The Old Spaghetti Factory

I am sad to see so many poor reviews of the Old Spaghetti Factory. It is true that the wait can be lengthy but if you take 30 seconds to call the restaurant about an hour before you plan to arrive you will be put on a waiting list, and when you do arrive your wait is usually five to ten minutes. There are many options on the menu and the price includes your drink (refills are free on soda and iced tea), bread, Minestrone soup or a salad, your main entree and dessert. The setting is very warm and comforting and there is a great view of the Seattle waterfront. The restaurant is family friendly and kids will love the trolley, which you can sit and eat in. Service is always friendly and surprisingly speedy considering the size and popularity of the restaurant. You could find better Italian food in Seattle but you won?t find a better price, ambience or location.

Pros: location, ambience, service, price

Cons: parking, wait can be lengthy if you don't call ahead

Posted 09/14/08

-The sauce comes from a can and lacks any flavor, about the same quality as a high school cafeteria.
-The pasta feels like it was under cooked and then placed under a heat lamp for hours.
-There is a pungent odor of something I can't describe and a really long wait to get in.

I think that the only reason why this restaurant stays in business is the location. There are plenty of tourists who have no clue of what kind of crappy food awaits. I think it's embarrassing that such a place would serve such horrible food to their customers. Seriously, how hard is it to cook pasta?

Posted 05/13/08

After reading some of the reviews below, my wife and I were a bit apprehensive. We were therefore surprised at what an enjoyable evening we had. The service was excellent...prompt and polite. We enjoyed the cheese bread and our meals. The atmosphere was cozy....very clean and picturesque. A dessert (icecream) and beverage were included with the price. We will definitely return.

Posted 03/20/08

I have patronized this restaurant as well as the one in Tacoma, WA. Both restaurants serve very mediocre to poor quality tasting food. I mean, afterall, is it Mrs. Smith's second grade class cooking in the kitchen because that is how it tastes in my mouth!! The food is bland, uncreative, and not far from something I can make from a jar. Also, I do not care if the dessert is part of the overall dinner order....it had FREEZER BURNS on the ice cream. If you want atmosphere, this restaurant has it, but if you want something better than what your kids get when they buy school lunches, then go elsewhere.

Pros: Atmosphere, decor

Cons: Entree, salad, dessert

Posted 11/22/07

Couple of friends and I went to this place couple months ago and while we were waiting for our food we saw this rodent crawling across the wooden floors. We told the waiter there but he brushed it off like he didn't even hear us.

Anyways their spaghetti is pretty good. And don't forget to ask for ice cream for desert (they come complimentary to your meal)

Pros: good service, spaghetti is great. good portions - no need to order the hearty meal

Cons: see the review...

Posted 07/13/07

This place is the best for families! Even the pickiest eaters should find something they like on the kids' menu (mac-n-cheese, applesauce, spaghetti). And parents have a variety of standard Italian dishes to choose from. The atmosphere is noisy and enthusiastic. On weekends and during the summer (tourist) months, the wait can be extremely long. But there is an active train track that travels alongside the restaurant to help entertain young train enthusiasts. The best part? You will leave with some money in your pocket.

Pros: Value. Family-oriented.

Cons: Wait

Posted 11/19/06

I heard for a long time that this was a good place to eat. So when I went with some ppl, I was surprised at the quality of this restaurant. I had spaghetti and tasted some of my friend's food too...it wasn't all that great. The salad also was unimpressive. I mean, how can you mess up spaghetti? The place was extremely busy and it took us a very long time to be seated (we had a very large group and had previously made reservations). The waitress was nice, but I was not impressed by the experience at all.

Pros: Kid friendly

Cons: food wasn't good

Posted 11/15/06

I;ve been coming here for longer than I can remember, and its always the same story. Huge portions of predictable pasta served by eager servers in a bustling dining space. The food isn't fantastic, but its certainly affordable, a definite family favorite.

Pros: Service, Value

Cons: Crowds, Food Quality

Posted 10/25/06

If you are near the waterfront and don't want to spend a fortune, the Spaghetti Factory is the place to go. You may have to wait awhile because the Factory is always crowded. Most times the wait is about 30 minutes, it looks like it will be longer but they move a lot of people through there. The food and service are good, the price is excellent. A nice touch is the complimentary dessert ice cream. I like the spumoni.

Pros: value

Cons: crowded

Posted 09/29/06

Good ambiance, awesome location, awkward servers, gross food. Ick. To start, the lettuce in my salad was chewy & rubbery. Why would a restaurant knowingly serve OLD lettuce? They served us big hearty portions of lasagne and chicken marsala, but sadly it tasted like cafeteria food. Chef-boi-R-D, watch out! The one thing I did like was the set meal... Drink, salad, and icecream are included with the meal. That was the only redeeming thing. I was very disappointed and will not be going back.

Pros: Location, Set meal price

Cons: BAD italian food, weird waiters

Posted 06/26/06

I agree with the other review-how this place stays in business I have no idea.
Service and Managers are horrible, and the food is bland. Why bother coming here when you can make your own spaghetti at home.
HORRIBLE SERVICE HORRIBLE Managers. I politly complained to the manager and he ROLLED HIS EYES at me.

I had to laugh this manager, and simply left, I will never understand why so many people love this place.

Posted 04/08/06

I can't figure how this chain manages to stay in business. While it's true the food is a few notches above Chef Boyardee, that's not saying much, is it?
I have a couple friends who love OSF, resulting in annual, birthday-dinner visits. One thing this place has going for it, is its location. It attracts an overabundance of tourists in the summer; curiously, it's equally busy with locals in the winter. The teeming masses, packed like lemmings into the large waiting area, ALWAYS results in lengthy waiting times. Their reward? Over-cooked pasta, smothered under bland, luke-warm sauces.
Perhaps the appeal is the overall atmosphere, which can be festive if you're with a big group or the reasonable prices. It's probably not as bad as I make it out to be, but it's certainly not a place I go to willingly. Go, if you must, but don't say you weren't warned...

Pros: leaving, inexpensive

Cons: waiting, food

Posted 01/12/06

I've gotten better pasta from a can. The sauce was wattery, just yuck. The value was good, but for gross food who really cares.

Posted 09/08/05

If your not worried if your pasta is re-cooked (precooked pasta dumped in boiling water for a minute before serving) then your going to be a happy camper. Why is the pasta hard? Because its been sitting in a plastic cup for awhile. Why is my pasta watery? Because they didnt thoroughly shake the plastic container after pulling from the boiling water.

Pros: Pot Pouri, Baked chicken, Lasagne

Cons: Not Italian, Long waiting time, Stinks of cheese

Posted 09/08/05

Seattle is over the top with really great food, and much of it can be found right around the corner in Belltown. So why would anybody want to eat at this just so-so joint? Well, it could be that they do so-so really great! The out of towners with a fear of being force fed West Coast "exotic" food flock The Old Spaghetti Factory where they can count on same-o so-so fare. I like to snag a comfort food meal there sometimes myself - and I get the added comfort of knowing that my view of Elliott Bay is preserved as long as the Spaghetti Factory keeps slinging cheap pasta plates in a low rise building across the street from my condo! Ya just gotta try it. Really. Save my view!

Pros: low rise building, comfort food, no "exotic" food

Cons: whats not to like?, too many kids, by railroad tracks

Posted 07/10/05

Very crowded restaurant with a longer than average seat time... the salad looked like it came straight from the bag at a grocery store.. the spaghetti wasn't all that great.. definately not what I expected from "The Old Spaghetti Factory". The atmosphere seemed like a 3ring circus with loud and obnoxious children as the main attraction. The wait staff was less than caring or attentive. I will not be going back to this establishment or be reccomending it to my friends or family

Cons: blah food, loud, poor wait staff

Posted 06/17/05

Very much family-oriented with young, enthusiastic and friendly service for devotees of honest Italian food with generous portions------large crowds rewarded with exceptional value. Hey critics----you get the most authentic ethnic Italian in NYC.

Pros: Value, Service, Friendly Staff

Posted 07/24/04

The Hostess and staff made me wait when the restaurant was 40% full, they seated me in a section with no Server, the Server Assistant gave water and said he would tell the Server I wanted a beverage, no other server, hostess, Asst. Server or Manager stopped by for over 15 minutes. Lack of attention, no communication amongst staff, and no teamwork means poor customer service. I never got the beverage, the server was on break, and the asst server went off shift. Other servers stayed away from the table! At 3pm seating and service should have been fairly prompt. Manager never wandered thru to see how things were going.

Pros: Kitchen did their job

Cons: , Seating had no Server, Ignored by Staff.

Posted 06/19/04

I've been to the Spaghetti Factory (both this one and ones in other cities) more times than I can count. The food is always good, inexpensive, and the waitstaff fairly tolerant of outrageous behavior (which my friends and I tend to engage in, but hey, other diners get free entertainment and birthday songs). The spaghetti with mizithra and browned butter is a favorite. Their drinks from the bar are always good and not watered down. A good value, overall!

Pros: reliable, inexpensive, some parking

Cons: openslate closeearly, not enough parking

Posted 09/04/03

People rave about this place but what is there to rave about? Went there with friends and they had nothing good to say about the food. The food is bland with no taste. My lasagna was terrible and my friends spaghetti was not al dente. At least the service wasn't half bad and the food cheap as in price and quality. Hey Seattleites just because a retaurant is crowded and cheap doesn't make a great place to eat. If you want Italian food come to my house.

Pros: None

Cons: Crowded, Bland food

Posted 07/05/03

They've removed the Oven baked chicken from thier menu! This was the dish i've been ordering since I was a teenager. This was possibly the lowest fat dish I could order, since I didn't eat the skin, and only a quarter of the pasta. What a shame! Now what will I order that has protein but not to much fat!?

Posted 03/04/03

Have the Manager's Special and select as one of you half selections, Mizythra cheese spaghetti. It is the best item on the menu. Their meatballs are very good as they aren't salty. Ask for the dressing on the side as they tend to put too much of it on your salad. Have the blue cheese dressing and not the honey dressing as it has too much vinegar and not enough honey. Their spomoni ice cream is very good.

Pros: inexpensive, has own parking lot

Posted 02/23/03