In spite of its beautiful setting this, the oldest branch of the ubiquitous Pizza Express in Bristol is quite a forgettable place.

The Venue
On the uphill approach to the swanky Berkeley Square, in view of the soaring and beautiful Wills Memorial building, this Pizza Express branch offers up its artificial Italian fare in a modern, faux-Italian interior.

As is often the case in large chain restaurants, the venue itself lacks original character. Polished and pleasant enough in appearance, you do feel quite anonymous eating at the countless identical tables.

The People
A favourite with families, this place has a children’s menu and the space to accommodate the demands of kids. It can get a little hectic at peak times due to its mainstream appeal.

The staff are competent and good at dealing with food complaints, which one suspects they get rather a lot.

The Food
There isn’t a huge amount of choice on the menu, and the choices aren’t particularly imaginative. They only have a few salad and pasta options, so the order of the day is, unsurprisingly, pizza.

On paper the pizzas are quite mouthwatering, with toppings including spinach, rocket, spiced beef, pine nuts and so on, but when they arrive they are accompanied by a faint air of disappointment.

They aren’t big enough for how much they cost (£7.25 to £9.45), and the pizza bases, which are meant to be crisp, are tough as old cardboard around the edges and doughy in the middle, plus the toppings appear cheap and mass produced. They do have good dough balls though (£2.30).

The Drink
For a wannabe Italian restaurant their wine-list is a big disappointment. It’s short and unimaginative, but what you get will be drinkable. Bottles go from £12.65 to £25, while a glass is £3.95 to £4.35.

Some of the nice bottled Italian beers they have are a better bet and bottles go from £3.20 to £3.65.

The Last Word
Despite its allure as a convenient and consistent eatery, your money would be better spent in one of the many Bristol restaurants that invest real care and attention in their food.

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