Pizza Geeks — Restaurant in City of Edinburgh

I’ve been eating at Pizza Geeks for many years now and both the service and the food were exceptional, I would regularly recommend it to people - citing it as the best pizza in Edinburgh. I’ve noticed over the past year or so the service has gotten slower and less attentive however my most recent visit is what prompted this review.

We arrived at the restaurant for our booking and were gestured towards the table. Ten minutes later the server came to take our order. We ordered our usual choices. We waited for our drinks which did not appear, after 15 minutes I approached the server to ask for these drinks, these were then brought to the table with a grumbled apology. The food arrived for the table next to us, who had obviously been waiting a considerable amount of time and I immediately noticed the quality did not look to be up to the usual standard. Their pizzas looked burnt and far smaller than normal.

After nearly an hour our own food arrived and the quality was equally disappointing however our pizzas looked small and undercooked. When I mentioned the size of them to the server I was simply told that they were using dough straight out the freezer and this had caused the pizzas to shrink in the oven. My pizza was raw in places as can be seen in the below photograph.

During the near hour wait for the food I saw repeated Deliveroo and Just Eat orders go out promptly. I also saw our server bluntly tell any walk ins that they were no longer serving. Clearly delivery services have become the top priority for this restaurant and sit ins are very much second class.

After a disappointing meal I went up to pay at and felt I should mention the dissatisfaction to the server who would tell me his name was Caleb. Rather than giving any sort of genuine apology for the issues raised he decided instead to get rather confrontational and aggressively tell me that they were trying their best, they’d been super busy and were using ‘bad dough’ (quite why Pizza Geeks is serving bad dough to customers and charging full price I don’t know). I couldn’t believe after such a disappointing meal that the server would then argue with me over what he clearly realised was an overall bad experience. I paid the bill and left.

Sadly, I won’t be returning. I’ve supported Pizza Geeks for many years and it’s a shame to see it fall so far from what...

I went to Pizza Geeks in May 2021 as the lockdown was beginning to lift. Again. As you can imagine, it must have been a challenging time for staff.

First thing, first; the pizza was gorgeous. I had a Johnny Blaze which is essentially pepperoni and spice. Thin, crisp and delicious. I washed it down with a Schooner of X-Wing Pilot. That sounds like a bad slash fanfic but it an equally crisp and tasty draft beer.

Second thing, second; the staff were friendly, attentive and helpful. To keep me warm they engaged in a running battle with the front door, closing it when the high winds blew it open again. The wind won, but the thoughts count.

I never saw a member of staff take their mask off. Thank you. It can't be easy, but I felt safe. Solid plastic dividers between tables also meant I felt safe. I almost hope they stay.

I've tested pick up pizza from Pizza Geek once. That was tasty enough to persuade me into the restaurant even before my second jag. The advantage of the random walk in (it was a spur of the moment decision) is that the pizza is eaten before it cools.

Overall? Recommended.

April 2023 Update - still blooming amazing. I'd eat the chocolate pizza if they...

Pizza Geeks has some of the best pizza in town at a reasonable price. They have great veggie options and GF pizza when requested. Their pizza toppings are unique enough that you won't find similar anywhere else. My go-to pizza is The Wildling or The Shire. I also recommend the Super Saiyan Dragonballz, which are basically cooked dough balls with your choice of filling and dip. Amazing!

Atmosphere is really fun, with lots of nerd references scattered throughout. They have a Pacman table arcade machine, which I haven't seen since I was a kid. Unfortunately, I've never seen it working, otherwise they would get bonus points.

My only complaint is frequently the restaurant will not do pick-up or delivery on short notice. A bit less frequent, but sometimes they will shut down on short notice too. I'm sure this is because of staffing issues, but it has happened enough that it is noteworthy. They have also been very busy lately, so they tend to forget parts of your order or your order entirely.

Staff are always very friendly, though. If you're up in The Shore, and especially if you're a nerd, you owe it to yourself...