Cecconi's Pizza Bar

“First-time visit with mixed feelings — amazing food, but disappointing service I dined here for the first time this evening. Although we didn’t have a reservation, we were warmly welcomed and seated at the bar, which was a great spot to start. The menu was impressive, offering a beautiful selection of Italian dishes and cocktails — we were genuinely excited. However, the service throughout the evening left a lot to be desired. After receiving our initial drinks from the bartender, we mentioned we needed a few more minutes to decide on food. Unfortunately, it quickly became apparent that the bar was severely understaffed, with only one person trying to manage both drinks and service for the entire area. We ended up waiting about 25 minutes before we had to flag someone else down just to place our food order. Later, we moved to the chef’s counter when a friend joined us, as there was more space. From that point on, we received virtually no service. We had to go to the bar ourselves to order additional drinks and even had to follow up when they hadn’t arrived after 15 minutes. Although the food was excellent and came out quickly, the drinks didn’t arrive until the same time as our mains — something that, as someone with hospitality experience, I know should be avoided. Throughout the rest of our meal, no one checked in with us, cleared our plates, or offered another round of drinks. We eventually had to flag down (what seemed to be) a manager just to pay the bill. At that point, it was disappointing to see a 13.5% service charge automatically added, considering how little service we actually received. Overall, it felt more like a self-service experience than dining out — which is such a shame because the food and setting were genuinely lovely. It seems the team was understaffed and overwhelmed, which impacted the entire experience. I hope this feedback is taken as constructive — there is so much potential here, and I’d love to return when the service side is running more smoothly. The food deserves to be matched by equally thoughtful and attentive service. I hope that this was just bad luck on our side but I would love to return but could only hope that service won’t be received again.”

“Good food, great atmosphere and great for a drink. Gets quite busy particularly on Thursdays and Fridays but midweek is a great spot for a catch-up and a bite to eat with friends. Highly recommend the Truffle Arancici and espresso Martini.. Service: Consistently pretty great, whilst staff can be somewhat overwhelmed during busy periods as typical with most London bars and restaurants they always remain personal and friendly. Service can be slower than many restaurants, however not slow enough to be an issue and this is more than made up for in the quality of the food and drink. Food: Overall great all around. The food is reasonably priced for central London and everything on the menu is absolutely fantastic. Following in the Cecconi’s name, quality of the ingredients and the food really shows with all of the dishes tasting fresh and delicious. Everytime stopping by we almost always end up with atleast a pizza and the Arancini balls as both are too good to not order. Drinks are also well made and a good selection with an excellent wine list to cover all budgets. The espresso martini is a stand out across London and highly recommended. Atmosphere: Well thought out lighting and very nicely decorated, there is not much you can really fault about the atmosphere. It’s all been very well curated and put together along with the food and drink. In summer evenings when the front doors are open it’s wonderful to be sat by the front for a meal or drinks and at the same time is wonderful being able to sit outside. Inside is great for a date or even just a drink and meal with friends.”

“Visited on a quiet Sunday lunchtime. The staff were very friendly and the food was delicious, we shared a starter and had a pizza each for main. Very reasonably priced for the centre of London, would definitely recommend!”

“Solid pizza, not extraordinary but really solid! Nothing to complain, an good trained service! Gave us a summary of our order, quick and with good communication! real++”

“Had a lovely meal here last night . Very good service except at the very end when they never returned for plates and to bring dessert menu. Service was great until that point .Tortellini was delicious. Recommend .”