When my sister visited us in Germany, we took her to the city of Mannheim, where she was surprised to see a Vapiano on the main square, just opposite the famous Wasserturm. I had never heard of Vapiano, a new wave of Italian restaurants offering made-to-order pizza and pasta dishes in an upscale cafeteria setting. But it's no wonder that she has. My sister lives and works in the Washington D.C. area where Vapiano has six outposts.
Vapiano is perfect for D.C.'s after-work crowd of young professionals who want to eat and drink, mix and mingle, and also easily keep separate tabs. But Vapiano is in fact a German company. The restaurant chain got its start in Hamburg in 2002, and there are over 50 Vapiano restaurants now in Germany alone.
When you enter the restaurant you're given a menu and a chip card, a credit card of sorts. Once you've chosen what you'd like to eat--pizza, pasta, salad--you find the counter serving those dishes and wait your turn to order. The dish is prepared right in front of you, and the amount is charged to your card. You go back for as many dishes as you like, as well as drinks, antipasti, dessert. Before you leave for the night, all the charges on your card are added up and you pay your bill.
Vapiano, which translates from the Italian into "go slowly," is expanding rapidly. There's a Vapiano slated to open in Miami at the end of August, with restaurants in Los Angeles, Chicago, New York and Orlando slated for 2013. And that's just in the U.S. There are eight more planned for Germany in the next twelve months.
Have you been to Vapiano? Where do you go to eat and drink, mix and mingle?
--Tracy Schneider
{ 0 comments... read them below or add one }
Post a Comment