The Old Spaghetti Factory

You only turn 29 once, right?
Wrong.
My Unilocal Hawaii cousin, Ric C., insists that I’m 29 years young again. Okay, for you cuz, I will be 29! Thank you!
My family (the one I was born into) enjoys celebrating each others’ birthdays. Last year, I escaped to Las Vegas, where Twinsie (Joyce W. in Arizona) found me and reminded me to eat noodles for long life. (I did!)
This year, I remembered what she (aka J-​WoW) taught me, so I chose The Old Spaghetti Factory because my three little nieces enjoy this restaurant and I can get my noodle fix.
It turned out to be the perfect place because of the FREE parking at Ward Warehouse in Honolulu, spacious interior (there’s even upstairs seating where the restroom and bar are located), calm environment, beautiful décor (chandeliers, stained glass windows, overstuffed sofas & chairs, awesome view, etc.), great service, and delicious food at a reasonable price!
Our server was Sophie — she said she just started working here, but she handled our party of ten like a pro! There were no mistakes. Everyone got their soups, salads, mac & cheese, ravioli, and other pasta dishes; even take out boxes and extra napkins — without any delays! I told Sophie that she deserves a raise — she was THAT GOOD (I hope her boss is reading this)! She was so pleasant, efficient, and super kind to my mom, sisters, and young nieces! Mahalo, Sophie!
I haven’t been to The Old Spaghetti Factory in such a long time, and I don’t know why. There are rumors of it closing in the near future, so that gave me even more reason to dine here. In the past, it seemed so crowded and they didn’t take reservations. This time, we just about walked right in on a Monday evening!
There are new menu items, but I still got the Pot Pourri which is spaghetti with 4 different sauces: 2 reds (meat and marinara) and 2 whites (clam and cheese). For just $ 13.25, it came with ono Complimentary Bread, a soup or salad and spumoni or vanilla ice cream for dessert! What a deal! I got the fresh, crisp tossed salad with house dressing — yum — and the spumoni — oh, yeah! (Spumoni is pistachio, cherry, and chocolate ice cream — like a neopolitan ice cream. This one had no nuts or little fruits. It was smooth, creamy, and delicious!)
My baby sister ordered the most strangest thing: A platter of broccoli and a side of 2 meatballs. At first, I thought she was on one of those crazy diets, but she told me to try it. I refused at first, but she asked again, so to be polite, I took a piece of broccoli — WOW! The butter and cheese on that broccoli can make anyone turn vegetarian! Really! Next time, I’m going to order that — along with maybe the Garlic Shrimp Fettuccine — because I’m not on any diet except SEEfood! Haha!
If you’re reading this and you want a dining companion, let me know… let’s sit in the «trolley» (see photo)! The staff told me that this Cable Car was shipped here from San Francisco! Twinsie wants me to ring the bell, so please bear with me… I’m just a tall 29 year old kid!

Great service today. Our waiter was super helpful, although he seemed to be a bit overworked — he was constantly running around like a chicken without a head.
Once we finally ordered our drinks and food, they came fairly quickly. Today was a Thursday and it was very slow, so if you’re heading here around the prime dinner hour (between 6 and 7) do so in a weekday! Two weeks ago we tried to get in on a Friday around the same time and it was over a 45 minute wait!
My only gripe is that I think the prices are a bit high. I’m always surprised at how much our bill is at the end of our meal.

The food here is always delicious and filling (see previous review), but the other night I was impressed by the service. We came in a few minutes close to closing time and we’re going to leave, but our server Ryan was so welcoming and provided great service and didn’t rush us.
Also, the table next to us ordered ice tea and the server came back with a fresh glass she brewed by hand since she said the iced tea was dumped for the night
Being a server myself, I was glad to see such great service provided here

I truly love Spaghetti Factory. I’m in no form claiming it’s authentic Italian flavor; I grew up with Italians in NYC and that’s just blasphemy. But I still love love love Spaghetti Factory! It triggers some nostalgic feelings from childhood of going to places like the Ground Round. Coloring pages for kids, tall ceilings and dark wood cover the place; chairs are almost oversized and there’s even an old train car with seats inside. You know what to expect and its consistently a decent experience.
I’m a huge fan of complete meals. These days just going to Zippys or L&L can result in a pricey experience and Spaghetti Factory actually has affordable prices for higher quality food. Soup or salad, entrée and dessert come with every meal. They have all the normal favorites plus some combinations for indecisive thinkers and a few unique choices. They even offer glutton free pasta. My favorite thing on the menu here is the Mizithra Cheese and Brown Butter pasta. The cheese is so good I spent 6 months looking for it in various stores [found some at Whole Foods!]. They offer it normal, a garlic version that includes bacon & mushrooms or a smaller portion with chicken Marsala. They also sell side orders of broccoli covered in the cheesy goodness! As a carnivore to the fullest I almost always order the Marsala but this last time I ordered it regular with a side meatball to appease the vampire in me. I always get the salad with creamy pesto; bleu cheese when I’m being naughty. The pesto is super garlicy and coats the lettuce well. It’s a cheap bagged like salad but it’s delicious with a good dressing. I believe the soup changes daily. Entrees are next. So much pasta! Holy crap, the portion was huge and delicious, cheesy & buttery, exactly as I expected. I love how consistent little things are! The meatball was a tad smaller than expected but was rich in flavor, very tender and covered in a nice tomato sauce that soaked it up. I was surprised how much I enjoyed the meatball and it was the perfect opposite to the pastas saltiness. Finally a scoop of vanilla or Spumoni to finish off the meal was brought. It’s so simple and yet perfect. I never feel the need to order more sweets.
Oh my god, I almost forgot the bread! You get warm bread with a magic garlic butter, both of which they will refill for you if you ask/​keep eating it. It’s dangerous. I swear it is all glutton and yeast and garlic and goodness and ah! I have to curb myself each time. Girls and bread, I’m so clique.
Our server checked on us frequently and was super friendly; beer taps were down which was a bummer but typically the draft prices are decent.
I will always have a soft spot for their simple yet on point approach at The Spaghetti Factory. Mangia!

Love the vibe here, got seated immediately on a Friday night. Got out food right away too!
The food is just okay, I got the ravioli and probably wouldn’t order it again, but I still love to dine here because of how relaxing it such a wide variety on their menu.
I do however enjoy their Italian soda.
Bread is just okay, nothing special…
Our waitress and the hostess was very professional and friendly.

Authentic, mouth-​watering Italian food?
No. That is not what the stars are for.
One star belongs to the chain restaurant Italian food being delicious in its own, special way. Not in a handmade gnocchi way, or in a refined and sophisticated way, but in a smack-​you-​in-​the-​face-​mizithra-​and-​mushroom-​sauce-​are-​wonderful-​soulmates kind of way. Our food (Managers Special, Pot Pourri, and Sicilian cheese bread with bacon) was good. Great, even. Everything we expected of it and more EXCEPT for the spumoni, which has evolved from a delicious fruit-​dotted green gloriousness to some sort of cheap neapolitan (with pistachio instead of vanilla). Oh, and the salad has no croutons. But those can be forgiven.
One star belongs to the waiter who took one look at my filthy middle child who was clearly trying to feed her eyeballs the creamy pesto, and brought us a stack of napkins without being asked. We didn’t have to ask for anything, actually. He was always two steps ahead of us and brought the kids apple juice as well as water in kiddie cups, which is an absolutely wonderful thing.
One star belongs to the joy of my children. A sizable kids meals with a drink, salad, and dessert for under $ 7 that they actually ate ALL of? I’ll take it. They were happy with the activities on the menu, happy with the speed of the food, and happy with the flavors. Happy kids, happy wife. Happy wife, happy life. Or something like that.
And finally, one star for the feeling that hugs me like a warm blanket when I walk into the doors. For the wash of forgotten memories the dark wood flickers back to life. Of coveting the green cushion of an oversized throne, of sitting at the heavy wooden tables with my feet barely on the floor, of my dad slicing bread for the whole family, of pink Italian sodas and everyone ordering browned butter mizithra, of sitting with a boyfriend in the trolley and dropping the salt shaker on the table below, of waiting upstairs for our table, of pac-​man and hidden picture machines, of birthdays and youth group and high school and college and being a little frightened of ghosts in the bathroom and my 9-​year-​old boy being only 2. The tassled lampshades and stained glass have my childhood, my young adulthood, so much of my life wrapped up into them that I cannot help but love this place.
I am sad that you will be leaving us. And even if you stay on the island, I am sad the building I have visited countless times in my 33 years of life will be gone. But I am happy we came to visit, possibly for the last time, and that you treated us well. Thank you.

The Old Spaghetti Factory is great for kids. Haven’t we all attended a birthday party in the trolley car at least once? For adults, The Old Spaghetti Factory is one of the few restaurants left that offer a «complete meal» of bread with soup or salad, an entrée, and ice cream for dessert – they used to offer a soft drink as well, but I think they figured out people would pay for an alcoholic beverage, flavored ice tea or Italian cream soda. I know I have a couple of their high ball glasses at home.
The food is generally soft and mild – which again, is perfect for kids. I usually start with the salad with creamy pesto dressing, it’s just an iceberg salad mix. For an entrée, it’s a toss up between the Manager’s Special Mizithra and White Clam combo or the Chicken, Broccoli and Mushroom Alfredo. Both have a thick white sauce which coats the noodles and salty cheese.
This meal ends with sweet Spumoni ice cream (and birthday cake if you’re lucky). The Old Spaghetti Factory is closing, so gather your family and head on down for one last trip down memory lane.

Having lunch with family. manager’s special is always my order, get to pick 2 spaghetti sauces
My favorite Clam and Mizithra cheese!

Location/​Parking:
The restaurant is located on the far end of Ward right above the Hawaiian bookstore. There is parking in the garage and in front of a few stores.
Food:
The food was mediocre. The food is mainstream Italian dishes such as spaghetti and meatballs and fettuccine alfredo. I wanted to try the lobster pasta that I’ve seen previous Unilocalers post but it was not on the menu.
The plus side with ordering an entrée is it includes a soup or salad AND ice cream.
Price:
The prices are reasonable. Expect to pay around $ 15 for a 3 course meal.
Ambiance:
The lighting inside is dark and the furniture is mostly wood so the ambiance is like an old restaurant feel.
Seating:
There are lots of seating in the restaurant. This is a great place for big parties.
Overall, I’ve dined here twice for special events within the last 5 years. I don’t see myself visiting anytime soon but who knows I may in the future.

Ahhh the olé spaghetti factory. Like most locals that live in Hawaii, we all have gone to eat at this restaurant through out our lives. Some times good service others bad. But either way we come back.
Spaghetti factory is known for its inexpensive three course meals which includes soup or salad, sourdough bread, entrée and of course a choice of Spumoni or Ice cream. Food always comes out quickly and service is usually bearable. Soft drinks are always inexpensive and free refills are always great. No entrée will blow you out of this world but all are definitely filling and enough to enjoy your time.
I have had some great times here with wonderful friends through my teenage years and now on to my adult life. As a fun joke I always say the same thing to every server I come across, «What’s your soup of the day»? It’s always funny when they respond Minestrone??? the day this ends is probably when Howard Hughes Corp, decides to remodel this to Hipster Kakaako.
3 stars based on inconsistency in service. The tiny bathroom that has not been remodeled ever??? The «Clue» Board game décor. Another example of inconsistent service Is when they ran out of spaghetti? I thought this was a factory??? Another time is when a waiter spilled pasta on my girlfriend, now my wife: D.
I come back because I’m quick to forgive and hey it’s part of my life lol

I’ve come here many times over the years. My favorite item to get is the lasagna. I remember finding the dark wood décor, cable car, and chandeliers enchanting as a child. Even as an adult the interior remains appealing and is different from most chain restaurants here in Hawaii.
Today I got the spaghetti and meatballs combo. Unfortunately my salad was watery, it was hard to eat with how much water my lettuce was drenched in. I hope they can dry/​clean the salad better in the future. The food here has always been of average almost fast food quality. But it is always cooked well and the portion size is generous. Definitely not gourmet but satisfying, with a menu that is sure to please everyone in your party. The Spumoni is delicious, and the spaghetti factory is one of the few places on the island that serves it.
Overall this is a good place for groups or families looking for a no frills but decent meal in a fun setting.

The Old Spaghetti Factory (OSF) is located on the 2^nd floor of Ward Warehouse, next to Kincaid. There’s ample parking and I love the location as you can come here after a long day of shopping.
It’s been years since I’ve been to OSF, but on my last visit this past weekend, I was not impressed. My family and I came here for lunch on a Saturday afternoon. It wasn’t crowded, so we got sat right away. Our server was nice, but when she served us our bread, she gave us no small plates. Not to mention, we had to cut our own bread and it was not as soft as we would have liked it. When I finally got our waiter’s attention to ask for plates, it took so long, we thought she forgot. But by the time our plates came, our food was already served. At that point, there was really no use for those small plates.
Their lunch menu is overpriced, regardless of it being a 3-​course meal. I ordered the Spinach & Cheese Ravioli with a side salad and spumoni for dessert. My salad looked nasty as they drenched my entire salad with balsamic dressing. I couldn’t eat it all as the dressing was too much and defeated the purpose of a healthy salad. I should have asked for it on the side :/​My entrée was pretty basic spinach and cheese ravioli. Nothing special nor was it worth the price I paid, $ 13.50. I did enjoy the spumoni dessert and the Italian Soda $ 4.75 (you get to keep the cup, but they give you a clean one).
The customer service here was just alright, but the presentation of their food was really sloppy. Our table was still dirty and their soup looked like it was just splashed in the bowl like cafeteria style. Not to mention, their lunch menu is on a sad looking piece of paper that’s all folded up. Come on OSF, where’s your pride?
Probably won’t be back here…

Update: I got food poisoning from eating here. It wasn’t horrible poisoning, but had me with stomach aches and on the toilet all night. I was better the next day. I’m pregnant so that’s very dangerous. — 2 stars
Service was very slow today, however the food was delicious. Bread was fresh and soft. I ordered my favorite the meat lovers trio: spaghetti with meat sauce, meatballs and an Italian sausage with a side of mizithra cheese. Mmmmmmm! I love their warm bread and butter. Even though food came out slow, it came out fresh and delectable.

Sorry Old Spaghetti Factory, never ever again. Like a lot of reviews, OSF brings back memories for me. I’ve also come in the past few years if I wanted pasta at a cheap price. The fact that they raised their prices gives me no reason to come back. Before the food was mediocre to decent, but tonight was horrible.
I got the #4 trio; fettuccini Alfredo, lasagna, and chicken Marsala. The Alfredo sauce was okay but bland. The fettuccini and lasagna were over cooked and mushy. The meat sauce for the lasagna just tasted bad and the chicken Marsala was a little dry and the sauce tasted bitter and had a strong wine taste to it. My husband’s chicken Parmesan was kinda flavorful but the spaghetti was so bland. Even after dousing everything with Parmesan we did not finish half of our plate.
I really like the traditional/​eclectic/​old timey décor and the service is always nice and quick… But the food has gone way way down hill and the prices have gone up. :(
The garlic cheese bread was delicious and I do like the Spinoni ice cream.
I’m actually a little sad because I thought this would be a great place to bring our growing family… The whole time I just couldn’t believe we drove down here and paying for this meal. It’s kinda hard to mess up Italian food. I don’t want to sound so mean… I just don’t get how it can be so bad. I think management should have everyone, including the chefs try their dishes.

Old Spaghetti Factory always brings back strong nostalgic memories. I first came here when I was in high school and have fond memories of drinking lots of the strawberry italian cream soda. I’m a strong believer that no one should go through life without trying OSF’s italian cream soda.
Each dish comes with either soup or salad and dessert (vanilla or spumoni).
I always get the salad, dressing on the side, pesto house dressing and always get the spumoni. Nothing ends a meal like the spumoni ice cream.
We got the garlic mizrah… mizaa… mizithra (thank you fellow Unilocalers!) and the meat sauce pasta. The garlic mizithra is VERY rich and has almost a pungent cheese taste… blue cheese? I’m not a big fan.
The meat sauce pasta tastes like the child of cafeteria spaghetti and zippy’s spaghetti. If you want a flashback down memory lane, this is the dish to get. I butter up the house bread and dip it in the meat sauce.
This place is not my favorite place to get pasta, but due to all the fond memories here, their awesome italian cream soda, and their affordable dinner sets, OSF gets 4 stars from me.

I’ve been coming here a lot recently. I’d say maybe about 4 times this past month. Every night I’ve had a different host and waiter with their own personality. As fellow Unilocalers mentioned, a few of the employees here carry that «I hate my job» expression. I completely agree that it makes for bad customer service. Despite that, the other few employees that I’ve encountered were good.
I usually order applesauce instead of soup or salad. Only one popolo female waiter made me feel uncomfortable when she took my order. She kind of snickered while writing it down. I then felt like she paid more attention to my other half then she did to me. Ugh. Anyways, I made her work for her tip.
On a good note, there was this young Asian male that did great. They were near closing but he took his time with our order and held a smile on his face throughout the whole night. He deserves 5 stars. I wish I recalled his name so I can personally applaud him.
As for the food, it’s good. I like my sodium so all I need was salt and more cheese. My favorite is the combination of Mizithra Cheese and Browned Butter with Marinara. With the bread on the side, it’s perfect.
I recommend The Old Spaghetti Factory if you’re looking for a casual sit down meal. Ask your host if you can have a table away from the crowd if you want the noise a little toned down.

This has always been an old favorite. You can always hear the kitchen bustling about no matter what part of the restaurant you sit in. Today the air was very stagnant and it was very warm and uncomfortable where I was sitting near the caboose. When I mentioned it to the waitress she just blew it off so I fanned myself with a paper.
I was able to place my order relatively quickly, but did notice a family who came in before me with no silverware or drinks. The father became irritated and went for the manager and I still got my salad before they even got the drinks on their table.
The food was good and came out fast. I barely received my salad when the spaghetti came out and was placed on my table. I felt funny eating while that family was still waiting for hot bread.
My waitress was friendly and a bit scattered. She was supposed to handle the hungry family’s table, but got replaced by another waitress since they were obviously ticked off with her service. She didn’t seem to care when the manager told her the table was covered. She also didn’t care when she brought me melted spumoni ice cream. It was so soft that it was almost a milkshake. I had her bring me another and it wasn’t much better.
I wish they’d step up their game and improve in their customer service. It would be a place I visited more often. Maybe one day.

This has been a long time fave for decades and I’ve eaten at many locations around the country. And yet, this location has the most nostalgic feeling. It is the first one I ate when it initially opened. Came here with many friends along the way.
We decided to come here because Gabriel B. had never been and he wanted to compare it to Buca. And, the guy loves spaghetti.
It’s a Monday night so I’m not expecting it to be busy at all. In fact, dead. Parking was spaciously easy backing up my point. When we finally walked in I was shocked to see the place about 70% filled. On a Monday night? Really? No biggie as we were seated right away.
Our server showed up taking our order of drinks. Being the veteran, I passed out the paper menus and choices were made quick. Gabriel B. took the Fettucine Alfredo, Mog P. took the Chicken Parmsean, and I my all time fave Italian Sausage with Meat Sauce.
The bread was brought declicious as ever but no garlic butter. Man, that hurt. The salad was next. Kinda wilting but still delicious. Seems like the factory was slipping. Gabriel B. ordered the Cotton Candy drink that came with real cotton candy. Very interesting. Too sweet for my taste.
Finally, the main course came out. The Fettucine Alfredo was deliciously creamy. My Italian Sausage was satisfying as ever. I gave half of it to Gabriel B. just so he could have some meat. He loved it. Mog P. loves sausage and had to share some with her. With the meat sauce and noodles, that was a hit all around. The Chicken Parmesean was cooked tenderly and was very tasty as well.
We finished those meals very quickly with everyone saying how full they were and couldn’t eat another bite, not even drink anything for that matter. Then, the Spumoni ice cream came out all of sudden we had room.
When the bill came and I included the tip, I realized I spent half the amount what I normally spend at Buca and I can’t say which one tasted better. What I do know is this factory does include more food with their service.
All in all, a fantastic night sharing with the loves of my life one of my favorite places that I am sure we will return to.

I’m going to call the Spaghetti Factory a gem for the class of dining it’s in. It’s not fine dining. It’s not a mom and pop all organic joint. It’s a big chain style restaurant, but considering all the pros, it has going for it, this is a solid choice for a night out, especially with a big family and even more-​so if you’re dining with kids.
The pros:
–Parking
–Size (it’s huge inside, lots of tables so easy if you have a large party)
–Price– everything on the menu is reasonable
–Taste– I enjoyed everything
–Good for kids– coloring mat, crayons and a balloon artist
–Drinks– they have a decent wine/​beer/​cocktail list
The cons:
–The service is just ok. The servers are nice, but they’re young and if their game were better, they’d be working in The Cheesecake Factory or somewhere else.
–I really don’t know of another con. Maybe that the bathroom is upstairs, so if you have mobility issues, this is not good.
We had 1 of each appetizer, and the clear winner was the shrimp/​artichoke dip. It came with a generous serving of grilled and buttered panini bread. The shrimp are small and the portion of dip was tiny compared to the bread but it was tasty!
The olive tapenade was salty but good. Very savory. Because a little goes a long way, the bread to spread ratio was good.
The cheesy bread was ok– not worth ordering again, IMO. That was the least fav at the table. The sauce they serve it with is tasty tho.
The salads– I had the creamy house pesto ranch, and it is ‘ono! The salad is one of those sad iceburg lettuce with a few shreds of carrot and cabbage, and lots of croutons (no tomato, cucumber or anything else). Whatever, it comes with the meal. Brother in law didn’t like the honey mustard dressing, but he can be picky.
I got the garlic mizithra pasta with bacon, mushroom and garlic and all that shredded cheese. The brown butter sauce wasn’t too overwhelming– a very light coating. The bacon was crispy. Mushrooms were sliced kind of tiny so it was hard to taste the flavor. It was delish. My brother in law ordered his with extra garlic (I’m stealing that move next time!).
I got a large side of the brocolli with mizithra cheese and brown butter sauce. It was cooked perfectly al dente, and smothered in cheese, but the butter seemed to have been forgotten by the chef. It was still good, but the fact there was leftovers means the rest of the table wasn’t crazy about it!
Best part was when the balloon guy came around and made the toddler a balloon unicorn. She absolutely loved it! He also made a motorcycle for the birthday boy, and a large black sword for my father in law.
It was a fun gathering, enhanced by a big decanter of wine. I look forward to going there when an Italian craving strikes and I don’t want to spend a lot of money.

Man this place can get backed up!
It is usually very busy during dinner hours. Sometimes the lines are so backed up I have to divert my way to another nearby restaurant. Maybe they are understaffed? Since most of the time, I see several seats open even when people are waiting.
However, if I’m craving spaghetti enough, I’ll stick it out and wait. It is a really good place for large parties because the ambiance can be kind of noisy.
Although I’ve had better, their spaghetti is delicious. The olive tapenade and house dressing, is bomb. A suitable substitution for the olive tapenade could be their cheesy bread with marinara sauce! Most of the meals come with a soup or salad, choice of main dish and dessert.
If you happen to have room for their Oreo cookie shake, try it! The thing is probably like 1,000 calories at least but it’s very tasty.
Most of the servers here are good. They are friendly and accommodating. They hustle; well, they kind of have to with their volume. Parking is really up and down, lots of break ins in the structure so park there at your own risk.
The reasons why I short this place a star is the long lines. Sometimes the staff does not communicate with the customers well enough. It can be a madhouse but communication and personability with customers can make the entire experience seemless. Another thing is the food, I’d say they are pretty consistent but sometimes the food quality isn’t there or the portions are completely different.
By no means is this a gourmet restaurant, but it is a longtime staple here. Crunch down on the little things and this could become a perfect diner for a family outing in town.