Zizzi - Durham in County Durham

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

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

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

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...

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...

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...

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

Very poor service and very mediocre pizza. Zizzi you are not the only pizza place in town, raise your game. I have been a client to this branch of Zizzi since they opened and I can see the decline. I will not be coming back.

As you can see from my profile, I have reviewed this restaurant twice in recent times and been highly critical of their performance on both accounts. However! I must stress that this is no longer the case, after complaining too and speaking directly with the...

Booked on line and mentioned it was hubbys birthday greeted well great table some free wine . Food was excellent, reasonable priced good service. Nice atmosphere. Definitely return .

Somehow, bafflingly, this venue managed to be even worse than my last trip here. As I mentioned previously I was loathed to return due to their allergy service, and yet again it was far below par. Granted we did not wait long on a table,...

We eat here a lot throughout the year. There staff are always thinking so nice and ready to recommend a good cocktail. But we come for the great pizzas made in the open kitchen and never disappointed.

Natalie was so accommodating and loving. My family visited me from university and she was talkative, relatable and very down to earth. Give that woman a pay raise.

We ordered takeaway from zizzi and it was awful one main was missing one side was completely wrong. Everything else was cold and very average. Durham zizzi clearly don’t care about online orders as they don’t have to deal with customers

We came in last week and Bryan looked after us so well. He was excellent with his knowledge about allergies, kind and took his time to personally chat to us. Made sure we were well looked after from start to finish and couldn't have wished...

Visited with grown up son. Waited an hour for main course. Finally arrived and… pasta was burnt and largely inedible. No waiters available to complain to - clearly chronically short staffed. Tried to eat pasta but gave up. When I finally managed to speak to...

Service so slow, they seem more concerned with getting the takeaways out than the people who have come out to eat. Food was only takeaway standard at best, inedible in places. Seem too busy to deal with complaints or recover the service, just say sorry...

So usual night, not all tables full. Very nice waitress served very well. Food…. Starters okayish. Main, pork belly, every one knows what pork belly should look like, however what we received was a round half centimetre slice of a pork product, dry as a...

From arriving to leaving the staff were attentive, helpful and friendly. The food was served hot, fresh and was good quality. The flavours were excellent. The restaurant was busy, giving it a lovely atmosphere. Nothing was a trouble. It was our first visit but we...

Good quality food. Efficient and friendly service. Small portions for price. Not the greatest table layout, lacked atmosphere.

A very good zizi. Staff are really good and the quality of the food is consistantly good.

This restaurant used to be one of the go toys for me and my family through the years, it has been a safe haven allergywise for myself and provided good service. However, my last trip here was let down massively by poor service and ever...

Excellent & attentive service. Good food well presented and a more than acceptable wine list. It was a good place for a family get together of 10 of us.

Great food, only topped by the excellent service.

Absolutely delicious food, clean restaurant and good service, will definitely return. 👌

Good atmosphere. Friendly staff. Food was good. Service was good.

Popped in for lunch and was well worth it. Just had a calzone piccante carne wasn't disappointed my wife and daughter had margarita pizza's which they both thoroughly enjoyed restaurant wasnt busy and the prices were fairly reasonable for Durham city centre all in all not bad at all

I am not a big fan of Italian chain restaurants but I feel this one is better than many. Nice cosy setting and very nice staff. Pretty standard menu and prices. Service a tad slow.

very slow delivery for nearly 1.5 hours delay

Very nice dining experience at Zizzi, Durham…. Friendly service, staff were attentive and the food was especially nice. Would recommend booking, even on a random Tuesday it was busy. Would definitely recommend… their Tiramisu is tremendous 😋

Excellent. Great food, friendly staff.

The poff that fancies himself as a manager is a totally rude individual who should be kept as far away as Possible from Any kind of customer service position, may I recommend cleaning the toilets for your next job at least that way you’ll be amongst friends

Absolutely lovely service. The waiter was fun welcoming and made us feel right at home. Food was delicious totally recommended going thank you for making my visit rememberable

Freezing cold, too expensive for a little amount, full of water and tasted absolutely disgusting. not worth it never going there again.

We pop in once a month to this lovely place. There is always a warm welcome and the food is excellent. Great service with a smile. The staff are very pleasant and it feels like it is important to them that we enjoy our visit.

Friendly and quick service, good food, very vegetarian/vegan friendly. The jackfruit pizza was really good. Nice venue with a table by the window so we could watch everyone walking past.

My son, my daughter and I enjoyed a delicious meal at Zizzi's last night. The calzone went down a storm, the ravioli looked and tasted beautiful and my rigatoni was just so creamy and yummy. As for the light, crispy sweet potato fries and alioli!...

Me and my partner Ordered calamari for starters , they were awful. They were like cardboard.old . I had king prawn linguine for mains this was tasteless .I ate some of my partners pizza as I left most if it and was still hungry. Not good

My wife and I ate here this evening Sun 05 Dec, seated at a nice window seat and from start to finish this we had no complaints, Food was excellent and service was perfect. I mentioned when ordering that we might share our mains and...

Great food in a beautiful restaurant with an amazing looking pizza oven, friendly staff, would definitely recommend

Booked a table as had a e-gift card that runs out tomorrow and didn't know how to use it as couldn't find the reference that thought was required so went in and spoke to manager about it and he was absolutely fabulous as was the...

We asked upon entry about whether some of us could use the student discounts that it states online we are allowed to use. The manager immediately told us no in possibly the rudest way that can be imagined, demanding us answer as to why we...

This was the best restaurant I have ever been to it was fast the staff are really friendly and good price and very nice service and food

The most perfect evening before Lumiere. Received amazing service from Jess. And love the new uniforms! Can’t wait to go back !

We were made to feel very welcome even though we arrived at a bust time without a booking and the food and service were superb, loved the menu something for everyone and lots of veggie choices - definitely recommend!

Friendly, reasonably priced and very good food. Would recommend.

Absolutely the worst pizza I have ever had the misfortune to taste. Burnt at one end and underdone at the other with a very strange consistency in the middle. Missing some of the advertised toppings. I have a hearty appetite and never leave restaurant food but this time I did.poor starters and no apology........,

Having regularly frequented Zizzi in St Albans many years ago, we were more than happy to visit the Durham branch. The student-aged girl who showed us to our table and took our orders for drinks and food was attentive as she could be, given that...

Loved our visit here. Staff all very friendly - especially the young girl with the beautiful eyeshadow! Food choices great, nut allergy catered for, pasta absolutely delicious. Lovely feel to the place. Highly recommended.