PizzaExpress — Restaurant in Rugby

It has been a while since we have visited Pizza Express in Rugby and although previously we have enjoyed our visits, the food didn't quite hit the mark this time.

Firstly, the service was excellent, our server Ellen was attentive, polite and more than happy to box up our remaining Pizza. I also really liked that you can see your bill live in the app, a great touch that I haven't seen before. We visited on a Friday at 7pm so the restaurant had a decent atmosphere and I always enjoy seeing an open kitchen.

We wanted to order 'Hot Honey Dough Balls' to start but sadly they were out, however our 'Nduja Dough Balls' were the highlight of our meal. They had a lovely heat to them, with a spiciness that never became overbearing. Baked in tomato sauce and 3 different cheeses, it was the perfect way to warm up on a drizzly January.

We both had the thinner, larger Romana Pizzas (we normally have Classic) and they were okay; we both agreed that the toppings were fantastic but the actually base was a bit odd texturally. I had the 'BBQ Burnt Ends' and my partner had 'Garlic Prawn'. The beef brisket burnt ends were fantastic, adding a punchy flavour and the actual BBQ sauce was very good, smoky and sweet. The red onions, mozzarella and roasted tomatoes added a freshness to the Pizza, with a healthy portion of toppings. But the base wasn't quite right, neither floppy or crispy, it was a little cardboard like. Funny enough, once reheated the next day in the air fryer, it actually was more enjoyable.

Finally, we shared 'Halloumi Bites' as a side and these also weren't great. I think they may have a polenta coating, but it had such an overbearing flavour that we could barely taste any halloumi. This would be something we definitely wouldn't order again which is a shame.

Although we found the food a little below average, because the service was so good, and we do have other favourites on the menu we will certainly visit again. Having the app is also recommended, as Pizza Express isn't cheap, and we did get 50% off one pizza.

5.5/10

Visited Friday 12th...

The location did not inform me of the 45 minute wait until I had sat down. Not an issue as it came quicker than this. It took the team 2 minutes to acknowledge me at the door to get a table. It was busy but appeared short staffed.

Having ordered the carrot cake and coffee, I was informed that these were unavailable at the time of ordering. The location had limited supplies of different items on the menu which I have yet to encounter in a Pizza Express.

The team were apologetic in that respect and were warm and friendly throughout. The food tasted great but I notice the size of the portion and the amount of butter given on the doughballs was small; The smallest I have come across where other branches are a lot more generous!

Little improvements such as having cutlery on my table would not go a miss. A staff member delivered my dough balls without any cutlery. The soft drinks provided were warm in the bottle; normally they are chilled from a fridge.

Little niggels made it a less pleasant experience than normal but I would...

We had a very good experience here at the Rugby branch. We visited one evening during the heatwave when we were desperate for some air con! The staff were also very friendly and efficient.

Lovely to see some Italian wines from unusual grape varieties on the menu - I enjoyed a glass of Soave from Northeastern Italy. We skipped starters and shared a Caesar salad and the La Reine pizza. There were a few issues here - firstly the kitchen was out of egg, Parmesan and Cos lettuce, so our Chicken Cesar salad was just chicken and rocket leaves (we were still charged the £13 though). We also went for the ‘classic’ pizza base, which turned out to be a thin base (not thick as described) and overall quite a small pizza. I would recommend opting for the Romana base which is a thin base (though no thinner than the thin classic base we had), but the pizza is considerably larger. We shared a pudding of brownie with vanilla ice cream afterwards, which...