Zizzi - Durham in County Durham

Over priced to hell lovely made pizza but not enough for £120 on a sat afternoon, sorry

Lovely. service we had today was spectacular. Thanks again

Food good, ladies toilets a mess, dirty and not working.

Excellent service from friendly staff Excellent food HUGE starter, unless you’re Desperate Dan, the small calamari is more than enough!!!! Moggie box for the remains A most enjoyable evening for our wedding anniversary!!

Booked the table for my friends 30th birthday - I mentioned this in the booking. Not only did they do nothing to recognise this, the server was actually annoyed we were opening presents at the table! We were also seated next to a cupboard I had to get up so they could access - and the place was not busy. I also asked for a small garlic bread as I couldn't eat a whole one, I was told yes I could have a child sized one but was charged in the reciept for a full sized one, when I queried this I was told there was no button for a small garlic bread - okay then tell me that at the time! I had the vegan lasagne and it was okay but had very hard sundried tomatoes in.

My husband and I both ordered the chicken calabrese and the new blackcurrant and lemon cheese cake. The main course was piping hot and very tasty and the cheesecake was fresh and very lemony. Exceeded our expectations. Very pleased since this is our first trip to Durham. The restaurant was fairly busy for a Friday night and we were served promptly and efficiently.

Called in on Fri eve and the staff were really welcoming. Food was tasty and we enjoyed nice bottle of rose too.

The food was lovely and the staff were very friendly and accommodating! The portion sizes are generous and there was a lot of different options in the menu. We really enjoyed the fondue and pizzas, would definitely recommend!

I hate the fact you walk past the smelly, sticky bottle bin on arrival, not the best welcome! Staff are on the whole, attentive. Agree with other review, portion sizes/ pizza toppings are disappointing and do not match the price paid. Found ingredients missing or out of stock on another occasion here, but they didnt point that out on ordering. Disappointed is a common feeling here. I ordered an avocado and salmon salad, you'd expect more than 2 wafer thin slithers of avocado. I left still feeling hungry. My friend said her meal wasn't the high standard as is usual. Chef maybe having an off night. It was edible. Won't hurry back.

Very disappointed food ok toilets terrible would not come back better place's about

My daughter and 4 friends came to Zizzi Durham for her 16th birthday. She and one other in the party have food intolerances and requested a copy of the allergen information. Not available on paper - offered a weblink instead, which didn't work. None of them felt confident to query it so they just had to guess. Meals were apparently tasty but portion sizes were small and none of the girls felt particularly full after their main courses. We had given our daughter cash to pay for her friends' meals but it became apparent that cash is no longer accepted. Daughter telephoned me from the restaurant so that I could pay with my card over the phone and I was told by the waitress, fairly curtly, that this wasn't going to be possible either. Daughter was told to send me the QR code from the table for me to pay online. That didn't work either - couldn't scan the QR code. Waitress then gave me a website to log on to and pay from there. The website she gave me 'couldn't be reached'. After googling, I found the correct web address and paid online. All seemed rather a complicated faff and it took the edge of our daughter's birthday celebration. All in all, we are now very unlikely to use Zizzi again.

Having previously eaten at Zizzi in York we decided to try Durham for a meal. Disappointed doesn't even come close to what we experienced at Zizzi in Durham. The table and seating was sticky to touch, the toilets were dirty, there were visible cobwebs hanging down above where food was being prepared, the complimentary snacks we received were uncovered on the bar next to the entrance door and the parmesan was sitting on a dresser again uncovered for flies to help themselves to. The staff were pleasant and the pizza's were nice but the hygiene was very, very poor and we will not be returning.

1st time eating at Zizzi, mocktails, pizza , fries and dessert for lunch with the daughter, food and drinks were delicious, staff were very friendly, will definitely return.

Don't get me wrong the food is nice but the cost versus size of the portions are a bit naff. And again, it's just a bit on the pricey side, there are far more venues where you get more bang for your buck. Having said that, the staff, the service, food and atmosphere was all top notch, I'm just not sure it's a chain I'll be revisiting .

During our Durham visit we went for lunch here. The staff was friendly and the food was great. The gluten free options were especially great.

Great food friendly and helpful staff. Manager really helpful. Just disappointed we couldn't pay by cash. Will stick to places that accept cash in future. Shame.

The multitude of Saddler Street restaurants makes the choice difficult. Nostalgia for Sicily was the deciding factor. It's worth being seduced by memories. The Grande Antipasti starter was OK, we could watch the dough bubble in the oven. The first two randomly selected mains menu items, Chicken Calabrese and Herb-Rolled Pork Belly, were excellent. But all this pales in comparison to the Chocolate Brownie Sundae, a quadruple chocolate poetry of flavors. If you are looking for a place where you can eat great food, look for Zizzi. P.S. The wine is also up to standard and everything is available at a reasonable price.

We both had lasagne, my OH had the vegan option. He said it is the best lasagne he's ever had. Mine was really tasty too. Neither of us drinks alcohol so we asked for lemonade. Sadly it was sprite zero - any zero drink is horrible and we'd rather have been told when we ordered, but hey ho, few people know of the toxic chems in such drinks. The side of fries was really small, so next time we'd need one each rather than sharing. The woman that served us was friendly and polite. Oh and the pasta fries - GENIUS!!! We would definitely come back again.

Had an excellent meal at the Durham Zizzi’s with the my wife and two teenage kids. My wife is gluten and dairy intolerant and the staff were brilliant. She’s often conscious of not making work for people and sometimes doesn’t go out for meals as a result. We were served by Brian who talked her through the options and made sure she didn’t feel like an inconvenience. The food itself was spot on, the kids loved it, we’ll definitely be back.

Early evening meal enjoyed by all. Pleasant experience with good choice of pizza and pasta as expected. Can be a busy restaurant so do book if you can. Useful for spending your tesco vouchers so do come prepared.

Accomodated us without a booking, and service was quick and friendly. Will be back.

Amazing meal with great service. Could not fault it. Thank you

Chris the manager went above and beyond, we were a large party and everyone was more than happy with the food and service. We will definitely return

We enjoyed a lovely meal here, food was delicious and great atmosphere, we'll definitely be back!

Excellent staff and food good time had

Excellent service. Great choice of menu. Friendly staff..Good atmosphere.Reservations not necessary if the restaurant isn't busy.

I took my boys for pizza and garlick bread from a friend recommendation, and it was delicious. I'll definitely visit them again 👌

Great atmosphere, great service, great food! Will be back!

My Partner and I came for dinner on Friday Night, the food was lovely and was supported with amazing service from Mary-Leigh. Nothing was too much trouble and made our meal very enjoyable. Will definitely be coming back soon.

Mary Lee s service was excellent

Mary-Leigh was a great hostess, really friendly and helpful with menu choices. Wonderful evening - 😄

Fab as ever! Great gluten free menu too

Had a lovely lunch in zizzi today. It was my birthday so had a free main and I had enough zzz's for a free starter as well. Mez and Julie were really friendly and helpful. They made sure we were happy with our meal and were attentive without being intrusive. Lovely day, we'll definitely be back, thank you.

Amazing fondue board and chicken and prawn skewers! We shared it all between the two of us, and ordered a green bean side as well. I had a couple of cocktails as well - a raspberry mojito 👩‍🍳😘 and a Rum Forest Rum, both very nice! The server was great, very friendly and helpful.

Visited yesterday with friends and had a lovely meal with great service. A special mention to Brian who was really friendly, polite and helpful. Would return 👍

Lovely service tonight - Bryan was effervescent and made service seamless! Will come again :)

Mary-Leigh was fantastic. Really accommodating to my dairy allergy.

What can I say about Brian? We have been coming to Zizzis for years at Durham and always enjoyed the food and atmosphere. However, Brian makes the experience so much better, with his cheery personality and wit. Always friendly and accommodating, providing exceptional service. It is clear he knows his job inside out. Thanks for another great meal and dining experience!

Very good example of Zizzi. Service excellent, staff very knowledgeable. Yes, I know it's a chain, I know it's just Zizzi, but it's executed very well here

Very nice! Staff kind. Recommend

Brilliant experience, excellent service!

Excellant service by i believe it was Garry or Graham Sunday 14th April. Food was okay.

First visit to a Zizzi’s restaurant in years ( since before Covid). I was impressed with the extensive menu and choice available. All the food we had was hot and fresh and very tasty. Service was good and the restaurant was stylish. Look forward to another visit soon.

The pumpkin salad and bruschetta was pretty good. Garlic mozzarella bread was according to my friend rather about onions and cheese than about garlic, but it was good. Pasta crisps were ok. I didn't like the cheese on green salad to be honest. The spicy pasta were too spicy.

Very nice food. It was busy. Staff working really hard, but a couple more staff would have helped them and the waiting a lot. I'll certainly be returning.

Nice place in the historic center, very welcoming with friendly staff and well-prepared and above all good dishes

It was understaffed. The kitchen couldn't deal with the internet orders and people in the place. It took ages and food wasn't great. Shame as all I wanted was something quick and easy and, surprisingly, a national chain restaurant couldn't provide that.

Great service and food for a table of 9. Nothing a bother, friendly staff and great selection

Good atmosphere, but the food is a little over-priced for average quality.

We has the garlic chilli bread to share as a starter which was lovely. One of our mains was good and the other was incredibly bland and flavourless. Staff were very friendly.

I’m coeliac so the fact Zizzi do great gluten free options is fantastic. The pizzas are always great and I don’t feel like I’m missing out too much with a gluten free pizza like I sometimes do in other places. Staff are great and it’s a really nice atmosphere inside.

Staff behavior is very, very bad To be honest Not all of them that tall girl and weak in body and she wears glasses and a short man They work as receptionists and wetters their behavior is very bad they don't respect customers they treat customers as if they are the ones who will pay a very bad experience that will not be repeated

Ordered lasagne and a GF pepperoni pizza. Pizza came with hardly any cheese on, inadequate toppings on it. Lasagne was very saucy, not much flavour or mince. Shame as paid £41 including 2 soft drinks too

Just had. Lovely lunch here. Really tasty food.. Finished with a Limoncello which if I'm honest was disappointing. Should have been served in a frosted glass with the contents having been kept at freezing point. Apart from that I would recommend a visit.

Over priced Pizza and drinks. I honestly do not know how they keep going.

Went for post panto dinner. We booked online only to be told that our booking couldn’t be found. After questioning us quite abruptly, the woman said she had a table available anyway which we could have. We then waited 20 mins for our drinks order to be taken. The ‘zizzis favourite’ red wine was terrible. Then the mains were brought out, followed by their starter! The only thing the waiter said was ‘well this is a bit backwards isn’t it, never mind’ and walked off. No one bothered to ask if our food was ok. It was just ‘ok’ by the way. The shredded beef on one of the pizzas was horrible and all seemed like they needed an extra few minutes in the oven. The waiter said they were unusually busy because in something going on at the cathedral and then being understaffed but we just seemed to wait for ages for everything. I ordered a cocktail which was only 3/4 way full. I was told that was ‘standard’. It was later removed from the bill but I was told ‘it’s been removed because you weren’t happy but it is standard!’ It seemed like we were just an inconvenience. We won’t be returning.

Ambience, ok. Warm enough inside (Dec 2023). Staff, friendly. Food, it was alright. Nothing great. Did we enjoy it? Yes I suppose. Do we recommend? Yes, give it a go.

Called into as we were visiting the area. We have not had a pizza out for ages and although It was tasty and well presented I cannot justify the cost of £15.95 for a pizza. Partner had a meal as well and 2 drinks came to nearly £50!!!

Family treat for Festive meal and chose Zizzi Durham. Lovely restaurant & nice table. The food was lovely, piping hot and nice to be able to see the chefs at work. However, the staff were inattentive and quite frankly rude. Looking at reviews on here, many have said similar recently & I think Zizzi need to take note & train staff on basic manners. We did not get a warm welcome on entering from the 3 staff members at the front desk. Blonde lady (glasses/tatoos) was our waitress and clearly didn’t want to be there. We felt rushed at every single stage. Constantly asking if we were ready to order after just a few minutes. There were actually lots of spare tables & the whole downstairs floor was empty apart from 1 table so it wasn’t as if we needed to be rushed. There were 6 of us of all different ages (kids to grandparents) and we all found this waitress very rude. We had eye rolling and sighing when we politely asked for a little more time. Also very rushed to pay the bill. The toilets were disgraceful too. There were 3 toilets downstairs, 2 locked shut & out of use & the 1 working toilet didn’t flush. I asked if there was an alternative and was told in an aggressive manner by the same lady there was a disabled toilet upstairs. No apology given re the lack of facilities. In fact I felt like I was being told off for making a simple request. That toilet was dirty & smelly. Definitely would not go back at this moment in time until toilets are sorted & staff are appropriately trained in customer experience and basic manners. Shame as we found the food to be lovely. Overall, very disappointed.

Hit and miss, but points for trying hard to make things better! The bruschetta starter was lovely, the pork belly a bit dry and dusty. Vegan lasagne ok - meat lasagne was apparently lovely. The toilets were unfortunately disgusting - but the manager was very generous in offering us free drinks unasked for (two bottles of wine!) And then heading off and cleaning loos himself! So all in all, not a bad experience.

Really friendly service, great food and cozy atmosphere

Served a child raw dough instead of a bread roll- didn’t replace it. It took 1 1/2 hours to get our food. Massively understaffed and definitely not child friendly

Came before Lumiere on Sat afternoon at 4.30 and really full as obviously everyone was here for the event. Seated and served quickly and the waiters and chefs never stopped. We shared a garlic bread and then I had a beef and chianti ragu and he had ravioli which were both great. Nice glass of merlot and a beer to wash it down. Not the cheapest as bill came to £52 but realised hubby hadn't reshown the voucher for the free garlic bread 🤨 bless them they reimbursed us even tho payment had gone through. 👏👏 thank you

The prices are extortionate and the food quality is appalling. One of our dishes was cold so needed replacing - we needn’t have bothered because even fully heated it was barely edible. The other dish was absolutely swimming in oil to the point I couldn’t finish it. I’d have felt ripped off if I’d paid half of what I did for this food, at £30 plus per person for a basic starter, main and drink I felt like I’d been robbed on leaving. The staff were friendly and the service was good but sadly this is hands down the worst value for money dining experience I’ve ever had.

Went for a family meal, 5 adults and 3 children. The food was pretty awful, staff were rude and inattentive, cost £200 and just left feeling really disappointed... Never again!

Lovely experience. Had a 3 course lunch and all food was cooked well. Service was amazing and loved our waitress - very relaxed. Interior and atmosphere was nice.

Fantastic service by our lovely waiter, we were a walk in they were very accommodating, great food lovely atmosphere, compliments to the chef on the lovely pizzas, really enjoyed the food

Lovely food and very friendly staff

Had lovely 2 course menu at Zizi and staff was lovely. Get yourself zillionaire Zizi app as earn lots of free rewards. Got my Main for free

Had a nice meal at the zizzi in Durham. The food was mid but the service and the atmosphere was lovely.

There was a delay with our order but Heather and Brian politely and effectively sorted it out in a first class way.

Awful pizza… How they call it pizza. It was just a very thin base(like a wrap) with burned edges. It was covered by some tiny amount of stuff. Cold! Cost £17. Total disaster took take away on my way home! Never again

Awful pizza… How they call it pizza. It was just a very thin base(like a wrap) with burned edges. It was covered by some tiny amount of stuff. Cold! Cost £7. Total disaster took take away on my way home! Never again!

Børne menu og dejlig Pitza - fik også et glas vin alt sammen fint. Det var ikke gratis. Vi har været her før- kommer igen.

We have been to Zizi’s all over the country, and this MUST be the worst ever. The so called special cheese starter was cold bland cheese and small tomatoes cut in half with a bit of balsamic vinegar, disgusting. Took all the 5 minutes to prepare but no surprises there. The main course, just as bad if not worse. Spaghetti with tinned tomatoes mixed in and a slab of cold cheese on top, I kid you not, again took all of 5 minutes to prepare, and why should take any longer for that. Never, never again.

Good service but food quality was poor seemed cheap with no taste, the same meal in the past was lovely but this time very poor…

Me and my boyfriend walked in and the first man we encountered told us they were fully booked. We looked online to book a table to find all slots were open, so we booked a table for 3 mins time. We came back in and he shook his head but sat us down only for it to be dead the whole time and this was at 7pm when they shut at 11. My boyfriends chicken took around 4 mins to come what is slightly worrying, and both meals, the chicken and pizza had no taste at all was like cardboard, basically like Weatherspoons. Young girl that served us was nice but terrible food terrible experience. Don’t go.

Perfectly functional for a quick lunch. Just wanted somewhere to grab a quick sit down lunch rather than refuelling on the go. It was very quiet, loads of empty tables. We were warmly welcomed by a lady with blond hair (no name badges, sorry!), quickly seated in front of the open plan kitchen and ordered drinks and pizzas. Another lady (auburn hair) attended to us. Quite frankly she she should not be working in the service industry, she didn’t have an ounce of hospitality in her veins and quite obviously didn’t want to be there! Pizzas were fine. We sat for some time after the table was cleared waiting for our bill, we eventually went to the desk to ask for it, paid and left. Having worked all my career in hospitality, I always leave a gratuity, I did not today. The blonde haired lady was great, the rest of the experience was McDonalds at best!

Food great, service terrible! My wife and I went for an early evening meal so not a particularly busy time. Main course served before we had finished the starter. The waitress did ask if we wanted it brought back later but I didn't fancy a Risotto kept on a hot plate so we rushed through the first course. While we were still chewing on the last bit of our main course the same waitress asked if we wanted a dessert. Our plates were removed swiftly. We asked for coffee and after our first sip we were approached to pay the bill. A very rushed experience and one I'll not be going through again. Pity as this place has always been a favourite of ours.

I visited zizzis on Friday with my friend who was staying with me and had the three course meal for £23 it was really good and well worth the money the lady who was called Heather looked after us so well each course was prompt and Heather was so lovely with us we would come back definitely.

Did the job, but food was a bit bland and the service was quite slow.

My Girlfriend and I went for a little date night last night and Bryan took amazing care of us and was so lovely - He even recommended a beer garden for us to go to afterwards. Food was amazing as always :)

Had a nice dinner. A real bargain due having loads of perks accumulated.nice staff and deceptively large restaurant

Visit yesterday to celebrate my granddaughter's birthday.food good but a mix up with the order.top marks to the way the manager sorted the problem and looked after the grandkids and made a special fuss for the birthday celebration.

I had a lovely main meal here, followed by a gorgeous calzone dessert. The staff were really pleasant, and the restaurant is situated in a lovely area of Durham centre. It wasn't my first time here, and it won't be my last.

Freshly baked pizza was delicious! We enjoyed Rustica Primavera, Pepperoni, and yummy garlic bread with carmelized onions. Close walk from the cathedral.

Fabulous lunch out with friends. The food was exceptional as usual, it arrived hot and well presented. I find the staff In the durham restaurant are always so friendly and helpful. The service we received from Brian on our visit was second to none, he is most definitely a great asset to the restaurant, he catered for everything we needed without being intrusive, his intuition of when we needed any refills of drinks etc was astonishing. We will most definitely be back and I’ll highly recommend the restaurant to others.

Food came quickly and tasted okay, however staff let the place down. Whilst it’s great people are happy at their work and singing to the music a couple of them were singing so loudly I thought I’d mistakenly walked into a karaoke, not the dinner experience I was looking for for the price. Lots of food crumbs on the floor, but staff too busy chatting to tidy up. Overpriced and lack of staff hospitality - should have seen their face when I didn’t pay a tip! Wouldn’t bother visiting again.

Went for an evening meal tonight as hadn’t been to Zizzi’s for ages and in the past it was always good food, however things have gone horribly downhill. Front of house staff were exceptionally rude, we waited 30 mins before anyone even spoke to us to take a drinks order. The restaurant itself was dirty, the stairs having food dropped on them including a random meatball and surfaces were sticky and dirty. The cutlery had to be changed as this too was dirty with hair stuck to it. When the starters came the chicken (all 5 little pieces on a skewer for £8) was cold and calamari inedible and given the price, we were pretty appalled. Complained to the server who apologised profusely and stated the drinks were on the house and another chicken starter was ordered but given the state of the food, unhygienic restaurant and rude staff we cancelled our mains and left, something we have never done before. Credit to our server who couldn’t apologise enough and didn’t charge us anything for the drinks and starters but the rest of the staff and food were awful. A Friday night spoiled, we will not be returning!

Visited here 30th July. Our server was very friendly, and she is a credit to the company. The food was as best ok. My issue was trying to pay for the meal. It took 3 attempts and 2 card machines for the payment to be authorised . Then, after a couple of minutes, I was informed the machine had lost signal and the payment hadn't been processed, and I would have to pay again. I refused because there was an authorised code issued, and after checking, the money had moved from my account. The manager was called, and her manners, like her knowledge of card transactions was terrible. In the end she shouted have the meal for free then. When asked by my partner to pay, the manager refused payment. Today, my account shows payment has gone through as all transactions I made that day.

Poor service experienced this evening. The short male server with the lisp had a huge attitude problem . So rude to my friends when we turned up barked at us when we arrived to say have you even got a table booked?! Shouted over us when talking, pointed at each of us when taking order and then moaned when we wanted to pay. The other female server was just as dismissive. The only one that seemed like she has had some training was the younger woman. Food was not well cooked, friend had to send his back as it was raw. Mine was under cooked. Toilets were leaking and urinals had ice cream tubs under them. Disgusting. I wouldn’t recommend.

Okay food but a little overpriced; for the third time in a row they’ve given my husband the wrong pizza, providing a thin crust when he specifically asked for ‘classic’ base. They always say they’ll take the extra cost off the bill & make a new one, but he doesn’t want me to sit & have me eat while he waits for his new meal. Annoying!

Unplanned visit with my sister ..staff were so welcoming and friendly from the moment we walked through the door.... Very helpful...we opted for choices from the 3 course menu and a bottle of house white. Food was excellent value for money, generous in portion size and very tasty... but what really made our night was Brian... an absolute gem..very professional, friendly and helpful..wicked sense of humour... made us feel like we were old regulars... and he made our night... worth his weight in gold.. great asset to the Durham Branch.... we'll be back...thanks Brian...

I had a very disappointing experience at Zizzi’s. Arrived in the restaurant and the server was extremely rude. She rushed us throughout the dinner (only there for 25mins). The food was not great and overpriced. I had the carbonara which was not as described, it was pasta twirls, additionally the portion was very small. My friend had the prawn linguine which was very bland (basically tomato pasta with only 4 prawns). Overall I would avoid this restaurant, we feel £50 has been wasted.

Went with 5 friends for dinner and the service was atrocious, our waitress was hostile from the start and her attitude only got worse as the evening progressed. We were ignored when trying to get the bill for about half an hour (the restaurant was...

Terrible. They'd actually run out of pasta and couldnt make a spaghetti bol, no spaghetti, linguine, penne etc. I Ended up with a terrible microwaved lasagne while my girlfriend was served a cold chicken dish. Wine at 9 quid a glass was warm, just all...

Large party. Pre booked. Meals wrong, meals missing, alternative meals given without notification. Spaghetti bolognaise with no mince. Just a bowl of spaghetti Mains brought before starters finished and just pushed on to table. Every part rushed Plates cleared before people had finished Worst of...

we visited zizzis for our daughters birthday, when we arrived we had to wait for some time for someone to see to us, it was a little longer than expected. we were shown to our table and thought it was a little cold but shrugged...

Not to impressed, only had a pizza but was left disappointed the base the flavours were none existant, no herbs or oregano. The caramized onions extra topping were out of a jar And more like a jam. They really need to taste food now and...

Restaurant is filthy. Toilets are absolutely disgusting and smelt and looked like they haven’t been cleaned for months. Food is also terrible, pizza’s were inedible due to crust being like a rock and cold. Used to love this restaurant, such a shame how it’s declined