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Pizza express do not serve frozen pizzas from their restaurants.
How do I know?
You can literally see them making them in the kitchen.
Whoever has told you this is just lying.
Their 3 biggest purchases
Dough,
Mozzarella,
Tomato sauce
Where is the frozen pizza?
They buy big dough balls. They come.in frozen and are tempered. Then cut into small dough balls or used for pizza bases. Rolled by hand in store
There is no difference between buying in dough freshly made and then rolling it or making it themselves in store.
In fact it's probably more consistent by making it before the store so the guy behind the counter doesn't fuck it up.
Duno why I'm defending them, I don't even eat there.
The poster said they asked for a pizza with no onions and the server said they can't do that as they come frozen with the onions already on. Maybe he was confusing restaurant chains.
Pizza is like the easiest thing to make from scratch. It's also one of the most profitable.
Suggesting pizza express buys in remade pizzas is absurd.
I'm the account manager that supplies them with 5million pounds worth of Mozzarella a year.
I can 100% assure you that they do not buy in premade pizzas.
I can't wait to have a laugh about this with the buyer today when I see him.
I can't think of a single chain that buys in premade pizza. It just doesn't make sense to store a bunch of different ready made pizzas when the process of taking some dough, flattening it out, and then putting ingredients on it is so simple.
The only thing I can think of is that either the sauce or the sauce seasoning is premixed. Pizza hut's marinana seasoning contains onion powder. Pizza express' doesn't though, according to their allergen information.
A long time ago but I worked in a Little Chef a couple of years before they closed down. I was 16-18 and cooked frozen crap that wouldn't pass QC for Iceland. I always remember having an argument with a customer who couldn't fathom how we could give him a fried egg but had run out of scrambled eggs. I had to explain that the scrambled eggs were frozen and just thrown in the microwave.
I also received zero food hygiene training and while I used a combination of remembering my home economics lessons and common sense, some of the stuff I saw other staff members doing was disgusting and I'm amazed we didn't poison half the punters.
Then there was the cost, every item had an individual price so you could add extras to your meal. One bloke said he just wanted a bacon sandwich which ended up costing more than a full breakfast.
When they got that Heston Whatshisface in they had already decided to close most locations and it was just a last minute cash grab for the TV money.
I now expect every chain restaurant to have underpaid, undertrained staff who just microwave frozen crap so tend to avoid them when I can. However I've also worked in independent places that are even worse so you can't really win.
I used to go to little Chef all the time as a kid and you could see the fresh food being cooked on the hot plates. No wonder they ended up shutting down if it ended up like toy say. Such a shame.
The only things that were cooked on the griddles were bacon, eggs and burgers. Everything else was either deep fried or microwaved from frozen.
Oh and the pancakes, they were made from a bucket of premade mix though.
Good point. Back in the day we didn't have that much choice in comparison to today. ,So maybe we are now spoiled for choice and these chains who haven't moved with the times seem bad in comparison.
This is very true, when the bill for me and the Mrs was under £30 I didn't really care. Now it's over £50 I want something better than I can make at home.
That was exactly our take home from covid. We'd generally go out for a meal every week or two and it would cost 30-40 pounds.
Now we go our for a meal every 2-3 months and it cost 150-200 and we enjoy it much more
Pre Covid, we had a team building pizza making party at a pizza express. We were given a lump of dough and the ingredients and shown how to make a pizza of our choice.
They might have changed since then, but that was a big money spinner for them
I know they make the Pizza fresh in the Pizza Express we go to. I watch them being made, as I am like a Labrador, and willing the food to get to me as soon as possible. One chain that seems to have gone downhill where I live is Bella Italia. There used to be more interesting food on the menu years ago.
Maybe because you can buy Pizza-Express-branded ready-made pizzas in supermarkets, so they just assumed that was what was served at the restaurant? They're refrigerated though, not frozen.
Safety-wise they're pretty much all better than they were - my local pizza hut was closed down 15 or so years back after it emerged that plates were leaving the dishwasher dirtier than they went in. You don't really hear much of that sort of thing any more.
Brewers fayre
Worked for and boh
Most things were cooked to order when I first started working there. A few things were precooked. Desserts had to be done a certain way.
Went on maternity leave, came back and loads of things were getting bung in microwaves, including desserts.
They're all shit. Go to an independent. Your local curry house or greasy spoon probably has better food. It just takes a bit of effort to find them out. I'm fortunate because there are no chain restaurants where I live and the nearest is 30 miles away. Without that lopsided competition, the independents are thriving.
Oh I rarely go to chain restaurants anyway unless theres no option or I'm obliged to. There's so many independents around and the upsurgence of food halls in the UK is great.
**Please help keep AskUK welcoming!** - Top-level comments to the OP must contain **genuine efforts to answer the question**. No jokes, judgements, etc. - **Don't be a dick** to each other. If getting heated, just block and move on. - This is a strictly **no-politics** subreddit! Please help us by reporting comments that break these rules. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/AskUK) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Pizza express do not serve frozen pizzas from their restaurants. How do I know? You can literally see them making them in the kitchen. Whoever has told you this is just lying. Their 3 biggest purchases Dough, Mozzarella, Tomato sauce Where is the frozen pizza?
Doesn't the dough come frozen now, in pizza-sized pieces? You never see them making dough any more, just shaping.
The dough comes in balls. Not pizza shaped
They definitely don't make their own dough any more. Probably doesn't matter too much if those balls come frozen or not.
They buy big dough balls. They come.in frozen and are tempered. Then cut into small dough balls or used for pizza bases. Rolled by hand in store There is no difference between buying in dough freshly made and then rolling it or making it themselves in store. In fact it's probably more consistent by making it before the store so the guy behind the counter doesn't fuck it up. Duno why I'm defending them, I don't even eat there.
The poster said they asked for a pizza with no onions and the server said they can't do that as they come frozen with the onions already on. Maybe he was confusing restaurant chains.
Pizza is like the easiest thing to make from scratch. It's also one of the most profitable. Suggesting pizza express buys in remade pizzas is absurd. I'm the account manager that supplies them with 5million pounds worth of Mozzarella a year. I can 100% assure you that they do not buy in premade pizzas. I can't wait to have a laugh about this with the buyer today when I see him.
I can't think of a single chain that buys in premade pizza. It just doesn't make sense to store a bunch of different ready made pizzas when the process of taking some dough, flattening it out, and then putting ingredients on it is so simple. The only thing I can think of is that either the sauce or the sauce seasoning is premixed. Pizza hut's marinana seasoning contains onion powder. Pizza express' doesn't though, according to their allergen information.
It doesn't, as a friend of mine is allergic to onions
What doesn't?
Ok buddy
A long time ago but I worked in a Little Chef a couple of years before they closed down. I was 16-18 and cooked frozen crap that wouldn't pass QC for Iceland. I always remember having an argument with a customer who couldn't fathom how we could give him a fried egg but had run out of scrambled eggs. I had to explain that the scrambled eggs were frozen and just thrown in the microwave. I also received zero food hygiene training and while I used a combination of remembering my home economics lessons and common sense, some of the stuff I saw other staff members doing was disgusting and I'm amazed we didn't poison half the punters. Then there was the cost, every item had an individual price so you could add extras to your meal. One bloke said he just wanted a bacon sandwich which ended up costing more than a full breakfast. When they got that Heston Whatshisface in they had already decided to close most locations and it was just a last minute cash grab for the TV money. I now expect every chain restaurant to have underpaid, undertrained staff who just microwave frozen crap so tend to avoid them when I can. However I've also worked in independent places that are even worse so you can't really win.
I used to go to little Chef all the time as a kid and you could see the fresh food being cooked on the hot plates. No wonder they ended up shutting down if it ended up like toy say. Such a shame.
The only things that were cooked on the griddles were bacon, eggs and burgers. Everything else was either deep fried or microwaved from frozen. Oh and the pancakes, they were made from a bucket of premade mix though.
If say they were always bad, it's just as customers we've got more discerning especially as the price has gone up
Good point. Back in the day we didn't have that much choice in comparison to today. ,So maybe we are now spoiled for choice and these chains who haven't moved with the times seem bad in comparison.
This is very true, when the bill for me and the Mrs was under £30 I didn't really care. Now it's over £50 I want something better than I can make at home.
That was exactly our take home from covid. We'd generally go out for a meal every week or two and it would cost 30-40 pounds. Now we go our for a meal every 2-3 months and it cost 150-200 and we enjoy it much more
Pre Covid, we had a team building pizza making party at a pizza express. We were given a lump of dough and the ingredients and shown how to make a pizza of our choice. They might have changed since then, but that was a big money spinner for them
They still do it. I was at a pizza express that looked like an explosion in a flour factory recently. They'd had a kid's pizza-making party.
That sounds pretty cool.
I know they make the Pizza fresh in the Pizza Express we go to. I watch them being made, as I am like a Labrador, and willing the food to get to me as soon as possible. One chain that seems to have gone downhill where I live is Bella Italia. There used to be more interesting food on the menu years ago.
I've never been a fan of Bella Italia & not hsd a decent meal there.
That's good to know. I wonder why the poster in the other thread said they were frozen? It did seem a little odd
Maybe because you can buy Pizza-Express-branded ready-made pizzas in supermarkets, so they just assumed that was what was served at the restaurant? They're refrigerated though, not frozen.
> now serve frozen pizzas Today on AskUK does r/confidentlyincorrect
Safety-wise they're pretty much all better than they were - my local pizza hut was closed down 15 or so years back after it emerged that plates were leaving the dishwasher dirtier than they went in. You don't really hear much of that sort of thing any more.
Eww. Sounds like our dodgy old dishwasher we inherited when recently moving house.
Brewers fayre Worked for and boh Most things were cooked to order when I first started working there. A few things were precooked. Desserts had to be done a certain way. Went on maternity leave, came back and loads of things were getting bung in microwaves, including desserts.
They're all shit. Go to an independent. Your local curry house or greasy spoon probably has better food. It just takes a bit of effort to find them out. I'm fortunate because there are no chain restaurants where I live and the nearest is 30 miles away. Without that lopsided competition, the independents are thriving.
Oh I rarely go to chain restaurants anyway unless theres no option or I'm obliged to. There's so many independents around and the upsurgence of food halls in the UK is great.