Migration
Italian Style Pizza & Pasta out to defy the eatery odds in Kaiserslautern
Stars and Stripes
July 12, 2018
Italian Style Pizza & Pasta, a new restaurant in downtown Kaiserslautern, Germany, is attempting to succeed in a location where previous eateries offering hot dogs and burritos have failed. (Courtesy of Jacqueline Broome)
Italian Style Pizza & Pasta, a new restaurant in downtown Kaiserslautern, Germany, is attempting to succeed in a location where previous eateries offering hot dogs and burritos have failed. (Courtesy of Jacqueline Broome)
Italian Style Pizza & Pasta in Kaiserslautern, Germany, offers hearty dishes of rigatoni and tortellini, including vegetarian options. (Courtesy of Jacqueline Broome)
Italian Style Pizza & Pasta serves pizza that is unspectacular but certainly worthy of its 2-euro price. (Courtesy of Jacqueline Broome)
Italian Style Pizza & Pasta in Kaiserslautern, Germany, makes visitors comfortable with a clean, attractive dining room featuring free phone-charging stations. (Courtesy of Jacqueline Broome)
Studies indicate that more than half of new restaurants fail within the first three years of opening. At a certain area in Kaiserslautern, that figure is closer to 100 percent.
The unassuming spot on Steinstrasse has played host to a number of shuttered ventures, including recent attempts at slinging burritos and hot dogs. A new entry is now trying its hand in the difficult space: Italian Style Pizza & Pasta, an unambiguously named purveyor of Italian-style pizza and pasta.
It’s hard to say why the site has proved so problematic for aspiring restaurateurs. The location, a key factor for any eatery’s success or failure, shouldn’t be the problem. Steinstrasse is a prominent pedestrian street feeding into the city’s central Stiftsplatz, dotted by established shops and restaurants, notably the excellent Italian restaurant Rossini and well-known Irish pub Moloney’s. Steinstrasse is also a vibrant part of Kaiserslautern’s nightlife.
Italian Style Pizza & Pasta seems to have a chance to make it where its predecessors have failed. It offers a simple menu comprised of, predictably, pizza and pasta. For dessert, it made the savvy decision to focus on waffles, a quirky enough choice that might drive some extra traffic.
The prices are appealingly low — 2 euros ($2.30) for a small but satisfying individual pizza, 3-5 euros for a hearty bowl of pasta, and no more than 2.50 euros for a waffle with any number of toppings.
The food is fine for the price, though far from memorable enough to make Italian Style Pizza & Pasta a proper dinner destination. Pizzas of similar quality can be had from one of the Imbisses lining the city’s downtown streets, and pricier but far superior options for pizza or pasta are available at several Italian restaurants within a few minutes’ walk.
In the face of those disadvantages, Italian Style Pizza & Pasta focuses on making diners comfortable, with a neatly designed dining room, outdoor seating and free phone-charging stations. If visitors are made comfortable enough, perhaps this new eatery might have the chance to make itself comfortable on the shifting Steinstrasse scene.
broome.gregory@stripes.com Twitter: @broomestripes
Location: Steinstrasse 23, Kaiserslautern, GermanyHours: Open from 11:30 a.m. Mondays-Fridays and from 6 p.m. Saturdays; closing time is open-ended to service a late-night crowd.Dress: CasualPrices: Pizzas are 2 euros ($2.3), pasta is 3-5 euros and waffles cost up to 2.50 euros.Phone: (+49)(0)631 624-60-904