Pizza Express - First Street in Manchester

Very poor experience in this pizza restaurant, after waiting 30 mins when it was very quiet, we assumed our food would be fresh and worth the wait, very disappointed when we brought it back to our hotel beside it, crispy potatoes were soggy and clumped together so some were still Ice cold, pizza base was thiner than a wrap not cut properly and all the toppings just slide off as it was so thin it was breaking. Chicken portion was 3 pieces and mozzarella sticks was small aswel, would not recommend anyone waste there money here as it was expensive, and by far the worst pizza I have ever had. Should of known by how quiet it was.

The restaurant was absolutely brilliant and helpful, but the driver that was assigned to the order did not bring it and I’ve had to wait over 2 hours. Called the restaurant and they were able to contact support as there is no number for customers to contact them and they were just able to change the driver. Will surely order from this restaurant again, just not through this app.

service is normally slow for some reason...even when it's not packed.

A wonderful leisurely lunch with friends. We each had two courses and were pleased with them all. To start, we had the prawns and the bruschetta originale. Both were excellent - and having the dough balls to dip in the sauce from the prawns was excellent. The bruschetta looked extremely healthy with tomatoes and lots of green things. It was also very tasty! For main course, we had the chicken Caesar salad and a pollo ad Astra romana pizza. The only change we would make next time would be to have the salad without the anchovies. I usually have three Pollo ad Astra on a classic base but deliberately tried it on the romana, as listed on the menu. I decided that I still definitely prefer it on a classic base - so will ensure I return to that request in future. We were served by a quiet but very friendly guy with a beard and glasses. He was a superb host throughout our visit and would like to thank him for his care. It would have been preferable if he had asked us if we wanted any black pepper when our starters were served, but the restaurant was not busy and so it was easy to regain his attention to make this request ourselves. In terms of the restaurant itself, the only feature we did not like was the entrance. I assume there is a retractable roof as it feels a bit like a lean-to and wasn’t a great first impression on entering the restaurant. We will, however, definitely be back.

Poor service, waiter came after 30 minutes of waiting. Food then arrived promptly, but no waiter came to collect plates or give the bill. I could see they were very understaffed but if this is on a Friday evening, you would expect a few more people working there.

Such a lovely meal, Magda was so fabulous, highly recommend ❤️

Me and my Dad went there today before seeing Longlegs at Home Cinema. Food's excellent, staff are friendly and helpful will defiantly be going back there.

Upon entering the restaurant, the level of lack of cleanliness was very clear. Within the conservatory, there were at least 4 tables that needed clearing and maybe half a dozen tables again inside. The server (Fabio) was attentive and informative of offers and swaps of ingredients but the table next to ours was only cleared when we were almost finished - at least an hour later and wasn't cleaned at all which was discomforting in a place you are eating.

Our servers were really attentive and made sure to give me all the information I needed about dietary restrictions. We had two pizzas and really enjoyed are. The vegan cheese for the pizzas was absolutely delicious. Probably the best cheese I have had anywhere on a pizza. The reason for 4 stars is that because it's a chain restaurant it's not a great atmosphere or building. It's just fine.

They had no ketchup or tabascoo ;(

Our sever was lovely. Some kind and helpful. Good was hot and tasty. Vegan options were good.

Had an amazing experience right from stepping through the door we received a warm and friendly welcome. The female team member that greeted us was very helpful in helping set up the App on my mobile. Great service really felt really special (was our wedding anniversary). Nothing was to much trouble.

Lovely fresh pizza, sides & desserts - recommend!

Unfortunately service was so slow here that we didn’t have time to do the birthday cake we had brought along as we had a concert to go to. Also difficult to keep young children happy having to wait so long for food to come.

Nice pizza, nice delivery guy.

Super tasty vegan pizza. Nice packaging.

Good, fast service and good food!

The best pizza I have ever eaten.

Dry, cold pizza. Soggy dough balls. Complete waste of money

Complete rip-off. I am student and went there with a Uni-days coupon as shown in the images. I was refused to get the offer by the general manager himself. He said we don’t have that offer, even though the offer is still on the website right now but as shown in the photos the offer is mentioned on the unidays website with the terms saying that pizza express management has agreed for this discount.When we said okay we are leaving, they said your order has already been placed and they made us pay the full amount without even asking us if we are okay with that. This was totally rude and unacceptable. I am expecting compensation or refund or a complimentary meal to cover what I have spend.

The food is good, but the service was too long. It took them more than 1h to cook 7 pizzas whereas there were very few people in the restaurant. We even had time to hear the playlist played twice. Moreover, the important presence of kids didn't help the communication on the table.

Pizza came with a hole in it and the dough balls were completely flat

Only gluten free pizzas arrived which were cold

Fantastic gluten and diary free options available from this place.

Been a few times and never disappoints. Great pizzas at great prices

The staff is brilliant! So is the food One bearded chef, and a bublly waitress that have been looking after us, too bad I ve not seen the gig man who missed there Christmas 🎉

Really nice restaurant, can always rely on a nice pizza too! The chef today (11/02/2024) cooked the perfect egg for my pizza. The waitress was really nice too, as was the manager.

"Food Delivery Drivers" don't go there, they are issuing £60 fines for parking cars on Isabela Road, even if it is within 20min.

The pollo milanese didn’t come

I love it here, food is good and the app/rewards are very good. BUT, a few times we have been and there has been a long wait, even though the restaurant doesn't seem very busy. That's disappointing to us cos we love their pizzas and customer service is otherwise great.

Very nice dining experience, special thanks to Josh our waiter who did a cracking job.

We had a table of 8 and the food was served quickly and was excellent. Staff were organised and efficient, and ensured we had a great time.

I only generally leave reviews where the experience has been at one of the extreme ends of the spectrum. In this case everything was above expectations - The team, the restaurant itself, and the food. Our server, whose name I did note but has since been compromised by the indulgences of the festive zeitgeist, was absolutely exceptional. *edit* - It was Magda :)

Good food and efficient service.

It's a good Pizza Express with friendly staff

Good taste and portion size, but it would be advisable for the pizza to have a little more flavor. I though the small size pizza would be smaller, so I ordered some chili prawns, but it would be enough with only the pizza. The prawns were a little bit spicy for a mexican, but enjoyable.

I had a quick dinner with my wife .. it was the first time i go to pizza express and try their pizza , it was ok eccept the homade lemonad i had it was with no flavour just water i was expecting better than that ... and the other thing when i wanted to pay i didnt have that enough money in my card to pay tips and the waitress who took the payment was rude when i press no tips on the card reader and se was looking really bad to me with even no saying thank you this is what makes me very bad i didnt had a time to complaine about what she did but i promised to no back there at all and it was my first and last time i go to pizza express

Taste good but notuch sustenance, thinnest pizza I've ever seen. Dough balls bland, wings ok. Not great for the price will not be ordering again.

Friendly helpful staff, DELicious food and lovely cozy feel to place. First greeted by a polite young lady who offered to prepare food for when my daughter was due out of the theatre. I normally take a pic of selection by was quickly devoured, it was so scrumptious there was little left to photograpj. Noted the messsge at the bottom of the cola glass 'Dr Pemberton, inspiring since 1886' (when drink invented). Well Pizza Express you inspired our tummies, we'll come again. Thank you!!

We chose to try here for the first time cos of freebie Friday. Just received order and didn’t get the free item so pointless having offers if not going to honour them. I would have ordered them if I had of known the offer was not going to be honoured

Food was cold and burnt 1st time and never again 😡

All the food came cold and burnt and I only live 15 mins away I’m not happy the quality of food they gave I would not even feed my cat

Fantastic delivery. Disappointed with the quality of the pizza it was the first time for a take out order doesnt compare to my last experience of dining in. Wont be ordering again.

Pizza was both squashed and cold. Quite an achievement considering I live 500m away.

I booked a table for me and my daughter to have a pre cinema meal. The restaurant was about 1/3 full. I have us 1hour to order snd eat and catch the film, with the cinema being a v short distance away. We waited 35 minutes for some doe balls and calamari. And this was after asking 10minutes earlier, and politely informing the waiter that we were catching a film at 8pm. The manager came over with the starter, so I told him our situation, and that we had ordered pizza, which we probably won’t have time to eat. No apology for the long wait for the starter, just a look of disappointment. I hate to see the service if the restaurant was busy. You know when you go to a pizza express that the food is pretty standard, however the service has always been ok. Not here!!!!

Good selection of Italian dishes, and friendly staff.

Magda was a brilliant host/waitress she made sure all of our needs were met, allegories were confirmed and we were comfortable, the food came out in 10 minutes even tho other members of staff said it would take 30/45mimutes and all round customer service was on point as usual, this is the 5th time Magda has served us and she’s been the best waitress we’ve had, ANYWHERE!

Excelente sitio para comer. Carta muy variada con buenos productos. Atención muy buena. Recomendadisimo!

Magda and Josh, attentive and funny. Delicious food and friendly host

We always come to this pizza express and can’t stress enough how good it is. Most of the time we’re served by Magda so was this time, we were told you might win a competition if we give you a nice review, so here we are!

Absolutely incredible service from Magda as usual, even with it busy the team pulled through and brought us hot, incredible food! Big props to Magda and the team for the amazing service!

Pizza was delicious and the service was polite and fast. Highly reccomend. Will be returning

i am not happy at all with the delivery driver !!!!!!!

Came in an hour before closing and they still seated us, the waiter was very nice and we didn't have any problems with the food, service or anything.

Convenient spot for dinner while on a business trip. Made to feel welcome and shown to a quiet table at one end of the restaurant. The service was friendly and quick and the food was fresh and tasty - just what was needed after a long day of travel. Thanks to Josh and the team

Great atmosphere and lovely staff. In a nice area too

This place restored my faith in pizza express. Our server worked well under the pressure of only having one chef that day and made all 13 of us welcome despite not pre booking a table. The chef was amazing too as we all enjoyed our food and didn't wait too long x

Some recent reviews were not brilliant but we decided to try anyway. Can't fault the experience. The service was good and the food was excellent, what more can you ask for

Quick and easy. Much thanks to our delivery driver!

Late and no ability To call the driver to check where it was stood outside waiting for ages

Me and my two long term colleagues visit this pizza express few times a Year. Always tasty food and well presented. We have been very happy to be served by Magda, like most of our visits. She always makes good recommendations and makes sure we never run out of drinks and is brings us whatever we need without any problem.

I went to Pizza Express near First Street. I was going to go to a nearly place for the Pizza, but thought what the heck, I'd go to Pizza Express which is twice the price of pizzas from HOME, but I will treat myself. I have only 45 minutes for lunch, it took me just five minutes to get there and I told the waitress there what I wanted as I walked in but then I had to wait for over 40 minutes for the pizza to be made put and the table. I wouldn't mind but the place was empty as usual. It has made me late back for work and I had to rush down the Pizza at speed. I wanted to just walk out before the Pizza arrived, and very nearly did. Anyway when paying I would dearly like to have given a minus number for the gratuity but just the least I could give. I think what annoyed me the most was the silly smile on the waitress face all the time like this was to be expected. I more disappointed because I usually get good service in there. I suppose it shows that if you have poor staff in a place it lead to people staying away and eventually the place closing down.

We took 58 primary children to this Pizza Express for dinner on Weds eve and both the staff and food were exceptional! All of the food was delicious and arrived in a timely manner. The waiting staff, Freya, Ellie and George were brilliant with the children and so efficient with their service. Huge thank you to them and the fantastic kitchen staff. We'll be coming again next year!

Absolutely the worst pittza I've ever ordered on the Uber Eats app, 40% discount and comes with 40% less ingredients.

First time here, but have to say the food was really very good. Friendly place and great service too, we'd definitely go back.

Lovely pizzas and salads, staff were helpful and friendly.

We love Pizza Express. My son loves the doughballs and pollo pesto pasta. Super recommended

Welcoming staff, clean restaurant, toilets could do with a clean especially round the taps. Food good, the standard pizza stuff, plates could have been warmer, pizza got cold very quick. Chips were powdery and a very small portion for over £5. Downloaded the app and got free dough balls. Staff asked if we wanted any pepper or sauces? We replied ketchup, they don't have ketchup but have tomato passata and BBQ. We said yes to both of these. It wasn't until we got the bill we found out they were 75p each total£1.50. Would have been good to know there was a charge for these. Watch out for the service charge. No blue light discount or NHS discount. Not sure if I would go again.

Slowest table service is the only thing I recommend here.

Noisy, modern restaurant (I still have fond memories of the venue near the Midland Hotel) this was soulless. Romana pizza American Hot could not have been thinner if it tried more like a wrap. To have it really hot means having the sweet pepper which gives it a strange taste what happened to just ordinary hot chillies? Have been a big 9fan of Pizza Express since the 1970s. Sorry but will not be returning. It has sold its soul!!

Service was unparalleled, Fabio was an absolute dream of a server, both myself and my partner thought he was fantastic and appeared really passionate about his job, offering us great suggestions when it came to both drinks and food, whilst also making us feel really comfortable and ensuring we always had everything we could ever need! The food was also great, arrived quickly and surpassed all expectations. We shared the American Hot pizza and also got a couple of starters which were all super fresh and tasty. We also used a Tesco Clubcard Voucher which was deducted from the bill with no problem. Overall great food, but even greater service thanks to Fabio 😊🍕

Excellent food and service. Theo in particular was very kind & accommodating. Would definitely recommend the carbonara & biscoff cheesecake.

Great location for Pizza Express. Attentive service and lively food. The Bosco Salad (warmed garlic and mushrooms) is a great addition to the menu...

This place is awful. We came here earlier this evening, our ‘server’ didn’t even give us a proper service. Hardly spoke to us, and when she did she would roll her eyes. At anything we would order. Even better was that she never came back to check on our food! The salad I had was extremely dry and poor. She left our plates on our tables, never even offering us any drinks or desserts and went to talk with her other unprofessional server friends. She was waltzing around the resteraunt doing whatever she wanted, even following another server over to go mess about with her in front of a customer whilst they paid. The continuous dirty looks from staff to other customers was awful. They all like to congregate in the corner by the kitchen, watching everyone eat their food talking about you, even their managers. Their manager thought it was. Okay to roll a cigarette in the resteraunt?? In a table in front of customers?? In plain sight then he goes and puts it in his mouth 😭 Another server I asked them to get me some sauces, they never even gave me them. Then one of the last servers on duty goes and starts swearing about he doesn’t want to run the food in the window because he wants to go have an f’ing cig. There were children there. Think of this coming from me, another server. Get your act in order. I mean, I’ve had bad service / but for all the staff to be acting this way?? Bang out of order. Never comingn again. Go to king street’s pizza express instead - top service :)

Staff don’t care, didn’t get my order right and waited 20min for the bill. Won’t be returning

After pre booking 2 days before to come to an empty restaurant and be told that food will be 30 minutes to an hour we have now been here for 80 minutes without even a starter yet deliveries are going out the side door every 5 minutes absolutely shocking !!!!! If you want to be a takeaway shut the resteraunt. Don't take bookings you can't fulfil. Table booked for 7 and its now 8.30 still no food. update we have our starters at 8.35 yet must be 20 delivered out the side door for uber or deliveroo. I will say when the food did arrive it was delicious. I did complain to the manager to be told that he's instructed by higher management to make sure deliveries are sent out before the resteraunt with a discount we payed the bill but left with a sour taste in our mouths and not from the food

The food was slightly warm upon arrival, the delivery driver was not at fault and was so nice upon arrival he told us he was there at 8:53 we ordered at 8:33 the food was not arrived till 10:32. Apauling service from the restaurant.

We booked in here the night before the Manchester Marathon for 8:15, arrived on time only to be told it would be a 1 hour wait for food due to having "multiple large groups". The time was late enough already, so we had to leave and try to find a quick bite to eat - not ideal preparation. If they had large bookings they should have notified us of the delay in advance, not allowing us to arrive only to drop the news on us there and then. Poor service with no thought for customers - one unhappy runner with a hankering for some pre-race carbs 🙃

Always happy to go to Pizza express, you can always expect the same tasty hot food. Especially this location suits us well as it’s close to the cinema and staff is friendly. Magda served us before and on this occasion. She remembered us from last visit and our favourite wine. Nothing is too much trouble and we have a nice chat.

Really rude staff. Booked a table online and staff were rude from the get go making us feel like a nuisance. We were sat at a table with a weirdly loud speaker next to it and was ignored by various waiters. Two other groups of people who came later than us were seated and had their orders taken and staff continued to ignore us. We asked nicely if the music could be turned down, again was ignored. The restaurant was not busy. After 10 minutes of sitting like lemons we just got up to leave and when we told a waiter we were leaving their response was ‘yeah that’s fine’. We went to the Pizza Express on Oxford Road which was lovely. Very odd, unpleasant experience!

Great visit. Friendly staff. Could have been a warmer welcome. We were shown to our table then waitress just walked off. Food was great. Clean restaurant. Would have been good to order drinks or food through application. Great to pay by application. Fast service. Warm atmosphere

Came here for an impromptu dinner with my dad on Saturday night. It was very busy but we managed to get a table straight away. The food was delicious, the wine was lovely and Fabio our waiter was the highlight. He was so passionate and friendly and took the time to chat to us even though the restaurant was so busy. Thank you Fabio, we'll visit again if we come back to Manchester!

We had a delicious meal in a very nice atmosphere. Everyone was very friendly and welcoming, noting was too much trouble. Feom the host to the server blond curly hair girl we felt very relaxed and and enjoyed our time. We have been to a few pizza express but this is by far best; both food and service wise. Thanks for a great time and good!!

We was literally the only group in there ordered 2 pizzas, 3 drinks and starters of doughballs and garlic bread. No sides. 20 minutes in we get our pizzas but low and behold no starters. Remind you again, we was the only group in here, the place was empty. The waitress checked that we ordered them after her being the one that took our order and apologised and so nicely offered to take them off our bill. Well yes, we're not paying for what we havent recieved. Shocking. Safe to say wont be returning, and fortunately this was a gift card that had to be used. Glad i didnt spend my hard earned money on this.

Came with my boyfriend for a meal and it did not disappoint! First time going to this pizza express and it is beautifully decorated, and the food was absolutely amazing couldn’t have asked for better. Our waiter Jack was also absolutely lovely and very accomodating, and a great laugh, made our meal even better. Will definitely be returning :)

A good venue for a pre-theatre meal. Everything is as you would expect, the pizzas and pasta are good, the service is very efficient.

Food and service was great. The kids food in particular was impressive. It was a really nice pizza, just mini. Came with veggies on the side and a healthy drink and a pure fruit & veg ice lolly. Highly recommend! Thanks for a good experience :)

These pizzas are so tiny it's a joke. Won't be ordering here again.

The food was poor!!! Very small pizza and not as described. Absolute waste of money and will not be ordering form here again

Had a pre theatre meal here on a Friday night parking on the multi storey on first st then going to the Palace theatre. I was able to book on the day and the restaurant is centrally located for both. Food was tasty and staff attentive.

First and last visit to this pizza express, food came much too fast, was in and out within 1 hour having a 3 course meal. The prices charged are very unreasonable with the size of the portion you get. Staff taking plates away with food on without checking if you have finished with it, it was too rushed and too fast, walking away £80 down I didn't not feel satisfied with the service, the food or the time I had spent in there. Will not be returning

Love love the vegan pizzas from here!

Pizza Express at Home in Manchester city centre is a nice place to eat, nice staff and the food is good. It's ideal if you are off to the theatres, Halle Hall etc. as everything is close by... because of this it can get busy, it's very popular at times. Well worth a visit, even if it's only to marvel at the changes which have happened to this area of Manchester over the last few years!

We came in late just before closing but were happily welcomed and had great service from Jacob

Extremely slow service, average pizza costing too much.

Nice food and arrived on time! Can’t complain would order again!

Great place, good food and a nice atmosphere

Lovely dining experience . Will be back soon.

Best Pizza experience I've had great staff , location ,service & food

Really excellent. Good customer service and perfect menu and food.