- Restaurants |
- Nightlife |
- Shopping |
- Movies |
- All
The Old Spaghetti Factory
Category: Restaurants Italian Italian [Edit]
2110 Newport BlvdNewport Beach, CA 92663
(949) 675-8654
- Hours:
Mon-Thu 5 pm - 9:30 pm
Fri 5 pm - 11 pm
Sat 4:30 pm - 11 pm
Sun 4 pm - 10 pm
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Valet
- Attire:
- Casual
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Delivery:
- No
- Take-out:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Wi-Fi:
- No
- Good For:
- Dinner
- Alcohol:
- Full Bar
- Noise Level:
- Average
- Ambience:
- Casual
- Has TV:
- Yes
- Caters:
- Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
119 reviews for The Old Spaghetti Factory
Review Highlights
"End the meal with spumoni ice-cream, perfect."
(in 15 reviews)
"maybe its the mizithra cheese i always come back for but..."
(in 27 reviews)
"You get free valet parking at this location which is cool."
(in 5 reviews)
Loading...
119 reviews in English
-
Review from Steve F.
Huntington Beach, CA
2/1/2012 1 Check-in Here
We come here on a regular basis. It's an easy meal for our family and the loud atmosphere is great for kids.
If your looking for a traditional Italian dinner, this is not the place. If your looking for somewhere fun, loud, and unique to eat, you're at the right spot.
We typically get the same meals: #2 for me, and the Managers Favorite for the wife. The kids are Mac and cheese eaters, and the macaroni is small so it's easy for them to eat.
For dessert the Spumoni is a hit an it's nice that it's included with the meal.
I don't recommend getting here after 6pm unless you want to wait a while to be seated. -
Review from Coralie B.
Buffalo, NY
1/29/2012
The Old Spaghetti Factory is a childhood favorite of my husband's, so for his big 30th birthday I had a surprise party for him here. I contacted the restaurant expecting to pay to rent a space, but they accommodated 40 people in a semi-private area upstairs at no extra charge.
Sure, the waiter had somewhat of a challenge making sure we were all taken care of with refills and such, but we made do and had a great time. I'd definitely recommend this restaurant for group outings - ask to check out their "special menu" which limits the choices to make things easier on the cooks and quicker for the guests. -
Review from William H.
Irvine, CA
11/19/2011 1 Check-in Here
Key Word: AVERAGE
Context:
-Thursday night around 7 in late November
What We Got:
-GARLIC CHEESEBREAD appetizer. Seems like they microwaved cheese on top of bread. Not sure how they do it in the kitchen, but it seemed really average.
-MEAT LOVERS TREAT. The noodles and the sauce were consistent and tasted normal. I wasn't too keen on the meatballs. The sausage was done right though.
-SPAGHETTI WITH MIZITHRA CHEESE. It seemed really dry and was hard to swallow
*I liked how with these meals you could get a salad / soup, the entree, some ice cream and a drink all for $10.
Atmosphere:
-This place is an old ship house with lots of tables
-They have a small bar to grab drinks.
-Not really loud, but no music is playing either
-This place is geared more towards families so you'll see a lot of kids here.
Service:
-Great customer service. The filipino guy who helped us out was really helpful and accomodating.
Other Notes:
-I wouldn't take my girlfriend here on a date, but I'd go to lunch with some guy friends here.
-Valet parking is required outside.
-Perfect for college students on a budget who want to go out and have a good time. -
Review from Kelly G.
10/31/2011
This place was meant for families. Not a date place at all. Be prepared for lots of high chairs and spaghetti on the tables. Be prepared for someone walking around making balloon animals. Needless to say, I would be mortified if someone took me here on a date.
The intererior looks nice but this is certainly not a "nice" restaurant.
Even starting with the bread, which is hard to mess up, the moment you cut it, the hard top flakes off and all over the table. The menu is small. I attempted to order a side ceasar before my meal, which the server said he couldn't do. He could only put ceasar dressing on the hosue salad that comes with the meal. However, they do offer a larger "upgraded" ceasar. I asked why I couldn't just get the smaller version of that. After asking the manager I caved into paying more for this "upgraded" salad. Fine I got a larger salad.
The garlic and brown butter pasta dish I ordered was dry. I felt like I was eating mouthfuls of pasta with parmasean cheese with no sort of sauce. Not good. About 5 hours after eating there I was up all night with food poisoning. I didn't get lunch so I'm assuming it was something I ate at Spaghetti Factory. -
Review from Tammi T.
11/5/2011 1 Check-in Here
There are places that you go for good real gourmet food and there are places that you go for just simple taste and good value. The Old Spaghetti Factory is the latter. As long as the expectations are clear, the meal can be enjoyable.
This is not a high end restaurant so I was surprised there's valet, but it's good, no need to look for parking.
Very nice interior so I was pretty surprised by the price of the food. For around $10, the meal includes a soup or salad, sourdough bread, entree, desert and drink.
We ordered a pasta with white clam sauce and a Meat Lover's Treat. White clam sauce pasta was a little different from what I'm used to - I was thinking more like spaghetti vongole but this one was more like an alfredo. Decent taste nevertheless.
The tomato based meat sauce pasta tasted like it came out of mom's kitchen. My mom doesn't make pasta but I imagine that's how it'll taste if she did. It just tastes simple and good, and evokes feelings of the good old days, whatever that is. End the meal with spumoni ice-cream, perfect.
If you want real good Italian food, this is probably not the place. But if you are looking for great value and decent food, this is definitely it. -
Review from Ann I.
Aliso Viejo, CA
11/14/2011 2 Check-ins Here
Awww, The Old Spaghetti Factory.. What can I say, I have been going here for more than 20 years. This place is simple, good, and with great prices.
It is hit or miss with service. Sometimes you get someone who really cares and is on it, and sometimes you get someone who doesn't give a hoot about what you ask for or say.
The 3 course meal is the best, I always get the Manager's Special where you get to pick 2 items. I always get the Spaghetti with Mushroom sauce and the other I get Spaghetti with Mizithra Cheese. You start off with a basic salad, Iceberg lettuce, I get the Creamy Pesto dressing which is to die for. I get extra on the side so I can dip the hot sour dough bread with. Yes, free bread as well! And to top it off, the end you get a choice of Spumoni ice cream or Vanilla. Go for Spumoni, it is scrumptious!!!
You really can't go wrong with the simplicity that is The Old Spaghetti Factory. :) -
Review from Dan N.
Santa Ana, CA
12/20/2011 1 Check-in Here
Went here because Mama D's was closed. [LOVE by the way.] Anyway, went here and got a few plates. We got their bread and dip to start. I could've made better. Their sauce tasted like lower end store brand tomato sauce. Garlic Mizithra, I did NOT like. I didn't even taste the garlic. All I can taste was the Mizithra cheese. So unless you're a fan, don't get it. They brought out dessert and the waitress didn't bring any spoons. Did she think we were going to inhale them? I should have known better to think anything can come close to Mama D's.
-
Review from Kelly C.
Irvine, CA
12/20/2011
Lots of kids with birthdays when i went. So lots of crayons, kids & singing. No comment on how I felt about this, just an observation. The food was great.
-
Review from Raven R.
Huntington Beach, CA
12/28/2011
IF you go in with low expectations, you will be fine. We had a party of 10, a couple of them were children and we were close by, so we figured this would be easiest. Our waiter was not good at all, we had to ask for bread, he did not take our dinner order well and never checked on our table.
The food is just eh, nothing special, most of the people in our party had their pasta overcooked, the salad was fresh though. The place is loud, so if you are there with kids, you will not feel like you are bothering anybody, in fact there were many families with babies the night we went. This being the case, I would not recommend this place for a date spot -
Review from Kevin L.
Irvine, CA
10/10/2011
Pro: descent food.
Complete meal at a low price consider it is in Newport Beach.
valid parking available.
interesting decoration
Con: usually very busy and has to wait an hour before seated.
must use valid parking.
do not open for lunch. -
Review from Gina C.
Los Angeles, CA
5/30/2011
If you want to eat italian food in a trolley but you're stuck in southern california, you should pay a visit to The Old Spaghetti Factory.
Not that people often have such specific yearnings.... or do they? But this was basically my main impression of my dining experience here.... and that it was "cool".
We'd called in about 7 minutes prior to our arrival to be placed on a waitlist around 530 PM. According to my friend, no reservations are allowed but yes for waitlists. Not sure how it works, but it worked out well because as soon as we stepped into this enchanting restaurant we were ushered to a cozy table below the staircase.
To say this restaurant is enchanting would be a slight understatement. The lighting is slightly dim (probably good for dates too) and you dine on mahogany tables beneath tall wooden ceilings... painted crimson. Some of the booths look like little train cubicles while others look like family dining tables. Anyhow, the cross of this harry potter-esque castle, mansion, and trolly station somehow melds well into an oddly fitting, mysterious, and magical dining experience.
This is definitely the highlight of the restaurant. There is a bar on the uppermost level too with tall chairs where appetizers can be ordered. Don't let this deter you from bringing kids though. We saw a balloon man there making a flower for a child.
Service: Our server brian was a friendly fellow that was somewhat MIA throughout our meal. Not that it hindered our table service but was just an observation.
Taste: Nothing especially memorable but then again, I just ordered the 2 meatballs and spaghetti. I'll try something more exquisite next time.
Price: Very acceptable. All entrees came with a choice of soup or salad, coffee/milk/iced tea, a scoop of spumoni/vanilla icecream and of course freash bread.
$15 for a very enjoyable dinner. I'd definitely go again. -
Review from Stephanie T.
Irvine, CA
7/23/2011
Okay, this is by no means based on authenticity nor even really super delicious tasting food. So why am I giving 4 stars? The environment, service, price, and location.
Complimentary valet parking which is basically must since it's a tiny parking lot near the beach... You don't want to try and find parking yourself. It's a high volume restaurant so they are pretty quick about everything; waited about 20 minutes to eat in the trolley car (yeah, it's big enough to fit a trolley inside). Great family place because they offer a kid friendly menu complete with an balloon artist on the weekend (he was pretty talented, the guy cranked out a rainbow on a cloud with all six colors!)
Chose to have the salad for my started and the thing was drowning with dressing. I like dressing, but it literally was enough to break apart my croutons. Sourdough bread came out hot with butter mmmm. The pasta is obviously made up of spaghetti noodles and your choice of sauces, or you can get various entrees with other stuff in it. I went for the classic pasta with browned butter and mizithra cheese paired with mushroom sauce. The marinara was a bit watery, but not awful. The mizithra cheese had good flavor but was not saucey enough, it was just cheesed sprinkled onto the noodles, and if I mixed it I lost the flavor. Love spumoni ice cream, so that's all to be said about that.
After having a complete meal for about $12 per person, you can take a nice stroll on the beach across the street to walk off all the carbs. -
Review from Philip K.
Lake City, FL
11/18/2011
Horrible spaghetti, restaurant smells weird
-
Review from Andrew Y.
Los Angeles, CA
5/2/2011
I took a drive and opened up my mind to this type of restaurant at the convincing of a friend. Unfortunately, when it comes to restaurant choices, this won't again fall amongst them...
My friend and I started with the Sicilian Garlic Cheese Bread, hoping for cheese goodness and received exactly that...the issue was that each bite was also like brushing your mouth with oil. After a few bites, it made more sense to toss the rest than to "try" and eat it simply because it was on the table. We both ordered the Breast of Chicken Fettuccine (w/whole wheat pasta), which again was met with disappointment:
Round I - waiter returned w/regular spaghetti noodles for each dish.
Round II - waiter returned w/fettuccine in one, angle hair in another.
Round III - waiter returned w/our actual order (SUCCESS!!)
I'm not quite sure what happened with this one. The "fresh" ingredients were only partially cooked and were at a low ratio compared to the pasta sitting underneath this dish. The sauce was neutral...really really neutral. I ate a few bites, thought it'd get better, but nothing changed - at this point we asked for the check and parted ways.
This place scores points for being in a good location for a great walk afterwards. The menu options were varied enough and at pretty reasonable prices. The option to select your pasta (including gluten free) and change up your sauce opens it up for a few more customers - just not my style of Italian if I'm going to venture to Newport for a good eat. -
Review from Steven S.
Hacienda Heights, CA
5/29/2011
Reminds me of college!
I mean come on - it's spaghetti! How can you mess this up?
I do love the mizithra cheese and clam sauce combo. Prettttty tasty. I always get an order of broccoli, too.
The food here is not anything particularly special or outstanding, but it is what it is, and they do a good job at it.
I always get pleasant service and I do appreciate that.
The restaurant is also walking distance to the beach, so I just cross the street and peruse the area nearby. -
Review from Abra W.
Fullerton, CA
4/15/2011
I've come here a number of time over the years with friends and family for birthdays, large parties, small dinners, and even a few dates.
My most recent visit I brought a friend who was visiting from out of state. After an afternoon napping at Balboa Beach we were craving something warm: soup, pasta, etc. We both ended up getting lasagna - vegetarian for her and meat for me.
Before I continue, I should mention that the Spaghetti Factory's lasagna isn't the best and I knew that when I ordered it. In fact, Michaelangelo's frozen lasagna is better as far as flavor goes. But on that day, my meat lasagna really hit the spot. Warm, doughy, cheesy - just what I was looking for.
In fact, the food in general is probably only three stars. Some items are better than others, but all in all it's only average/above average Italian American fare.
I give four stars on Yelp, however, because of the ambiance, price, and service. I LOVE how beautiful it is inside the Spaghetti Factory. And I love how the price doesn't reflect the class of the building - for only $10 you get a delicious loaf of sourdough, soup or salad, your entree, dessert (go for the spumoni!), and a drink. And I've never had bad service. On my last visit our server was particularly friendly/cheery, which was great. We got our food in a timely manner and our waters were always filled.
All in all, my most recent experience was a really good one and it's reflective of most all of my experiences at the Spaghetti Factory. :) -
Review from Danny T.
4/11/2011 1 Check-in Here
It's too hard for me to say anything bad about this place. The place is pure nostalgia to me! My gramps and I used to come here when I was a wee one and I would be excited everything time.
Complimentary valet parking! I don't have to complain about the parking situation for once... Outstanding! This place gets pretty crowded on certain nights and there's nothing better than knowing that you don't have to flip your lid trying to find a spot. Though I really don't like turning my car over to complete strangers..
You'll know why they call it the Old Spaghetti Factory when you come in. It looks freaking old! Haha. Everything is made out of a dark wood. And yes, I mean EVERYTHING. It's dim lit and there's three different sections to chow down at. Two areas downstairs; one with a caboose! And another area upstairs. My gramps and I would wait for the caboose anytime we ate but it's pretty cramped in there and only fun for certain occasions.
The service here can be pretty shotty. But the night I went was not the case. We were seated in a section on our own, so I was definitely afraid that we would never see our waiter. I was glad to be proven otherwise.
My friend and I split the Manager's Favorite Hearty Size! Basically you get to choose two different sauces and go to town. It's $12 after you go Hearty so you get a decent sized meal for $6!! Cannot beat that. It came out just great. You can't really rave about it being the best pasta in the world, but it really hits the spot and I am not about to rag on the place that holds much of my childhood memories!
I'm going to be quite honest with you. There's one main reason that I love coming the Old Fashioned Spaghetti Factory.. The Bread. I LOVE their garlic butter and sourdough. Mainly, just the garlic butter. That night we had three loaves before we even had our pasta! And we made sure the waiter was busy dropping more off! It's addictive I swear!
You can't argue with a free dessert either! I went with the spumoni; which is a pistachio, cherry and chocolate ice cream trifecta. It was super smooth and had no frost bite our anything. Perfect way to end a night at my favorite factory. -
Review from Danielle A.
Costa Mesa, CA
10/19/2011 3 Check-ins Here
Great easy Italian food. Fantastic for kids, kids corner with toys and TV while you wait for a table. Moderate pricing. Love the fresh bread and salad. The ravioli is perfect, big shells and perfect cheese and spinach inside. Best to go before the dinner rush or you wait. But, awesome because the pier is just across the street.
-
Review from Melody C.
Irvine, CA
9/1/2011
I definitely like this place. A lot. The hubs and I went at about 7:30-8 on Valentine's day, without a reservation, and it took us only a few minutes to be seated... and the place was packed. The food is really yummy, the service is friendly and fast (but not rushed), and the atmosphere is just amazing. It's so great, I love coming here.
-
Review from Samuel C.
Costa Mesa, CA
5/14/2011
Food was ok. Not impressive. I expected better especially since it was Newport.
All restaurants were full & busy, but for some reason the Old Spaghetti Factory wasn't as busy as the other places. I should've taken it as a sign.
What gave it a good review was they allowed us to eat in the trolly.
I had the meat lover's treat. It was ok. Meat sauce & sausages were ok, but the meatball tasted like it was from an amateur cook.
What saved it was the ice cream and the service and the scenery. Beyond that I thought it was bad.
Most of the employees were friendly, but for some reason in order for our waitress to come and ask if we wanted anything, I had to get her attention. Along with me getting up and walking to the edge of the trolly to get some spare spoons when she handed us the dessert in a hurry. -
Review from Denise Y.
Torrance, CA
1/13/2011
It's always packed and parking sucks... but I love this place!
I learned a neat little trick... call ahead and ask them to put you on the wait list. When you get there, your wait time is lessened. Although, if you have time to wait, the upstairs bar area is really nice to lounge around until your table is ready. This also helps if you have to park down the street and walk because the parking lot fills up quickly.
The warm bread and creamy butter spread is great comfort food to start out with. Although, we usually order the garlic cheese bread and fight for the last piece - sooo good!
My favorite dish is the mizithra cheese and browned butter pasta. That dish never fails to delight my taste buds. I tried the new garlic mizithra dish and it was good, but I think I'll stick with the regular one.
The Manager's Special is also a good dish if you want a variety. My choices are usually the mizithra and white clam sauce combo.
My boyfriend usually gets the spinach tortellini so we can share. That is delicious as well!
To top off a great dinner, out comes the complimentary bowl of spumoni. It is so delicious! I always want to ask for another bowl, but know that if I did, they'd probably have to roll me out :)
It's a bit noisy, but fun! We haven't been seated in the train car yet, but maybe next time! -
Review from Isabel T.
Irvine, CA
9/12/2011 1 Check-in Here
I freaking love OSF. I'm sorry but it's a great deal - yummy bread, salad, pasta, dessert and iced tea all for one bargain price. Seriously? How can you beat that. The bread is hot and delicious. The pasta is good (you can even get wheat - which I think is just as good as the original or gluten free). I love the mizithra (sp?) sauce. Yum-o. I like to get the managers favorite 1/2 mizithra and half meat, marianara or mushroom sauce. The creamy pesto salad dressing is delish. I'm not big on sweets anymore but when I was I loved me some spumoni at the end of the meal. All in all, I like when I come here. Is it authentic Italian food? No but who freaking cares. Sometimes you just want a yummy meal and you don't want to break the bank for it! Oh and because of the prices there are a ton of families with kids - which kind of sucks but you know what you're getting into. Lastly, free valet.
-
Review from Jeannette I.
Chino Hills, CA
9/22/2011
The food was ok and if you don't mind the loud and crowded restaurant then this place is for you. It's the parking and traffic that gave the place 2 stars. Luckily we had an activity that ended when the place was going to open. We paid $20 to use TOSF parking lot for several hours. When we came back, after our activities at the beach, around 4:30pm we told them we'd like to eat here too. It was valet, so they had our keys. Luckily we waited for the restaurant to open because if you came after it opened good luck getting seated or getting into the parking lot.
When we were done eating all I wanted to do was go home. I was exhausted. Our car was right in front of the entrance to TOSF. We gave the valet guy our ticket and they brought us another car. I was confused. Told them it wasn't ours. Showed them our car right next to us, but they couldn't find the keys. Valet guys tried to find it and elicited help from other employees. They all couldn't find it. They were about to apologize and give up, but I asked if I could give it a try. Most were hung up on individual hooks, but there were some that were scattered at the bottom. Then I noticed there were a lot that were hung with multiple keys on them. How did they find anything in here? I couldn't find it at first. Then after a couple of more tries I finally found them. Wow! We got lucky. It could of been worse.
We got into our car. The exit to the parking lot was about ten parking spaces away. The street in front of the exit had traffic. We were able to drive onto the street, but was stuck there for nearly an hour because of the traffic into the TOSF's parking lot. We couldn't move because it was only one lane and the other lane had on coming traffic. Ugh! The valet guys weren't directing traffic to pass because their small parking lot was full. One person held up traffic. I could see the car turned to go into the TOSF parking lot. The fool didn't even try to back up after almost an hour of blocking traffic. I guess you don't need common sense to get a drivers lic. People were getting out of their car and couldn't believe it. When there was no oncoming traffic people started to drive around that one car, but it was scary. If we didn't I'm sure we would have been there much longer. Thank you TOSF and your crappy valet. :) -
Review from Mike W.
Huntington Beach, CA
9/26/2011
The is a huge barn of a restuarant. I the reason I mention that is that I was in a party of 13 dads and 16 boys. Amazingly we were seated relatively quickly. The soup was good and the potpuri spaghetti selection I had for my main course was a tasty combination of sauces. The service was decent if a tad rude, but in fairness we were a large and pretty rowdy party. I would definitely recommend it for large parties or families.
-
Review from Tim W.
Orange County, CA
Updated - 9/27/2010
Still not 'cool' to like the Old Spaghetti Factory........... but I still do!
Up to 5 stars now!!
Been here twice in the past couple weeks for dinner.
It was great both times.
LOVE the Mizithra Cheese & Browned Butter Spaghetti.
If you're a cheese lover and haven't tried it, you should!
I've tried to find this dish at other restaurants but never have.
Also a bonus star for having whole wheat spaghetti.
The Newport location is one of my favorites.1 Previous Review: Show all »
-
8/26/2009
I know it's not 'cool' to like this place on yelp or most any big chain restaurant. but oh well...
I… Read more »
-
-
Review from flo c.
Irvine, CA
8/1/2011
So it's my fiance's birthday and since he's obsessed with spaghetti, he opted to check out The Old Spaghetti Factory for his birthday dinner. Shockingly, neither one of us has ever been to one, even though TOSF has been around for ages and has many locations.
Anyway, they offer reservations for parties of 6 or more, which worked out, though the latest time available on Saturdays is 5:30. Everyone seemed to show up around this time because the valet parking line was seriously out of control and packed. It was through no fault of the valet attendants as they can only fit so many cars in at once. It was extra inefficient because there were huge parties (think 21+ people) that were there waiting for their tables (with no reservations) and they took up parking spaces that people with reservations, like us, needed. We told our guests to just take the first spot they see, whether it is street parking or an adjoining lot, because it was so packed in the line. On the plus side, the valet parking is complimentary.
They didn't seat us until 6:00 as I mentioned in passing to the hostess that we are still waiting for a few members of our party. I'm not sure if they forgot about us or were waiting for us to nag them because 30 minutes later when I went to check on our table, they asked if most of our party has arrived. They were able to seat us right away at that point but our actual server didn't come by for at least 10 minutes after that. The server seemed a bit frazzled and said that they weren't supposed to seat anyone in this section. He came by to take our orders later but then he never came by with the drinks and we and another table finally called someone else over after waiting for them for another 10 or more minutes. That being said, after that point, everything came by very quickly and the server was very prompt after that. I think he was contending with a huge party elsewhere so that's why he was elusive initially.
Onto the food, the minestrone was actually decent and was more of a broth, rather than tomato sauce, which is common. The salads were mostly just iceberg lettuce. I had the brown butter and mizithra cheese spaghetti. I thought it would be more like mac and cheese or even like a baked ziti but it was like dry spaghetti with a smidge of oil on top and a ton of fluffy shredded cheese. Indeed, if you literally want to eat a mouthful of straight cheese, this would be it. I would recommend getting the combo that other Yelpers mentioned with half brown butter and mizithra cheese and half marinara sauce. I think my favorite item was the spumoni ice cream, though it didn't have the usual chunks of cherry and pistachio in it.
Overall, everyone else liked their food a lot and the prices are really impressive, considering my meal was about $10 and include soup, ice cream and iced tea with refills. -
Review from Jim T.
7/12/2011
When everyone started avoiding carbs this place probably lost business. You can't avoid spaghetti forever though. This place is ancient. I took my wife here back when were first dating. We've been married going on 31 years. I like the combination plate where you can get three sauces. I also like the lemonade, where you get to keep the glass. This place is a tradition. If you haven't eaten here, you must try it.
-
Review from val a.
Irvine, CA
10/25/2010 1 Check-in Here
Whats up with the smell of ass when you walk in.
I love italian food, however I cant stand the smell of the place.
Hmmmmh ...... what a dilema -
Review from Linda P.
Long Beach, CA
9/9/2011
I am giving them one star for the valet parking. We went there because we had elderly people with us who couldn't walk far.
The food was abysmal! The noise level made any kind of conversation impossible. The portions are huge but if it doesn't taste good - who cares?
There was a 15 year gap between this and our previous visit. It will be another 150 before we go back. -
Review from JP W.
Seal Beach, CA
2/9/2011
One of my favorite places to go. Cheap, loud and great atmosphere!
Love the mizithra cheese and the clam sauce. both delish!
price can't be beat for a dinner salad, unlimited bread with garlic butter and ice cream. this is a perfect place for kids too. great family restaurant. -
Review from Christine Y.
Los Angeles, CA
7/11/2010
The Old Spaghetti Factory...it just sounds so grand...so old feeling...I just had to come here. Anything with the word factory in it makes you think its gotta be good to be churning out so much of the same stuff right?
Some complimentary valet parking, but decided to just find some street parking instead to cut the hassle. It was already 9pm by the time I got here anyways so it was easy parking. The name of the place is on the wall of their building, humongous and lit up by lights. So when you drive by there is no question of what this place is.
It's over the top grandness decor time!!! Everything is just a bit too much but just enough to be fun. They have carved dark wood everywhere! From the the walls to the stairs with spiral posts, to the chairs with cushy red fabric chair with super high backs. Hanging from the ceiling are gigantic lamps that look like you could fit a few people inside. There's even a red caboose that you could potentially sit inside! Velvety curtains hang to give people more privacy there are mini tiffany lamps on some tables.
I didn't get to sit in the caboose... booo... I actually ended up on the 2nd floor overlooking it. We bypassed the bar area with high seating and were seated a few tables away from the restroom in a hallway area. Pretty wide hallway but hallway nevertheless. The high backs on the chairs did help a lot to not make it feel weird.
We had actually arrived just in time for the end of dinner rush so were seated within 10 minutes. Enough time for us to gawk at everything. Service was a bit spotty though, server was really nice and friendly, but was pretty hard to find.
Onto the foood!!!
Sourdough bread loaf-came out warm and crusty and with whipped butter! So nice and soft and warm. Had to cut it ourselves though haha. I'm just being lazy. Yummy yummy I love fresh bread.
Minestrone soup-This was actually one of the better minestrone soups I've had. Lots of different ingredients in here and it wasn't super oily. Came out piping hot too.
Spaghetti Vesuvius- This name really made it sound much better than it really was. A plate of spaghetti, with some sauce and some ingredients on top. Just enough to really cover the pasta, but I'm not even sure I got more than a few pieces of the other things. The meat was also kinda gross to me. Like super processed meat that doesn't even taste like meat. Had a weird texture and kind of disintegrated into a pulp when I ate it. Sauce was okay, bit spicy but not really at all. Skimping on the ingredients, could've used more.
Spumoni ice cream-Standard ice cream, but a bit icy. Can't go too wrong with this. Spumoni is always a bit odd to me, but at least this one didn't have cherry chunks so I enjoyed it.
For 10.50 I feel like I got such a good deal. So the food wasn't excellent, but it was good enough. Anyways its just so much food for the price and the atmosphere is fun. I love a lot of food for cheap... ahhh my chinese self is happy about that. Every meal comes with the bread, soup or salad, and spumoni or vanilla ice cream. Ahhh...a 3 course meal basically...I like it. -
Review from George Y.
Cypress, CA
1/31/2011
Had a stellar experience. I got here early and the valet let me park myself since my Lab was in the back seat. LOL
Ordered the mizithra spaghetti plate after drinks and appetizers. Yum city.
Of course , the spumoni ice cream finished things nicely.
Service was really quick and attentive.
Prices were terrific and for Newport Beach, outstanding.
I'll be back (and none too soon) -
Review from Akiko I.
5/11/2010
- Locale destination -
It's in the dead center of Newport Beach. One minutes from the beach. Plenty of parking space, which is very precious around here. It's kinda cool and funky decor. There's a bus with seating in the middle of the restaurant. Quick service. I should have taken pictures...
- Gluttony expedition -
I'm not a big fan of spaghetti. So I tried "Baked Lasagna". It was Very GOOOOD! The pasta was very tender and fresh. They claims they make it from scratch. I'm impressed with the quality of pasta. Marinara sauce was nothing special but very good & hot lasagna :)
Pot Pourri: 4 kinds of sauce on 1 plate. Meat - boring, Marinara - boring, Clam - ok. homie taste, and Mizithra cheeze: yuck!
One of my friends ordered this, so I sampled them all. It was so meh and a WHEAT pasta on top of that because my friend is on diet.
Strawberry Lemonade: It's a bit too sweet for me.
Spumoni ice cream: I haven't had such a yucky cheap shit ice cream in my life, though I love the Spumoni ice cream at Baskin Robins.
- Conqueror's deduction -
Just because of the Lasagna, I'll give 2 1/2 stars. I won't come back for the spaghetti for sure. No wonder why I don't like spaghetti....
There are options for wheat and gluten free pasta. You can add the portion for extra $1.95. Avoid spaghetti, then try Lasagna. You'll love me :) -
Review from Daniela M.
Anaheim, CA
9/2/2010
My boyfriend loves coming to this place because he likes the food and the ice cream they serve after. Forgive me fellow yelpers who yelp by the book, but I forget the name of that special ice cream that "gets directly imported from Italy"
Oh! Spamoni? something like that? anyway
I think this place is alright. The food is okay, but not fantastic. I ordered the spaghetti and it tasted like something I could cook at home, expect, I could probably cook it better. Like I always say- I like flavor! The atmosphere is nice; it's a good place to come if you're on a date. -
Review from Ham B.
Newport Beach, CA
8/18/2011
Who ever dared to give this place under 3 stars has no idea what real italian food is or you got the wrong thing I understand that. Try the massitra it's a Greek cheese on the spaghetti by it's self.... It's so good it's better to give it a second chance. It's like a tradition in my family to go there!!!!!!! :-)
-
Review from Karl L.
Costa Mesa, CA
7/16/2011 2 Check-ins Here
Without a doubt this is the best example of a family style restaurant - no airs and graces just a fun atmosphere and good, inexpensive meals. Not only do you get free valet parking, but you also get free, hot loaves of tasty bread, free ice cream and free coffee! Sure it may not be a gourmet experience, but for $10-$15 dinners that will leave you walking away absolutely stuffed with a box of leftovers, this place is a hands-down winner! My parents took my sisters and I here back in the 80's and now I return the favor by taking them, and it's still as good as it ever was.
-
Review from Melissa W.
Green Valley, AZ
8/7/2011 1 Check-in Here
These guys don't do gourmet Italian, they do what they've done for decades and that is serve up large portions of simple but tasty pasta dishes and delicious crusty sourdough bread with garlic butter. My favorite is the manager's special, with half meat sauce, half mizithra cheese in the browned butter. I always get the salad with my meal, and always enjoy the complimentary scoop of "spumoni" ice cream. Actually they took away the spumoni (with nuts in it) and now offer neopolitan or vanilla but the little strip of pistachio flavor in my dish is delish. I always have left overs to enjoy the next day for lunch. This place is on my list to visit every time I come back to Newport.
-
Review from chris b.
New York, NY
9/2/2010
When you crave pasta, can't go wrong with this place as long as you don't veer too far from standard italian pasta fare. For $10 you can have soup, bread, pasta, and spumoni ice cream.. You will leave full, satisfied, and only $10 poorer as you go home to "sleep it off".
Extra half star for the propensity this location has to attract strange and interesting people, with a floorplan which welcomes panaramic people watching opportunities.
Minus half star for mediocre service. -
Review from Dorothy R.
Los Angeles, CA
9/23/2010 1 Check-in Here
It had been years since I'd been to one of these chain restaurants, and it was still as great of an experience as I remember.
The ambiance is fun, the decor is unique compared to newer restaurants, and it is a great place for a larger group. We had seven people in our group at peak dinner time on a Saturday night, and waited maybe 20 minutes upstairs at the bar for our table.
My meal was Special #2, The Half and Half, which is half spinach & cheese ravioli with marinara sauce and half whole-wheat spaghetti with rich meat sauce. The ravioli was really good, and the spaghetti was just spaghetti (it's kind of hard to make that wonderful). Each dinner comes with fresh bread, choice of soup or salad (the minestrone was good), and ice cream (vanilla or spumoni). All of this for dinner was only $11.50. I was really impressed! It's fun not being gouged!
The restaurant is located right by all the Newport bars, so it's a good place to put some carbs in your belly before a night of drinking. -
Review from Restaurant V.
Fullerton, CA
5/22/2010
Great Food, Great Service, Great Prices..... But,
What's with the large white trash bud light drinking families that come in there thinking they own the place. Control your fucking kids please.
Don't understand why all these corporate restaurants bend over backwards for meth-head families from the 909 that don't know how to act in public. Man up and send these families back to their trailer parks to celebrate their family reunions. Your just rewarding bad behavior to make pennies.
