Invasion of the foreign restaurant chains

By adamg - 1/4/08 - 2:35 pm

First there was British/Japanese import Wagamama. Now Boston Restaurant Talk reports the Boston area is in line to get three Vapiano "casual ~~French~~ fresh" restaurants.

Hmm, what about Blimpie, which is slowly circling Boston? It's from westa Worcester, so it's sorta foreign, too.

Comments

What genius thought up "Vapiano" ?

By Ron Newman - 1/4/08 - 2:51 pm

#1

The first time someone goes there and doesn't like the food, it will become "Vapidano". Good luck erasing that meme.

Actually Italian, not French

By Anonymous (not verified) - 1/4/08 - 3:26 pm

#2

Hi, I'm the writer of the original article. It should have said "casual fresh," not "casual French." The cuisine is mostly Italian, actually.

My mistake!

-Marc

Coming to the Square?

By oddjob60 - 1/4/08 - 3:38 pm

#4

I heard today that the Au Bon Pain on Brattle St. is closing... Wonder if it'll become a Vapiano?

Never understood why Au Bon Pain kept that place open so long after taking it over (it was formerly Warburton's, an independent local bakery). It's only a block from the real Au Bon Pain next to the T station.

Real Au Bon Pain?

By adamg - 1/4/08 - 4:02 pm

#6

With that authentic artisanal Au Bon Pain je ne sais quois? :-).

The way you know it's a real Au Bon Pain

By eeka not logged in (not verified) - 1/5/08 - 3:10 pm

#7

...is that they all seem to have a copy of this print:

imagecache2.allposters.com/...Parisien-Posters.jpg

Complete with matting that says "Willy Ronis."

(Wikipedia tells me this was the actual name of a photographer who was known for pictures of Paris, but it sounds like a euphemism for some boy's giant baguette to me.)

Willy's brother

By adamg - 1/5/08 - 4:09 pm

#8

Was Pepe, who gave us a popular pizza topping.

Is that a Real Au Bon Pain?

By SwirlyGrrl - 1/5/08 - 3:45 pm

#9

Or is it a Sears Au Bon Pain?

Hmmm ... no foolin'!

A Real Au Bon Pain Smells Horrible

By Arborway - 1/6/08 - 2:45 am

#10

Or at least the one at Berkeley and Boylston does (or still did the last time I went in a few months ago). Several people I know independently concluded the odor inside is comparable to hot vomit. It's even worse in the winter when the heat is going.

I don't know how a place selling such delicious things could smell so bad.

Wrong about Warburton's

By Ron Newman - 1/17/08 - 5:40 am

#11

Turns out it was not an 'independent local bakery' at all, but rather the Harvard Square location of a small Chicago-based chain that au bon pain bought in 1992.