Zizzi - Taunton — Restaurant in England

Always love a Zizzi and having worked in Taunton for many years, I knew of their lovely menus, service, and this wonderful renovated church style building, in Taunton, as a great place to enjoy time out.

This time I went here on 17th August to celebrate my 60th Birthday, with friends. I have never been disappointed here, by Zizzi, and so the story continues.

With so much to choose from, plus some established favourites, I ate a shared Favourites board for starters (for two), and had a spicy Calzone for main, Normally, I like to complete the set with a Tiramisu to finish. However, my friends and I were pretty full from those courses so declined this time, though want to go back to enjoy, later...they even have a novel strawberry/raspberry flavoured tiramisu to tuck into, too.

We had great service and it's always personable too. That's part of their appeal too, and the place is always buzzing/packed, so you know you are in the right place.

Going back for...

A very delicious place. Plenty of options for all dietary requirements. You have to ask for the vegan menu when you enter but there are great options and everything is high quality and really flavourful. The atmosphere is also lovely, relaxed when you are with a group of friends or intimate with a partner. The lights and space around the tables really lend themselves to letting you make what you want of the visit.

Weekdays you can usually get away without booking but it's recommended for weekends and around Christmas or valentine's.

The staff are amazingly helpful and knowledgeable about their menu. I have never had bad service in here. You have to ask for olive oil or balsamic vinegar and the non-disabled toilets are up quite a few stairs but these are small things for such a good quality place. I frequently go and will be...

Food was very nice and served promptly. At the end of the meal when we asked for the bill, we were presented with a card machine and told the total. We asked to see the actual bill, as we needed to split it. The waitress (Monika?) tutted, and went to get a printout of the bill. When she returned, the bill was passed to us folded, along with the card machine, giving us little chance to check/read it. It was only when we got home we noticed that an "optional" 10% service charge was surreptitiously added to the bill. At no point did the server even mention this charge, so I fail to see how this was in any way optional. Tips should always be optional, and never added directly to a bill. If the restaurant thinks their servers deserve more, pay them more. I won't...