The Old Spaghetti Factory

Corporate, I hope you are reading; this reflects on you and your employees! I didn't even eat the food, had it boxed and then threw it away after p... more

This place is value for money! Delicious 3 course meal. Fills you up just perfectly for around about $10-$12. The location is fantastic, the interior design of the place has such a great feel about it and the river views are amazing. Love eating here and would highly reccommend. more

This is one of my favorite Italian restaurants. The food is always excellent, and the staff are friendly. Usually the wait isn't very long either. The Old Spaghetti Factory is an institution in Portland. In restaurant-rich Portland, where new eateries seem to open daily, we sometimes go for the ""new thing"" and overlook the classics. But the classics are still around for a reason - whether it be good food or unbeatable prices or a truly family-friendly dining experience. The Old Spaghetti Factory offers all three. OSF never tries to be anything other than what it is...a place for people to come and enjoy each others company over a plate of pasta. more

Dinner reservations were made to accomodate my baby shower/birthday and a graduation for 19 people. My group was made to confirm the reservation more than once due to our reservation possibly being lost by employees. We were also told that they would not be able to accomodate 20 guests even though they list they can seat more than 20. The dinner guests arrived on time and spent several hundred dollars on the dinner. After two hours and during desert the manager approached me the guest of honor and stated that he needed my party to leave so that he could have the tables for other incoming walkin guests. Before We could finish eating desert and drinks the bussers came to the table and started clearing the table before we could. Completely disrespectful and bad business practice followed by bad customer service. I have been coming to this place for over 30 years and I have never been treated so poorly nor have I been this embarrassed by a manager in front of other dining guests seated near us. I will not recommend this place to anyone from now on. This is not even worth the one star required to even have this opinion shared. more

I have never had any complaints except occasionally some slow service (busy!). I love this place! It's really affordable and filling. more

So I had just read the reviews about the cut glass chards in the food? That is beyond horrifying. I was just going to complain about the noodles tasting like they were boiled in soapy water. So I am thinking that I will not complain about the dish water soap noodles and thank my lucky stars that my throat wasn't shredded. more

Its weird that I read another review about a chard of glass in someones food because i also found a chard of glass in my food. Along with the cutting of the throat the food was discusting.NOT WORTH THE HOSPITAL VISIT!!! more

Decor was very attractive, view of the Willamette river was very pleasant, service was prompt and accurate but the food was completely underwhelming. Spaghetti noodles were very dry and hard (didn't eat more than a bite or two of those) and the meat was very salty. Salad was very very plain and unexciting. I was surprised but when I looked at the plates of my dining partners their noodles had the same dry look as mine and they had no complaints. Maybe I am just too picky. Either way, I probably won't eat there again simply because they have gotten so commercial that they have forgotten what a really good meal consists of. more

It's not easy to please a family with three young children. We took our kids (age 1, 5, & 6) here as a special dinner out. The food is perfect for a family dinner, and the service was fantastic. The kids' menu was full of choices & bread was served quickly & cheerfully to keep everyone patient. Every meal includes salad/soup & dessert, for around $10 for the adult plates & a generous kids' meal at $5. The proof of good service is when something doesn't go as planned. When my 5 year-old didn't love his meal choice (he wasn't complaining, just not eating much), the server noticed him and quick-as-a-wink brought a different meal - without any of us asking! We had managers greet & check in with us to make sure everything was great, and all staff treated everyone (kids, too) as a special & important guest. It was great to enjoy a meal out and know that each of us was welcome, appreciated, and pleased. Thanks, OSF! more

I've been going here, as well, since I was young. The building has always intrigued me and I love it. So fun to sit on the waterfront. The food is mediocre, though. It truly does taste like something out of a can as somebody else mentioned...not fresh at all...but personally, I think tha'ts okay and it's delicious. It's reasonably priced...you get salad/soup, a meal, and dessert all inclusive for about $10. We typically have HUGE parties and don't make reservations (I only learned last night that you are now able to make reservations, as you weren't in the past) but we were still seated within 10 minutes. Not bad! 12 people. I would recommend this place. Great for a date or just a fun atmosphere. more

Ate there with friends a few weeks ago. The salad was just short of compost ready, the sauce ingredients were straight from the can and the temperature was lukewarm. Don't waste your money. Pros: Nice building Cons: the food more

Limited selection menu, over priced drinks, bus boy almost broke my arm with the dish holder. Not on my list of places to go ever again! more

I am/was a loyal customer - I grew up going to the restaurant with family - I go on average 1x/month with the family. An incident now 12 days ago - I had a shard of glass (1 inch length) in the spaghetti - it cut my tongue and my palate - fortunately I saw the bleeding out of my mouth and stopped chewing, I retrieved the glass and controlled the bleeding without making a scene in the restaurant. My wife, 3 and 5 yr old kids were at the table. This is not a joke. Obviously the meal was paid for, talked with manager that night and the following day - it is now 12 days later and I am still awaiting a call or any contact from the coorporate headquarters to see how I am doing. \r \r You can draw your own conclusions. more

The building is very beautiful and very unique inside! as soon as you enter the bright purple roofed building your welcomed with oversize chairs and a large chandeleer! the staff is very friendly and offer fast service. There is a street car right in the middle of the resturaunt were you can dine and some of the booths are made from bed frames! and the architecture inside is reall something! The menu is rather limited, i did have the mizithra and brown buttered pasta, it was good... kinda dry/bland, something i would never order again. However my boyfriend had the meatlovers lasagna and loved it, seeing how it was toppeled with sausage and ground beef and took over half his plate! we also hade the Sicilian cheesy garlic bread and we could both agree that was veryyy good! The meals come with salad/soup, bread and a scoop of ice cream for dessert ( spumoni, sherbert, vanilla) Overall the place was fun and service was fast, and although we really loved that aspect would prolly never return seeing how the menu lacked any wow factors\r \r ---- Also for the family with children: very family friendly there were lots of children seated near us and a balloon man actually came out with a huge ballon hat, and a belt with assorted colors. He made all the kids animals and hats of their choice it was very cute! the kids were in awe! Pros: fun atmosphere Cons: Food was 'blah' nothing special more

The only compliment I can give is that the service was quick and friendly. I feel for the server that has to serve this ""Italian"" style food. I really can't find anything good to say about the food, and I eat about anything. My relatives from the Old Country would probably bury me in the vineyard if I took them out to eat at this establishment. How hard is it to use mixed greens for a salad instead of the generic Iceberg lettuce? I think investing a little more money into the food instead of the decor may be a good idea. I had the ""Sicillian"" meatbaIIs which are more like meatloaf baIIs. No seafood featured, probably a good thing given the quality of the cooking. I am sure the can opener gets more use than the chef knife. In a city like Portland, you can do better blindfolded with a severe head cold in choosing a restaurant. Of course, any restaurant with Factory in the name should be warning enough. Pros: Good Service after the lunch rush Cons: everything else more

Yes, not fine dining. But where else can you get a complete meal at these prices. Friendly, smiling service. I can't wait to go back. Try the Mizithra and browned-butter over spaghetti. Very kid-friendly. Pros: Value, service Cons: Informal - not fine-dining more

My husband and I went here last night. I've heard people mention this place before and judging by the wait to be seated, it's a popular establishment.\r Because there was just the two of us, we were seated quickly, ahead of the larger parties that waited up to 15 minutes. I am a big fan of their atmosphere. Beautiful hard wood floors, large tables, interesting chairs and unique decor.\r \r It was after being seated that my good experience ended. Our waitress took so long just to take our drink order, that we had already read through the entire menu and had been waiting to give our meal order. Our drinks were delivered quickly... although she did get my order wrong. Rather than waiting for a replacement, I just drank it. I took notice that our waitress was serving a total of 6 tables. No one appeared very demanding or requiring too much time. None the less, we didn't see her again until our meals were delivered 30 minutes later... and she got the order wrong again. I ordered Chicken Parmigiana and was given Chicken Penne pasta. When I was finally given the correct dish, it was a bland, under cooked, small single chicken breast with a dolup of spaghetti and a splash of marinara sauce. Cost of material for the meal could not have exceeded one dollar. Cost to consumer: $12. I've had better Chicken Parmigiana from Hungry Man frozen dinners... and bigger portions. My husband order Chicken Vesuvius. Again, small bland portions and the noodles were too al dente.\r \r After receiving our meals, our waitress vanished for the next 20 minutes. When I finally spotted her, I asked for a refill of my soda which had been empty since the meal arrived. My refill arrived at the same time as our 2go boxes. The check took another 15 minutes.\r \r My final word: Over priced, under seasoned, under cooked, small portions with terrible service. Pros: Decor Cons: Bland food and horrid service more

This used to be my husbands favorite place....until he married an Italian... and although I'm no award winning chef, I do my fair share of Italian cooking from scratch and I must honestly ay that Speghetti Factory has some of the BLANDEST sauces I have ever had. Even the signature Myzithra dish requires you to add quite a bit of salt to bring out a sharp flavor. I work in a hospital and the patient food has more flavor then Spaghetti Factory. The bonus is that your meal will usually include a salad, bread and spamoni ice cream, although your salad consists of iceberg lettuce, where as a more traditional fresh spring mix would be more compatible with pasta, however more costly to the establishment.\r An OK place to go with Aunt Edna and Uncle Bob and the grandkids, but if your looking to venture out to experience a new taste sensation......go someplace else. Pros: Roomy, parking, all inclusive meal. Cons: lack of flavor. more

Bad, bad, bad food. I would never go back, I would never recommend this place. Never, never, never again. \r The minestrone soup was awful, the lasagna was bland, the beer was warm. \r That's my opinion and I'm sticking to it. Pros: No wait. Cons: Awful food. more

It seemed like a nice place, but my boyfriend and I sat there for about 8 minutes without being acknowledged. The servers didn't seem busy at all. We watched 3 of them walk right by us several times without a greet. We decided we didn't want to 'inconvenience' anyone so we left and went somewhere else.\r It was pretty disappointing since we were looking forward to trying something new and having a nice dinner. Cons: Service more