Pizza Express finally opens in Peterborough!

Peterborough’s branch of the Pizza Express restaurant has finally opened it’s doors to the public with a line up of local glitterati in full attendance.

Opened by the man who originally founded the chain, Peterborough’s own Peter Boizot, the 90 seater restaurant is sure to be a welcome addition to the towns line-up of existing Pizza restaurants. Various city councillors, Peterborough United players and the usual Peterborough businessmen and ESP girls also turned up for a (pizza) slice of the action.

In a city saturated by restaurants, it shows the demand is there, with chains performing particularly well, although the demise of Burger King which previously occupied the Pizza Express building was a bit of a shock. Interestingly, both Pizza Express and ASK restaurants are operated by the same company (Gondola Holdings) which are within metres of each other in Peterborough so it would be interesting to see how both restaurants perform.

The 90-seater restaurant will also feature cafe style outdoor seating which I’m not convinced will be a particularly popular area to sit, but at least they’re trying.

I’ll try and get in at some point to see how the dough balls and Etna pizza compare to other Pizza Expresses I’ve eaten in.

Hopefully this will lead to other restaurant brands coming to the city - Nandos, TGI Friday and Chiquito’s would all be welcome additions and there are plenty of retail parks to occupy!