Vapiano

I was a bit skeptical at first, as I am with any new restaurant, but I decided to trust my friend. I did not regret it at all. It turned out to be one of the best restaurants I have been to. I knew it was going to be amazing as soon as I saw the bowl of Jelly Babies on the entrance desk, and it did not dissapoint. Great food, excellent service and a good use of technology that should be implemented in more restaurants. It was really busy but I still got my food quick! Would reccomend for anyone looking for good pizza or pasta, and also anyone looking for a good drink to start off their weekend on a Friday night. And don’t be fooled by it’s initial appearance, it’s a lot bigger than you think! Now, I could keep ranting, but you should enjoy it for yourself!

This is one of those places we keep going back to !
To start off, the food is consistently amazing with plenty of options for everyone. Me and my partner order from the vegetarian selections on offer and they are always delicious !
The ordering system could be a bit tricky if you are visiting for your first time, you are given cards which are used within the venue and swiped when you order any item of food or drink, the balance is then paid upon leaving.
The staff are relatively friendly but very skilled, we have never had any issues with the cooking of any item we have ordered.
The décor is absolutely beautiful and probably one of the reasons we continue to go back as it is such a nice environment to enjoy a great meal.
The pricing is pretty fair and I am happy to pay $ 14.00-$ 20.00 for a rich I know will be amazing and me and my partner often order a starter and one pasta to share with the total cost coming to about $ 30.00 but always leave satisfied.
In summary, go to this restaurant and you will not be disappointed.

Favourite Italian place to go to. I think the best factor is its unique concept, with the cards allocated to each customer and watching your food being made before your eyes– also nice to chat to the chefs as they cook
Food quality and selection is great, atmosphere is great and staff is helpful. Just make sure you either book or get there before peak dinner hours– it fills up fast!

My favourite place in Brisbane for some good old Italian. Yes the method of ordering is a bit unorthodox but that just adds to the places charm. Would definitely go again.
BUT. THEIR. SERVICE. IS. TERRIBLE.
That is the only reason I give them a 3. As I sit here, there are 2 people chatting their heads off. And there are maybe three people in queue not including myself.

A great option for a Friday dinner. Especially because of the happy hour priced drinks.
Vapianos is one of my regular places to drink and dine.
Tip 1: happy hours between 4 – 6 mon-​fri
Tip 2: gamberi spinachi is the best pasta in the whole of Queensland.

Walked in an was greeted by a friendly bloke who said I could get a takeaway coffee. Then proceeded to hand me a card and said had to purchase with that. Asked him to explain what it was for and he wasn’t able to, just pointed me to the bar. Bought two takeaway cappuccinos, one skinny and one regular. Was asked three times by the barista to confirm what kind of coffees I wanted. She said might be a bit of a wait as she had another order. Then proceeded to chat with another person at the bar. After 5 minutes finally started to make the coffees. I then watched the barista make two cappuccinos in regular cups, then poured them into takeaway cups. Coffee was lukewarm and clearly burnt. Possibly the worst coffee I have ever had. ¹⁄₁₀ would not takeaway coffee again.

Why the bad reviews? As much as I loooove table service there’s something about the novelty of this particular place in getting your own food.
You get a card –choose your pasta with combinations; what sort of pasta, sauce and toppings or Italian food eg: antipasto. Swipe your card, grab your buzzer and your meal order is uploaded to the card. Stop by the full bar for a drink, swipe your card and sit down.
When your food is ready the buzzer will sound. Fetch your food and voila! Freshly cooked, warm pasta.
I like this past place, beautiful upstairs and down! I enjoy adding the fresh herbs and oils. Lol at the person who’s like «I heard you could eat the plants».
I’ve been here with my family at least 3 times. Once I ordered a Margarita pizza. When I got I complained to my mum that it had no toppings. She said a Margarita is meant to be like that.
:(
Oh well. Jellybeans at the desk made up for it: D

Nice place. Good food and prices. There are many spaces where you can sit and enjoy your meal.

Absolute filth … This place had gone to the dogs in terms of hygiene, the staff here are not service oriented, and need to clean there tables. there is fungus growing in there condiments holders … Disgusting, I will let the photo speak for its self

I went here once and although it was cool, it didn’t thrill me. We we got there we got the card and the hostess told us about how it works: basically go line up, order what you want and they swipe it and that becomes your tab. When you leave, line up at the register and pay there. Basically there’s no waiters or service. They gave us a menu which had tons of options but for pasta, the prices seemed quite high for what they were offering, most without any sort of meat.
So we hopped in the pasta line which wasn’t too long for a weekday night, but it did take about twenty minutes just to get to the front then we both ordered our pastas. We awkwardly stood there waiting for our pasta because you can’t leave or you won’t get your food. I personally would rather sit down and have my food brought to me, but I can see how this appeals to some people. Took about ten minutes for our pasta to finish and we headed upstairs and found a table to sit at.
The ambience throughout the restaurant is really cool: tons of plants everywhere incorporated into the decorations. Apparently you can eat the plants on the table but I didn’t know that. It is slightly too dimly lit for me, but the greenhouse and light fixtures were cool.
As for food, I ordered the carbonara which was good and definitely a good size. It can with some bland bread, but it soaked up the extra sauce when I was finished. It said it came with prosciutto or bacon but it definitely didn’t feel like there was any in the pasta. The sauce was alright, not the best not the worst. My friend couldn’t finish his pasta but he said he enjoyed it.
I could see this as a place that people go to once and then turn away, which is what I did. The ambience is cool and the idea is cool, but won’t function in the long term in my mind. Food was decent, but not the best pasta I’ve ever had. I would come back if someone really wanted to, but I wouldn’t go out of my way to come back.

Service was slow but the chef was friendly and the food was good quality and flavour. All-​round quite nice considering I was eating alone :)
Gluten free gnocchi was lovely and dinner was a great size.

Fresh pasta made in front of you? Yes please!
A member of the hotel staff mentioned this concept restaurant to us and we knew we had to check it out. It’s tucked away in an alley off the Albert Street shopping plaza. There are outdoor tables, but the area is covered, so you don’t get wet when it rains.
We walked in three minutes before a major, and I mean major, downpour. The restaurant was pretty quiet when we walked in, but filled within minutes due to the weather outside.
The concept involves you walking up to a chef station where you pick the type of pasta, sauce, vegetables, spices, etc. The chef takes freshly made pasta, prepared right on sight, and starts the boil. They then start your sauce, which I chose the bolognese. Don’t look at the amount of butter they start with, but everything is better with butter. The whole process takes about 15 minutes from start to finish. My friend went to the pizza order station and placed the order, where they give you a buzzer to signal when your pizza is ready. You also have a full bar available at the other end of the restaurant with a very good beer selection of bottle and draft choices.
Both food items were awesome! The pizza crust was not too thick, so you can eat all of it without feeling too full. The pasta was much heavier, but delicious. The pasta was also a little overcooked for my liking, but «al dente» doesn’t seem like a popular choice for the general public. Great flavors, couldn’t be fresher.
Everything is paid for with a magnetic card that you «tap» at each station. You then take the card to the cashier and pay your whole bill at one time up departure.
Staff was beyond friendly and smiling all the time. They could use a little more help, when the restaurant gets busy, to clear all the dirty tables, but I did notice a manager or supervisor step in to help. Unfortunately, they just consolidated all the dirty stuff to one table and left it sitting there.
A «must do» experience if you are in Brisbane… I can’t wait to go back.

The barista at my favourite bakery in Camberwell recommended that I try Vapiano. He’d been to the one in Melbourne and loved it. Seriously, he kept on raving about it so I had to check it out to see what all the fuss was about. I was after some lunch during a recent weekend in Brissie and decided to give it a shot. I know why he likes it so much now.
I tried the Chicken Pesto Basilico pasta and loved it. I’m a massive fan of their kitchen stations where you can actually see the chefs cooking your pastas, pizzas and salads on the other side of the counter. It’s quite a fun process as well, you walk in and they hand you a card — basically everything you order gets loaded onto the card and you take it back to the counter after you’re done and pay.
I can’t wait to eat at the Melbourne restaurant.

Un restaurant italien très bien décoré
Chez Vapiano, ce n’est pas comme ailleurs ! Dès l’entrée on vous remet une carte permettant de faire vos commandes aux stands cuisines. Plusieurs guichets pates et pizzas derrière lesquels sont cuisinés devant vous ces spécialités italiennes. Chaque commande est enregistrée sur la carte pour paiement à la sortie. On vous remet ensuite un bipper vibrant et clignotant qui vous avertira que votre plat est prêt !
En attendant, il faut partir à la recherché d’une table ! J’ai vraiment apprécié la décoration. La lumière indirecte est partout rendant cet endroit très intime et reposant. Sur chaque table haute, 2 pots de basilic et de thym frais semblent à disposition des
clients. Au 2ème étage, il y a carrément une mini serre de pots !
Mon bipper bip et c’est donc l’heure de déguster ma pizza Crudo ! La pâté fine est pas mal mais j’ai trouvé la pizza un peu sèche. Dommage. Le jambon et les copeaux de parmesan sont ok
Bref, chouette endroit, mais je n’ai pas du faire le meilleur choix de pizzas ! A refaire quand je repasse de ce coté du monde !
Tout les produits (même les pates !) sont fabriqués devant les clients.

Totally love this italian joint!
Pizza, pasta, salads– all your basics made before your eyes. I like the whole idea of knowing your food is literally so fresh you go up to the chef and order directly to them! Wicked.
At each table are pots of basil plants and it looks so cool. No table service, just simple cooked food. It is a fun experience so have a look if you like changing up where you eat.

I get it… but I don’t get it. We have a place like this with the cards and the options of what you wanna eat. You que up and wait for your food to be made right in front of you, which I guess is reassuring in a way — but I guess I’d rather be chilling at my table waiting? Is that horrible… probably. I had the salmon carbonara which was actually pretty yummy!
After the fact I saw that they do a lunch special during the week (I wanna say it’s $ 10 for select dishes) which of course mine didn’t apply, but maybe I’d go back for the lunch special… other than that you probably won’t catch me back.

The food is undeniably good but I think the prices are a bit high, especially since there’s no table service (you order at the counter, then they give you a pager and they buzz you to come and collect your food when it’s ready). I had ravioli bolognese, and the rest of my group had pizzas. The portions are big and we took some home, but with no drinks it was still over $ 20 per person.
The venue is great, though. If you go upstairs you can sit on the open-​air balcony.

The first time I went to Vapiano’s was in Washington, D.C. in the States. The concept is the same everywhere and the service is efficient. I had a meeting in the city and it finished right around lunch time. I was walking around Queen Street Mall and decided to check out Vapiano. I saw a huge sign that said $ 10 pizza and pasta from 11am-​3pm. I checked the time and was in luck.
If you’ve never been to Vapiano’s before. When you first walk in, the cashier will give you a card that you use when you decide what you would like to order. There are different stations depending if you want pasta, pizza, or salad/​antipasta. When you walk up to place your order, you put your card up to the machine so that it logs what you have ordered. Then they give you a buzzer so you can come back and pick up your food.
I ordered the pesto con spinaci which has spinach, bruschetta mix, pesto cream sauce, and mozzarella. When the buzzer went off, I came downstairs to pick my pizza up and they have about five condiments (thyme, oregano, pepper, olive oil, etc.) that you that you can freely use. The pizza dough and pasta are made in house! They also use cheese that comes from northern Queensland.
It’s a nice and clean place where you can take your time. There’s plenty of seating and even a private area that can be booked out for parties of bigger than 10. When I finished eating, I wanted to do a little work and no one bothered me at all. They came by to pick up my plate and let me concentrate on my tasks. When I was ready to leave, I just give the cashier my card and they ring me up. It’s a great process because if I had wanted to order more, I would have just added to the card. They leave a bowl of gummi bears for everyone exiting to sweeten up their breathe which is very considerate! Would definitely come back here.

Vapianos probably has the best pasta and pizza dishes in town. Everything is cooked fresh and if you order pasta, it’s made in front of you which is cool. They have a range of options from entrees to salads, to gluten free dishes to normal ones, as well as pizza and desserts. The prices aren’t «cheap» but you get what you pay for :) I can go here over and over again without getting sick of this place. There are plenty of options to choose from so finding something you like isn’t an issue. The restaurant has a nice layout and it’s always cute with the added greenery around the place. There’s free water upstairs too which is always an added bonus, as well as a bar for those of you wanting something a little bit extra. I’ve never had an issue with the staff — they’ve always been very friendly, helpful and polite. I’ve been here before and I’ll keep on going here.
Try it out if you haven’t already!

Really good fresh pasta, reasonably priced. There’s a whole bunch of different pastas and a whole bunch of different sauces, and you just choose your combinations. They also do pizza, but we didn’t try this. Bread is complimentary with the pasta.
I liked the ordering system where they give each of the guests a card that you swipe whenever you order food or drinks, effectively like a bar tab of sorts. So at the end of the meal, you go to the counter and you can either pay individually, or one person can pay for more than one card if they are paying for the group. Neat.
The only thing I wasn’t the biggest fan of was having to stand at the counter and wait while the staff cooked the pasta. While it’s nice to be able to watch them cook it if you’re so inclined, if you’re not then well, you just end up standing there. I would personally prefer a number system where you go up to pick it up when it’s done.

I remember going to Vapiano when I still lived in Texas.
I visited the one in CBD. I got inside and first there was this thing. In the back of my head. Something about the card. You need to get the card. Ah, the card!
So basically you get inside and first they give you A Card. If it’s your first time you stare at the person who gave you this card and you can imagine this huge question mark pops up above your head. Fortunately most of the staff gets it and they explain what the heck is going on.
You get A Card. And instead of paying for your food right away, you order with A Card. You have to put it next to this thingy (yes, very professional name, I know) and they charge that card. Once you’re done with your food, you pay at the cashier.
Inside there are few areas, there is place you get pasta, place with pizza, place with salads. Once you decided what you want (which is about 15 minutes if staring at the menu in my case), you go to one of the spots and order. Then you get a buzzer and need to wait until your food is ready.
You can either sit somewhere, or just wait next to the preparation area. If I go on my own, I will wait right there, why should I go upstairs and wait and then run downstairs and grab food, and what do I do with my purse in the mean time anyways…
I ordered pizza few times — it was tasty. But that’s it. Nothing above the tasty really. The cool thing is the fresh herbs that are pretty much at every table — you can pick them straight up from the little bushy thingies (I rule with names today!).
My biggest issue — it took quite a long time to get it — about 15 minutes or maybe even bit more? When I’m on a lunch break every minute is precious, so that kind of waiting is quite disturbing. I know it’s all about timing, CBD gets super busy around noon, but I didn’t order anything complicated — just a pizza…
So the layout — There are few tables on the floor you order the food, and plenty upstairs. It has this nice dimmed atmosphere — although if you go there alone with the book — well, let me say, reading with the dimmed lights. Probably not the best for your eyes.
Tables are usually quite big (4−6−8 people?), so every time I go alone, I feel like a bad greedy person, stealing a huge table from others.
I wish they had few small tables for the loners.
I have to admit, as much as I like the idea of having the upstairs part… Well, you carry the food you ordered on your own — so if you’re clumsy like me — better watch out at the steps! I feel like the accident is waiting somewhere around the stairs there!
You can pay with cash or credit — remember this A Card I was talking about at the beginning? You bring this thing to the cashier and they tell you how much you should pay. As for a pizza/​pasta place it is quite pricey. About $ 20 for a pizza for one. Hmm.
Overall — pizza is ok, fresh herbs are pretty cool, prices and waiting — not so much.