This review is entirely on service alone.. Setting : many open tables at 9pm in a chain restaurant on a Saturday night Hostess mentions it will be 5 to 10 mins to wait for One of their MANY empty tables. We waited 10 minutes with no one saying a word To us..we left completely on principal . Seems absurd to wait at all For what other reviews would say is subpar food. HORRIBLE front room staff..one of the other people who ignored us was likely a manager (collared long sleeve shirt) did I mention how unimpressed I was?
(1)
Christian H.
I used to go to the older one on the water front. This is my first time to this location. I was not impressed. I went with 3 of my friends. All ordered something different than one another, all had too much salt on them. I had chicken marsala. And lasagna. The lasagna was fairly good. Tasted like it was frozen or in the fridge too long. The chicken marsala tasted like it was bathed in salt. The waitress was on top of things however and was very nice. Im not sure if it was this location or this one night. Because most the time at the other location the service is great as well as the food. I wouldnt recommend this location to friends.
(3)
Flory W.
I attended a no-host reception, following a relative's funeral, at the Clackamas Spaghetti Factory. Before dinner bar bills flowed easily to us in the dining area. The limited wait staff for our large group managed much better than expected. The bread was hot and the butter cold. The green side salad was crisp and the blue cheese dressing flavorful. (Though, there was WAY too much dressing on tmy Caesar Salad! My leftover salad the next day turned into compost! I've taken out leftovers before including Caesar Salad but not from here). Together we had Spaghetti and Meatballs, and Gourmet Jumbo Crab Ravioli. Both meals were excellent in flavor and reasonably priced - even more so when you consider that we took home enough leftovers for lunch the next day. The Spumoni ice cream was the perfect ending to a great meal. Negatives: She was late getting my iced water to me. Everyone are eating their salad. For $1 more, she mentioned I could get Caesar Salad, and because of that, I was the only one who didn't come with a salad. We have to flag her again. She did came back, with another loaf of bread, that was a plus!
My first time here and was very exited about the garlic shrimp fettuccine Alfredo. First the bread was outstanding and I could not get enough. Lily was awesome and very good at her job. The shrimp was AMAZING and I will be coming back for sure and the art work they have on the walls is just as great
(5)
Teresa R.
Best waitress and manager and yummy vittles. I didn't remember ever tasting shrimp in the artichoke dip (so gross...to me) and when she asked if I enjoyed it I replied with an emphatic NO and told her I hadn't ever had it with shrimp and asked if that was new. I wasn't upset - I simply responded with the truth, when she asked. I just didn't expect the gross fishy taste. Just my thing kids - me and fish - not good. I never expected the manager to come over and let us know he took care of us. He also showed us that it was his pleasure to insure our experience by kidding around with us. I really appreciate people who are focused on providing a good customer experience. Bravo!
(4)
Scott S.
I don't usually have high hopes for chain restaurants, but there have been times when the service surprised me in a good way, so I was cautiously optimistic about what my experience would be like at The Old Spaghetti Factory. Sadly, the service was worse than I expected. We were seated immediately, but it took several minutes before someone came to take our drink orders. The young woman who came to take that order awkwardly removed two of the place settings (we were seated at a table for four). I wondered as we were taken to this table why we weren't seated at one of the many tables for two we passed on our way. We received our drinks but not the hot loaf of bread that is normally provided (we had ordered as an appetizer the cheesy garlic bread, and it was explained to us later that servers do not bring out the hot bread if a customer orders the cheesy garlic bread, unless it is asked for. This makes sense, although in past visits they did bring out both without us asking). I ordered the Sicilian meatballs, and my girlfriend the Mizithra cheese and browned butter entree. She also ordered a side of broccoli. My dish was okay, although the meatballs were overcooked and not very tender. My girlfriend's entree, on the other hand, was a different story: the pasta was sitting atop a puddle of melted butter. This is her favorite dish, and had never seen it served like this. Our server came over to check on us (and at this point it was a different person than the person who had taken our drink order, so there must have been a shift change) and we asked if the dish was supposed to be served like that. He kind of shrugged and said it was. After that, we tried the broccoli only to find it mushy and overcooked. At this point we asked to speak to the manager. He came over and we showed him the pasta dish and the overcooked broccoli. He apologized and took the dishes away, saying he'd take off the broccoli from our bill (which wasn't taken off when we got the bill). He also offered us a free desert, which was nice, although taking the value of the desert off of our bill would have been even better. In fairness, the plate of Mizithra pasta that was brought back to our table was prepared properly. At the end of our meal, we had several to-go containers on our table. Our sever did not offer us a bag to carry them in (we had to ask). And when he brought the bag, he just tossed it on the table. As someone who has worked in customer service on a supervisory level, I'd have to say that going the extra mile (such as placing our containers in the bag) would have remedied much of the disappointment from this night. I'm not sure we will be back, and The Olive Garden is just down the street with better food and better service.
(2)
Chris G.
We live pretty close to this place and we love coming here. The food is always great and the ambience is second to none. They have a faux train in the middle of the restaurant with booths that is awesome if you get to sit there. The price is middle of the road comparatively to other restaurants around here. The menu isn't huge but they have many different pasta options to choose from. Spaghetti and meatballs, clam sauce, baked lasagna etc. The entree comes with your choice of soup or salad but i definitely recommend the salad as the dressings are amazing and they make them in house. You also get unlimited bread. The portion of the entree that i got last time wasn't that large but it was still filling. Overall i definitely recommend if you're on the area!
(4)
Issac F. M.
Cody, Thank You for looking so earnestly for my daughter's lost ring. Your attention to this matter was bar none. Thank You so very much.
(5)
Tony H.
Me and my fiancee stopped there for dinner last Friday, they greeted us with great customer service. The portions a are good, the waiter that helped us, was excellent and we'll mannered.
(5)
Cynthia S.
I spoke with the general manager after sending an email. He apologized and offered to reimburse my bill. He also assured me that managers should have responded with greater attempts to compensate for the mishap. My faith in OSF is restored.
(3)
Mitch R.
So, the food here is decent enough, I thought...not fantastic, but not bad. However, my five-year-old daughter got a small ball bearing in her Italian soda, which I've posted pictures of. Fortunately she didn't choke on it; I believe it was small enough that it could have gone up the straw, so I guess she just got lucky. I contacted the manager (Kent) about the incident, and acknowledged that the ball bearing came from the machine they use to make the Italian sodas, and apologized and offered me a gift certificate to make up for it. Not a bad response...except that the gift certificate never came and I never heard from him again. This was three months ago, so I gave it plenty of time before writing this review. So, yeah...foreign objects in the food, no response from management...probably won't be going here again.
(1)
Brittany B.
I love this place. Been coming here since I left the womb. You cannot go wrong with the spaghetti meat sauce, Mac and cheese, or mazithra. For like $10 a person you get soup or salad, entree, bread, and ice cream. Their spumoni is seriously to die for. They have changed up the menu a bit which is scary for any restaurant, but I like it. They've added some fun items like the cotton candy limeaid that comes with a magic straw. The only negative I would say is that their butter for the bread has changed for the worse. Last weekend I thought I was going to die of a garlic attack... But hey I lived to post 5 stars!
(5)
Vash B.
Serviceable enough Italian food as far as chains go.
(2)
Coral S.
My husband and I went here for a date night, thinking we should check it out as some of his coworkers had recommended it. I was really disappointed in the food. True to it's name, there really isn't much else here besides spaghetti. That would be fine if their sauces were excellent. They were not! First off, the greeters at the door are ok, friendly, but they made me give them my cell phone number so they could text me when a table was ready. I was a little put off by that. Then when a table was ready, they didn't even text us, just yelled out our name. We were seated and the place is like a dining hall. There really isn't any ambiance to speak of. The tables are close together and the booths have no privacy, no high backs or anything, so it was very noisy and I felt like I was in a cafeteria. We peruse the menu and I ordered the Pot-pourri which is spaghetti with their four signature sauces so I could try them all and see what I liked best. We ordered salads for the side, and an appetizer of spinach/shrimp dip. The appetizer was pretty good. Besides having a consistency of being frozen and reheated (I'm pretty sure it was), it was tasty and came with tasty bread. If it wasn't for that, (and the prices) I would have given this place 1 star. The salads were nothing but iceberg lettuce and a couple cherry tomatoes. Boring. If I order a side salad at a restaurant, I'm going to be pissed if all I get is iceberg lettuce, which I was. I might as well eat air. The spaghetti came and all I can say is that at least they cooked the noodles correctly. The sauces were all bland and waaaay too greasy. Where is the flavor? Oh,and the spumoni ice cream was nasty! Tasted like dog poop. We won't be back. It was gross.
(2)
N C.
First off, the only reason they get 3 stars is the food. The food was good but when they served the Lasanga (which was great). No one offered to even bring over a little fresh ground pepper. Same thing with the soup. That was not the only gap in the service side. I felt a little like I had to ask for quite a bit and if you read my review of the Vancouver location, you will understand that which one you go to will make all the difference. Perhaps the Clackamas location gets all the mall traffic so they dont feel like they have to lure people in with 5 star service like the Vancouver location. So...good food, but the service felt a little like they are missing the main goal of the experience here.
(3)
Kristina M.
Beautiful restaurant! Wonderful service, really good food! :) pleased after visit, highly recommend! totally a 5 star! :) Kristina was a wonderful server :)
(5)
Gabrielle K.
I had heard about people getting food poisoning from Old Spaghetti factory and had never experienced it. I've eaten their food many times with my family. I ate there tonight. Food was good, service was fine, but the food poisoning sucks. The mizithra and pesto ranch are awesome though. Just be careful!
Not perfect but deserves 5 stars as most businesses do given yelps prejudice in rankings that you cannot trust anymore.
(5)
Mandi O.
Everything lacked flavor. Used to love coming here. I will think twice before coming back.
(1)
Nicole G.
I use to go to the one in Portland when I was a kid. I think I had rose colored glasses or its gone downhill or this place isn't as good as the other one. The sauce had almost no flavor!! Expenisve for canned sauce and packaged pasta.
(3)
Dave B.
It has been several years since we ate at the one in St Louis and it is still just as good as I remembered it, with the addition of a few new dishes. The warm bread is excellent, and the dinner salads are cold and fresh. I had the garlic and mushroom with mizithrah cheese and butter and it was perfect ... love the addition of the garlic and mushroom to their old standby. Kevin had the Sicilian meatballs and it was really good as well. Also love the scoop of spumoni ice cream that comes with the meal, nice way to end the meal. We will definitely be back.
(4)
Angela H.
After a 40 minute wait, which is typical on a Saturday night, we were seated at a table in the middle of the room. There isn't booth seating for big groups, and we had six, but it was fine. We love the hot sourdough bread and whipped butter. Each meal comes with choice of minestrone soup or salad and I usually get salad because I love their creamy pesto house dressing which is basically ranch with a little pesto, very good. The minestrone is delicious too. I had gluten free pasta with white clam sauce, my fave, a huge portion. Others at the table had meatballs, chicken marsala (which was great) and of course the white clam sauce. Their broccoli with browned butter and mizythra cheese on top is amazing and worth ordering a side to share with the table. Ice cream comes with dinner, and we always enjoy the spumoni. Everyone liked their food, although I felt terrible afterwards, probably too much rich for me. Our waiter brought us more bread and butter and kept my husbands ice tea full. Everything was fine but I wouldn't say above average. Note-they take reservations up to two hours ahead of time, but will not do call ahead seating, so you have to wait, and wait you will.
(3)
Penelope K.
I like the decor and the food is always good. Really like the Sicilian meatballs but this place is starting to be more like a fancy Olive Garden. I think the food used to be a bit better. Great service though!
(3)
Cynthia X.
The service here has really gone downhill. We were among 3 other tables who waited over 15 minutes just to get our menus. Didn't even get water until after our salads were served. Love the food there, but the wait is ridiculous.
(2)
Chuck M.
I don't understand all the negative reviews for this OSF...it is in a great location with plenty of parking or you can even walk from the Courtyard across the street as I did. The atmosphere is very nice, the staff is polite and helpful....they actually project the image that they appreciate your business...!!! The food is fantastic...I try various items on the menu but seem to really enjoy the Managers Special...either getting mizithra cheese and clam, or meat sauce.I love the warm bread and butter, and the salad with blue cheese. Usually I only get an ice tea and water for my drink. What else can you say about the OSF...it is spaghetti friends...!!!
(4)
Bob M.
I always forget about this great place, as it is kind of tucked back from the main drag of Sunnyside in Clackamas. The bar is great and we usually get seated right away, even if the main dining is packed with a wait. as a lot of family's do come here. I love the hot bread they serve and the beer selection is not bad either. Their house salad dressing is very good & I love their chicken parm! It's a great place when hungry and everything else in the area is packed with a wait!
(5)
Kenny H.
People really need to relax with the Food Snob crap in Portland sometimes. Yes, I am alll for supporting organic, all local ingredients.. I am. But let's face it. MOST places you eat at, unless they market the heck out of buying from local farms and producers, they use restaurant service companies. Get. OVER. IT. They are successful because they are GOOD. With that, I LOVE Spag Hag. Sketti Factory. Skettis.. etc... Pet Names for Dayz. The food is consistent. I love the fresh sour dough (and YES, I vastly prefer sour dough over tasteless artisan white loafs of Italian breads.. I make my garlic bread at home out of it it, too). The Garlic Butter is the Shite. The creamy pesto salad on a bed of ice burg lettuce, croutons... it WORKS. Some how, it just taste great! I dip mah bread right in the remaining yummy pesto. YUM! They make a mean Marinara here, the Mushroom Sauce is always a hit too. I love the Managers Special with one half Clam sauce and one half Mushroom. I pay a couple bucks extra for the Extra Hearty Portion. Yes.. I have an American Appetite. I Eat a LOT. Spaghetti Factory understands this. I am grateful. One thing I am less than thrilled with is that they charge for ice tea, coffee, and milk now with pasta dishes. That was Sketti's "thing" forevers. Free drink. Oh well, I stick with water since none of those things set my world afire, and the ice tea just kept me up at night. But, sometimes a coffee with Spumoni (still FREE with any meal) is damn guud! Sometimes we get the House Carafe of red wine. Affordable and tasty. Also love a monster size Ninkasi IPA. The Clackamas one is not nearly as cool as the Portland Waterfront one. The waits shorter, so that is cool. I go here when we need to do other stuff int he area and there really is not anything else I would want, anyway. I have been hitting Skeddi Factory since I was born. We took our 2 weeks old here, the first outing. It is tradition. It always will be in my family. After a trip to Kaiser, Costco, or REI.. I start craving Skeddis.. great lunch or dinner option. I am so glad they are here in Crackamas.
(4)
Gary L.
Suoer good service , good food , good clean dining room ... the prices here are probably the best thing !!! My wife and I ate dinner here warm loaf of bread , entrees chicken parmigiana & spagetti with mushroom sauce , salads and dessert and tip for less money than our last meal out at a local fast food restaurant. !!!
(4)
JP R.
I ordered Angel Hair pasta. It was a take on Angel Hair pasta but thicker. The sauce was good and the meatballs were okay. Food is 2.5 stars slightly above average. Where they get a 2 star review over 3 is they don't have fresh parmesan cheese like Olive Garden, their bread comes on a cutting board and is borderline cold and stiff, the salad should just be called lettuce with dressing, absolutely no vegetables, tomato, etc. at all in the salad. There was a hair in my salad too. Not appetizing. The service was good though. The waitress was very nice. But being Italian and brought up on Italian food, this is just very Americanized average food, which is a bit costly. Average per person $12-14.
(2)
Melanie M.
I love the atmosphere! The servers were helpful and really nice..the food is excellent! Great place to go:)
(4)
Ali B.
No just no. I've had a better TV dinner than here. Service was sad, had to wait for my ice to melt in order to get second glass of water. Bread and soup were good. I'd met a friend here who likes this place. It wasn't till I noticed how bland, bought-in and microwaved the food is that I realized he's a single guy who doesn't do a lot of cooking so a plate of regular Barilla noodles and canned sauce would be tasty to him if it came with free ice cream at the end. The atmosphere was odd too. The wait staff all ignored each other, wouldn't make eye contact or smile. I noticed a waiter trip on a big mat coming out of the kitchen he looked back and kept walking (he had plates in his hands,) the next guy comes out of the kitchen empty handed and sees the bunched up rug and goes around it, the next waitress trips on it heading in with empty plates but a waitress going in the kitchen went around the rug too. It was odd and the whole thing started over again when there was a small spill of water on the floor! Slip a tad, ignore it, go around it as if everyone was in a bad mood. The place was busy when we first arrived (must have been the tail end of the early bird?) but cleared out a ton shortly after. It was still loud as everyone tried to hear each other over one another. Maybe I just ordered the wrong thing? My chicken parm and spaghetti was less tasty than a Lean Cuisine. One friends entree salad was ice burg, rock hard avocado, bits of bacon, and that same bland small flat weirdly breaded chicken not even cut in strips but just served on the side. The other friend had spaghetti noodles with their heavily advertised white cheese. He likes that place and still warned me not to order the broccoli.
(2)
Eric E.
Excellent food as always. The service was great as well. The only thing I don't like about this one is the location and the parking situation. Much prefer the one downtown, it has a really nice view and a pretty big parking lot.
(4)
Richard T.
Wife and I and Son happened to be in the area and Son loves pasta! So we shuffled in for a quick bite. I haven't been to a Spaghetti Factory for years so didn't know what to expect. Oh my goodness..... The service was almost comedic! The person who seated us was reciting the specials before we even sat, so no one could even hear her. We finally ordered and the plates were literally thrown at us on the table when they came. I literally laughed when they did it because I never experienced this. The next round of food came the same way by another person serving us. It was literally so hilarious that we imitated it through out our dinner by throwing each other a slice of bread or plate. The overall experience was very disappointing and I will never go back. The food was sub-par too. Lots of changes need to be made. It usually trickles down from the top by poor management/ownership ..
(2)
Jason G.
Tonight my family ate dinner here. We usually love this place but tonight we had a bad experience. We were sat in the caboose and we waited for more then 10 minutes before the waitress acknowledged us, then we felt as though we were a burden to her. We told her we'd like waters and then we ordered. After she left to put the order in, my 9 year old daughter looked at me and said, 'somebody loves her job, NOT!' I also ordered a soda and it took effort on my behalf to get ONE refill. Needless to say, we ate as fast as we could and paid our bill without even getting the free ice cream. Maybe she was having a bad day, who knows? Wish I could've got her name!!!! Terrible customer service! OSF should look in to better training or get rid of some people who are not willing to show excellent customer service!!!
(2)
Robert L.
It's a corporate place that makes a mint off of pasta. The only way they have higher margins is if it was called the "Old Potato Factory". The food is consistent and you'll be full (if you aren't, then you need to rethink your life choices!). The wait staff is usually good and the environment is pretty cool for what it is. If you want to step in to the more sophisticated menu options, be warned, they aren't that special. If you must do a corporate Italian restaurant, Macaroni Grill tends to have it nailed better and there are usually fewer screaming babies or ginormous parties with ginormous patrons yelling and screaming down the table to their cousin 18 chairs down the table. Anyway, get the "Homer". Really good.
(3)
John N.
Food was very good. Prices seem fair. My server Jesse was fantastic. I highly recommend Old Spaghetti Factory for good pasta at a fair price.
(5)
Thee I.
Let's get down to it. The old spaghetti factory is good. It's a great place for large parties, families, or just the two of you. Are they breaking any records for the best pasta you'll ever have? No. But it is good and osf is always a fun place for a good meal. Good service also.
(3)
C K.
I was with a group of 7. We each order something different. Everything was very good and reasonably priced. A good value. Service was friendly and attentive. Would definitely return.
(4)
Maximillian R.
Only if you like food that is sent to them from a food service company with no chef, not housemaid, and Luke-warm should you eat here. You could, quite literally, get the same food from Sam's or Costco, heat it up yourself, and would be the same or better.
(1)
Eddie S.
The best way I can put it is: "The food is a bit fussy and stale."
(2)
Grumpy W.
I ordered a dish where the title sounded good. I did not realize until it arrived on the table that the dish had bacon in it. I do not eat pork. I told the waitress and she immediately replaced my dish without bacon. Staff was great from the time we arrived until we left. Food was great. Bathrooms were clean and well supplied. I will return!
(5)
Shane M.
Not impressed by the service. The food here is satisfying. The structure of the building has an aesthetic design; most notably the high dark wooden ceilings. My critique isn't on the food, but rather the service, which to me contributes to 90% of my experience. The service is done in an immature and uncaring manner. The people I encountered are young humans who didn't show respect or appreciation towards me. I simply felt as though I was treated like a typical customer, which is disrespectful. Ok, so this is what the waitress did that irritated me: first she comes to the table and doesn't tell us her name. Then I ask about the Mizithra cheese and she points to a place mat that has four pictures on it, she leaves and I analyze the place mat. I couldn't figure out which picture she was talking about. Come to find out their specialty cheese is simply crumbled or shredded onto pasta. I enjoyed the dish, but when you communicate with another person, you must make 100% sure you get your message across to that person. You don't point at a place mat with four pictures. This was my first time to this restaurant. I am ignorant to what is on their menu, so if she wasn't so lazy and stupid she should have made sure I knew what this famous cheese dish looked like. Also, they give you complementary sour dough bread. That's great, but I want my bread as soon as possible. I don't want my bread when I"m being served my appetizer! I won't go back here. If you appreciate food more than customer service then you should have no problem here, but I won't go back to this place.
(2)
Jerry L.
Just like any other old spaghetti factory that I'm used to. Waiter was very attentive and everything was served right.
We came to the OSF for a family birthday gathering and had made reservations. Got to the restaurant 15 minutes early and checked in. The hostess said we would be seated at the time of our reservation and handed us a pager. That was fine, where the problem lied was we didn't get seated for a half hour after our reservation time which made it 45 minutes we were standing around. When we approached the hostess about the time frame she made it out that since we had added 4 more people to our reservation that was the problem. The problem with her logic was we had called it in 4 hours earlier. The manager came up and also made an excuse and once he was told the reviews for the service wouldn't be with high marks, we were seated ASAP. Was seated in a large room that had at a minimum 4 large tables (empty) that would of accommodated our group. So couldn't figure out OSF's problem. The good out of this that once seated we were treated like royalty. Manager and servers were at the table non stop. Also the meals were very good. Not sure I'd recommend OSF for a large group, even with a reservation if OSF doesn't really get you in at a timely fashion. That is not acceptable . Not good customer service which is just as important as the food.
(3)
Aaron M.
Good prices, above average food and a pretty cool staff. Always a great place for big group parties. Ate hear several times before. Never anything spectacular, but always dependably good for sure.
(4)
John L.
Every once in a while we'll crave mizithra cheese. Decent spaghetti at great prices. Manager's favorite is the way to go!! Also like the cheese bread, broccoli with sprinkled mizithra. Never really tried anything else because I can't get away from the spaghetti.
(4)
Dona L.
Good food at great prices. Adorable old street car turned booths. Fairly good customer service. We'll be back when we feel like pasta and oh so yummy minestrone soup:)
(3)
Michael B.
Their lunch selections are few and prices for lunch are over priced for the amount of food you receive. I paid $8 for what was supposed to be a Ham & Cheddar Cheese Panini, it was basically a glorified grilled ham & cheese sandwich with a very small amount of ham in it. Haven't tried dinner there so far, so I cannot compare their dinner selections with lunch selections. Probably will not return. Their lunch selections have been pared down from what they used to be. Will probably not return for lunch.
(1)
John K.
I enjoy this place. Nice decor. The bread is always warm. I had the clam fettuchini this time and it was good. and I love the spumoni.
(4)
Mariko B.
Let's be honest, when you have a party of 18 and need to feed seniors as well as kids your options are limited. Still, I wish the OSF would keep up with the times. Give us some healthy options with some fresh or creative ingredients! If I can eat my entire week's worth of calories, sodium and fat in a single sitting, that meal better leave me moaning in an ecstatic pasta bliss that I dream about for days on end. If that were the case I would throw my head back, drool like Homer Simpson and write a five star review while resting my laptop on my stuffed but happy fat-belly. Unfortunately, OSF falls far short of their potential and I can't say I'll be back until I've got a dinner with my 20 closest friends... even then I'll probably call around first...
(2)
B S.
I tried the SW location and was very disappointed but wanted to give it another try and I hit the Clackamas location. Nope. Not one more time. Want better lasagna? Make your own or buy Stauffers. Thank goodness for the superior service. Yuck yuck yuck food.
(1)
Amy A.
This places Spinach tortellini is the very best I have ever had. I don't care for the bread loaves...smells a little like play-do that you play with when you are a child. Me and my kids had a great time there and enjoyed all the food we ordered!!
(4)
Joseph K.
I had to send my spaghettini back twice so I could even see the sauce. When it was served there was virtually no sauce on the pasta!
(2)
Joshua K.
Where to start cause honestly nothing good I can say about this place and here is my experience in a nutshell to start off right off the bat I went to use the restroom an every toilet seat had something on it either urine or other bodily fluids one of which looked to be either vomit or feces on it so I went an politely told the manager about it he said he would have some one attend to it an well about an hour an half two hours later i had to use the restroom again an that one seat still had the vomit or whatever it was on it so I went an told the manager yet again. Then we finally got sat at the table server came an took our drink orders which took 15-20 minutes to get our drinks, an then after receiving our drinks with every refill they brought they would set down the new glass but leave the empty glass sitting on the table not only that i personally sat there with a completely empty glass for 12 minutes before finally getting a refill which is just unacceptable. Then we got our food an I got a salad which I had the balsamic vinegarette which tasted like straight up olive oil then we got our entrees which my dad had the shrimp Alfredo an the shrimp literally tasted like mud we had three different people try the shrimp an every person said the same thing that the shrimp tasted like mud, my mom had the crab ravioli an the sauce had way to much pesto an the ravioli was like a tomato ravioli that over powered the crab, my sister ordered Mac an cheese for her 8 month old baby which tasted like just plain noodles no cheese what so ever, then with my meal I got this special number three or something like that which came two Sicilian meatballs spaghetti and an Italian sausage the sausage was cold the sauce on the noodles had no flavor an the meatballs were suppose to come with sauce on them and they had no sauce. As for the table, chairs, an silverware, the table an chairs all felt greasy an slippery my fork had dried on food on it my butter knife had a thumb print smudge all the down the side of blade my mom had two dirty utensils also. So for my overall honest opinion as being an industry professional an having been in this industry for 12+ years out of a ten I would rate this place, experience, an service about a two. So all I can say is come here on your own free will but beware and don't expect great things.
(1)
Terry C.
This place is average at best. The interior of the place is nice but the food is ok at best. We finished our meal but it sort of felt that it could have been better. The server, Matt, was really cool. He recommended a drink for my GF and was pretty cool person overall. The place mats they had on the table were for the upcoming beer and pasta run, which they sponsored as well as Widmer Brothers. The paper mat instructed that if we wanted a pamphlet we should ask the server. When we asked Matt about it he didn't know anything about any pamphlet and looked at the paper mat. He laughed and said that management didn't say anything about this. So he went out of his way to look for a pamphlet. When he returned he said that the managers didn't have any of the pamphlet to begin with. So he gave us another paper place mat, folded it and wrote "pamphlet" on it. Which was really funny, at least he found an alternative. One complaint I have about the place is that the section we sat at had quite a few people there. When they all left the tables were obvouisly messy...so answer is to clean it up. It never was cleaned up. Maybe it was because it wasn't busy anymore but it wasn't very nice to look at either. The prices is pretty spendy for average food.
(3)
Jeff H.
This place always serves the warmest bread out of all The Old Spaghetti Factories I've been to. I know it's the same bread at every location, but it ALWAYS comes out almost too hot to touch here. It tastes so much better when it's warm and the garlic butter just melts as soon as it touches the surface of sourdough goodness. The rest of the food is exactly the same as the other locations, and the service is about on par too. I wish OSF would offer a soup and bread lunch like Olive Garden (hate that place) does. Oh well, I guess I can always hope.
(3)
Erich S.
I feel like i like this place because of the nostalgia more than the food, however, the food is pretty good.
(4)
John E.
When I go to an Italian place for dinner I want to feel like I have been transported to Palermo watching Patton and his tanks parade down the street or Parma sitting in the stands watching Parma FC dismantle an opponent in my mind as the flavors flow like waves over my tongue. I want to get lost in the food, maybe a little ambiance from the surroundings would help without going too over the top (old travel agency posters of Italy on the wall is not acceptable). I want to imagine the smell of the Tyrrhenian Sea wafting past my nostrils. After walking into the Old Spaghetti Factory my feet, my nostrils and my imagination were firmly planted in Clackamas, Oregon, sitting at the crease between two tables put together for our party of seven that were not the same height. Yup, I wasn't goin' anywhere but right here, right now. Bye Patton, bye Tyrrhenian Sea. There were some good aspects of our evening, we were celebrating the three birthdays in two days for me, my Mother In Law and my Brother in Law. Can you imagine the hell my poor Wife goes through this time of year? We were seated pretty fast and the service throughout the meal was consistent and friendly, refills without asking, crayons and place-mat for the my little Tax Deduction and Splenda in the sugar boxes for my average, nothing special but not bad iced tea. And then the food came. First we got salads; well hold on, calling them salads is a disservice to salads at, lets say, Winco or McDonalds. We got lettuce with little tiny croutons and not much of it. They did bring some bread, it was hot and there was lots of it, but it was more a french bread than an Italian bread. Shortly thereafter we received our entree's. I ordered the meat platter, a sausage, two meatballs and spaghetti. I have never in my life had meatballs that were so densely packed. I was not sure whether to be impressed or horrified, so I chose the middle ground and was mildly amused. The sausage was overcooked, like one of those poor last sausages or hot dogs at AM/PM or 7-11 on the hot rollers that no one has the guts to take. It actually had an alright taste to it though. The spaghetti was just a tad too al-dente for me, I'm not saying it was not cooked well, it just wasn't how I like it, but it wasn't bad enough to send back. In all I will remember this evening for excellent company, fun conversation and the humor of watching the Tax Deduction tackle a plate of spaghetti with loads of "snow" (shaker cheese). Will I come back? Probably one day, it's one of the Mother in Law's favorite places, or one day I could be afflicted with Alzheimer's and wander here from the mall.
(2)
Jose F.
Really good place to eat... Nice place to go on a date to. The food is delicious and the prices are so cheap I've spent very little when I take my whole family out to eat. Been going here for about 5years already... They have the cutest girls working there too
(4)
Patrick M.
Basically an old staple food place from my youth. Food and quality have always been consistent. Service is great and gotta love the Manager's Special!
(4)
Lacey H.
Absolutely love their spaghetti with meat sauce. They have also started serving gluten free items!!
(5)
Anna B.
The Old Spaghetti Factory is good for two groups of people: People who hate good food and 6-year-olds having a birthday party. The food here is a teensy weensy step above the pre-packaged sludge that the Macaroni Grill slings but not by much. The menu claims that they make their sauces daily- that may be the only difference between the two. However, I'm pretty sure that those "homemade" sauces are chock full of high fructose corn syrup and red dye #40. Non-meat eaters are going to be out of luck except for pasta/marinara. The only two salads on the menu are what I like to call non-healthy-salads (bacon, eggs, cheese- all delicious things, but neither low-cal or Italian). They now offer a side of broccoli doused in cheese, and that's the only veg side available. Hmmm... that actually sounds kind of good right now... When I was six, I'm pretty sure I had the best birthday dinner EVER at the Old Spaghetti Factory in downtown Denver, CO. You know, you invite all your buddies and sit in the special traincar that they replicate for every OSF in the country. You feel frickin' rad getting the 'free' spumoni for desert. You feel like the conductor of the Italian train. Then you grow a palate and go back with coworkers one day and are horrified. The best I could do today was ordering whole wheat spaghetti with the plain marinara (and the sauce/pasta ratio was all off- I ended up spooning on the cheesy bread dipping sauce). Everyone (but one guy who had the chicken panini, which he enjoyed) else at the table had pasta with mizithra, which is a wonderful and glorious cheese... but I have my doubts the OSF is using real mizithra. The scant tablespoon sprinkled atop my coworkers' plates looked like Bel Gioso Romano, to be honest. And we all know that's not a real cheese. Good spot when you have a large crowd or a work function to accommodate, a cheese-bread craving, and a willingness to spend $10+ on some fake Italian food. But with so many other great options in town, probably not worth it if it is on your own credit card. The highlight of the visit was actually zoning out on the stock "vintage" photo of old streetcars in Brooklyn and pretending they were those 3D posters that were really popular in 1992. I thank those posters for teaching me how to intentionally cross my eyes and get nauseous. Just like the OSF.
(1)
max S.
I love this place. It's in my top 10. Their prices went up a little. But their good food and great service makes up for it. Dinners are usually all inclusive if you order an entree; milk, tea or coffee, soup or salad, bread and ice cream for dessert. There are two locations in Portland and one in Vancouver. I've been going to The Old Spaghetti Factory since I was a kid. I lived in Sacramento for a couple of years where there are two OSF locations. Both locations are not great. Food and service don't compare to the three OSFs here in OR and WA.
(5)
Tommy T.
When I was younger, ate meat, and didn't know about decent restaurants my family would go here. I celebrated many a birthday being sung to by strangers and having ice cream with a candle in it. The unlimited bread and butter as well as unlimited soda refills were the highlights for younger me. My family would dress up to come eat here and treat it like a fancy restaurant, eating under fancy chandeliers with a riverfront view. Now that I am older and vegan it's hard to appreciate a chain restaurant with little options for me to eat. It's easy to see why hordes of suburbanites would go for this but it's not for me anymore.
(2)
Bryan A.
I've eaten here before and really enjoyed it. Went again last night and didn't really like my food, but my family liked theirs. I had a the Chicken Parmigiana and it was so over seasoned I almost couldn't eat it. The marinara was fantastic, the spaghetti that came along with it was great, liked the basic salad with creamy pesto dressing, great bread....it was just that dang chicken. Staff were all really friendly and quick.
(3)
Stephanie B.
Easy to book groups. Service is alright. Food is tolerable. Fair to middlin'. I don't go there except for group events, or if it's someone else's idea.
(2)
Ashley C.
I was out visiting my mom in Washington, and she works in Clackamas. She wanted my boyfriend and I to come out and get dinner with her, so we did. She chose this place. I had never heard of it before, and when we walked inside it was the coolest looking place ever! Too bad the food was mediocre and something I could have easily made at home. The service wasn't bad either...when my mom didn't like her dish they were more than willing to get her something else in replacement. If you're hungry with no where to go...I guess this is a good option. I won't be eating there again!
(2)
Mark B.
OK my friends dad is at the kaiser hospital, and I don't know this part of town and we wound up here. Food was OK and not to expensive but nothing memorable. Ah well I'm sure it was better and probably cheaper then the hospital cafeteria,,,,and the bread was fresh and hot.
(2)
Ashley K.
Nice restaurant, good service, mediocre food. When I first walked into this restaurant, I was in awe of the decor. When the food came out though, I was sadly disappointed. It looked like they just grabbed it out of the freezer, microwaved it, and slapped it down on the plate. I was not impressed by the taste of the pasta I had ordered either. I've tried it out a couple other times after that, and everytime, the food is just 'meh' to me. A great place for families and huge groups, but the food is just 'okay'. Give it a try anyway if you've never gone, you might like it better than me.
(3)
Trey D.
its just okay its very cheap for the big portions and has great friendly clean service but it doesn't cut it when comparing to olive garden
(3)
Haley O.
We went here for a family birthday party. Our group was about 50 people in the private room. Our 3-4 servers were very accommodating and friendly; however it's a shame that they had to serve us the food. I think the salad was the best part, which isn't saying much. I had the ravioli that was probably frozen before it was microwaved and put on my plate. I won't comment on the temperature because I work in event planning and know it can be tricky to keep food hot in these situations. I had never been to the Spaghetti Factory, but I'm from Texas and we had a place (that has since gone out of business) called the Spaghetti Warehouse that was equally as disappointing. Here are my suggestions to the cooks at Spaghetti Factory: 1. If you haven't heard of garlic, you should research it. It's an aromatic spice that is sometimes used in Italian food. I prefer to use it by the gallon, but since it's a new concept for you, you could try starting with a cup or two in your sauce. 2. Try using fresh beef in your lasagna. The stuff that was layered in between your noodles seemed like something I would have gotten from a Staouffer's frozen dinner. 3. Invest in a salad spinner. My salad was crisp but the lettuce was quite watery, which subsequently made my dressing watery. I will not be going back to Spaghetti Factory unless another beloved family member decides to have a birthday party there. I would suggest you make alternate plans as well (even Olive Garden would be a step up). We live in Portland, there are hundreds of local, authentic Italian restaurants that will exceed your expectations and won't cost you much more.
(2)
Daniel N.
Stopped by for lunch with my friend the other day, this place is a classic. I've been here too many times to count. The food is good, what can I say, however the prices are a bit steep for how much food you're getting. I stopped by lunch time, so I got the lunch special but had it been non-lunch time I probably wouldn't have stopped by. Customer service was good, no complaints here, however my menu was still dirty and I was sitting with an empty glass of water for too long. All that aside, it's a decent place for lunch, give it a shot.
(3)
Michael H.
This location is very good and the decor is great. The staff seem pleasant enough. The only thing is they do not seem to go the above that some places do. The chicken Marsala is good and worth every bite as is the bread with the meals. I do prefer the downtown location a bit better.
(4)
Tom T.
Menu is same ol' same ol', Nothing out of the ordinary. Spaghetti was uninspiring, my tortellinis and flank steak tasted like it was from a "Hungry Man" frozen dinner. the prices where inexpensive though. Wow. Maybe the elderly will enjoy this venue more than me. Good thing for gift cards.
(2)
Phil M.
Had a meal here as part of a large Christmas party. Normally not a fan of chain Italian fare, but I must say, the crab ravioli I had was pretty good. The decor/theme does not match the menu at all (What is this, the Old West? Victorian times?) but kudos for them being able to properly handle a large number of people. May update this if I ever have a full, non-company-party meal here, but for now, I deem it "not bad at all".
(3)
S S.
Ate at the bar since I was by myself. Had the Chicken Parm. It was good, but I still like Olive Garden's better. The chocolate mousse cake was amazing. The bartender, Hila, provided great service. Overall, nice restaurant.
(4)
L J.
I was craving a pasta really bad and there is no italian restaurant's around where I live. In San Diego The Old Spaghetti Factory is really known, so I went there because I'm familiar with it. It was just me and my boyfriend so getting a seat when the place is packed was easy. Our bread was kinda like cutting through a piece of wood but it was delicious and with that I ordered a Minestrone soup. For my meal I ordered A Breast of a Fetticini (not sure what it was called). It was good except the dry flavorless broccoli. The place was pretty busy I do perfer something quieter and we had a little girl sitting behind us was dancing and singing Katie Perry/Lady Gaga songs...for a whole hour.
(3)
Joe M.
If I havn't been to Pastini Pastaria, I would give more credit to this. I have always enjoyed the food here for the most part. You get plentiful portions along with the bread and salad. The ice cream is pretty good too if you have room left. Lately, the service has been spotty, hit or miss. The clackamas location is one of the more nicely and imaginative decorative. Out of all 3 italian spots in the clackamas town center area, this is the best bet.
(3)
Esther O.
Uch. Ok, the food is fine, and the setting is nice if you get to sit in one of the areas with the fun armchairs, but c'mon - all they serve is pasta and sauce. Why why why is this a successful business model? My dinner cost $9 for a meal I could've made at home for $1. I don't get it. There is nothing particularly special about the atmosphere, and the food is no better than dumping a box of pasta in boiling water at home and heating up a jar of spahetti sauce.
(2)
Rex S.
I've been coming here for years and you always get the same thing. Decent food, good prices. The service can be hit or miss, depending on who you get. This is a good place for kids, as it is usually kind of loud in here. The food is always pretty good, but the place can get busy at peak hours. If you just want some cheap pasta and a relaxed family atmosphere, try it.
(4)
Rebecca H.
The parents in law are visiting and took us here. It was incredibly busy, but why I don't know. The place is faux-aged and is definitely cheesy. It has a sort of bordello-saloon-grandma's house feel, as if those could all go together. Maybe for some grandmas it does. The food is incredibly amazingly mediocre. From the pasty, doughy white bread, to the bland marinara, the extra fatty salad dressing, all of it was just too bland to warrant more than a less than enthused, "Meh." It is cheap...under 40 bucks for dinner for 4 peeps, and that included a few beers. Nice enough service, a bit slow but they were very busy. I don't feel the need to ever go back.
(2)
Krystal O.
Don't come here expecting much. When I first walked in I felt under dressed because everything looks so fancy.. but it's all faux fancy. The food was good the service was alright. A step above the Olive Garden, that's for sure, but they still give you the old iceberg lettuce bagged salad and I can't stand that...
(3)
Mikey V.
I was drunk and the spaghetti and meat sauce with Italian sausage was not very good. The sausage was overcooked, and the spaghetti and meat sauce was unremarkable. This place gets two stars because the drinks are stiff. Each meal should come with 3 well cocktails. That's the only way to make the experience semi-enjoyable.
(2)
Alison M.
Good portions, cheap meals, free bread, and good service. Cannot go wrong here. They are a chain, yes, but they still have good food. The mizithra cheese and crowned butter mixed with marinara sauce is my favorite, but the baked chicken is good as well. Sometimes I venture out from what I know, and so far I have only been disappointed once. The spinach and cheese raviolis were terrible!! Went there with my boyfriend's parents and they got the crab raviolis and said they were the exact opposite to the other raviolis they offer. I'm not much of a crab eater, so I'll take their word for it! Though i will say that sometimes the sauce can be a little watery... The coolest thing though is that your meal automatically comes with either soup or salad, tea, milk, or coffee, and ice cream at the end as well as the loaf of sourdough (I think...) bread that comes to your table. The wait staff is really nice and the looks of this place are really fun. Who doesn't wanna eat inside a trolley?!
(4)
Mike L.
My girlfriend and I decided to grab a quick meal the other night after shopping at the Old Spaghetti Factory at Clackamas. I usually don't go for chain restaurants but I thought the food and service here was good. Granted it wasn't the most authentic italian food I've ever had, it was definitely good.
(3)
MIKE J.
old spaghetti factory back in the 80's was a great deal and good food - now that they have like 100 places all over the prices went up and service went to hell in a hand basket... over priced and not enough salad dressing so get a can of hunts and some bake at home french bread and stay home
Takes Reservations : Yes Delivery : No Take-out : Yes Accepts Credit Cards : Yes Good For : Lunch Parking : Private Lot Bike Parking : Yes Wheelchair Accessible : Yes Good for Kids : Yes Good for Groups : Yes Attire : Casual Ambience : Casual Noise Level : Average Alcohol : Full Bar Outdoor Seating : No Wi-Fi : No Has TV : No Waiter Service : Yes Caters : No
The immense popularity of Italian cuisine globally isn't unknown. You can find an Italian Pizzeria around every corner of almost every city in the United States. Not to forget that in every house, people enjoy mac and cheese as comfort food. But it would be wrong to believe that Italian food starts with pizza and ends with good pasta as this Mediterranean country has much more to offer other than these two dishes. In Italian Cuisine, there is a high use of fresh tomatoes, all kinds of herbs, great quality of cheese, all types of meat, seafood and fresh handmade pasta. Many find it hard to believe that Italians have been making noodles long back.
Italian and Greek cuisines are always mistaken to be same, but they are poles apart. The primary difference between the two cuisines is the use of cheese in most of the Italian dishes. Italians love to cultivate their own cheese and process them as per their food requirement. It is believed that some cheese is so expensive that cheese producers secure them in lockers.
If you are bored eating the same old pasta or pizza, you can try some of the authentic Italian dishes like Risotto, Polenta, Ribollita, Lasagna, Fiorentina Steak, Bottarga, Ossobuco, Carbonara, Focaccia, Arancini and Supplì. Another item which Italians love to relish every morning is a good cup of Italian Coffee. Once you taste a freshly brewed cup of Italian Coffee, you might not visit Starbucks ever again. Authentic Italian food is made with heart and soul, so go find a restaurant where you can relish Italian cuisine in your city.
Dena D.
This review is entirely on service alone.. Setting : many open tables at 9pm in a chain restaurant on a Saturday night Hostess mentions it will be 5 to 10 mins to wait for One of their MANY empty tables. We waited 10 minutes with no one saying a word To us..we left completely on principal . Seems absurd to wait at all For what other reviews would say is subpar food. HORRIBLE front room staff..one of the other people who ignored us was likely a manager (collared long sleeve shirt) did I mention how unimpressed I was?
(1)Christian H.
I used to go to the older one on the water front. This is my first time to this location. I was not impressed. I went with 3 of my friends. All ordered something different than one another, all had too much salt on them. I had chicken marsala. And lasagna. The lasagna was fairly good. Tasted like it was frozen or in the fridge too long. The chicken marsala tasted like it was bathed in salt. The waitress was on top of things however and was very nice. Im not sure if it was this location or this one night. Because most the time at the other location the service is great as well as the food. I wouldnt recommend this location to friends.
(3)Flory W.
I attended a no-host reception, following a relative's funeral, at the Clackamas Spaghetti Factory. Before dinner bar bills flowed easily to us in the dining area. The limited wait staff for our large group managed much better than expected. The bread was hot and the butter cold. The green side salad was crisp and the blue cheese dressing flavorful. (Though, there was WAY too much dressing on tmy Caesar Salad! My leftover salad the next day turned into compost! I've taken out leftovers before including Caesar Salad but not from here). Together we had Spaghetti and Meatballs, and Gourmet Jumbo Crab Ravioli. Both meals were excellent in flavor and reasonably priced - even more so when you consider that we took home enough leftovers for lunch the next day. The Spumoni ice cream was the perfect ending to a great meal. Negatives: She was late getting my iced water to me. Everyone are eating their salad. For $1 more, she mentioned I could get Caesar Salad, and because of that, I was the only one who didn't come with a salad. We have to flag her again. She did came back, with another loaf of bread, that was a plus!
(4)Loren K.
I make excellent spaghetti at home either with a delicious meat sauce, or to die for clam sauce. And I have yet to find spaghetti in Portland or elsewhere that meets my standards since (RIP) The Chat n' Nibble on N.E. Sandy Blvd; Or Lido's on 10th & Belmont closed. You old timers in the know are nodding and weeping in agreement as am I. However, once in a while (birthdays, graduations, etc.) we will go to Old Spaghetti Factory for dinner. The salad with house dressing (pesto/ranch) is very good, warm bread & butter compliment, and I always order the managers special with mizithra cheese & brown butter sauce/meat sauce combination. I start out eating the spaghetti with each sauce individually, but end up mixing the two together with lots of black pepper and parmesan cheese. My daughter likes the Mizithra/clam sauce combo. Both are pretty good. In fact the best restaurant spaghetti I've found since (sniff) my old favorites went to pasta heaven. And I always look forward to the scoop of excellent spumoni. BTW, It's Carnation. I asked. (More whining) Why don't they sell it in the stores? Inferior brands yes but Carnation no. Great atmosphere too. Although I prefer a hole in the wall place serving great fare over a fancy shmancy place serving gruel. OSF has both good food and great décor. Love the street car! Wait staff does get overwhelmed at times but no real complaints from my visits.
(3)Andrew L.
My first time here and was very exited about the garlic shrimp fettuccine Alfredo. First the bread was outstanding and I could not get enough. Lily was awesome and very good at her job. The shrimp was AMAZING and I will be coming back for sure and the art work they have on the walls is just as great
(5)Teresa R.
Best waitress and manager and yummy vittles. I didn't remember ever tasting shrimp in the artichoke dip (so gross...to me) and when she asked if I enjoyed it I replied with an emphatic NO and told her I hadn't ever had it with shrimp and asked if that was new. I wasn't upset - I simply responded with the truth, when she asked. I just didn't expect the gross fishy taste. Just my thing kids - me and fish - not good. I never expected the manager to come over and let us know he took care of us. He also showed us that it was his pleasure to insure our experience by kidding around with us. I really appreciate people who are focused on providing a good customer experience. Bravo!
(4)Scott S.
I don't usually have high hopes for chain restaurants, but there have been times when the service surprised me in a good way, so I was cautiously optimistic about what my experience would be like at The Old Spaghetti Factory. Sadly, the service was worse than I expected. We were seated immediately, but it took several minutes before someone came to take our drink orders. The young woman who came to take that order awkwardly removed two of the place settings (we were seated at a table for four). I wondered as we were taken to this table why we weren't seated at one of the many tables for two we passed on our way. We received our drinks but not the hot loaf of bread that is normally provided (we had ordered as an appetizer the cheesy garlic bread, and it was explained to us later that servers do not bring out the hot bread if a customer orders the cheesy garlic bread, unless it is asked for. This makes sense, although in past visits they did bring out both without us asking). I ordered the Sicilian meatballs, and my girlfriend the Mizithra cheese and browned butter entree. She also ordered a side of broccoli. My dish was okay, although the meatballs were overcooked and not very tender. My girlfriend's entree, on the other hand, was a different story: the pasta was sitting atop a puddle of melted butter. This is her favorite dish, and had never seen it served like this. Our server came over to check on us (and at this point it was a different person than the person who had taken our drink order, so there must have been a shift change) and we asked if the dish was supposed to be served like that. He kind of shrugged and said it was. After that, we tried the broccoli only to find it mushy and overcooked. At this point we asked to speak to the manager. He came over and we showed him the pasta dish and the overcooked broccoli. He apologized and took the dishes away, saying he'd take off the broccoli from our bill (which wasn't taken off when we got the bill). He also offered us a free desert, which was nice, although taking the value of the desert off of our bill would have been even better. In fairness, the plate of Mizithra pasta that was brought back to our table was prepared properly. At the end of our meal, we had several to-go containers on our table. Our sever did not offer us a bag to carry them in (we had to ask). And when he brought the bag, he just tossed it on the table. As someone who has worked in customer service on a supervisory level, I'd have to say that going the extra mile (such as placing our containers in the bag) would have remedied much of the disappointment from this night. I'm not sure we will be back, and The Olive Garden is just down the street with better food and better service.
(2)Chris G.
We live pretty close to this place and we love coming here. The food is always great and the ambience is second to none. They have a faux train in the middle of the restaurant with booths that is awesome if you get to sit there. The price is middle of the road comparatively to other restaurants around here. The menu isn't huge but they have many different pasta options to choose from. Spaghetti and meatballs, clam sauce, baked lasagna etc. The entree comes with your choice of soup or salad but i definitely recommend the salad as the dressings are amazing and they make them in house. You also get unlimited bread. The portion of the entree that i got last time wasn't that large but it was still filling. Overall i definitely recommend if you're on the area!
(4)Issac F. M.
Cody, Thank You for looking so earnestly for my daughter's lost ring. Your attention to this matter was bar none. Thank You so very much.
(5)Tony H.
Me and my fiancee stopped there for dinner last Friday, they greeted us with great customer service. The portions a are good, the waiter that helped us, was excellent and we'll mannered.
(5)Cynthia S.
I spoke with the general manager after sending an email. He apologized and offered to reimburse my bill. He also assured me that managers should have responded with greater attempts to compensate for the mishap. My faith in OSF is restored.
(3)Mitch R.
So, the food here is decent enough, I thought...not fantastic, but not bad. However, my five-year-old daughter got a small ball bearing in her Italian soda, which I've posted pictures of. Fortunately she didn't choke on it; I believe it was small enough that it could have gone up the straw, so I guess she just got lucky. I contacted the manager (Kent) about the incident, and acknowledged that the ball bearing came from the machine they use to make the Italian sodas, and apologized and offered me a gift certificate to make up for it. Not a bad response...except that the gift certificate never came and I never heard from him again. This was three months ago, so I gave it plenty of time before writing this review. So, yeah...foreign objects in the food, no response from management...probably won't be going here again.
(1)Brittany B.
I love this place. Been coming here since I left the womb. You cannot go wrong with the spaghetti meat sauce, Mac and cheese, or mazithra. For like $10 a person you get soup or salad, entree, bread, and ice cream. Their spumoni is seriously to die for. They have changed up the menu a bit which is scary for any restaurant, but I like it. They've added some fun items like the cotton candy limeaid that comes with a magic straw. The only negative I would say is that their butter for the bread has changed for the worse. Last weekend I thought I was going to die of a garlic attack... But hey I lived to post 5 stars!
(5)Vash B.
Serviceable enough Italian food as far as chains go.
(2)Coral S.
My husband and I went here for a date night, thinking we should check it out as some of his coworkers had recommended it. I was really disappointed in the food. True to it's name, there really isn't much else here besides spaghetti. That would be fine if their sauces were excellent. They were not! First off, the greeters at the door are ok, friendly, but they made me give them my cell phone number so they could text me when a table was ready. I was a little put off by that. Then when a table was ready, they didn't even text us, just yelled out our name. We were seated and the place is like a dining hall. There really isn't any ambiance to speak of. The tables are close together and the booths have no privacy, no high backs or anything, so it was very noisy and I felt like I was in a cafeteria. We peruse the menu and I ordered the Pot-pourri which is spaghetti with their four signature sauces so I could try them all and see what I liked best. We ordered salads for the side, and an appetizer of spinach/shrimp dip. The appetizer was pretty good. Besides having a consistency of being frozen and reheated (I'm pretty sure it was), it was tasty and came with tasty bread. If it wasn't for that, (and the prices) I would have given this place 1 star. The salads were nothing but iceberg lettuce and a couple cherry tomatoes. Boring. If I order a side salad at a restaurant, I'm going to be pissed if all I get is iceberg lettuce, which I was. I might as well eat air. The spaghetti came and all I can say is that at least they cooked the noodles correctly. The sauces were all bland and waaaay too greasy. Where is the flavor? Oh,and the spumoni ice cream was nasty! Tasted like dog poop. We won't be back. It was gross.
(2)N C.
First off, the only reason they get 3 stars is the food. The food was good but when they served the Lasanga (which was great). No one offered to even bring over a little fresh ground pepper. Same thing with the soup. That was not the only gap in the service side. I felt a little like I had to ask for quite a bit and if you read my review of the Vancouver location, you will understand that which one you go to will make all the difference. Perhaps the Clackamas location gets all the mall traffic so they dont feel like they have to lure people in with 5 star service like the Vancouver location. So...good food, but the service felt a little like they are missing the main goal of the experience here.
(3)Kristina M.
Beautiful restaurant! Wonderful service, really good food! :) pleased after visit, highly recommend! totally a 5 star! :) Kristina was a wonderful server :)
(5)Gabrielle K.
I had heard about people getting food poisoning from Old Spaghetti factory and had never experienced it. I've eaten their food many times with my family. I ate there tonight. Food was good, service was fine, but the food poisoning sucks. The mizithra and pesto ranch are awesome though. Just be careful!
(2)Elizabeth L.
We went to The Old Spaghetti Factory the other evening. I had not been to one in so many years that it may as well have been my first time going. They were celebrating their 45th anniversary, I believe so they had a small special menu with about 9 different entrée items to chose from. My husband had Italian sausage with meat sauce. From the description we were expecting it to be either a large sausage or two in a bowl of red-meat sauce. It ended up being spaghetti with meat sauce on top and a sausage on the side. I had the "managers favorite" which let you chose two different sauces to try. I chose marinara and brown butter with "mazithra" (?) cheese. Again not what was expected. Rather than two small separate dishes of pasta with the different sauces on them it was one large plate with both sauces side by side. The marinara was bland but better than the "mazithra" which was not a sauce at all just basically butter and fresh shredded parmesan cheese. The cheese is very pungent and strong in flavor. So I was disappointed that it was not more of a sauce but it was a decent dish over all. As far as our service goes I have only ever had a worse experience at Out Back. Our waitress did not come over to introduce herself as our server or take drink orders till close to 10 minutes after the hostess had seated us. After she took our drink order she eventually returned with them, not bringing out bread or asking if we were ready to order. Finally took our order and brought bread out after that. We seriously did not see her till she brought us our check, never asked how our meal was, never refilled our drink, nothing. I could be understanding if it had been busy but we came in well before the dinner rush there was no reason for us to be ignores the whole time. So over all the food was nothing spectacular but for $5 a plate with soup and ice cream (which again our server was not planning to bring to us) I can't complain to terribly much. I doubt we will return any time soon though. I was not impressed with the food or the service so I feel we would be better off making pasta and real, good sauce at home not being rudely ignored by staff.
(3)Grace S.
Not perfect but deserves 5 stars as most businesses do given yelps prejudice in rankings that you cannot trust anymore.
(5)Mandi O.
Everything lacked flavor. Used to love coming here. I will think twice before coming back.
(1)Nicole G.
I use to go to the one in Portland when I was a kid. I think I had rose colored glasses or its gone downhill or this place isn't as good as the other one. The sauce had almost no flavor!! Expenisve for canned sauce and packaged pasta.
(3)Dave B.
It has been several years since we ate at the one in St Louis and it is still just as good as I remembered it, with the addition of a few new dishes. The warm bread is excellent, and the dinner salads are cold and fresh. I had the garlic and mushroom with mizithrah cheese and butter and it was perfect ... love the addition of the garlic and mushroom to their old standby. Kevin had the Sicilian meatballs and it was really good as well. Also love the scoop of spumoni ice cream that comes with the meal, nice way to end the meal. We will definitely be back.
(4)Angela H.
After a 40 minute wait, which is typical on a Saturday night, we were seated at a table in the middle of the room. There isn't booth seating for big groups, and we had six, but it was fine. We love the hot sourdough bread and whipped butter. Each meal comes with choice of minestrone soup or salad and I usually get salad because I love their creamy pesto house dressing which is basically ranch with a little pesto, very good. The minestrone is delicious too. I had gluten free pasta with white clam sauce, my fave, a huge portion. Others at the table had meatballs, chicken marsala (which was great) and of course the white clam sauce. Their broccoli with browned butter and mizythra cheese on top is amazing and worth ordering a side to share with the table. Ice cream comes with dinner, and we always enjoy the spumoni. Everyone liked their food, although I felt terrible afterwards, probably too much rich for me. Our waiter brought us more bread and butter and kept my husbands ice tea full. Everything was fine but I wouldn't say above average. Note-they take reservations up to two hours ahead of time, but will not do call ahead seating, so you have to wait, and wait you will.
(3)Penelope K.
I like the decor and the food is always good. Really like the Sicilian meatballs but this place is starting to be more like a fancy Olive Garden. I think the food used to be a bit better. Great service though!
(3)Cynthia X.
The service here has really gone downhill. We were among 3 other tables who waited over 15 minutes just to get our menus. Didn't even get water until after our salads were served. Love the food there, but the wait is ridiculous.
(2)Chuck M.
I don't understand all the negative reviews for this OSF...it is in a great location with plenty of parking or you can even walk from the Courtyard across the street as I did. The atmosphere is very nice, the staff is polite and helpful....they actually project the image that they appreciate your business...!!! The food is fantastic...I try various items on the menu but seem to really enjoy the Managers Special...either getting mizithra cheese and clam, or meat sauce.I love the warm bread and butter, and the salad with blue cheese. Usually I only get an ice tea and water for my drink. What else can you say about the OSF...it is spaghetti friends...!!!
(4)Bob M.
I always forget about this great place, as it is kind of tucked back from the main drag of Sunnyside in Clackamas. The bar is great and we usually get seated right away, even if the main dining is packed with a wait. as a lot of family's do come here. I love the hot bread they serve and the beer selection is not bad either. Their house salad dressing is very good & I love their chicken parm! It's a great place when hungry and everything else in the area is packed with a wait!
(5)Kenny H.
People really need to relax with the Food Snob crap in Portland sometimes. Yes, I am alll for supporting organic, all local ingredients.. I am. But let's face it. MOST places you eat at, unless they market the heck out of buying from local farms and producers, they use restaurant service companies. Get. OVER. IT. They are successful because they are GOOD. With that, I LOVE Spag Hag. Sketti Factory. Skettis.. etc... Pet Names for Dayz. The food is consistent. I love the fresh sour dough (and YES, I vastly prefer sour dough over tasteless artisan white loafs of Italian breads.. I make my garlic bread at home out of it it, too). The Garlic Butter is the Shite. The creamy pesto salad on a bed of ice burg lettuce, croutons... it WORKS. Some how, it just taste great! I dip mah bread right in the remaining yummy pesto. YUM! They make a mean Marinara here, the Mushroom Sauce is always a hit too. I love the Managers Special with one half Clam sauce and one half Mushroom. I pay a couple bucks extra for the Extra Hearty Portion. Yes.. I have an American Appetite. I Eat a LOT. Spaghetti Factory understands this. I am grateful. One thing I am less than thrilled with is that they charge for ice tea, coffee, and milk now with pasta dishes. That was Sketti's "thing" forevers. Free drink. Oh well, I stick with water since none of those things set my world afire, and the ice tea just kept me up at night. But, sometimes a coffee with Spumoni (still FREE with any meal) is damn guud! Sometimes we get the House Carafe of red wine. Affordable and tasty. Also love a monster size Ninkasi IPA. The Clackamas one is not nearly as cool as the Portland Waterfront one. The waits shorter, so that is cool. I go here when we need to do other stuff int he area and there really is not anything else I would want, anyway. I have been hitting Skeddi Factory since I was born. We took our 2 weeks old here, the first outing. It is tradition. It always will be in my family. After a trip to Kaiser, Costco, or REI.. I start craving Skeddis.. great lunch or dinner option. I am so glad they are here in Crackamas.
(4)Gary L.
Suoer good service , good food , good clean dining room ... the prices here are probably the best thing !!! My wife and I ate dinner here warm loaf of bread , entrees chicken parmigiana & spagetti with mushroom sauce , salads and dessert and tip for less money than our last meal out at a local fast food restaurant. !!!
(4)JP R.
I ordered Angel Hair pasta. It was a take on Angel Hair pasta but thicker. The sauce was good and the meatballs were okay. Food is 2.5 stars slightly above average. Where they get a 2 star review over 3 is they don't have fresh parmesan cheese like Olive Garden, their bread comes on a cutting board and is borderline cold and stiff, the salad should just be called lettuce with dressing, absolutely no vegetables, tomato, etc. at all in the salad. There was a hair in my salad too. Not appetizing. The service was good though. The waitress was very nice. But being Italian and brought up on Italian food, this is just very Americanized average food, which is a bit costly. Average per person $12-14.
(2)Melanie M.
I love the atmosphere! The servers were helpful and really nice..the food is excellent! Great place to go:)
(4)Ali B.
No just no. I've had a better TV dinner than here. Service was sad, had to wait for my ice to melt in order to get second glass of water. Bread and soup were good. I'd met a friend here who likes this place. It wasn't till I noticed how bland, bought-in and microwaved the food is that I realized he's a single guy who doesn't do a lot of cooking so a plate of regular Barilla noodles and canned sauce would be tasty to him if it came with free ice cream at the end. The atmosphere was odd too. The wait staff all ignored each other, wouldn't make eye contact or smile. I noticed a waiter trip on a big mat coming out of the kitchen he looked back and kept walking (he had plates in his hands,) the next guy comes out of the kitchen empty handed and sees the bunched up rug and goes around it, the next waitress trips on it heading in with empty plates but a waitress going in the kitchen went around the rug too. It was odd and the whole thing started over again when there was a small spill of water on the floor! Slip a tad, ignore it, go around it as if everyone was in a bad mood. The place was busy when we first arrived (must have been the tail end of the early bird?) but cleared out a ton shortly after. It was still loud as everyone tried to hear each other over one another. Maybe I just ordered the wrong thing? My chicken parm and spaghetti was less tasty than a Lean Cuisine. One friends entree salad was ice burg, rock hard avocado, bits of bacon, and that same bland small flat weirdly breaded chicken not even cut in strips but just served on the side. The other friend had spaghetti noodles with their heavily advertised white cheese. He likes that place and still warned me not to order the broccoli.
(2)Eric E.
Excellent food as always. The service was great as well. The only thing I don't like about this one is the location and the parking situation. Much prefer the one downtown, it has a really nice view and a pretty big parking lot.
(4)Richard T.
Wife and I and Son happened to be in the area and Son loves pasta! So we shuffled in for a quick bite. I haven't been to a Spaghetti Factory for years so didn't know what to expect. Oh my goodness..... The service was almost comedic! The person who seated us was reciting the specials before we even sat, so no one could even hear her. We finally ordered and the plates were literally thrown at us on the table when they came. I literally laughed when they did it because I never experienced this. The next round of food came the same way by another person serving us. It was literally so hilarious that we imitated it through out our dinner by throwing each other a slice of bread or plate. The overall experience was very disappointing and I will never go back. The food was sub-par too. Lots of changes need to be made. It usually trickles down from the top by poor management/ownership ..
(2)Jason G.
Tonight my family ate dinner here. We usually love this place but tonight we had a bad experience. We were sat in the caboose and we waited for more then 10 minutes before the waitress acknowledged us, then we felt as though we were a burden to her. We told her we'd like waters and then we ordered. After she left to put the order in, my 9 year old daughter looked at me and said, 'somebody loves her job, NOT!' I also ordered a soda and it took effort on my behalf to get ONE refill. Needless to say, we ate as fast as we could and paid our bill without even getting the free ice cream. Maybe she was having a bad day, who knows? Wish I could've got her name!!!! Terrible customer service! OSF should look in to better training or get rid of some people who are not willing to show excellent customer service!!!
(2)Robert L.
It's a corporate place that makes a mint off of pasta. The only way they have higher margins is if it was called the "Old Potato Factory". The food is consistent and you'll be full (if you aren't, then you need to rethink your life choices!). The wait staff is usually good and the environment is pretty cool for what it is. If you want to step in to the more sophisticated menu options, be warned, they aren't that special. If you must do a corporate Italian restaurant, Macaroni Grill tends to have it nailed better and there are usually fewer screaming babies or ginormous parties with ginormous patrons yelling and screaming down the table to their cousin 18 chairs down the table. Anyway, get the "Homer". Really good.
(3)John N.
Food was very good. Prices seem fair. My server Jesse was fantastic. I highly recommend Old Spaghetti Factory for good pasta at a fair price.
(5)Thee I.
Let's get down to it. The old spaghetti factory is good. It's a great place for large parties, families, or just the two of you. Are they breaking any records for the best pasta you'll ever have? No. But it is good and osf is always a fun place for a good meal. Good service also.
(3)C K.
I was with a group of 7. We each order something different. Everything was very good and reasonably priced. A good value. Service was friendly and attentive. Would definitely return.
(4)Maximillian R.
Only if you like food that is sent to them from a food service company with no chef, not housemaid, and Luke-warm should you eat here. You could, quite literally, get the same food from Sam's or Costco, heat it up yourself, and would be the same or better.
(1)Eddie S.
The best way I can put it is: "The food is a bit fussy and stale."
(2)Grumpy W.
I ordered a dish where the title sounded good. I did not realize until it arrived on the table that the dish had bacon in it. I do not eat pork. I told the waitress and she immediately replaced my dish without bacon. Staff was great from the time we arrived until we left. Food was great. Bathrooms were clean and well supplied. I will return!
(5)Shane M.
Not impressed by the service. The food here is satisfying. The structure of the building has an aesthetic design; most notably the high dark wooden ceilings. My critique isn't on the food, but rather the service, which to me contributes to 90% of my experience. The service is done in an immature and uncaring manner. The people I encountered are young humans who didn't show respect or appreciation towards me. I simply felt as though I was treated like a typical customer, which is disrespectful. Ok, so this is what the waitress did that irritated me: first she comes to the table and doesn't tell us her name. Then I ask about the Mizithra cheese and she points to a place mat that has four pictures on it, she leaves and I analyze the place mat. I couldn't figure out which picture she was talking about. Come to find out their specialty cheese is simply crumbled or shredded onto pasta. I enjoyed the dish, but when you communicate with another person, you must make 100% sure you get your message across to that person. You don't point at a place mat with four pictures. This was my first time to this restaurant. I am ignorant to what is on their menu, so if she wasn't so lazy and stupid she should have made sure I knew what this famous cheese dish looked like. Also, they give you complementary sour dough bread. That's great, but I want my bread as soon as possible. I don't want my bread when I"m being served my appetizer! I won't go back here. If you appreciate food more than customer service then you should have no problem here, but I won't go back to this place.
(2)Jerry L.
Just like any other old spaghetti factory that I'm used to. Waiter was very attentive and everything was served right.
(4)Jil S.
Really enjoyed the unique décor here. Fun place to visit. Fresh bread was amazing, but my entre was just mediocre (fettucini alfredo with chicken and broccoli). I've had a lot better alfredo sauces. Their minestrone was great though and the service was too. Fun place and I would go back and maybe try a different dish next time.
(3)Jean G.
We came to the OSF for a family birthday gathering and had made reservations. Got to the restaurant 15 minutes early and checked in. The hostess said we would be seated at the time of our reservation and handed us a pager. That was fine, where the problem lied was we didn't get seated for a half hour after our reservation time which made it 45 minutes we were standing around. When we approached the hostess about the time frame she made it out that since we had added 4 more people to our reservation that was the problem. The problem with her logic was we had called it in 4 hours earlier. The manager came up and also made an excuse and once he was told the reviews for the service wouldn't be with high marks, we were seated ASAP. Was seated in a large room that had at a minimum 4 large tables (empty) that would of accommodated our group. So couldn't figure out OSF's problem. The good out of this that once seated we were treated like royalty. Manager and servers were at the table non stop. Also the meals were very good. Not sure I'd recommend OSF for a large group, even with a reservation if OSF doesn't really get you in at a timely fashion. That is not acceptable . Not good customer service which is just as important as the food.
(3)Aaron M.
Good prices, above average food and a pretty cool staff. Always a great place for big group parties. Ate hear several times before. Never anything spectacular, but always dependably good for sure.
(4)John L.
Every once in a while we'll crave mizithra cheese. Decent spaghetti at great prices. Manager's favorite is the way to go!! Also like the cheese bread, broccoli with sprinkled mizithra. Never really tried anything else because I can't get away from the spaghetti.
(4)Dona L.
Good food at great prices. Adorable old street car turned booths. Fairly good customer service. We'll be back when we feel like pasta and oh so yummy minestrone soup:)
(3)Michael B.
Their lunch selections are few and prices for lunch are over priced for the amount of food you receive. I paid $8 for what was supposed to be a Ham & Cheddar Cheese Panini, it was basically a glorified grilled ham & cheese sandwich with a very small amount of ham in it. Haven't tried dinner there so far, so I cannot compare their dinner selections with lunch selections. Probably will not return. Their lunch selections have been pared down from what they used to be. Will probably not return for lunch.
(1)John K.
I enjoy this place. Nice decor. The bread is always warm. I had the clam fettuchini this time and it was good. and I love the spumoni.
(4)Mariko B.
Let's be honest, when you have a party of 18 and need to feed seniors as well as kids your options are limited. Still, I wish the OSF would keep up with the times. Give us some healthy options with some fresh or creative ingredients! If I can eat my entire week's worth of calories, sodium and fat in a single sitting, that meal better leave me moaning in an ecstatic pasta bliss that I dream about for days on end. If that were the case I would throw my head back, drool like Homer Simpson and write a five star review while resting my laptop on my stuffed but happy fat-belly. Unfortunately, OSF falls far short of their potential and I can't say I'll be back until I've got a dinner with my 20 closest friends... even then I'll probably call around first...
(2)B S.
I tried the SW location and was very disappointed but wanted to give it another try and I hit the Clackamas location. Nope. Not one more time. Want better lasagna? Make your own or buy Stauffers. Thank goodness for the superior service. Yuck yuck yuck food.
(1)Amy A.
This places Spinach tortellini is the very best I have ever had. I don't care for the bread loaves...smells a little like play-do that you play with when you are a child. Me and my kids had a great time there and enjoyed all the food we ordered!!
(4)Joseph K.
I had to send my spaghettini back twice so I could even see the sauce. When it was served there was virtually no sauce on the pasta!
(2)Joshua K.
Where to start cause honestly nothing good I can say about this place and here is my experience in a nutshell to start off right off the bat I went to use the restroom an every toilet seat had something on it either urine or other bodily fluids one of which looked to be either vomit or feces on it so I went an politely told the manager about it he said he would have some one attend to it an well about an hour an half two hours later i had to use the restroom again an that one seat still had the vomit or whatever it was on it so I went an told the manager yet again. Then we finally got sat at the table server came an took our drink orders which took 15-20 minutes to get our drinks, an then after receiving our drinks with every refill they brought they would set down the new glass but leave the empty glass sitting on the table not only that i personally sat there with a completely empty glass for 12 minutes before finally getting a refill which is just unacceptable. Then we got our food an I got a salad which I had the balsamic vinegarette which tasted like straight up olive oil then we got our entrees which my dad had the shrimp Alfredo an the shrimp literally tasted like mud we had three different people try the shrimp an every person said the same thing that the shrimp tasted like mud, my mom had the crab ravioli an the sauce had way to much pesto an the ravioli was like a tomato ravioli that over powered the crab, my sister ordered Mac an cheese for her 8 month old baby which tasted like just plain noodles no cheese what so ever, then with my meal I got this special number three or something like that which came two Sicilian meatballs spaghetti and an Italian sausage the sausage was cold the sauce on the noodles had no flavor an the meatballs were suppose to come with sauce on them and they had no sauce. As for the table, chairs, an silverware, the table an chairs all felt greasy an slippery my fork had dried on food on it my butter knife had a thumb print smudge all the down the side of blade my mom had two dirty utensils also. So for my overall honest opinion as being an industry professional an having been in this industry for 12+ years out of a ten I would rate this place, experience, an service about a two. So all I can say is come here on your own free will but beware and don't expect great things.
(1)Terry C.
This place is average at best. The interior of the place is nice but the food is ok at best. We finished our meal but it sort of felt that it could have been better. The server, Matt, was really cool. He recommended a drink for my GF and was pretty cool person overall. The place mats they had on the table were for the upcoming beer and pasta run, which they sponsored as well as Widmer Brothers. The paper mat instructed that if we wanted a pamphlet we should ask the server. When we asked Matt about it he didn't know anything about any pamphlet and looked at the paper mat. He laughed and said that management didn't say anything about this. So he went out of his way to look for a pamphlet. When he returned he said that the managers didn't have any of the pamphlet to begin with. So he gave us another paper place mat, folded it and wrote "pamphlet" on it. Which was really funny, at least he found an alternative. One complaint I have about the place is that the section we sat at had quite a few people there. When they all left the tables were obvouisly messy...so answer is to clean it up. It never was cleaned up. Maybe it was because it wasn't busy anymore but it wasn't very nice to look at either. The prices is pretty spendy for average food.
(3)Jeff H.
This place always serves the warmest bread out of all The Old Spaghetti Factories I've been to. I know it's the same bread at every location, but it ALWAYS comes out almost too hot to touch here. It tastes so much better when it's warm and the garlic butter just melts as soon as it touches the surface of sourdough goodness. The rest of the food is exactly the same as the other locations, and the service is about on par too. I wish OSF would offer a soup and bread lunch like Olive Garden (hate that place) does. Oh well, I guess I can always hope.
(3)Erich S.
I feel like i like this place because of the nostalgia more than the food, however, the food is pretty good.
(4)John E.
When I go to an Italian place for dinner I want to feel like I have been transported to Palermo watching Patton and his tanks parade down the street or Parma sitting in the stands watching Parma FC dismantle an opponent in my mind as the flavors flow like waves over my tongue. I want to get lost in the food, maybe a little ambiance from the surroundings would help without going too over the top (old travel agency posters of Italy on the wall is not acceptable). I want to imagine the smell of the Tyrrhenian Sea wafting past my nostrils. After walking into the Old Spaghetti Factory my feet, my nostrils and my imagination were firmly planted in Clackamas, Oregon, sitting at the crease between two tables put together for our party of seven that were not the same height. Yup, I wasn't goin' anywhere but right here, right now. Bye Patton, bye Tyrrhenian Sea. There were some good aspects of our evening, we were celebrating the three birthdays in two days for me, my Mother In Law and my Brother in Law. Can you imagine the hell my poor Wife goes through this time of year? We were seated pretty fast and the service throughout the meal was consistent and friendly, refills without asking, crayons and place-mat for the my little Tax Deduction and Splenda in the sugar boxes for my average, nothing special but not bad iced tea. And then the food came. First we got salads; well hold on, calling them salads is a disservice to salads at, lets say, Winco or McDonalds. We got lettuce with little tiny croutons and not much of it. They did bring some bread, it was hot and there was lots of it, but it was more a french bread than an Italian bread. Shortly thereafter we received our entree's. I ordered the meat platter, a sausage, two meatballs and spaghetti. I have never in my life had meatballs that were so densely packed. I was not sure whether to be impressed or horrified, so I chose the middle ground and was mildly amused. The sausage was overcooked, like one of those poor last sausages or hot dogs at AM/PM or 7-11 on the hot rollers that no one has the guts to take. It actually had an alright taste to it though. The spaghetti was just a tad too al-dente for me, I'm not saying it was not cooked well, it just wasn't how I like it, but it wasn't bad enough to send back. In all I will remember this evening for excellent company, fun conversation and the humor of watching the Tax Deduction tackle a plate of spaghetti with loads of "snow" (shaker cheese). Will I come back? Probably one day, it's one of the Mother in Law's favorite places, or one day I could be afflicted with Alzheimer's and wander here from the mall.
(2)Jose F.
Really good place to eat... Nice place to go on a date to. The food is delicious and the prices are so cheap I've spent very little when I take my whole family out to eat. Been going here for about 5years already... They have the cutest girls working there too
(4)Patrick M.
Basically an old staple food place from my youth. Food and quality have always been consistent. Service is great and gotta love the Manager's Special!
(4)Lacey H.
Absolutely love their spaghetti with meat sauce. They have also started serving gluten free items!!
(5)Anna B.
The Old Spaghetti Factory is good for two groups of people: People who hate good food and 6-year-olds having a birthday party. The food here is a teensy weensy step above the pre-packaged sludge that the Macaroni Grill slings but not by much. The menu claims that they make their sauces daily- that may be the only difference between the two. However, I'm pretty sure that those "homemade" sauces are chock full of high fructose corn syrup and red dye #40. Non-meat eaters are going to be out of luck except for pasta/marinara. The only two salads on the menu are what I like to call non-healthy-salads (bacon, eggs, cheese- all delicious things, but neither low-cal or Italian). They now offer a side of broccoli doused in cheese, and that's the only veg side available. Hmmm... that actually sounds kind of good right now... When I was six, I'm pretty sure I had the best birthday dinner EVER at the Old Spaghetti Factory in downtown Denver, CO. You know, you invite all your buddies and sit in the special traincar that they replicate for every OSF in the country. You feel frickin' rad getting the 'free' spumoni for desert. You feel like the conductor of the Italian train. Then you grow a palate and go back with coworkers one day and are horrified. The best I could do today was ordering whole wheat spaghetti with the plain marinara (and the sauce/pasta ratio was all off- I ended up spooning on the cheesy bread dipping sauce). Everyone (but one guy who had the chicken panini, which he enjoyed) else at the table had pasta with mizithra, which is a wonderful and glorious cheese... but I have my doubts the OSF is using real mizithra. The scant tablespoon sprinkled atop my coworkers' plates looked like Bel Gioso Romano, to be honest. And we all know that's not a real cheese. Good spot when you have a large crowd or a work function to accommodate, a cheese-bread craving, and a willingness to spend $10+ on some fake Italian food. But with so many other great options in town, probably not worth it if it is on your own credit card. The highlight of the visit was actually zoning out on the stock "vintage" photo of old streetcars in Brooklyn and pretending they were those 3D posters that were really popular in 1992. I thank those posters for teaching me how to intentionally cross my eyes and get nauseous. Just like the OSF.
(1)max S.
I love this place. It's in my top 10. Their prices went up a little. But their good food and great service makes up for it. Dinners are usually all inclusive if you order an entree; milk, tea or coffee, soup or salad, bread and ice cream for dessert. There are two locations in Portland and one in Vancouver. I've been going to The Old Spaghetti Factory since I was a kid. I lived in Sacramento for a couple of years where there are two OSF locations. Both locations are not great. Food and service don't compare to the three OSFs here in OR and WA.
(5)Tommy T.
When I was younger, ate meat, and didn't know about decent restaurants my family would go here. I celebrated many a birthday being sung to by strangers and having ice cream with a candle in it. The unlimited bread and butter as well as unlimited soda refills were the highlights for younger me. My family would dress up to come eat here and treat it like a fancy restaurant, eating under fancy chandeliers with a riverfront view. Now that I am older and vegan it's hard to appreciate a chain restaurant with little options for me to eat. It's easy to see why hordes of suburbanites would go for this but it's not for me anymore.
(2)Bryan A.
I've eaten here before and really enjoyed it. Went again last night and didn't really like my food, but my family liked theirs. I had a the Chicken Parmigiana and it was so over seasoned I almost couldn't eat it. The marinara was fantastic, the spaghetti that came along with it was great, liked the basic salad with creamy pesto dressing, great bread....it was just that dang chicken. Staff were all really friendly and quick.
(3)Stephanie B.
Easy to book groups. Service is alright. Food is tolerable. Fair to middlin'. I don't go there except for group events, or if it's someone else's idea.
(2)Ashley C.
I was out visiting my mom in Washington, and she works in Clackamas. She wanted my boyfriend and I to come out and get dinner with her, so we did. She chose this place. I had never heard of it before, and when we walked inside it was the coolest looking place ever! Too bad the food was mediocre and something I could have easily made at home. The service wasn't bad either...when my mom didn't like her dish they were more than willing to get her something else in replacement. If you're hungry with no where to go...I guess this is a good option. I won't be eating there again!
(2)Mark B.
OK my friends dad is at the kaiser hospital, and I don't know this part of town and we wound up here. Food was OK and not to expensive but nothing memorable. Ah well I'm sure it was better and probably cheaper then the hospital cafeteria,,,,and the bread was fresh and hot.
(2)Ashley K.
Nice restaurant, good service, mediocre food. When I first walked into this restaurant, I was in awe of the decor. When the food came out though, I was sadly disappointed. It looked like they just grabbed it out of the freezer, microwaved it, and slapped it down on the plate. I was not impressed by the taste of the pasta I had ordered either. I've tried it out a couple other times after that, and everytime, the food is just 'meh' to me. A great place for families and huge groups, but the food is just 'okay'. Give it a try anyway if you've never gone, you might like it better than me.
(3)Trey D.
its just okay its very cheap for the big portions and has great friendly clean service but it doesn't cut it when comparing to olive garden
(3)Haley O.
We went here for a family birthday party. Our group was about 50 people in the private room. Our 3-4 servers were very accommodating and friendly; however it's a shame that they had to serve us the food. I think the salad was the best part, which isn't saying much. I had the ravioli that was probably frozen before it was microwaved and put on my plate. I won't comment on the temperature because I work in event planning and know it can be tricky to keep food hot in these situations. I had never been to the Spaghetti Factory, but I'm from Texas and we had a place (that has since gone out of business) called the Spaghetti Warehouse that was equally as disappointing. Here are my suggestions to the cooks at Spaghetti Factory: 1. If you haven't heard of garlic, you should research it. It's an aromatic spice that is sometimes used in Italian food. I prefer to use it by the gallon, but since it's a new concept for you, you could try starting with a cup or two in your sauce. 2. Try using fresh beef in your lasagna. The stuff that was layered in between your noodles seemed like something I would have gotten from a Staouffer's frozen dinner. 3. Invest in a salad spinner. My salad was crisp but the lettuce was quite watery, which subsequently made my dressing watery. I will not be going back to Spaghetti Factory unless another beloved family member decides to have a birthday party there. I would suggest you make alternate plans as well (even Olive Garden would be a step up). We live in Portland, there are hundreds of local, authentic Italian restaurants that will exceed your expectations and won't cost you much more.
(2)Daniel N.
Stopped by for lunch with my friend the other day, this place is a classic. I've been here too many times to count. The food is good, what can I say, however the prices are a bit steep for how much food you're getting. I stopped by lunch time, so I got the lunch special but had it been non-lunch time I probably wouldn't have stopped by. Customer service was good, no complaints here, however my menu was still dirty and I was sitting with an empty glass of water for too long. All that aside, it's a decent place for lunch, give it a shot.
(3)Michael H.
This location is very good and the decor is great. The staff seem pleasant enough. The only thing is they do not seem to go the above that some places do. The chicken Marsala is good and worth every bite as is the bread with the meals. I do prefer the downtown location a bit better.
(4)Tom T.
Menu is same ol' same ol', Nothing out of the ordinary. Spaghetti was uninspiring, my tortellinis and flank steak tasted like it was from a "Hungry Man" frozen dinner. the prices where inexpensive though. Wow. Maybe the elderly will enjoy this venue more than me. Good thing for gift cards.
(2)Phil M.
Had a meal here as part of a large Christmas party. Normally not a fan of chain Italian fare, but I must say, the crab ravioli I had was pretty good. The decor/theme does not match the menu at all (What is this, the Old West? Victorian times?) but kudos for them being able to properly handle a large number of people. May update this if I ever have a full, non-company-party meal here, but for now, I deem it "not bad at all".
(3)S S.
Ate at the bar since I was by myself. Had the Chicken Parm. It was good, but I still like Olive Garden's better. The chocolate mousse cake was amazing. The bartender, Hila, provided great service. Overall, nice restaurant.
(4)L J.
I was craving a pasta really bad and there is no italian restaurant's around where I live. In San Diego The Old Spaghetti Factory is really known, so I went there because I'm familiar with it. It was just me and my boyfriend so getting a seat when the place is packed was easy. Our bread was kinda like cutting through a piece of wood but it was delicious and with that I ordered a Minestrone soup. For my meal I ordered A Breast of a Fetticini (not sure what it was called). It was good except the dry flavorless broccoli. The place was pretty busy I do perfer something quieter and we had a little girl sitting behind us was dancing and singing Katie Perry/Lady Gaga songs...for a whole hour.
(3)Joe M.
If I havn't been to Pastini Pastaria, I would give more credit to this. I have always enjoyed the food here for the most part. You get plentiful portions along with the bread and salad. The ice cream is pretty good too if you have room left. Lately, the service has been spotty, hit or miss. The clackamas location is one of the more nicely and imaginative decorative. Out of all 3 italian spots in the clackamas town center area, this is the best bet.
(3)Esther O.
Uch. Ok, the food is fine, and the setting is nice if you get to sit in one of the areas with the fun armchairs, but c'mon - all they serve is pasta and sauce. Why why why is this a successful business model? My dinner cost $9 for a meal I could've made at home for $1. I don't get it. There is nothing particularly special about the atmosphere, and the food is no better than dumping a box of pasta in boiling water at home and heating up a jar of spahetti sauce.
(2)Rex S.
I've been coming here for years and you always get the same thing. Decent food, good prices. The service can be hit or miss, depending on who you get. This is a good place for kids, as it is usually kind of loud in here. The food is always pretty good, but the place can get busy at peak hours. If you just want some cheap pasta and a relaxed family atmosphere, try it.
(4)Rebecca H.
The parents in law are visiting and took us here. It was incredibly busy, but why I don't know. The place is faux-aged and is definitely cheesy. It has a sort of bordello-saloon-grandma's house feel, as if those could all go together. Maybe for some grandmas it does. The food is incredibly amazingly mediocre. From the pasty, doughy white bread, to the bland marinara, the extra fatty salad dressing, all of it was just too bland to warrant more than a less than enthused, "Meh." It is cheap...under 40 bucks for dinner for 4 peeps, and that included a few beers. Nice enough service, a bit slow but they were very busy. I don't feel the need to ever go back.
(2)Krystal O.
Don't come here expecting much. When I first walked in I felt under dressed because everything looks so fancy.. but it's all faux fancy. The food was good the service was alright. A step above the Olive Garden, that's for sure, but they still give you the old iceberg lettuce bagged salad and I can't stand that...
(3)Mikey V.
I was drunk and the spaghetti and meat sauce with Italian sausage was not very good. The sausage was overcooked, and the spaghetti and meat sauce was unremarkable. This place gets two stars because the drinks are stiff. Each meal should come with 3 well cocktails. That's the only way to make the experience semi-enjoyable.
(2)Alison M.
Good portions, cheap meals, free bread, and good service. Cannot go wrong here. They are a chain, yes, but they still have good food. The mizithra cheese and crowned butter mixed with marinara sauce is my favorite, but the baked chicken is good as well. Sometimes I venture out from what I know, and so far I have only been disappointed once. The spinach and cheese raviolis were terrible!! Went there with my boyfriend's parents and they got the crab raviolis and said they were the exact opposite to the other raviolis they offer. I'm not much of a crab eater, so I'll take their word for it! Though i will say that sometimes the sauce can be a little watery... The coolest thing though is that your meal automatically comes with either soup or salad, tea, milk, or coffee, and ice cream at the end as well as the loaf of sourdough (I think...) bread that comes to your table. The wait staff is really nice and the looks of this place are really fun. Who doesn't wanna eat inside a trolley?!
(4)Mike L.
My girlfriend and I decided to grab a quick meal the other night after shopping at the Old Spaghetti Factory at Clackamas. I usually don't go for chain restaurants but I thought the food and service here was good. Granted it wasn't the most authentic italian food I've ever had, it was definitely good.
(3)MIKE J.
old spaghetti factory back in the 80's was a great deal and good food - now that they have like 100 places all over the prices went up and service went to hell in a hand basket... over priced and not enough salad dressing so get a can of hunts and some bake at home french bread and stay home
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