PizzaExpress — Restaurant in Milton Keynes

We ordered fir our party of 6 for our Christmas work meal and one member of pur party asked to have a dessert with our starters as she likes to eat just sweet things, we were assured this was no issue. Our starters came and no dessert brought out, we asked if it was coming and were told it wont be long. Starters finished and then mains brought out, still no dessert even when all mains had been delivered. So again we ashed where is the desert order and another staff member went to ask the kitchen and said to us ot wont be long now. 10-15 mins into the mains being brought out we had to start without her (again) because ours was now getting cold. Again we asked our original waitress where is ut because we asked for it to cone with the starters and we got very flimsy excuses that because its a dessert it takes longer which is absolute rubbish because others in the restaurant would be ordering desserts and they were sweet doughballs so not like a lot of prep was needed. Finally they came when we were finishing our mains.

Then at the end of the night i ordered a hot chocolate which as i drank got plastic in my mouth which was inside the drink!

This was not a welcoming or good experience especially for a work party and a member of our team was left feeling very awkward and singled out, which is absolute rubbish shame because the...

As a rule, you know what you're going to get when you visit a Pizza Express, and the quality is always good. Sadly this wasn't the case when I visited this restaurant earlier this year.

On arrival there were two or three members of staff milling around, and a couple of children running riot in the entrance. I had to wait a long time to be seated - at least five minutes - and when I was shown to a table it was by a man dressed in jeans and a T-shirt, rather than a smartly dressed waiter.

I ordered my meal and was surprised when the man in the jeans and T-shirt walked towards the kitchen area and started to cook - he was one of the chefs! Soon after my meal was served he walked to another table in the restaurant, sat down, and started to eat a meal he had prepared for himself. My food was poor and tasted odd, the tomatoes on my pizza having a soapy aftertaste.

When I had finished it took an age for the bill to arrive, and when I left I saw the chef and one of the waitresses standing outside, smoking, and looking through the window into the restaurant. "How many are left?" one of them asked the other. They clearly didn't want to be there, and I can honestly say I'll not be going back. Without a doubt it's the worst Pizza Express I've ever visited - actually one of the worst...

We visited this chain pizzeria on a busy Thursday for a lunchtime meal. We were going to be out in the evening, so this was an important chance for us to have a bit of quality time together.

We were welcomed with a smile and given a choice of table. A really nice red-headed woman took our drinks order & came back for our food choices later.

The food arrived surprisingly quickly and we chatted over doughballs doppio, then moved on to a light pizza & in my case a Nicoise salad.

As our meal progressed, it busied up even more but our waitress remained cheerful, helpful and friendly while, frankly, scurrying round like a mad thing to keep everything going. She did a really great job.. as did the other 3/4 staff we came into contact with.

When a Pizza Express branch gets it right, they can be utterly brilliant. Peterborough City Centre branch have been similarly stellar. When it goes wrong like we found at the Northampton branch, it can be horrible. See my reviews.

This was a brilliant experience. Thanks to all the MK staff there. Special thanks to that great red-headed waitress who deserves a hug and praise for doing a tough shift with style, remaining friendly & efficient and keeping her cool....