Fresh-food Concept Vapiano Restaurant Chain Is Coming To Tampa

(Friday, August 08, 2008) - An international Italian restaurant chain with a fresh-food concept — where cooks and customers chat while food is prepared — has plans to open in south Tampa by spring.

The entry of the Vapiano restaurant chain into the Tampa Bay market is part of a sweeping expansion in the United States, where Vapiano executives hope to build 80-100 restaurants in the next four years, said Martin Luible, Vapiano's chief operating officer.

Customers are encouraged to talk to the cooks about their orders. "We call them 'cook-tainers.' They're kind of entertainers," Luible said. "We want them to have great personalities. We can teach them how to cook. Everything is transparent."

Expansion is worldwide. Vapiano has 35 restaurants in 12 countries and plans to expand to 60 sites in 18 countries by the end of 2008, said Kent Hahne, Vapiano president. Hahne and fellow Vapiano owner Klaus Rader are former McDonald's franchisees in Germany. Founded in 2002, McLean, Va.-based Vapiano International LLC's first U.S. location opened in Virginia in April 2007.

West Florida franchisee Konrad Woest of Fort Myers said he has pinpointed South Howard Avenue to develop a 5,000-6,000-square-foot Vapiano in south Tampa. Franchisees are required to open at least three Vapiano restaurants in a region. In Woest's case, he opened a Vapiano in Fort Myers last month and is looking at potential locations in Clearwater, St. Petersburg and Orlando.

Franchisees are advised that new Vapiano units cost about $1-million to $1.7-million, which includes build-out, broker's fees and training. The franchise fee is $45,000 and the average customer count is 350-800 a day, with an average check of $15-20 per customer. About 65 percent of the customers are women, Luible said.

Pasta and pizza dough machines imported from Italy sit at the food-prep stations. "The heart and soul is fresh. Everything is made from scratch," Luible said.

Customers are also likely to interact with each other because six to a dozen patrons can share a table. The seats are covered with shoe leather, the tables and floors are made of real oak and the table holders that contain oils, salt and pepper are made of marble.

Said Luible: "We don't want people on laptops for eight hours and not talking."

What is Vapiano?

Vapiano bills itself an Italian restaurant with an atmosphere somewhere between "the nicest of fast casual" and "the hippest of casual dining restaurants." The chain touts its pizzas, house-made pasta and salads. It has 35 restaurants in 12 countries and has plans for 100 more in the U.S. in the next four years.

Customers get a chip card, which keeps track of costs, and order at stations where "cook-tainers" prepare the food, such as the carpaccio plate above, for the patron only 2 feet away. Cooks make dishes for no more than two people at a time.

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