First Restaurant Recommendation - VAPIANO

I go out to eat a lot. Definitely more often than I should... I should be cooking for myself and saving money, but around here eating out at a restaurant is irresistible. There are so many places to try in and around Washington, DC...I would feel bad if I didn't check one out every now and again.

In honor of my love of trying out different places to eat, I've decided that I'll do a restaurant review every once in awhile on the blog. Here is my first recommendation: VAPIANO.













Vapiano is an Italian restaurant that has three locations in and around DC - one in Arlington, VA, one on M Street in the city and one out in Dulles,VA. I think they also have one in Chinatown in the city. They are a chain and have locations all over Europe but the only US locations are the ones I just listed and one in Florida and one in Texas. A few nights ago, I went to the Arlington location near my house with my friend Paul.

Vapiano is a casual restaurant with modern European decor. I walked in expecting to be seated by a hostess and served by a waitress but instead was greeted by a girl who gave us plastic cards - called "chip cards" - and the menu and told us that everything we ordered would be added to the chip cards and then we would pay her at the end, as we were leaving. Paul and I went up to the bar and ordered a couple of glass of wine to start and settled in by the fireplace in some deep red leather chairs.

After that we ordered our food - it was sort of a cafeteria style line. The food was made-to-order right in front of us. Paul tried some pasta and I order a pizza with mozzarella, proscuitto and parmesan (can't go wrong there!). After we had our food and wine, we went to sit in the main dining area. All of the tables were community style - you will end up sitting with other people that you don't know. There were potted fresh herbs at the table and olive oil and vinegar for seasoning. The food was excellent. Best of all, the prices are very reasonable - especially for a restaurant around here. I was able to have several glasses of wine and a giant pizza (I took over half of it home with me) for under $30!














I would definitely recommend trying Vapiano - it has a unique, fresh atmosphere and the food is great! It would be perfect for a large group of friends going out... especially because the chip cards make it easy to keep the bill separate! We went on a Thursday night and there were some good happy hour deals as well - discounted wines and beers on tap. I will definitely be eating there again!