News

Waiterless restaurant poised to open in London

16th May 2008

A new restaurant in London is planning on ditching waiting staff in favour of chip-and-PIN-style technology.

German restaurant chain Vapiano already has outlets serving Italian food across Europe and the US and is set to open in London late in May or early in June.

The London restaurant will be located on Great Portland Street and will serve fresh pasta, pizza and salads.

Unusually, the 300-seat restaurant will not have any waiting staff. Instead, visitors will be given credit card-style chip card which they swipe at the station where their food is being freshly prepared by skilled chefs.

When diners are finished, they give their card to a cashier, who calculates the bill.

The team behind the chain explained the London restaurant would be "somewhere between the nicest of fast casual and hippest of casual dining restaurants".

They added: "Vapiano is an innovative European concept serving made-to-order fire roasted pizzas, fresh, house-made pasta and hand tossed gourmet salads."