Vapiano

A couple weeks ago, Superking and I went out to lunch with our family on a Sunday afternoon after church.  We wanted something different, something not too expensive, and something conducive for children and large families. My brother-in-law suggested this place in the mall called Vapiano.  We had walked by it a million times but had never been in.  Its Italian cuisine and Superking and I aren't huge fans of traditional Italian.  But we went along with it because everyone else seemed to be happy with the choice.

It actually turned out to be an interesting and unique culinary experience. It has a little bit of a cafeteria format but in a much more modern fashion. Each customer gets a card and you choose your own seats.  The seats, by the way, were stools pulled up to very high, bar-style tables made of wood and adorned with some lovely fresh green plants in the middle. One table actually had a whole tree in the middle! In the middle of the restaurant is a set of shelves that house a bunch of fresh potted herbs that I believe they pick from to season the food.

This is a pizza Superking ordered. Check out all those peppers!

Then you take your card up to where they make the food.  Each item is freshly made-to-order and you stand in line behind whatever item you wish to order. If you want pasta, go to the pasta line. If you want pizza, stand in the pizza line. You can choose whatever kind of toppings or sauce you want.  With the pasta, you can even choose from like five different types of noodles.  They put your order on your card and make your food right in front of you so you can watch.  When you're done eating, you take your card to the register and thats how they know what to charge you.

bottled drinks, fresh produce

squiggly pasta with sausage, a little sauce, and red peppers

At another area of the restaurant, you can even watch them make their own pasta. And if you don't want to sit at a bar-style table, you can enjoy the lounge area and cozy up in a nice comfy arm chair.  The whole atmosphere is very cool and relaxing and modern.  Very different from most Italian restaurants I've been to where they have the fake ivy everywhere and the fat guy in a chef's hat with a large black mustache like from Super Mario Bros.

the lounge

Even the food here was refreshing. At most Italian restaurants, the portion sizes are big enough to feed an entire family of four and the food so heavy you can barely make it to your car before you fall asleep. Now don't get me wrong, the portions were not exactly small here either but the food was a lot fresher which made it seem lighter.

pasta machine

drying pasta

and they even offer you some gummy bears as you leave!

A nice welcome change if you're looking for some good fresh Italian food but don't want to gain ten pounds in one meal! And you can enjoy it with the whole family!

two of my silly nieces making faces

the kids bunny-shaped pizza! cute! I want one!