The Old Spaghetti Factory
Kitschy Italian restaurant churns out heaping plates of pasta that won't break the bank.
Insiders:
Message from The Old Spaghetti Factory
For more than a generation, families and friends have been coming to The Old Spaghetti Factories, located across the United States, to enjoy our delicious food, charming atmosphere and friendly service. We invite you to dine amid fine antiques, collected from around the world, while savoring perfectly cooked pasta and spaghetti sauces, freshly made, using only the finest ingredients. The Old Spaghetti Factory has banquet rooms which are perfect for occasions like birthday parties, anniversaries, team sports events, company meetings, club gatherings, etc. Our rooms accommodate an intimate gathering of 25 up to a large party of 75 or more.
Editorial by Citysearch
In ShortWhimsical antiques and decorative items--velvet armchairs, vintage-looking fringed lamps and booths made from iron bedsteads--fill the dining room. The OSF Classics menu offers spaghetti with a choice of mushroom sauce, rich meat sauce, browned butter and feta-like mizithra cheese sauce, and more. Other popular favorites are the baked lasagna--layers of noodles, tomato sauce and four kinds of cheese--and the fettuccine Alfredo. Meals include a green salad, fresh-baked bread and ice cream.
Key Points
- Family-Friendly Dining
- Low-Carb Options
- Banquet Rooms
The Inside Scoop
- Know Before You Go - The kids' menu includes smaller-portioned versions of spaghetti dishes, as well as macaroni and cheese and grilled cheese.
- Look Good - Watching your waistline? Ask your server about the low-carb pasta option.
Insider Pages Reviews for The Old Spaghetti Factory
In response to the person who had their friends birthday party there and posted on this site I would just like to say you are deplorable. I went to work at the old spaghetti factory because I fell in love with it as a guest. Every guest is treated like family. If there is on thing I hate it is people who claim to be "in the business" and then are rude, inconsiderate, and don't tip. Perhaps you might have gotten better service had you not spit at your server and cussed them out. Also, it was a real classy move trying to get a free meal by putting your gum on your plate and telling the manager that it was served that way. Drop dead.
Posted 07/04/08 | Report Abuse
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Over the last couple of years my family and I have enjoyed going here. The amount of food and the price are both good. I have been here with my family and with large crowds and the service was still good. Kids eat free if the parents fill out the reading book sheet and you can get it from their web site.
Posted 01/31/08 | Report Abuse
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The ambiance here is terrific! The food is not so hot. It is over priced for what you receive. The service was mediocre as well. I've had better service at a school spaghetti supper. Not sure if I'll return.
Posted 01/16/08 | Report Abuse
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Old Spaghetti Factory is a unique spaghetti place in an interesting neighborhood. Decorated in turn of the century luxury, the restaurant sports a trolley car containing additional cramped seating in the middle of the main seating area.
The food is average, but portions are huge and the prices are good. The sampler platter provides more than enough food for two good lunches. Italian ice cream is included in the price of the meal, as is some good Italian bread. Service is good, even when the place is busy. Overall, a good value.
PROS: Good value, interesting decor
CONS: average food
Posted 08/01/06 | Report Abuse
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I have been here a couple times and I always enjoy myself. It is decorated very creatively and it's has a nice atmosphere. I thought the food was very average, though. I've had the spaghetti as well as a few desserts and the food is typical of your run of the mill italian restaurant. They do include italian ice cream with your meal and that is nice.
PROS: Nice decorating.
CONS: Average food
Posted 06/08/06 | Report Abuse
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Latest reviews from Citysearch.
It's not a 5 star place to dine, but the food isn't bad and the tab at the end of the night including all the drinks....makes it worth a try. Been there several times and had pretty good service. Better with a group of people.
Pros: Affordable
Cons: None
Posted 10/22/09
Was there on Friday, loved the surroundings and the service was good. The food, however, was terrible. I had the lasagne- not even close to a well-known frozen brand. Tea was weak, not tasty. Portions small. I might have forgiven these things had the bread been good. Not so, cheap crumbly lacking in flavor and texture. My friend and I both ordered the italian sausage on the side- I did not find it edible and said so to the waiter.This could be a great family place given the decor and atmosphere- I wanted to bring my family on inauguration day- but didnt feel that I could explain the quality of the food. I wish I could understand the kind of thinking that goes into promoting a venue, on one hand,and shooting yourself in the foot with the food!
Posted 01/19/09
We went here for my friend's birthday tonight. While we were a large party (of about 20), there was no excuse for the bad service that we received. We had two waiters, and even then food was brought sporadically. Also, they brought the checks one at a time, which took about an hour. Also, at the end, one waiter said to my friend "Hey birthday girl...here's the rest of the stuff that hasn't been paid for," handed her the bill and walked off. The bill was about $40, and many items on there had already been paid for. We spoke to the manager, and she was very polite and fixed everything right away.
Also, they were out of soup...huh??
Don't get me wrong, we understand having large parties, about half of us are servers, but the attitude was uncalled for and the wait for the checks was absolutely ridiculous.
I had the tortellinis, and it was REALLY good however, unless they get a better staff, I'll be getting it to go!
Pros: food, atmosphere
Cons: rude and slow servers
Posted 06/04/08
I had passed by the old spaghetti factory for a couple of years, but only last weekend decided to try it out. When my husband and I walked in, I was very impressed with the decor. Its kind of eccentric, but the dining room is very spacious, and we were seated immediately. I thought the trolley car sitting in the middle of the restaurant was odd, but cute. The family that was seated in it looked like they were having a good time. The enjoyable part of my dining experience here lasted for about the first 5 minutes of walking in, it was all downhill from there
After we were seated we waited an unusually long time for our waitress to come bring us our drinks. My hubby and I were pretty hungry so the waitress did good to quickly ask us if she could start us out with some "garlic cheese bread" as an appetizer. We agreed, not knowing that bread actually came with the entree, but I guess that was oversight on our part.
The salad was pretty good, but what happened to the appetizer we ordered? She was nice to come by to tell us that it was still in the oven, but they wound up bringing the soggy overcooked cheesebread WITH our meals...is that an appetizer?
I ordered the chicken parm, my husband the spaghetti with two very oddly shaped visually unappealing meatballs. The food was very bland, boring, tasteless and unimpressive. Then we waited and waited and waited for the waitress to check on us, as ask us if we wanted ice cream..took 20 mins for her to bring out the ice cream..then another 30 to bring us the check.
Don't bother with this place, I suspect most people will want to go there at least once, though as it looks really nice from the outside. But if the food is bad, nothing can make up for it.
Pros: cheap food, nice decor and nice location
Cons: bland tasteless food and horrible service
Posted 05/09/08
The whole experience was a total wreck; from the waitress to the food. Her manners were awful and blamed everything on the cook and the kitchen when we asked. The food seemed like they re-heated it in the microwave. It took forever to get salads that were already prepared. It is too bad that a place that has so much space and looks pretty has such bad food and service. Will never go back.
Posted 01/23/08
I love Italian food--I love cooking it and I love eating it. I've eaten at several wonderful Italian restaurants in the Atlanta Metro Area. This isn't one of them.
The service was incredibly slow--it took over 15 minutes for us to get our drink order, another 15 to get our salads out, drink refils were few and far-between, and I thought we'd never see our check.
The food and drinks were not worth the wait--my cosmopolitan was made with the house vodka, which was of such a poor quality that it tasted and felt as if I were drinking rubbing alcohol; the salads were wilted and drowning in dressing; the pasta was extremely overcooked (only slightly less than canned pasta) and the meat sauce contained no meat (I asked the waitress about it, thinking the wrong sauce had been used and was advised that even she felt the meat sauce didn't really contain enough meat; I can only conclude that it perhaps contains meat broth because there was absolutely no meat in it)--I've actually had better spaghetti in a school cafeteria.
We were supposed to have a choice of vanilla or spumoni icecream, but were all given the "spumoni", which turned out to really be green, pink, and chocolate icecream, as the "pistachio" contained no nuts nor any pistachio flavor at all, and the "fruit" contained no fruit nor almonds and no fruit flavor and was 1/2 melted by the time it reached our table.
The only part of the meal that was anything like what one would expect when ordering it was the olive tapanade appetizer. It was actually good, but not so good as to be a reason to patronize this establishment.
Save yourself the trouble and the cash and heat up one of those pasta dinners available in the freezer section at the grocery store.
Pros: Beautiful interior but can't make up for the poor food and service.
Cons: Poor quality food and slow service.
Posted 12/01/07
The inside of this building is so grand that cannot be fathomed from the outside. Food, although simple, is nicely prepared and quite reasonably priced. Of the dozen times we've visited, we have nothing but praises for the food and services received. Each entree includes soft drinks/tea, salad/soup, and ice cream. Definitely an Atlanta institution.
Pros: Reasonably priced, great atmosphere & service.
Cons: Parking-with very few spots outside and on the side streets.
Posted 09/15/07
Service was horrible, food was cold. Server would not allow us to order soup and claimed, "The soup is prepared at 5pm and it is nasty at this time of night." (It was 7:30pm) Two bites into the salad and the food is at the table. I'm all for fast service but maybe not so fast that I feel rushed to get in and get out. Drinks were not re-filled and when I asked for a re-fill I receive the wrong drink and before I can take a sip to verify my demise the server is gone in a flash. I asked for another re-fill, politely and was confronted and asked, "Are you upset!?" To which I replied calmly, "No, I just want what I ordered." Ice cream was mediocre but served at a desired temperature.
Over-all experience was disappointing. 2 out of 10, because there ARE worse places.
Cons: Service, Food
Posted 01/11/07
We love to go here for lunch because we always spend less than 20 dollars (including tiping) for a lunch that includes soup, sweet tea and any king of pasta or dish they have in the menu. I liked it because the service is really friendly and the food is abundant.
Pros: Great pasta, made with fresh ingredients and friendly service
Posted 12/13/06
WOW.... what a fun place to go. The first time I went was with my BIG family and we had a blast. They accomidated us in seating, we all got to sit together. There was a train cart in center of restaurant that my nephews were ammused by and my 86 year old dad could not stop checking out! I was in aww with the deco, from as soon as you come in the door you until you are seated and eating dinner will you not stop checking out the vaious chandaliers. The food is AWESOME.
Pros: valet parking garage, food, atmospher
Cons: I can't think of one!
Posted 10/22/06
We stopped here with 14 in our party (walking from the Hilton) and there was some mix up in communication between the concierge and the restrauant about closing time and our mode of travel. However, the manager set us up even though it was 5 minutes after they had closed. (We had a bunch of hungry boys with us.) Even with a limited selection and poor timing on our part it was a good experience. The waiter was great and still had a sense of humor. The spaghetti was excellent and for all of us to eat it was about half the price of Hard Rock. Many thanks to the manager as well.
Pros: price, location
Cons: none
Posted 04/30/06
So a restaurant with decent food can move in! Its a wonderful crazy decor, but the food is so awful that I'll never go back. Have they heard of seasonings? Obviously not.
Pros: decor
Cons: food!!!
Posted 02/13/06
If you're looking for a cheap night out, this is the place to start. The food is pretty good and cheap! The food is not fancy by any means but it does taste good and you get a lot. Service is quick and adequate. For a family or a couple on a budget, this is the place to go. If you're looking for fine dining, look some place else.
Pros: Inexpensive, Large Portions, Family Atmosphere
Posted 10/16/05
It's been about 10 years since I had a meal like this, because I haven't eaten at a high school cafeteria since I was in high school. The building is amazing, and it's in a great location, but the food is definitely sub par. I wouldn't recommend it for a first date..... in fact, the only time you should take a date there is for the break up.
Pros: Building, Location
Cons: Food, Food, Service
Posted 02/14/05
If you eat there once, you have tasted everything they have to offer. Ok for cheap college dates, but after that I think you need to move on. ;)
Pros: cheap, consistent
Cons: , low quality
Posted 05/24/04
Don't let the facade fool you, the interior of this place is beautiful and so are the prices of the entrees. You can do a 3 course meal for two for under 20 (great place for a cheap date). Food's good and the ambiance is nice...great place to take the parents too!
Pros: Price, decor, location
Cons: none, none, none
Posted 09/06/03
I keep coming back! It is awesome. Food is good, well priced, and served hot and quick. Great place for a first date! Managers are friendly and interact with the customers. And, best of all, dessert is included in the price of the meal!!! ;)
Pros: Valet Parking, Interior, Well priced
Cons: Can get loud
Posted 07/02/02