was delicious. We will be coming back!