Zeffirellis Pizzeria

A vegetarian Italian restaurant?! We were hesitant before going and then were so glad we did. Located in the lower level of a historic cinema, this glowingly-lit place was the perfect spot to meet up with friends.

They gave us a giant round table that was super plush and cozy. My gin and elderflower tonic was delicious, as was the tagliatelle bolognese. I finished mine and almost my husband's too. The portion was the perfect size and the rest of our table enjoyed their meals and desserts too.

They offer lots of appetizers (like specially-made bruschettas, etc), as well as pizzas, pastas, salads, and decadent desserts. Honestly didn't even notice that it was all vegetarian. Definitely go here!

Boy, does this place do a good Whiskey and Coke.
As you can tell I am extremely easily pleased.

We went here last week with old family friends and was the perfect environment to catch up, enjoy great food and have a good drink.

The menu is great and everyone left feeling extremely satisfied with what they ordered.
I would 100% recommend if you are in the Ambleside area!

THE POSTCARD LIFE recommends.
Its a pure vegetarian restaurant/ pizzeria with really good food and more importantly right on the main street in Ambleside. We had the Hummus, Avocado & Cucumber Sandwich, Vesuvian red bean chilli & the Rainforest pizza- everything was very fresh and really delicious. Must go when in Ambleside if in mood for some pizza and sandwiches.

I Like this place. I am not vegetarian but enjoy the food here greatly. There is a wide range of options to choose from.

What I like most is the Jazz Bar. Friday nights it is free and it is always a great atmosphere. You can order light food and drinks in the jazz bar so you can relax while listening to great music!

Myself and my husband visited here for the lunchtime menu booked in for 4pm as we were going to watch a movie at the cinema after our meal.
There was no movie meal deal left when my husband phoned a couple days prior so we decided to just go for the lunchtime menu otherwise we would have go later.

When we got there we waited between 5 - 10 minutes before someone actually came to get us from the front door. The girl that collected us and took us to our table didn't seem very happy. We ordered our drinks and dinner as we knew what we wanted. The waiter was very nice and pleasant.

The food was good and came out very quickly. Our food was okay, I wouldn't say it was fantastic though. We drank and ate in under 25mins, a record for us.

I don't think we would go back as there was no friendly atmosphere, which is a shame because we had heard so many good things about the place.

Lots of vegan choices an d really good food at a good price. Friendly service but a little slow so give yourself plenty of time to enjoy your meal.

If you need to know anything about Ambleside, you need to know about Zeffirellis. Why? Because this is the happening spot where all the action is at. You want arthouse cinema? Check. You want world class jazz? Done. You want gourmet vegetarian eats? Sorted. How about a cocktail? Oh... wait. No, they don't do that.

My Dad was seriously excited to show me this place during our stay, and I can see why he was so enamoured of it. The space is cool, in a jazz kind of way, and the downstairs restaurant area is beautiful. We ate upstairs, so as to take in the music, but it's worth booking a special evening downstairs too.

I love the setting upstairs. Round cabaret style seating is set up around the stage, so you can eat, drink, and be merry to the music, and there are a few tables with high stools at the back for a slightly quieter spot. It's the kind of joint where you actually applaud each song, which I love, and we saw a wonderful pianist and co on the first night. The second night was a little disappointing, music-wise, since the musicians were out of sync and seemed to be far too into their own thing rather than working together. (The drummer was particularly naff.) However, my Dad assured me that was a one-off, since in all his previous visits he'd seen some incredible performances.

As for the food? I've never, in my life, tasted such an exquisite vegetarian menu. It helps that much of my food was loaded with cheese (I could never be vegan) but don't let that give the assumption that this was all it was. The variety was incredible, and I am neither veggie, nor do I frequent Italian spots for fear the food will be dull.

To start I shared the garlic mushrooms in a mini Yorkshire pudding and the garlic bread. The idea to put delicious garlic mushrooms in a Yorkshire is simply genius, but the garlic bread... oh my goodness, I've never had such a treat. It was basically a whole pizza, so be warned if you've a slight appetite, and simply covered with cheese. Perfectly greasy.

For my main course I had the gnocchi. Words, as much as I pride myself in having a way with them, can hardly do this delectable victual justice. It was perfectly cooked, soft, crisped beautifully with cheese, loaded with sauce, and dotted with cauliflower. Each bite was a soft, doughy cloud of mouth joy. I wanted every bit of it to last a lifetime! I also tried the spicy risotto, which had a beautifully soft kick. Everything was so well balanced.

We revisited a few days later, as I really wanted to show my Dad some cocktails, but sadly I can't recommend Zefs for that. Whilst the Grasshopper really pleased my Dad (it's hard to get that one wrong) their cosmo and their daiquiri (I think it was a daiquiri -- or a margarita, I forget) were awful. They don't have a classic list, as such, but a list with their own 'twist', but these were terrible drinks! Not balanced at all, sour, and took about a million years to arrive. They even had the ingredients for a white russian, which I told them the measurements for, but they wouldn't make it. (Even though I said they could charge me separately for each component. That was a no-go too -- something about it not being on the till.)

So -- you know. Ups and downs! But, essentially, it's an awesome place. I wish the staff could have been more flexible about the cocktails/better at making them. But that gnocchi is simply legendary, and made up for a thousand of those bad drinks. Couldn't recommend their menu highly enough!

Fantastic. Really good meditteranean-style (by which I guess I mean Italian .. which is easier to spell) restaurant. We always go when we're in the Lake District, and we always enjoy it. Food is excellent. Surroundings are really nice - modern and relaxed. They have a jazz bar with live music upstairs, and an attached cinema. Service this time was excellent, too.
Looking forward to our next visit.
PS - I was considering not mentioning this, but it's all veggie. They don't mention it anywhere, and I do wonder if most of their guests don't notice. Don't tell anyone else. Ssshh!
PPS - not cheap. But value for money.

We happened upon Zeffirellis on a short trip to the Lake District last October. It was a bitterly cold night and we had underestimated how busy everywhere would be, even in late October. Zeffirellis Pizzeria is a large vegetarian restaurant, which is part of a complex that also includes a cinema and a jazz bar. The place was absolutely jammed packed with people, even though the restaurant probably seated about a hundred. We had to wait about half an hour for a table; it was the kind of restaurant where as one table leaves, it is almost instantly filled up again. In my book thats always a good sign!


We were not disappointed, the menu was varied, without being huge and there were daily specials. I plumped for the Italian Bean Casserole, accompanied by home made bread. The dish arrived very quickly and wow, was it full of flavour, one of the best dishes I'd had in a restaurant for some time! Zeffirellis has a great atmosphere, the place was buzzing with life, romantic couples, family and large groups, most of which were having a meal before going to the cinema. For a spur of the moment decision on a restaurant, we couldn't have chosen any better.


The next morning we booked again for that evening at 9.30am and even at the time struggled to get a table - it is a seriously popular place! This time I had the fantastically named Vesuvian Chilli, a touch piquant, but nothing mindblowing, another brilliant dish. Zeffirellis also serves many vegan dishes which are indicated as such on the menu. The staff were friendly and even though very busy, took the time to explain about the more exotically sounding dishes on the menu. If we lived a bit closer to Zeffirellis, I'm sure we would be in there all the time!

Went there with a group of 10 people and while the staff was very friendly, professional and fast, and the atmosphere is very welcoming, the pizza is anything but £10 worth. The dough looks and tastes like Tesco pizza from the freezer which is topped up with stuff. If all pizzas are perfectly round and all have the same size this does not speak for a good pizzeria and definitely not freshly baked pizza. Very disappointing...