Germany's Attempt at Fast Casual Dining

Jim and I recently visited Vapiano for the third and probably last time. Vapiano is fast casual dining with a German Twist. The twist being that you spend more time standing in line than at a table eating your dinner.

The first time I went to Vapiano, I thought that it had a lot of potential and would be a successful concept in the States. The food is very fresh and made right in front of you. They have pasta, salads, pizza and apps which all look delicious as you walk through the modern dining room. The tables even have potted herbs on them so if your pasta doesn't have enough basil, you can just pluck some off of a live plant. The food here reminds me a lot of a place called Sauce in the DTC area of Denver.

However, where Vapiano falls short is in the ordering process. Most fast casual restaurants have one counter where you order all of your food and drinks, pick them up at the end of the counter and then sit down to eat. Some even give you a number and then deliver your food to you like - Wahoo's Fish Tacos or Noodles & Company.

At Vapiano though, it is all about the lines. You have to stand in about 5 different lines to get your full meal. There is one line for drinks, then another for pasta and so on. They have 4 different food stations where the chefs will make your food right in front of you. I like to know my food is fresh, but the whole point of going out to eat is getting to sit down and relax. Here, I'm just on the other side of the counter watching someone make my food, and feeling guilty that I was apparently too lazy to boil water for some pasta.

Vapiano is a busy restaurant and after having been there a few times we knew we need to have a strategy. We decided Jim would secure a table while I got the food and drinks. Apparently, that wasn't a good enough strategy. After standing in the pick up line for the pizza instead of the order line, I decided I would cut my losses and forget about the pizza and salad and just order pasta for both of us. There were so many options on the pasta that by the time I reached the front of the line, I panicked and made some bad choices. I felt a little like Ralphie in The Christmas Story. I was ready to climb over the counter to tell the chef what I really wanted was an official Red Ryder Air Rifle or maybe gnocchi with a Gorgonzola sauce and toasted walnuts.