Vapiano

With its close proximity to work and my love of pizza, Vapiano and I were sure to hit it off.

Vapiano

The setting:
This may be my favorite thing about Vapiano – high red leather stools and booth, communal table topped with herbs like rosemary and basil, and a wall covered with red hats. How wonderful is that? It’s a little noisy and the tables along the back of the food service side seemed cramped when patrons line up to place orders, but it’s a great place for a fun lunch with your colleagues.

The service:
I think the lady at the pizza counter is trying to be funny, but it misses the mark. When I told her I wanted a proscuitto and mushroom pizza, she made me re-order it and say “fungi” because she thinks it’s a funny word. And she normally forgets my drink when I order it. But they’re friendly overall at the Vapiano counters.

The food:
Most of you know of my love affair with pizza. I even liked those frozen pizza squares they served in my elementary school cafeteria. Now that I’m older and, let’s face it, a bit of a food snob, I prefer my pizza to be a little snazzy, but not too snazzy!

The pizzas are thin crust and cooked in a brick oven. The ratio of cheese to sauce is decent, although it could use a bit more …spice… somewhere in the sauce. The pizza pictured above is a margherita with parmesan cheese curls added. Every time I go I ask for the pasta parmesan (the sprinkles, not the large pieces) but you would think they’d never head of someone sprinkling cheese on top of a cooked pizza!

Perhaps my favorite detail about Vapiano comes as you leave – they have gummy bears instead of mints in deep white bowls by the front door. And they even let me take a disproportionate number of pineapple ones!

Go for lunch, enjoy, and leave some of the white gummy bears for me!

Best for: A delicious place to spend a lunch hour.

Worst for: An important lunch meeting.