The Old Spaghetti Factory

Reviews 3

JU

Julia Phelps

We were here for the first time two weeks ago and it was awesome. Tonight was far from awesome and just plain weird. Our waiter was very robotic, rehearsed and spoke in third person using us, our, we and folks with anything he said. He NEVER said I, you or me. It was like he was eating dinner with us. For example... Okay folks, well be back with our drinks. Well get those menus out of our way and brings us our soup and salad. It was as if he didnt even see us as real people. I was so completely distracted by the way he spoke and there was no eye contact either. When he brought my food, I asked for grated parm, like my daughter had and he told me I could use the shaker on the table which was not fresh. I said, you cant grate some and he said no. He didnt offer to bring any from the kitchen either. When my food came, it was different than the last time. I understand different cooks, but last time my vesuvius had a lot of pieces of sausage and meatballs with the chicken. Tonight I counted one small piece of meatball and 3 slices of sausage among a sea of chicken. That was very different from the first time and different from the description of the meal on the menu. After I was denied my request for grated cheese, a female waitress came out and said that our waiter had to leave for a family emergency. I was stuck waiting for water for a while because of the switch. I started to feel bad and think maybe it was so awkward because he was preoccupied, but then about 10 minutes after she said that I saw him bring out bread to another table. Perhaps, he was assisting another server before leaving, but this whole experience was just very strange and not at all the relaxing break I was hoping for since my daughter has been up here in the hospital for several weeks and I dont get out much. I finally decided to speak to the manager about it and he said he didnt know the waiter to speak that way and that he too talked like him. He said that if I would have brought the meal to his attention he would have fixed it. Then he said they dont offer grated cheese only the cheese on the table. I said my daughter had grated cheese on her food, so there wasnt grated cheese in the kitchen he could have brought me? He said well yes the kitchen had some, but there are cheese shakers on the tables for our guests. I said ok, well I was just looking for some clarification on what happened here and started to walk out, because all he did was make a bunch of excuses and said hed "take care of it ". I said as I walked out that I was sure of that. He knew I was being sarcastic, but all he did was blow me off and make an uncomfortable situation much worse. Then I walked out of the building and realized I left my dang purse and I was already upset and tearing up and now had to walk back in and get my purse. I walk in and he is talking to a woman at the bar and several waitstaff about me!!! I dont think this situation could have been handled any less professionally, so at that point I asked him if I could get the corporate number. He said yes, but he wasnt sure what I wanted him to do. I said all I wanted was some validation and to have a decent dinner out, but instead when I told him what the waiter was doing he was justifying and telling me it didnt really happen that way, because he didnt know the waiter to be that way. He said hed be back with the number. At that point I was completely in tears and just thought of leaving. He came back with the number on a card and had a gift certificate. I found it very strange that he had no problem blowing me off and it wasnt until after I asked for the number to corporate after he was talking to his employees about me that he finally tried to make it right. At this point, Im not sure if I will ever come back. He had the opportunity to validate my concerns and make me feel heard and instead he told me what I said didnt happen, and it was my fault the food wasnt corrected, (when I was without waitstaff) and then decided to talk about me to his staff when I left. What a nightmare!

TH

The Mother Shipp

We took our grandmother (in her eighties) here for dinner as a surprise. We knew the food would be delicious and the service has always been exemplary. Until today. The hostess was unable to smile, and it was painfully evident she and the other two hostesses didnt want to be there. Tip: when a group of people approach​ the podium, we expect you to greet us and ask how many. Dont just look at us, wondering why we could possibly be bothering you. There were 4 of us, at 630 on a Saturday night. The wait was thirty minutes, but the restaurant was nowhere near capacity. No big deal. Ill wait for good food and good service. Our server was awful. She had a bad attitude, getting irritated with our requests for the basics (drinks, bread, ice cream), which we shouldnt have had to ask for to begin with. EVERYTHING took much longer than it needed to, given the place wasnt near capacity. Each request took more than 10 minutes before she came back, and it took 15 minutes to pay our bill. I stepped into the ladies room on the way out which was disgusting. One of the three hostesses was wiping the front door windows off, and didnt even open the door for the arriving guests. Perhaps she couldve checked the bathroom, as it had been out of towels and had toilet paper on the floors for a while, but given her level of enthusiasm from the start, thats expecting too much. Like other recent reviews, the food was amazing, but I expect MUCH BETTER service. It was embarrassing to bring our grandmother here and have to ask for every little thing that should be a given. This was supposed to be a nice relaxing gathering with a great meal, and while the food was as good as ever, the service made for a stressful and uncomfortable experience.

TA

Tabitha Boicourt

To start off 3 people in our party of six asked for coffee. It came out barely warm. My father in law who likes his coffee warm said it was even too cold for him. When the waiter was told he said he would brew a new pot. He then took one of the coffees and heated it up in the microwave and told us as if that was good service. When he brought out the new pot he just topped off their coffees instead of giving them new cups. When we ordered our food the waiter didnt even try to explain my Mother in laws questions about a dish in a way that made her understand. You could tell he didnt care, was impatient and was possibly annoyed since 2 in our party didnt speak English. When the soup and salads came out they did not taste good and My mother in law had changed hers to soup while the rest of us ordered but of course they brought her a salad. When the food came out it was warm. Definitely not hot. The food was very bland and looked unappetizing. The taste was the same. When the desert of ice cream that is included with a meal came out we were hoping at least this would be good. Well the ice cream tasted as if they had let it melt and refroze it. There were ice crystals in every bite. To put how badly the food was verses us just being picky we had 4 people that will eat anything and hate to waste food. Even they did not eat all of it because it was so bad. We didnt even take left over which is unheard of. To say we would not go back is an understatement.