Vapiano

Located close to Aeschenplatz, Vapiano is a well-​oiled machine of Italian goodness. While the venue can get quite crowded and noisy around noon, the food is excellent and produced with lots of personal touches (despite the fact that the ingredients come in little plastic boxes), the ambiance is warm and busy, and ordering/​paying is very efficient — perfect for weekday lunches.

Suzy G’s description of how this works is spot on. I was in Basel on business and went there with some other American, German, and Swiss colleagues. The food was great and the food prep people were very nice and were very willing to accommodate various dietary restrictions. They spoke enough English so that the American’s weren’t totally lost. Really nice atmosphere and not fancy but not sloppy-​casual either. I would recommend it if you’re looking for a wide variety of pastas and sauces in a nice/​casual atmosphere. Getting to watch your individual dish be prepared is unusual and fun. Wish they had a Vapiano in California!

So you’re in Basel. You don’t want sausage, cheese and bread. You don’t want to take out a loan to eat dinner. And, you’re with a group of people with varied diets — or with fussy kids. Where do you go? VAPIANO of course!
This is actually a chain restaurant directly from Italy and in Italian, Va Piano means ‘go slowly’. So I’m guessing they are poking a bit of fun at ‘fast food’. But this is a sort of fast food restaurant — but where everything is made fresh, to order, right in front of you. So a bit of dinner theatre thrown in for free!
Even though the menu is the holy Italian trinity — Pizza, Pasta, Salads; that’s where ‘normality’ ends. I knew this was something unique as soon as we entered. We were stopped at the door and each person was handed what looks like a credit card. We found a table (these are big, banquet style and you may end up sharing with others), grabbed a menu and planned our attack. This is self serve — once you decide what you want — you take your credit card to one of the food stations — Pizza, pasta or Salad. The menu was only a guide — we were able to customize everything based on the fresh ingredients available. I was happy with the Capricciosa Pizza as is (my favourite toppings of black olives, artichokes, mushrooms and prosciutto) but my Aunt wanted a light, sauce free pasta. The pasta is fresh — not dried. And there is a glass wall in front of the pasta extruder — great fun for the kiddies to watch the pasta being made. In addition to picking your sauce and toppings — you also have at least a dozen pasta shapes to choose from as well. She choose tagliatelle with aglio and olio with some sautéed shrimp and spring onions. She loved being able to watch everything being made in the wok and loved that she was asked how much oil, how much garlic… She did think the portion was too large for her to finish but it was so good, she cleaned her plate! (darn no leftovers for us!!!). While I was waiting for my pizza (pizzas take a bit longer so you get a buzzer) I headed over to the salad station for a rocket and parmaggiano salad to share with the group.
The food stations meant everyone in our group could have something different, using their own card. Drinks are available at each station or at a central bar (which also houses the desserts). Throughout the meal you can get more food and drink — just hand over your card. When you leave, each person must turn in a card. It is possible to just use one card during the meal and pay as a whole — and then the other cards will show a ‘zero’ when you come to pay. Or, use individual cards — which can be totalled into one bill — or if you are with a group of friends — it makes paying for yourself so much easier!
This isn’t ‘fine’ dining but it is fresh, fun, easy and tasty.

4**** Wiehl sie Sonntags sehr tolerant gegenüber Kleinkindern sind, die dürfen da ohne weiteres herum springen und lachen ohne das sich da jemand darüber ärgert, die Hygiene stimmt da, das Personal ist freundlich, aber wer da einen salat geniessen möchte sollte auf die Sauce verzichten die ist so gewürzt und mit viel zu viel Salz zubereitet, die Pizza sind am Limit des guten Geschmacks. Daffke Gazpacho suppe ist auch eine Katastrophe! Dafür haben sie sehr feinen Kaffee, und eine schne Auswahl an Dessert die sie hübsch in Weck Gläsern präsentieren. Also im grossem und ganzem nichts besonderes aber passend wenn Mann mit Junior unterwegs ist.

Wie jeder andere Vapiano Essen war gut, an einem Samstag Abend normal besucht. Waren zu dritt ging für alle recht flott. Der Hugo war nicht gut gemischt, aber das könnte auch an der jungen (neuen?) Barkraft gelegen haben

Sehr schönes Vapiano! Wir waren hier nachmittags, daher war nicht allzu viel los! Nette Bedienung! Speisenzubereitung gut und große Portionen (war in Hamburg auch mal so vor Jahren)! Gute Beratung, auch beim Dessert!

Das Vapiano-​Konzept ist interessant und die Speisen sind allesamt sehr lecker. Die Teigwaren sind jedoch stets extrem al dente darauf sollte man gefasst sein. Fleisch ist stets auch immer nur spärlich mit von der Partie. Die Angestellten sind freundlich und hilfsbereit jedoch entstehen aufgrund des Karten-​Systems stets lange Wartezeiten. Die Preise sind für ein Selbstbedienungsrestaurant ziemlich gesalzen!