Zizzi’s

Arrived late on a Friday night after work. Wanted some good Italian food and was not disappointed. Had the pollo funghi strozzaprete… Delish!
I like to think that for a place to be authentic the staff should speak the language. Obviously this is a chain but my server happened to be an Italian lady. She not only knew her food she was able to help me find something that was going to satisfy me, a must in the service industry.

Food was good, service was fine. Nothing to complain about, enjoyed it as per any other zizzi restaurant. Would visit again, being a brand it’s hard to make too many comments!

Decent Italian food with friendly service and great location. Pasta was good but the pizza was a little disappointing. It is only worth it when you can use a discount card on weekdays at 2 for 1. The interior of the restaurant is beautiful and contemporary.

I should have just eaten the menu! No, seriously! Whoever is in charge of describing the food on offer at Zizzi’s should get a literary gong … or be sued under the trade description act! It all sounded so good … and then the waitress brought it over … and it all went so wrong!
Admittedly I wasn’t in the best of moods after a long wait to be seated (there were empty tables … what’s the hold up?!) followed by another feature-​length wait for the waitress to return to take our drinks order!
I ordered the Aubergine Parmigiana. Granted I’ve been to Sorrento a few times on holiday but I am far from a connoisseur on Italian cuisine, yet even I could tell a frozen microwavable pizza would have been more authentically Italian. Some shrivelled, odd coloured aubergines were served, rolled up in a small round dish with some tomato sludge and luke warm, semi-​melted cheese on top.
My friend’s meal seemed to be slightly more palatable than mine, and we did have a money off voucher which stopped the experience from being a total disaster … but still, definitely not high on my list of places I must go back to.

As far as Italian chains go, this Zizzi’s is creeping its way to the top of my list. It feels light and airy inside, with the right number of tables, uncramped but still cozy enough, and my favourite — the open kitchen. No mistakes can be made with an open kitchen because you can basically time how long your food sits there, forcing their staff to be at the top of their game. We all went straight onto mains and it seemed that everyone enjoyed their meals, despite one hiccup with a lasagne being burnt around the edges; it took some time for the server to come and ask us if everything was okay but, once they did and lasagnegate was explained to them, it was promptly whisked away and a new one bought out, bubbling without any black bits. I had a sofia pizza on a wholemeal base, a nice touch with added to the flavour, spicy and nutty at the same time, perfectly washed down with a glass of wine or two.
It’s always nice to see somewhere coping with a large number of people and managing to keep everyone happy. With their new tapas style options I have a feeling I will be heading back to this Zizzi’s soon.

Popping in for a quick pizza and a spag bol, was the agenda last week. Having never tried Zizzi’s before, we were pleasantly surprised. The prices were reasonable and, although it didn’t look hugely inviting, once you’re inside, it’s a very comfortable place to be.
Despite it being bang in the centre of Manchester city centre, it feels like something of a hideaway. When you enter you go down a row of stairs to find a very spacious and roomy area with a very long bar, lots of seating area and a visible wood burning oven. Its both contemporary and almost paying tribute to all things Italian both now and way back when.
What we liked the most about this was the fact that the tables were fairly far apart from each other. They hadn’t tried to cram the interior with as many seats as possible to gain more custom, but I felt I could comfortably talk to my companion without the need to whisper or talk quietly thanks to this spacing.
When the pizza came I was pleasantly surprised. It was large, filling without being overbearing and contained just the right level of ingredients and not too many like you’ll find from most, frankly, unauthentic pizzeria’s around the Manchester region and anywhere else for that matter. Some could argue that it was lacking, but I found it to be just right. The spag bol also looked great and apparently tasted very good too.
Pricing, as mentioned is great, the atmosphere is very nice for such a well priced place and it’s a place that I’ll be going back to for sure.

I love Italian food generally, though this particular chain did nothing for me. Classic dishes like the spaghetti bolognese were just average tasting and disappointing. I even prefer my home cooking to this, but maybe I am just trying the wrong dishes here.
Never liking to review something on just one visit, I tried a second time and I was left unimpressed. Their garlic bread, with rosemary was actually pretty tasty, but then when the risotto arrived, it tasted mainly of rosemary again, which works on bread though on rice it was very overpowering and I have had much better risottos.
The venue itself is nice though, and the waitress was lovely and friendly. Far better Italian restaurants exist in almost any town or city, especially Manchester.

Although Zizzi says it offers one of the best Al Fresco dining experiences in Manchester, with views of the Irwell, I didn’t get to experience this. In fact, my experience was probably one of the worst dining experiences I’ve come across.
Zizzi’s was busy, so it was popular and approved of perhaps. But it doesn’t cope well. A Wednesday evening, it was heaving and we were seated at a table right by the door as a result. After chatting and chatting we realised no one had come over to take our drinks order, not to mention our food. Food would then be 45 minutes wait. Reeled in, we waited, very hungry however.
A bottle of wine kept us happy but food was on the brain. Two of us went for the risottos, one «pesce» and one «funghi,» that’s seafood and mushrooms. They were quite tasty but small portioned, maybe because we were sat so long it went down too quickly and we just wanted more… Spaghetti polpette was «alright.»
Overall service aside, Zizzi’s doesn’t really have the potential to outdo all the other Italians in Manchester. Just not my cup of tea.

No no no there will be no moving aside of Croma as the king of Manchester Pizzerias.
Firstly Croma is a chain only in the very broad use of the word, it’s a chain of three. You couldn’t really lock up a prisoner in the Middle Ages with a chain of three links could you? That’s a really relevant analogy, by the way.
Zizzi is not bad, in fact I agree that it defeats both Pizza Express and Pizza Hut, but I fail to see how its been able to stimulate such outrageous slander attesting that it might be as good as the fine, exquisite, inimitable (except by the other links on its chain) Croma.
In fact, I don’t think it’s the best Pizza vending restaurant in Spinningfields. That title goes to Strada, whose food is marginally better and whose atmosphere wins by a considerable margin.
So Pizza ‘chains’ in order:
1. Croma
2. Strada
3. Zizzi
4. Pizza Express
5. Pizza Hut
Surely that wont stimulate any debate…

The music is loud, the food is Italian. It’s quite nice. It’s all brand spanking new featuring a host of fantastically clean facilities that is becoming the trademark of all spinningfields major chain restaurants.
Almost Siamese with the GBK next door you couldn’t be blamed for stumbling into it. Zizzi’s is all about the pleasant pizzas, pasta and salad with the big patriotic flavours of Italy including mozzarella, balsamic vinegar, tomato and plenty of it. Everything is too a good standard, the staff are courteous and Zizzis is tightly run ship. If this is the standard for all the Zizzi chain you can understand how it has become such an ogre of chain establishment.