Vapiano Restaurant
| Address: | 44 S Wabash Ave, Chicago, IL 60603, USA |
| Phone: | +1 312-384-1960 |
| Site: | us.vapiano.com |
| Rating: | 4.2 |
| Working: | 11AM–11PM 11AM–11PM 11AM–11PM 11AM–12AM 11AM–12AM 11AM–12AM 11AM–11PM |
Location
Photos 100
Reviews 5
RO
Roger Tuan
Vapiano is what happens when a sadist designs a pasta place with two principles in mind: "How do I lure them in with great decor and ambiance? And then how do I MAKE THEM SUFFER AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE BEFORE THEY GET THEIR FOOD?" This is the "DMV of restaurants": Terribly slow, horrifically inefficient ordering system. Decent food. Great ambience once you sit down. This is a pasta/pizza place with the most annoying ordering system Ive ever seen in any restaurant. I will never go back because of this. Its not like a regular restaurant, where a server takes your order. Its also not like Starbucks, where you line up once, someone takes your order, and they call it out when its done. No, Vapiano does something incredibly stupid. They first make you line up to get an electronic "billing card". Then you stand in the middle of the restaurant and look at a menu, deciding whether you want a salad, pizza, or pasta. Depending on what you want, you line up at one of the stations (salad, pizza, pasta) and wait while every single person in front of you places their order and STANDS THERE WAITING FOR IT TO BE MADE. That means if there are 5 people in front of you wanting pasta and each dish takes 5 minutes to make, youre standing in line for 25 minutes just to place your order. Its hard to even convey what you want to your cook as its noisy and he or she is busy working, maybe finishing up the last persons order. And then you wait for your food to be made, forced to stand there watching it cook. And then if you want something else, you have to go to another line and wait all over again. And then when youre done eating, you have to wait in line again to use your bill card to pay. The chaos gave my friend an anxiety attack. Yeesh, I cant blame her. Who the hell thought of this dumb system?! To get a simple pasta dish, we were standing in line for 20 minutes. The food turned out fine -- nothing spectacular, but decent enough -- and the dining room ambiance was great, but their stupid ordering system completely turned me off. I would not return to this restaurant chain again. What a waste of time and energy. Edit: I wrote Vapiano complaining about this situation, and to their credit, they provided a prompt and courteous response. They said they were in the process of opening up a "mini Vapiano" in Chicago with a different ordering system, and theyre also separately considering a potential pager system (something like Cheesecake Factorys pagers, Id imagine) for the regular Vapianos. If and when these are implemented, I would gladly give the restaurant another shot and update this review accordingly.
AN
Angie Jackson
TERRIBLE TERRIBLE TERRIBLE CUSTOMER SERVICE!!!!! I was excited to take my husband and little one here to eat. When we arrived the restaurant wasnt that busy. I immediately ordered food at the pizza station and pasta station and I was the only one in line both times when I ordered my food. I waited for about 5-10 minutes for the pasta and when I went back up there it still wasnt ready. While standing there waiting I noticed another man ordering and the food being made right in front of him as he was at the register. I left and discussed it with my husband so he went up there. We had to wait a little while longer. I think they forgot to make our order as it doesnt take that long to make pasta! Prior to ordering the pasta I ordered the pizza; after waiting about 15 minutes my husband went up there. He was told the pizza was still in the oven. He returned about 5 minutes later and they said there was a mix up and they never prepared it. Well, we waited another 15 minutes for our pizza to be prepared. The staff there got an attitude with my husband. Im not sure how it was our fault that THEY messed up and would be upset with us for not being happy about having to wait over 30 minutes for pizza! When we went to pay on our way out the girl at the register (the girl with the braces) snatched the credit card from my husband and got an attitude with us. Im very disgusted with their customer service! The owner(s) need to seriously reassess the staff they have and fire them. If they dont like dealing with people in the restaurant business than maybe that job is not the right one for them! I dont believe Ive ever experienced such bad service in my life at a restaurant/food establishment. I will never go back!
TI
Tim McCoy
I first visited one of these places while in Sarajevo. I had no idea that they are world wide, but Im happy they are. I used to frequent the location near Lakeview until it closed down. The decor and setup there was much better. They give you a dinner card with which your orders get credited to it, and you pay at the desk later. The pasta is made right in front of you and is absolutely delicious. I love getting the Pollo Picante. I recommend it if you love spicy pasta. The pizza here is great too. They have a decent bar and the prices are not that bad for the location that its in. A bottle of Stella is about $6. Unfortunately, this location fails with the organization of queues. People are constantly confused as to where to go or what line to get into. And the area is very cramped being so close to the bar. They used to have two lines at the entrance, but now it just gets backed up into the doorway if it starts to get busy. One thing I do love, is there is usually someone walking around to ask you if you need anything. They are happy to get it for you and swipe your dinner card on the spot. This is handy if you are dining alone. Its a great place to sit at the window and do some people watching.
JO
Jon Kang
Angry manger. Stupid ordering system. Lying staff. Dirty dishes. Terrible service. Dishes had remains of white powers in them. When we tried to pay and leave, We received interigation from the manager, JON OR DON. He was saying all his employees tained to give everybody enter the restaurant a store card. When you leave the restaurant, you must present it. We went there for first time and no one give us any card until we all sit down and one of us went to order a pizza. We had one card. Only one card. However, Manager, Jon didnt let us go and ask several times with angry face where is our cards. He did not believe us that we didnt receive the stupid cards. His eployee a girl, lies to him in front of us that she gave all of us a card when we enter. She could not look at us because she was lying. This stupid ordering system will fail. I looked at his eyes straight and said we dont have any other cards several times. He didnt apologize. We left with upset minds. We will never go back. We were treat badly. Terrible Terrible service ever!!! I called back asking for manager, Jon answered and I told him to check the camera, then he apologized offering for free food.
MA
Matt Fuller
This is a great place to dine with people whom you do not like, since the long lines, excessive waiting times, and get-it-all-yourself system will likely never have any members of your party sitting and eating at the same time. This seriously flawed dining experience is so poorly designed that it is comical. Want a salad? Get up, stand in line, and wait. Want an entree? Get up, stand in line, and wait. Want a drink? Get up, stand in line, and wait. Want some of their great bread? Too bad, they are always out of it and promise that someone will bring it to your table, but no one ever does. I ordered a cream-based pasta that was watery and disgusting. When paying for the meal, the cashier asked me how everything was. When I told her about my bad entree, she asked me to identify the cook who had made it, told me he was new, and promptly charged me full price with a half-hearted "apology." There are several other restaurants in this area. Any other choice would be better than Vapiano.
