The best restaurants serving Italian food in Hertsmere East of England

This café was across from previous my work place and I used to go there quite frequently. The food is decent, fresh and very cheap and when it comes to pasta, it definitely beats several of high end Italian restaurants in London. Prefect bite, nice sauces, great flavour and super homey.

We went in at lunchtime and was hardly anyone in there. The service was incredibly slow and the staff were not very friendly including who I believe is the manager/owner who spent the majority of the time standing around scrolling on his phone in between passing us the kids menus which we had to ask for, it felt like we were being more of an annoyance in politley asking for these, he served us and we found him to not be very welcoming at all, along side another member of staff who was also unfriendly which is a shame as we are very polite people even know this was not reciprocated. We did notice others were treated completed different so I can only assume if you’re a regular then you are ok! Overall it was a bad experience and one we had to unfortunately pay for. We would not return to this chain again.

Stopped at Pizza Express in South Mimms services on the way home with my wife, and it was a great experience. This restaurant is much cleaner and more pleasant than the main service area, offering a quieter and more comfortable dining space away from the busy foot traffic. The staff were fantastic—friendly, welcoming, and never made us feel rushed. The cleanliness stood out as well, with spotless surroundings and well-maintained toilets, which is always a plus when dining out. 5 Stars for the cleaning team here. The food was exactly what you’d expect from Pizza Express—fresh, hot, and delicious. It was nice to see the team preparing meals right in front of us. We enjoyed our starters, mains, and dessert, all served promptly and at the right temperature. For anyone stopping at South Mimms, I’d highly recommend choosing Pizza Express over the other food outlets in the main building. There’s also a nice outdoor seating area, so we’re looking forward to coming back in the summer for a takeaway and enjoying a meal outside. Would definitely recommend!

I knew the meal was going to be rubbish when we managed to park right outside the restaurant.We arrived at 8 pm and the large restaurant was only a third full ,not great for a Saturday night .The veg soup to start with was taseless with no seasoning as was most of the food offering . To follow was the veal in a mushroom sauce , I have had this dish all over the world and I have never had the veal cut up in to small little pieces.Again no seasoning and tough, I left most of it , and on top of all this you have to order the vegetables separately, the sauteed potatos (cut up roast potatoes) could have been flavoured with some onion or rosemary to give them some flavour and the zucchini fritta was the worst I have ever seen or tasted, great thick slices with the fried covering falling off. No way is the chef Italian, my Nonna must be turning in her grave what is passed off today as genuine Italian cuisine. The local area is pretty and genteel and it deserves an authentic Italian restaurant, this is not it