Vapiano

Vapiano is closed in Bethesda.
Sign on the front door Monday night.
BYE!!!

SUPER slow — I was 3^rd in line and still it took me 45 minutes between the wait and the food
One guy messed up my friend’s pasta and threw it out and started over
My guy forgot 3 ingredients I requested
Pasta was NOT tasty. No one liked the pasta at our table. We heard pizza was not as bad.

The only thing this restaurant has it going for is how the restaurant looks. Its a very pretty place to go, but the food and dessert is only okay. The desserts are the only thing that stays consistent at this restaurant, and even the dessert is only alright. My favorite is the tiramisu, yet I’ve had better tiramisu at other places. Its a nice spot just to chat with friends and maybe enjoy a drink or dessert for a little while.

Worst experience from a customer service perspective (This review only reflects my experience at the Bethesda branch).
Last Wednesday the host was nowhere to be found, so the bartender yelled from the bar «hey welcome to Vapiano!» and handed me a card, which I had to go to the bar and pick it myself. Also, every time I go to this branch, being the closest to where I live in Friendship Heights, there is only 1 chef preparing the pastas for a lot of people. Waiting isn’t the worst but you can see and you can feel how the chefs are not in the best mood, and this just gives people an idea of what to expect from the rest of the visit. I actually understand this behavior because they can be tired/​stressed out after a long day, but still a customer deserves quality service and not one single attitude and/​or rude answer from any member of the staff.
In my opinion, and I am sure everyone would agree, when a person goes to a restaurant it is because he or she wants to enjoy good food and have a great time, and sometimes this means getting away of work/​stress and just have a good time with friends/​family and have good food.
If this happened only once I would not dare to write this, but this was just 4 days ago and I just had it with this place after «giving it a chance» over and over again and still receive bad service and average food (ask for bread and butter and you will have «disgusted» chefs throwing plates on the counter).
Vapiano is a great place and it really is a shame that if I want to have the best experience I have to go all the way to the one on 1800 M street, where it is usually twice as crowded but still the customer service is what one would expect from a place like this.

Mmm I was disappointed by Vapiano.
The concept seems great. You order your food and you can watch the chefs cook it. I’ve seen a Vapiano in nearly every major European city I’ve been to, which means they do well enough to afford the prime real estate that tourists like me can see.
i just had a pretty meh experience, personally, and I don’t think I will go back.
You walk into Vapiano and get a card, onto which you will have your food charged. It’s family style seating… in that it’s a lot of long benches. The chances you sit next to strangers increases as the restaurant gets more crowded.
Anticipating a very unhealthy dessert run, I ordered a pasta primavera (lots of fresh veggies). I liked that I was able to pick out the kind of pasta I wanted and could direct the chef if I wanted different customizations. This would definitely be great if you are the kind of person who needs to make sure something is/isn’t in your dish but find that your server doesn’t always get the message across to the kitchen.
But there was nothing remarkable about the food. I had to ask for bread but my friend who didn’t ask for it didn’t get any. The drinks situation is a bit confusing because that’s all at the bar.
It just seems like a restaurant experience that is stripped down but somehow manages to complicate things in the process. If you want Italian food, there are definitely other places you can and should go.

Vapiano’s is a DELICIOUS & AWESOME place to go in Bethesda or in Chinatown.
They have different stations for different types of food, mainly pasta, pizza, salads, and a wine bar. I love all the different pastas they have there, myself, and everything is reasonably priced. They cook it the way you like to have your food, too, so you can have more or less of the ingredients on the menu.
The selling point for me, besides the food, is the diversity of the seating arrangement. Stools, benches, little cube things are all there, and in different lighting areas too. You can choose and open are or a more private one or one with a TV, etc. It’s really one of my favorite restaurants as two people can go out for about $ 20-​$ 25 or so.
The Bethesda location is advertising specials on different days of the week also, like with movie tickets and other things. I have to agree with the gentlemanthat gave the 1 star review in one aspect, however. I always order the ravioli and they’re ALWAYS out of it. If it’s so good that you sell out of it, …ORDER MORE FOR THE INVENTORY LATER. I’ve been there maybe around 10 – 15 times in the past 2 years maybe and ordered the ravioli most times and gotten it… ONCE. The other items are great, but man, that’s not exceptable, lol.
*If you’ve never been to Vapiano’s, ask them for assistance or help if you need it. It’s a great place if you get how it’s set up. You can pace yourself and don’t have to worry about servers, etc. It’s a unique business model and sort of a mix of a cafeteria and dine in restaurant.
Ben

Back in 2012 I wrote I wouldn’t return to Vapiano. Unfortunately, it is a good place for groups to gather so that everyone can take care of their own bill and you don’t have the awkward «how much do I owe/​how much tip are we leaving?» negotiations at the end of the meal. And that’s how I found myself here again one evening. Now, however, I think my dislike for this place has been cemented. Their food is not very good — my chicken caesar salad was totally mediocre. I also really hate having to order and then stand around waiting. Can we also discuss the ridiculousness of the tiny thimbles they offer for drinking water?!? Absurd.

I have been to vapianos at their other locations in VA. This review is only to reflect my experience at the Bethesda location. Food ⁴⁄₅ service ²⁄₅ overall experience ¹⁄₅. We went to vapianos for my sisters birthday, I called and made reservations for the night. When I asked to make a reservation the hostess seemed confused. I know it’s not your standard restaurant but I did not know how busy they would be, so a reservation was in place. As a employee in the restaurant industry I figured that it would be nice for them to be prepared for a large party of 10.
After arriving there, the hostess was RUDE and not welcoming. We made our way to the stations at 9:20 to find that only ONE pasta station was open and the one pizza station. There was 10 of us, having to wait until 10:15 until we all got our food.. The only saving grace for our experience was the very friendly bartender who made our experience exceptionally better. Our cook Andrew was also very entertaining and happy to see us. He was great and very fast! The guy working the pizza station was AWFUL. He seemed mad to see us and did not even page us when our food was ready. I ate a cold $ 10 personal pizza. Employees seem like they don’t want to be there, they should probably be released. It is such a great brand, to have people like that working there makes it lose value in my eyes.

Slightly overpriced for a casual, «fast» food Italian chain. You walk in and have the option to go to different stations — pasta, salad, dessert. Order on the spot and wait for your meal to be freshly cooked in front of you.
The Good:
— Everything is prepared in front of you and ingredients used are fresh
— Wide selection of pastas and dishes that come in decent size portions
— You can customize and create different options
The Bad:
— Great idea in theory but bad execution — usually there’s a limited number of cooks so one can end up waiting longer than expected for a «quick meal»
— A bit overpriced for the quality and some of the sauces/​dishes can be bland
Dessert is way overpriced — the chocolate mouse and strawberry mascarpone cream are good, but the size versus price is not. Same goes for the side Caesar salad. I like coming to Vapianos if I’m looking for a «quick» Italian fix but not on my list of top picks.

This review is for my first ever visit to a vapiano restaurant. I’m from CA, and don’t normally live in MD.
I went to vapiano in Bethesda, on foot, to get some dinner on Friday night to take back to my hotel room. When I entered, I was given instructions on were to go to order my food. I went down to the Pasta counter. There were 3 Past stations, each with one customer being waited on at the counter. I was waiting behind one woman… so there were really only 2 people in front of me.
I waited… and waited, until 15 minutes into it (I only know this because I happen to check my watch), when one of the cooks asked me and the lady in front of me to step behind one of the 3 groups at the counter. By this time there were 4 more parties behind me.
I went to the furthest order line… and waited some more. 10 or 15 minutes later, the lady previously in front of me had been served and was gone, and so had the 4 more customers that were behind me. I was still waiting. Apparently I had picked the wrong cook.
The party in front of me finally got there stuff and walked away after I’d been standing there for a total of 25 minutes. When I stepped forward and their cook asked me what I’d like, I ordered the Ravioli Ricotta plate. The cooked said they were out of that (at 6:30pm on a Friday night… really?). Being a disabled vet with some pain issues, I had no interest in standing there for another 20 or 30 minutes while this cook made some garlic or pesto laden dish that I didn’t want… I was already hurting enough.
On top of having nearly 30 minutes of my time wasted, the customers inside this place were quite rude, and I found the whole stand at the bar while these people cook your food (really slowly) thing to be very uncomfortable and unpleasant.
If zero stars were an option, that’s what I’d give this place. I even called their headquarters to offer some feedback, as I am a business owner, and I’d want to know if a customer had this bad of an experience at my business. I was told an exec director would call me in a few minutes. That was 2 hours ago. Clearly, they don’t care for feedback.
I intend to avoid the name vapiano like the plague… and I recommend anyone considering going there for there 1^st time to find somewhere else to go.

Was craving pizza yesterday and vapiano certainly delivered! (Not literally I ate in ;)
I got the caprese pizza and requested extra cheese and I got one cheesy delicious pizza with beautiful basil– for $ 10 too! Yum!

I’m giving my 4 star rating based on the improvements that the new manager has made to the staff and service.
I live and work in Bethesda and have been to this Vapiano many times and have noticed the high turnover in staff and managers (the current manager told me they went through 5 managers in 6 months!). Additionally, I have frequented Vapiano in Amsterdam, the Hague and also on M Street, so I’m very familiar with this concept.
The service at this particular Vapiano has been terrible in the past, but I can say with confidence that it has improved greatly under new management.
I went into Vapiano recently for an Aperol Spritz and the bartender informed me there was no Aperol, which surprised me because this is one of the cocktails on their menu and Aperol is an essential ingredient. Since this was all I wanted, as I was walking out, I mentioned that they should have Aperol to the new manager. He promised me that if I came back the next day he would have it. The next time I came in and asked for one, sure enough, they had it! The manager acknowledged that it was unacceptable to not have Aperol and told me that he took what I said to him and sent one of his staff out to the liquor store to pick it up the next day just to be sure they had it if I came by. Then, the manager even made me an Aperol Spritz himself, giving me a very generous pour and fixing it how I said I liked it.
Another good thing the new manager has done is hired some new, non-​surly staff that actually care about giving good customer service. Amanda comes to mind. She bartends and is bubbly, attentive, and appears to have bartending experience (unlike the past bartenders, who couldn’t make a drink on their own menu). The guy who made our pasta was super friendly as well.
If you haven’t been to this Vapiano recently because of bad experiences in the past, I strongly urge you to give it another shot.

It pains to give a low review for Vapiano. We truly heart this chain and are fans of their food. But this location has something missing, especially customer service. Its as if the wait staff truly does not care. The last time we were here, I ordered our usual pasta granchi de fiume and some pizza. Of course we wanted to get some bread to go along with the pasta and we asked the staff for some. Don’t know what the reason was but he just waived us off with the excuse that they were all out of bread!
We did see other folks after us being offered the same bread that we wanted and were just irked with the treatment meted out to us!

I’m actually really surprised at the low rating for this place. I’ve only had their pasta and have been satisfied every time. The sauces are interesting, the pasta is fresh and they cook it al-​dente. My personal favorite is the Granchi di Fiume, which has crawfish in it. Sooooo good. I love that they have racks of fresh herbs you can use to decorate your pasta with.
The employees always seem eager to please. Many recommend different things which can enhance your meal. They can adjust to taste pretty well, in terms of spice level, cheese, etc. They’re also genuinely cool people-​I met one guy who gave me extra crawfish after mentioning I lived in NOLA for 4 years. I also like the bartenders-​super friendly, and they make good drinks.
It’s great as an all-​around place, as a lunch spot and an after work spot, and even a family dinner spot since everyone can kind of get what they want. I’m not one of those people that goes crazy over everything European (FIAT needs to GTFO), but this place is a great addition to Bethesda. I love the atmosphere too, very nightclub-​ish. Like I said, I really am shocked this place isn’t reviewed higher. One weak spot: Like everywhere else in Dtown Bethesda, parking is a pain in the ass.

Salads are great here but the service is «on again– off again».
There is pretty high turnover and in a place where dishes are made to order, it’s hard to explain your order to the newbies.
The menu is good and there are a variety of options but I always stop by for the salads. The meat lovers pizza is great and so is the veggie panini. I’m not a big fan of their pastas but you can create your own.
Ps — Try the spicy shrimp and fennel salad

A few weeks ago I met some friends here for dinner — my first Vapiano experience.
I found the no-​waiter-​made-​to-​order style to be interesting but the menu seemed minimal to me. I did like the décor.
The hostess, bartender and cooks were all very nice. My complaints are that they were out of lemonade and the cook burned my panini. Apparently he made the sandwich and set it to toast then forgot about it (I guess he was practicing for the Showtime Rotisserie infomerical — you know the infamous slogan «set it and forget it!»). When I returned to see what was taking so long I found him scrapping the sandwich from the machine so I asked: «I know that you are not going to serve me that burned sandwich?» — he was of course surprised that he was busted and quickly stammered «no,…no, i was going to give you new bread… the inside is okay so I will just put it on new bread for you». SMH. They were closing in 15 minutes and I was hungry so I didn’t argue but I was NOT pleased. The only thing that made the experience worthy was the company of my comrades.
Needless to say, I am not too thrilled about the experience and it would take a very nice incentive for me to return to this location.

So my European friends RAVE about this place and told me I had to go since they knew there were locations in DC. I took my friend here for lunch and was SO embarrassed. The food was terrible. I ordered the shrimp scampi but I could only have 2 bites. My meal was DRIPPING with oil and the pasta was WAY overcook. The way the place functions is super confusing. You like get a card and then have to go up to a kiosk to order? And then you have to go sit down and go pick up your food? SOO confusing. To make things worse, I took my card up to pay for our meals and the guy had put way more food on our club than we had ordered so I ended up paying $ 30 more and they had to refund it and it was just the worst dining experience ever. I definitely will not be going back. There are sooo many better dining options in Bethesda!

I use to love this place, but it’s been kinda going downhill. Sometimes the pasta is SUPER overcooked, sometimes it is undercooked (not al dente just plain hard). I wish they had spicier options for some food. They do cut in some peppers if you ask. Sometimes this place can get so crowded, coming with a group can be difficult since there is no seating.
One time we were here, we got up to get drinks at the bar, and our food that was unfinished, was picked up and cleaned up. We were very disappointed.
The cafeteria style and card system is kinda fun. :)

I love Vapiano and I have eaten at the Bethesda as well as the Gallery Place location in DC several times. However, my most recent dining experience was AWFUL.
I went to the Bethesda location this past Friday around 3 pm. From the moment I walked in the door — the service as well as the employee attitudes were subpar. I don’t know if the staff was just having an off-​day or what, but it was completely unacceptable.

This review is actually based on two visits to two different Vapiano locations (this one and one near Dupont Circle) but it’s going in this spot because this was the more recent one.
My first visit, to the one in DC, was as part of a large group. The fact that each person is given a card (something like a Metro Smartrip card) and everything you order is put on that card, so you can pay on the way out, was particularly good in this scenario because nobody has to figure out who owes how much. On my second trip I was by myself, so there was less of an advantage. But I like it, and the fact that you don’t have waiters bringing food to the table means NO TIPS! So you have only sales tax to add to the quoted price — that’s a definite plus for me, though it might be a minus for others.
Service is somewhat reminiscent of Chipotle — you go to where stuff is prepared and tell them what you want. They actually have separate sections for pizza, pasta dishes, and bar selections (the latter including desserts) so it’s more complicated than Chipotle. But on the positive side, they don’t just assemble your meal there — they COOK it in front of you.
The pasta is done very nicely. Many places overcook pasta, so it’s too soft and mushy. Both times I was at Vapiano, it was clear that they knew that a slightly chewy («al dente») texture is the authentic Italian way, and it was properly prepared.
I haven’t tried the pizza. I went twice for a pasta dish, with two different sauces. While a Bolognese sauce usually doesn’t, in my experience, include carrots, theirs does — but the menu SAYS so, and since I really LIKE carrots, this was no problem. But you should read the menu carefully, because some of these sauces include unusual ingredients, and you should be aware of it.
One difference between the two locations was that in the DC location I was asked if I wanted garlic bread, and how many pieces, and whether I wanted anything to drink. In the Bethesda location, neither was asked, so I went without either. The drinks were there behind the cook’s back, but she was always busy and when someone else ordered a Coke, the cook took a while just to understand her!