Vapiano

I must say, I never got inside the restaurant, after taking a to-go menu from the big stack at the front, the host snatched it from my hand, telling me that they don't have enough to give me and directed me toward the electronic menu... There are plenty of places in the square other than Vapiano, perhaps they will be more welcoming...

Dauert eeeeeeewig sein Essen zu bestellen. 30 Leute in der Schlange, mindestens 60min Wartezeit.

The food was pretty good. The reason for the average rating is the set up at Vapianos. When my wife and I arrived in the first floor, we were given two cards. No instructions. Just handed to us and told us to go upstairs. Ok cool, let's go upstairs.

When we arrived on the second floor, there were kiosks located near the stairs with the words "Order Point". Common sense would derive that you go to the kiosks to order your meal. Nope! After trying to scan our cards multiple times and nothing coming up on the screen, we asked one of the employees. No one came up to us and offered assistance. We were two tourists and I am sure our facial expressions screamed, "I am lost".

A very nice young lady explained that we needed to go to the counter to order our food and have our card scanned. Then after the meal, bring the card down to the first floor to be re-scanned and pay for the meal. Interesting and complicated concept. At least they should have some sort of written instructions? They did not.

The good... The food was fresh and prepared directly in front of you. So that was cool. The risotto was MASSIVE in size. I couldn't finish even half of it. The Caprese pasta was good. The bruschetta was flavorful but the bread came out soggy. Partly our fault b/c we waited a while before we ate it. There were two people in front of us and it took about 15-20 minutes before it got to us. Another 15-20 minutes for the meal to be cooked. So all in all, 40 minutes total before we got our food. So I can't imagine if this place was busy, how long the wait would be.

Do you enjoy freshly prepared Italian food but prefer to obtain it in the most annoying and inconvenient way possible? Then Vapiano is for you!

Ambiance
Cool mixture of modern and wood look inside. Fairly dim lighting but that made for a nice ambiance and made it feel a bit upscale. You collect a plastic card when you enter on the first floor and use it when you order food on the second floor. Then you turn in the card and pay on your way out back on the first floor. We were there on a weeknight around 6pm, and it was packed with lines everywhere (see below).

Service
If you are alone and only want one item (a pizza, pasta, or a salad) then their bizarre system won't bother you too much. You will very likely wait 20-35 minutes either entirely in line (pasta or salad) or combined line and waiting for the food to be ready (pizza). They had a few ATM like kiosks to order which seemed like a good idea, but none of them worked. So you get in a line. A long line. There were lines for pizza, lines for pasta, and lines for salad. Want a salad and pasta? Wait in two long lines... maybe eat your salad while you're in line for the pasta? The chef making the salads seemed to be trying to hurry, but the setup was not helping him. He ran out of ingredients and had to leave and go in the back for 10 minutes instead of having a radio or something to have a runner bring him ingredients. The pizza staff weren't very friendly, but they did seem to be hurrying. There were about three different stations for pasta (all with lines - I waited about 25 minutes) and one station each for pizza and salads/starters. The chef at my pasta station was cooking one dish at a time and didn't seem in a particular hurry. Interestingly when it was finally my turn to order the woman behind me piped up and shouted her order too and then suddenly he apparently decided he could cook two pastas simultaneously and did so (not sure if he continued for others in line). The heat radiating from the cooking stations made it hot to wait so long in line.

Food
We tried a bruschetta, Hawaii pizza, and spaghetti bolognese plus a tiramisu dessert and two sodas. All were decent but by no means amazing. Another reviewer wrote that the great appeal here is freshly prepared food. Well, that's true. But you can also go to a proper Italian restaurant, get freshly prepared food, and sit comfortably at your table chatting with loved ones instead of waiting in a cramped hot line trying to coordinate with your companions. You'll pay a bit more than at Vapiano, but you'll have better quality food and enjoy the experience far more.

Mojo
Decent food but the incredibly unpleasant process you go through to get it is entirely not worth it. Spend a bit more at one of Berlin's many Italian restaurants and have a far more pleasant experience.

While looking for lunch in Berlin, I saw a familiar name in Vapiano, who run a restaurant in Manchester, I called in by chance hoping they would do some gluten free options, as they don't do anything like that in the UK and I was amazed to be told they did, and they even had a "G" labelled on their menu to show it.

Vapiano is quite an interesting concept, where you queue separately for different foods with pizza and lasagne being one line, pasta being another, risotto and salad is also served, you basically scan one card per visitor at each desk, and you pay as you leave.

I ordered a Gluten Free Margherita Pizza, the pizza was reasonable and competitive in pricing yet it was an extra 1.50 euros to have it made gluten free, however albeit their was slightly too much cheese on and it began to peel off, the pizza was of a decent quality, it is also worth noting most of the staff seemed friendly.

A huge negative for me, however, was the lack of sides and anything else gluten free other than pizza and pasta, and this store was also out of the Peach and Vanilla Iced Tea which I wanted to try, meaning I had to spend 3.70 euros on a different flavour, which turned out to be bottled despite the impression it would be fresh as it came from the bar. The drink I ended up getting was, in all honesty, awful, it was green tea and I didn't like that.

Inside, it was quite a relaxing environment and had a decent view being on an Upper floor, with views of Alexanderplatz, in which this store is located, fairly close to both TKMaxx, Starbucks and the train station.

Their was three floors overall, the ground floor being quite small where you arrive, basically where you pick up your cards and pay, the second floor is the larger floor with seating and that's where your food is cooked and the third floor is also quite small and also just has toilets for men, women and disabled. The lift seemed fast enough, however there was only one.

Overall, my pizza was quite nice and above average yet the selection of things other than pizza and pasta was poor, and I was upset for the extra levy to be put on the gluten free pizza charge, as it isn't a choice, it is something I have to eat to avoid being sick, while considering other reasons such as the stock of certain items such as on-menu drinks and certain flavours which are made by Vapiano being lower quality, I feel this place is not perfect but still is one of the nicer places I have been to in Berlin so far, albeit my second favourite out of the three Vapiano branches I have visited, yet still good enough to warrant a FOUR star rating.

Good food. Fresh made food. Pasta is made fresh everyday so are the sauces and deserts. They cook infront of your own eyes - no shit included! You serve yourself - little different concept but works fine, you may have to wait a little. Good coffee (illy - la cimbali).

When you go in, they will give you a card. Then, you get in line and order your food which they will make right in front of you. They will scan the card and give you your food. Once you leave, you will return the card and pay for your meal. I ordered the Alla Arribbata pasta. It was super delicious. The chili gave it a nice kick and it wasn't too spicy or anything. Ever since I had it, I've been craving it now haha.

The quality of the noodle-dishes at Vapiano is usually average, but you have to stand in line for a considerable time (especially during the evening), as well as when you're paying with the charge-card you're given at the entrance.
It's sometimes not easy to find a table, especially during the weekend, and tables are usually not cleaned often enough, because the place is understaffed.
The shop at the main train-station seems better staffed and cleaner, but is also smaller.

Totally ignore what Bryan has written in here! This is the style of Vapiano worldwide and this restaurant is obviously no different! The concept is FRESHLY COOKED pasta dishes, and cooked in front of you! Yes the downside is if there is a group of you, you will all eat slightly out of sync as your dish is cooked. Each chef can only cook 2 dishes at once.

The dishes (and restaurant concept) are pretty constant whether you eat in Germany, UK, USA or Australia, I speak from experience.

It was bank holiday weekend here in Germany, so this restaurant in a busy touristic area, so it was busy for sure.

The food was its usual high quality standard and asked for extra cheese on top! So happy days! Enjoy! But if it's busy consider one of the other Vapianos in town!

Loved my food and loved my experience. Friendly people. Clean and cool set up. Lived up to my expectations. For a chain they really make the experience fun and fancy.