Restaurant: Vapiano
It's no secret that I'm a snob when it comes to Italian food, especially pasta. Growing up in an Italian family, I loathe places like Olive Garden and won't willingly choose places like Macaroni Grill. Needless to say, I had fairly low expectations when we happened upon Vapiano in Dulles Town Center. My expectations were further enforced because not only was it in a mall, it's in a spot that has seen no fewer than 3 other places fail before.
Vapiano has an upscale feel, decorated like a night club with long, high cafeteria style tables. They have a full bar set off to the side but the main attraction is a pasta making "booth" as you walk in. Evidently they make their own pasta, which makes the racks of hanging pasta seem a bit less about showmanship. To order, you walk up to pasta or pizza stations and the chef cooks your meal while you watch. You can adjust recipes on the fly and in the process make off-the-menu meals easily. After they give you your food, you swipe a card given to you to record your meal. On your way out you give the card to the cashier and they charge you accordingly. While somewhat gimmicky, this means there is no wait staff and the cooks don't handle cash, so it's actually pretty efficient.
So what about the food? Well, I can actually say I was pleased. The ingredients were fresh, the recipes authentic and they tasted like something I would make at home (more on that in a post... eventually). Perhaps most importantly, the pasta was cooked properly. It's a lot easier to cook fresh pasta but far more often than not, pasta in restaurants gets overcooked. They didn't overcook it and it wasn't gummy like fresh pasta can be, but I will say it suffered from lack of salt in the cooking water. You can correct this at the table and is a minor gripe so I guess I really shouldn't complain. We both had pasta but the antipasti, salads and pizzas looked just as good.
The best part is our entire meal was less than $25. That's right folks. We had good food that was cooked well and satisfied us for $12 a head. We didn't have to tip wait staff and we didn't have to throw away our own trash, which kinda feels like stealing. Looking at their corporate info, they average $13.50 a guest and that amazes me. They have 30 locations worldwide and are successful on less than $15 a head? If I had the money, I would seriously consider becoming a franchisee.
They have locations in Ballston, on 18th & M and another coming in Chinatown next month, so check them out. I'm not saying it's going to be the best meal of your life, but it's done right and done cheap. I think that's a hard thing to find these days.
Vapiano has an upscale feel, decorated like a night club with long, high cafeteria style tables. They have a full bar set off to the side but the main attraction is a pasta making "booth" as you walk in. Evidently they make their own pasta, which makes the racks of hanging pasta seem a bit less about showmanship. To order, you walk up to pasta or pizza stations and the chef cooks your meal while you watch. You can adjust recipes on the fly and in the process make off-the-menu meals easily. After they give you your food, you swipe a card given to you to record your meal. On your way out you give the card to the cashier and they charge you accordingly. While somewhat gimmicky, this means there is no wait staff and the cooks don't handle cash, so it's actually pretty efficient.
So what about the food? Well, I can actually say I was pleased. The ingredients were fresh, the recipes authentic and they tasted like something I would make at home (more on that in a post... eventually). Perhaps most importantly, the pasta was cooked properly. It's a lot easier to cook fresh pasta but far more often than not, pasta in restaurants gets overcooked. They didn't overcook it and it wasn't gummy like fresh pasta can be, but I will say it suffered from lack of salt in the cooking water. You can correct this at the table and is a minor gripe so I guess I really shouldn't complain. We both had pasta but the antipasti, salads and pizzas looked just as good.
The best part is our entire meal was less than $25. That's right folks. We had good food that was cooked well and satisfied us for $12 a head. We didn't have to tip wait staff and we didn't have to throw away our own trash, which kinda feels like stealing. Looking at their corporate info, they average $13.50 a guest and that amazes me. They have 30 locations worldwide and are successful on less than $15 a head? If I had the money, I would seriously consider becoming a franchisee.
They have locations in Ballston, on 18th & M and another coming in Chinatown next month, so check them out. I'm not saying it's going to be the best meal of your life, but it's done right and done cheap. I think that's a hard thing to find these days.
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This coming week I hope to pick up a new gym parter. Bet you can't guess who!
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