Italian fast food in Tallinn
Vapiano in Italian means “take it easy”, which is the perfect expression to describe
this rather unusual fast food place. Instead of the usual burgers you get at most fast
food places, the menu in Vapiano is based on basic Italian cuisine: Salads, pizzas,
pastas, anti pastas, and desserts. By Emilia Kiiskinen
Located at the Foorum shopping center, Vapiano is nearby the city center, and is easily found by a
visitor in the city like myself. The restaurant is open from 11-23 on weekdays, and from 11-00 on
weekends. I came to have a quick, but tasty, lunch in-between my shopping visit with some friends
in the city of Tallinn. As I entered Vapiano, I discovered that they have a rather unique system for
ordering and paying for your food, which is based on a chip card that you get when you enter the
restaurant. If you are not familiar with the system, like I wasn’t, not to worry: the staff was very
helpful with explaining how it goes so one doesn’t have to wander around the restaurant confused.
After we got our chip cards we took a seat at the half empty restaurant. The seating system
consists of long wooden tables, separated with
stands that have olive oil, vinegar, and to even
surprise me further, they have actual plants that
Here you can really affect the way
you can pick herbs from and add to your food.
Seated, we looked at the menu, and were very
your meal is going to turn out.
pleased with the price range that varied from
about 4-12 euros per dish. When we had decided
what to order, we took the chip cards with us and
went to order the food.
“
“
As it is a fast food place, you have to go order your food yourself from the counters. Here I
found another yet very new thing to me, as there were different stations for the different types of
food, all marked very clearly with big signs. I placed myself in the line for the station marked
“salads.” For lunchtime, the lines were not long at all, and in a couple of minutes it was my turn to
order. I told the chef what I wanted, which was a Caesar salad with chicken. Then the Chef started