Pizza Express on Park Lane in Poynton Town Centre is in a good location within the town, with parking at the rear, or a short walk away next to Waitrose.
I was able to get a table easily, despite booking an hour before coming in, on a busy Saturday, my party was seated in a booth which was rather comfortable.
It is located in a rather old building, there are steps to get inside the entrance, and there are small steps around the restaurant so be careful not to trip.
PRO TIP: If you're dining in, be sure to use the Pizza Express app, depending on your tier in their loyalty scheme, you can get a bunch of free items with your meal. As a gold member, I can receive rewards such as Bottled Water, a soft drink, a hot drink and dolcetti, dough balls and a Romana pizza upgrade, at no additional charge. It can be a little pricey here, but when combined with these offers, or other offers, such as Tesco Clubcard, it becomes much more affordable, especially as you can combine it with a Pizza Express gift card, which is often sold at 20% off at retailers such as Amazon and Tesco.
One thing I noticed was strange about this particular location was its' pricing, they seemed to charge more than any other Pizza Express I've visited, which didn't make more sense to me, it was more expensive than my usual Pizza Express in Manchester, or even at Leeds Motorway services, the price difference was small, but 50 p per pizza, and 20 p on the dough balls, add up if you're in a large group, or visiting multiple times.
The service was quick and friendly, I was impressed with the female waitress that served my table and took my order, however, I wasn't as impressed with the male waiter that brought over the dough balls, he seemed to be carrying them quite precariously which could have led to a cross-contamination issue.
The food tasted good and was up to the usual Pizza Express standard. I ordered my usual gluten-free Pollo Pancetta pizza, which is off the menu, but they usually make it anyway, with gluten-free dough balls and both dishes were quite good.
The other members of my party, shared a Funghi Di Bosco Pizza on a Romana base, with a portion of dough balls, they also complimented their pizza and mentioned their dough balls were much larger than usual (Perhaps to justify the surcharge!)
I did have some issues with my payment, I used a Pizza Express e-gift card, and my waitress was not trained in how to accept this, this meant I had to walk over to the till and wait while a manager processed it, compared to them taking a photo of it and doing it manually, which other stores usually do, and I prefer.
3* - A nice Pizza Express for sure, but many improvements should be made including ensuring all aspects of the service are up to scratch, and a review of the pricing structure. read more