Vapiano--Italian fast food concept in Lincoln Park

I tried a pizza at Vapiano, the new Italian place with a Foodlife-like concept in Lincoln Park. I work very close so it was sort of inevitable. The space is very nice and light with well-spaced high tables and benches in most of the dining room and a lounge area on one side. As at Foodlife, you get a card when you walk in and use it to order pizza, panini, pastas, salads and soups from different stations. Unlike Foodlife, you don't pay until you leave so one could go back and order more without having to settle the tab twice. I had a diavolo pizza (peperoni, onions, bell peppers, mozzarella, a single serrano pepper sitting in the middle) which I would describe (somewhat generously, I think) as 'serviceable'. It looked decent, if a little pale and it didn't quite taste as good as it looked. Some work colleagues where there for soup and said the tomato basil was quite good. The meal was a little pricey ($15 for a pizza and bottle of water) but portion size was more than adequate. In summary, I only tried one thing and they've only be open for a few weeks but let me save my fellow LTHers from trying the pizza. It was tough eating that pizza while looking out the window at Del Seoul...
It will likely be a big hit with college students and families with young children but can't say I'll be going back (willingly).



Vapiano Chicago. 2577 N. Clark St. Chicago, IL. 60614. P. 773-904-7984

Unlike Foodlife, you don't pay until you leave so one could go back and order more without having to settle the tab twice.

Actually, that's how Foodlife works too. You pay when you leave. Similar to Wilde & Greene in Old Orchard.

Nevertheless, I hadn't heard about this place. Will have to try it!

The pasta was pretty good the one time I had it. Is it Anteprima-level? No, but that's not the point. We also had a pizza, which I think we had better luck with than you.

I can definitely see this being a big hit in the neighborhood, especially for families.

I walked by there last night after eating at Del Seoul (along with a stop for cheddar fries at Weiner Circle) and didn't even know it had opened.

Thanks for the review, I was wondering what kind of concept/setup they featured. The exterior signage reads "Pizza. Pasta. Bar." I got the impression it was similar to Union Pizzeria in Evanston and didn't realize it was similar to Foodlife with different stations.

The build-out of the space looks great and it's located in a prime location.

The ordering scheme and ghost-story-flashlight atmo at the tables aside, I enjoyed the Diavolo pizza at Vapiano, particularly the crust (ordered well done). The toppings are weaker but serviceable. The reasonably priced Negronis and Aperol spritzers were the most pleasant find; the pastas, bread, and oil down the table were received favorably by others.

I had Vapiano for the first time in of all places, Berlin... I had endured a 7-hour layover at Paris and it was on the way back from Brandenburg gate to the hotel and very busy, and I wasn't in the mood to go searching! The lines were insanely long, but the food was solid.

I knew they were in Washington DC, hadn't realized that they had made it to Chicago. It's down the street from our Bethesda office and it's a perfectly acceptable lunch choice. I think the food was better than Bacci on Madison in Chicago, for example.

Vapiano, a European-inspired Italian "fresh casual” restaurant chain based in Virginia, will open a second Chicago location in July. Vapiano opened its first outlet in Lincoln Park in September 2011 and is targeting a mid-July opening for its second spot, at 44 S. Wabash Ave. (at the corner of Monroe Street), in the historic Louis Sullivan-designed Carson Pirie, Scott & Co. building that now houses City Target.

http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/20130408/BLOGS09/130409836/vapiano-to-open-in-old-carsons-building