The Old Spaghetti Factory - Louisville

Reviews 5

A

A Private User

A group of six of us went at about 10 pm Aug. 5th. One in the party had attempted twice to make a reservation, waiting on hold and giving information to a manager, but there was still no record of it when we arrived. Fortunately, we only had to wait 3-5 minutes for a table. The restaurant decor is beautiful, well-lit, and does have a full trolley car inside where a few tables of diners can eat. Its truly a sight to see. Our waiter was prompt, but couldnt keep track of who at the table ordered what and brought the wrong items more than once. The strawberry lemonade tastes just like Country Time Pink Lemonade. The garlic butter that comes with the bread is good and, unlike others whove posted reviews, our bread was soft and yummy. We also ordered the cheese bread appetizer. It was tasty, but reminded me very strongly of the good cheesy bread you can buy in the frozen foods section of the grocery store. Its nice that for many entrees a salad and dessert comes included with the price, but I wish theyd saved the money. The salad was clearly from a very cheap pre-mixed bag like you get at the grocery store; the blue cheese dressing had no flavor or texture and there wasnt enough of it, not that I cared to eat it all. It tasted like eating shredded plain iceberg lettuce. For entrees, I ordered the Garlic Mizithra and my husband ordered the Fettucini Alfredo with chicken. My entree was simple but good. Its spaghetti tossed in butter and topped with crumbled bacon, grated cheese, and minced garlic. While it wasnt a revelation in my mouth, it was satisfying, filling, and tasty. If you must go, try it. My husbands entree was terrible unfortunately. The Alfredo sauce had no flavor and was extremely thin. The real insult though was the chicken. It clearly came from a can! When paying $7 for an entree I expect better than bland, thin sauce and canned chicken. During our meal, the waiter kept our drinks filled, but had forgotten who ordered which entree when bringing them out. After entrees, I got the ice cream because it was included. Like most of the rest of the meal, it was without flavor except for the half spoonful of chocolate I got which tasted freezer-burned but chocolaty. Overall, its cheaper and yummier to just stop at a grocery store and cook a better meal with the same ingredients at home. Clearly, if there is a chef at this restaurant, which I doubt, he or she should be fired. SAVE YOUR MONEY AND GO SOMEPLACE ELSE, like Olive Garden (or any other Italian restaurant).

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A

A Private User

We drove right by it, not expecting OSF to be in such a nice location. The chandeliers and high ceilings and carved-wood seatbacks…amazing! Things didnt bode well from the start. We arrived at a half-empty restaurant and were told there would be a 15- to 20-minute wait. Hmm... eventually, we were told that our table was "ready." The placemats were scattered about across the table and the waitress spent some time fixing that as we awkwardly stood in the aisle, small children noisily zipping back and forth around us. The salt and pepper and cheese shaker were overturned at the far side of the table, the mess not cleaned up before we sat down. All of this is completely forgivable in my mind, or at least can be explained away... it was a Monday night, understaffed, maybe the kids of other customers had run across our booth and table before we got there. But it did not impress, to say the least. The pasta dishes were mediocre, the sauces not so great. The red meat sauce was flavorless. The white clam sauce was disgusting. And the highly touted brown butter and cheese sauce was booooring. Some of the pasta seemed like it had been undercooked and then reheated — no texture, no taste to it either. For a place that specializes in spaghetti, I had higher expectations. For the price, I had mediocre expectations. Old Spaghetti Factory managed to disappoint all around. (Avoid the coffee, too. Its slightly flavored water.) Service? Friendly, yes. We had to ask to have the bread to be brought out after our entrées were delivered: “oh, youd like the bread now?” But it was as underwhelming as the rest of the meal. Better, perhaps, we had skipped the bread — no need to mop up the "signature" sauces. If you still decide to go after reading this review, at least get the buck-fifty off and avoid the included spumoni ice cream... the chocolate part was passable, but the pistachio and tasteless pink stuff should be avoided, and it wasnt molded like one might expect. Blech.

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Nate Hubbard

Service was fantastic, seriously top notch, but the food was just edible. We went here for some nostalgia, it has been around for a long time and my wife and I had fond childhood memories. Unfortunately those memories will not be joined by any new ones. I ordered the Chicken Piccata, which is one of my favorite dishes. Usually piccata is a rich sauce made with panceta, butter, butter, butter, lemon, and capers served over a chicken paillard. What i got was a bone dry chicken cutlet covered in a few capers, some unidentifiable green mush, and what looked like pico de gallo salsa. It was bizzare, not very flavorful, and definitely not piccata. It was served beside some angel hair which had been boiled in unsalted water for somewhere between 2-3 weeks. It was mushy and sticky, plopped on some olive oil, and covered with a ton of grated cheese. Everyone elses pasta was also flavorless and overcooked. My wife said the marinara was not awful and everyone enjoyed the gorgonzola appetizer. My son ordered the cheese and brown butter spaghetti, after two bites he decided to just eat the table bread for dinner. We always hesitate to go to chain restaurants, and this experience reinforces that plan. This place seems to be trading on their long-established name and just phoning in the food. We were very disappointed.

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Chelsea Cosby

The atmosphere is wonderful. Antique chairs and chandaliers. You could wear jeans or a suit, a great place to take kids, the room is so open the sounds of even the noisiest child is drowned out by the hustle and bustle of the restaurant. The food is merely good, nothing to go on and on about. Its not expensive place and the food reflects that, but its good enough. I think the simpler dishes are the better options. Everytime I splurge on a more expensive dish it tends to be a dissappointment. Spaghetti with a large meatball, or Spaghetti and clam sauce are my favorites. I have no illusions that the clams in the sauce are fresh or even real and Im ok with that. For 12 dollars, which includes salad/soup and a scoop of spumoni, I dont expect real seafood. The atmosphere and tradition is the real draw of it. Its a great place to go if youre on a budget but still want to feel like its a special night. Oh, and every dish comes with a complimentary scoop of Spumoni ice cream, which is always a nice touch.

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Joey Saylor

Things seem to be on the decline at this location, especially when it comes to service. On my most recent visit, it took at least 10 minutes before I was even waited on while the place was half empty. Once the server did come over, she said "Ill be right with you" and I waited another 5 minutes. Then my drink order and salad were both wrong. I allowed for the wine mixup but I made her take the salad back and the entree (I wanted it after I ate the salad). Once I did get to eat, the food was good. On other notes, the interior is starting to really age, especially the furniture and carpet. I also suggest they do away with the antiquated "no eating (entrees) at the bar" and also not closing the bar before 9pm on a Saturday night. I dont know what has happened because it really used to be enjoyable to eat here. This is now starting to become more of a Fazolis type place with a higher price tag. You are better off to spend extra bucks to go elsewhere for Italian food IMHO. Very disappointed.

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