Zizzi - Nottingham — Restaurant in Nottingham

Went out for a lovely meal with my friend to celebrate her engagement and wanted it to be a really special evening for her and her partner

We booked a table well on advance for 7pm and weren't advised this would be for an hour and a half slot otherwise we would have asked to extent the booking. When we arrived we were told we would need to give the table back by 8. Wanting to be flexible and understanding of the fact they'd booked a table from 8 after our booking, and we're really busy with the Christmas season we accepted this and ordered as normal

I want to be really clear- the waitresses- were absolutely lovely and did the best they could in a tough situation, however the manager on shift really let our experience down and we won't be returning.

The food was ok, and we were served closer to 8 than we would have liked. Due to this by the time we ordered desserts and a second drink it had passed 8pm. While we understand the time constraint we do feel it was unfair to be rushed when the serving delay was not our error, and we'd been given an opportunity to order desserts despite the time being passed, we assumed that due to this there was no longer a rush on the table being needed.

After placing our order the manager passed our table three times making very clear and rude gestures around his team to encourage us to rush through and leave. This was noticed and 3 clear occasions and made some of the guests feel uncomfortable and unable to joy their food at their pace. Before the desserts arrived we were rushed to settle the bill and asked to leave as soon as we had finished our desserts and drinks. The waitress was very apologetic and it was clear she had been pressured into doing this by one very poorly mannered manager and I really feel for her because she was incredibly lovely and clearly doing her absolute best in the role.

Overall I was really unimpressed considering we spent nearly £300 with a tip, which is a considerable amount of money for a booking we had in place since September. We won't be coming back and I want to be clear the tip was only given because the waitresses do not deserve to miss out on this due to the poor behaviour of one person, but we won't be returning and I wouldn't recommend this to others due to the poor service we experienced.

We had a lovely night in spite of this, and will rearrange a meal elsewhere for another time so we can enjoy each others company in a more welcoming place

3 stars as one felt unfair when the waitresses and chef were clearly doing their best and I want to recognise and be...

Good for a quiet family meal. Food is mostly very good, sometimes the staff are a bit busy and your food waits for a while before they bring it over. Have had lukewarm dough balls a few times recently (and overcooked so they were hard on the outside) so I probably won’t order these anymore. It’s a shame, they used to be excellent. Very good pasta. Children’s pasta meals excellent sometimes aside from the very hard dough ball starter. Children’s portions are plentiful. Hit and miss with what the kids get though. Sometimes they get a slice of bread like you’d get on a bruschetta, other times it’s a dough ball. A soft dough ball would be ideal. Kids ice cream sometimes comes with the popping candy and cones, other times it doesn’t. Bit hit and Miss.

Tables a bit cramped together. Ladies toilet cubicles tiny - not great for a family restaurant really because you can’t close the door and help a little on onto the toilet, as the door is so close to the toilet itself and opens inwards. You basically have to climb over around the toilet (gross) or leave the door open and the child feeling a bit exposed. I guess larger ladies might struggle too. Also don’t sit in the two booths downstairs. They’re probably the most appealing seats, but when you actually sit there, the drains or waste pipes run underneath so they can smell rotten. We sat there once and had to move. You can see a hatch in the floor and staff are aware that the booths can smell bad at times.

I’d return (used to come about 3-4 times a month) but probably not as often anymore. They’re not major problems but more consistency with the children’s dishes, softer dough balls and toilet doors opening outwards would be suggested improvements. Also to space the tables out. The last two times we’ve been, we’ve been uncomfortably close to other people and just wanted to finish the food...

Left hungry and very disappointed.

We booked a table for 16 to celebrate a birthday party at 5:30pm which all food was pre ordered for weeks in advance.

Didn’t start great when they gave us a table for 14 and when I asked for an additional table for our guests, they said sorry you’re going to have to put chairs on the ends! 3 grown people sharing a 2 person table making it quite cramped to eat. So they didn’t even accommodate our booking properly.

Our starter's took over 40 minutes to arrive and one of our guests was never brought out so they ate on their own once we had all finished our starter.

Mains came out with such a staggered delay some of the table had nearly finished before others had theirs. The potato’s were raw and completely inedible and my husband’s and mums chicken was pink, raw and bloody! Both meals taken back to the kitchen and not replaced. My pizza was undercooked. They offered replacement chips for the uncooked potatoes, which then never arrived.

Our pudding orders didn’t get any better with us having to ask for missing desserts and again half the table eating while the other still waiting for desserts,

They refunded 2 x of the set menus which hardly covered the meals we sent back and the others that were inedible and left.

Honestly a Nightmare from when we arrived! Will not return or recommending, birthday meal ruined and a lot of...