The Old Spaghetti Factory

Just got back from our annual New Year’s Day walk around Balboa Beach & Pier, and dinner at OSF. Tonight there was a major flub with the delivery of our dinner. The time from when we were seated to when we were served our main meal was 1 hour and 10 minutes. HOWEVER, our waitress Harriet was on top of things, sincerely apologetic, and went the extra mile to notify the manager of the problem. She kept us supplied with bread and kept us appraised of the situation. Then the manager (name?) came by to apologize (evidently there was a large party being served and our meals had gotten lost in the shuffle). I was going to ask for a discount, because of the wait, but I didn’t have to because he told us that he’d removed the items from our check! So, even though we had to wait an unreasonable amount of time for our meal, it was on the house! I left Harriet a tip, however, because the mix-​up was not her fault, and she was working tirelessly throughout it all.
We’ll be back for sure!

Had Pasta w/​Mizithra Cheese. Such a simple combo of ingredients but so delicious together. Not crazy about other items on their menu but this dish alone earns them 4 stars. I’ve been several times at the Arcadia location but this was my first time at the Newport Beach location. Finished off my dinner with Mud Pie. Service was great. They also had courtesy valet parking. Overall great experience.

Fancy, cutting edge cuisine it’s not. But if you need a table for 14, if 4 of those are rambunctious boys who will go back and forth the kids area beneath the stairs (with tv and blocks), it’s a place where you can unwind with a carafe of house chianti while stuffing your face with chicken parm and shrimp capellini. Flashbacks to prom. There’s a train car you can dine in, as well.

I really like this place. You get a decent amount of great tasting food for a very affordable price. The interior atmosphere is really cool and everyone who I ever dealt with that works there is super friendly and welcoming. The food is super on point and bursting with flavor just like Grandma used to make.
My last visit was for a big family dinner (12 of us) and they were more than accommodating for our big party and my little 2 year old. I personally like things spicy and usually ask to have my dishes «kicked up the spice chart» and they had no problem doing that. In fact the manager came out with a sample of their signature «hot and spicy» dish for me to try.
They have a large private lot with free Valet so parking is just the cost of a tip to the valet guys. It doesn’t get any better than that since parking for anywhere else in the area is a complete nightmare.
I strongly suggest you give them a try.

This place looks cool because it’s huge and has a very old Victorian feel to it. It seems to be filled with people nicely even for such a large space. I like that the pricing isn’t too bad since it comes with soup or salad and ice cream too. But my chicken Marsala just wasn’t cutting it. It was a bit dry and so was my boyfriends spaghetti. Not a shabby place though. 3.5!

Wow I had dinner here last night for a birthday, and our waitress had the best customer service I’ve received in a while!
I was thoroughly impressed with the whole experience. From the fast seating, the great waitress, the tasty food, to the birthday ice cream scoop for each person at the table! I have picky taste, and the waitress got my order right which happens rarely. The environment is nice, and an overall great dinner experience. I loved the gluten free food options, and I would highly recommend the chocolate cake dessert!
Also I loved that it is right next to the pier, and I walked over there afterward.

We came here with friends & family while on a weekend vacation in Newport Beach. Apparently it’s one of my friend’s go-​to spot while in the area. It’s a good location, near lots of other restaurants and bars. It seems like a landmark in the area. But for such a landmark, the parking lot was a nightmare. The line for valet parking extended out onto the tiny, narrow street. It took about 10 mins and we didn’t even make it up to the front. We ended up just walking up there & the valet guy told me to just leave the keys in the car. The car was still near the street so that was a little unsettling. Our car wasn’t stolen, so I guess it turned out ok.
It’s obviously an Italian restaurant, so there’s a lot of options for Italian food. I ordered some sausage pasta plate, but I can’t remember which one. It’s was good, not great. Nothing we had was great but we did have a great time. We were a big party & they did their best to accommodate us.
They do have a balloon guy who is amazing. He crafted a ton of balloons (lots of different characters) for all the kids at our table. I was very impressed. Sadly, that was probably the most impressive part of our meal. I’d come back, but there’s definitely other restaurants in the area that I’d try first.

Every six months or so I give this place another shot. Tried to order some soup and salads to go for lunch at 1 PM. I was passed around to three different people, left on hold for 10 minutes, finally hung up and went across the street to the pizza bar, which has amazing customer service, and excellent Greek food.
The food is always horrible, the marinara sauce taste like it comes from a can. Mama D’s down the street offers a much better Italian dinner, family-​style.

Our server Jenna was very attentive and sweet! We got everything we ordered and came in great timing! It wasn’t busy so it was nice and quick lunch– less than an hour. The rich meat sauce plate and claim sauce spaghetti plate was delicious. My brother got the managers favorite and he enjoyed it as well! Great service and wonderful dish but I’m just sad they don’t have the complementary ice tea anymore.
I came again on a Saturday and the valet boys were so rude!

Ive been going here 35 plus years, its our family celebration go to spot and this week was my sons 22 BDay.
The service is and has always been awesome. The food is superb and never lets me down, the start to finish was and always is amazing. Our party was big and they handle it as smooth as when just my wife and I go out. 11 orders and not once glitch, that says so much. My family can be really picky sometimes too and its nice to have a spot noone ever has any complaints.
The new ravioli was a great choice and very tasty and filling, and the spumoni ice cream is always a nice ending to a great meal.
Large or small party, celebration or just a quiet night with a loved one, this is a favorite and if you have never been you owe it to yourself to check them out.

I don’t understand how this place gets so crowded. Valet only parking and i had to wait in a long line on Sunday just to park.
It has an old, retro design and is very family oriented. The meal comes with ice cream. Only reason for the 2 stars.
Food is mediocre. I had the baked chicken. The waitress told me it would be a 20 minute wait. I told her I would wait and she could bring out everyone’s food out first. But somehow, my food came out at the same time as everyone else. I was fine with that. However, the chicken was SUPER dry. My pasta was mediocre. The plate was warmer than the pasta itself. Might have been sitting out while it was waiting for everyone else’s food???
My salad with balsamic vinaigrette dressing was oily without much flavor. The strawberry lemonade tastes just like the smuckers mix from costco. The server was not very attentive either. Our drinks were empty for half of the meal and no one cared to refill them. Overall, would not be coming back.

Great restaurant. Great staff and love that they park your car, free valet parking. It’s located almost right by the beach. It’s a smaller location than the other Old Spaghetti Factories I’ve been to.
The setting inside is quite unique everything reminds you of the 40’s era. The do have tons of seating and in the smack middle of the restaurant there us a train cart where you can also request to be seated. This is a great idea if you have kids.
I recommend the Premier Platter, Garlic Cheese Bread, Gorgonzola Dip and for Dessert the Mud Pie.
There food is very good. I do recommend eating here, to me this is better than Olive garden.
Thank you for reading my review and happy eating :-)

I love this place, I’ve been to several locations around the United States. I always order the same thing, spaghetti with a double sausaging. The bread is super yummy and of course the soup is the best. Oh my god don’t forget the salads. Thousand Island dressing is good but the pesto ranch is the best.

What’s not to like about The Old Spaghetti Factory? I have been ordering the same exact dish for years. I cannot bring myself to try anything else. No matter what location I visit, the quality of my favorite dish is consistent. Most recently (on June 16, 2015) I attended a Paint Nite at the Spaghetti Factory in Newport Beach.
It had been at least a year since I had been to the Spaghetti Factory so I was really looking forward to getting my favorite… manager’s special with ½ meat sauce and ½ mizithra cheese substitute angel hair pasta instead of regular spaghetti. It was just as delicious as I had remembered and I was in heaven!
This location is down near the beach so I imagine that it gets quite busy. Valet parking is the only option in their lot, which made it very convenient. We arrived a little early for our class which was being held in the back of the restaurant so we grabbed a drink from the bar and headed upstairs away from the crowded waiting area. The upstairs area was quiet and uncrowded so it was a great place to visit with my friend before our paint class started.

To start I have been here many times it is a classic Newport Beach landmark. The Valet guys were so nice and great guys!
We were here for a lunch banquet so take my comments how you wish. The serving staff were great. Very attentive and polite.
Food– well I love pasta but this tasted like it was out of a can. The noodles weren’t cooked enough and the sauce was just blah. Bread was great!!!
Restaurant is pretty. The floor was sticky every where you step that is gross. From entryway to the seating to the bathroom you stick to the floor. It was nasty.
It is a two star restaurant and it could be so much better.
On top of everything else it is way hot inside. Turn on the A/​C so your patrons are comfortable.

Spaghetti inside a train, inside a restaurant? I’ll take it. I love Italian food and they use to have one in Hollywood which I loved but it closed, I had no idea they had one in Newport. It is a very nice location.
The food is good and if I am not wrong all meals come with sherbet ice cream as dessert. I was able to get a seat inside the train, while is a nice way to have a meal, the seats are a little bit to close to each other. So make sure to whisper. Shhhh :-)
They are very busy during the weekends so they have an upstairs bar where you can wait.

I love pasta, so I’m surprised I’ve never tried The Old Spaghetti Factory. My coworker recommended it and after work yesterday she and I came for dinner.
I decided on the old famous baked lasagna — layers of noodles, marinara sauce, ground beef and pork, and four delicious cheeses ($ 13.50). Majority of their dishes includes their famous 3 course meal. Along with your main dish, a side salad and scoop of ice cream for dessert is included.
Fresh baked loaf of bread was brought out with a side of butter. The bread wasn’t burnt, but baked nicely where the outside was toasty and the insides were warm and flaky.
Side salad, mainly iceberg lettuce. I would’ve preferred green blends, not much nutrition in iceberg lettuce.
When the lasagna came out, I was surprised at the size of lasagna. They definitely don’t skimp out on portions here. The lasagna was very good, but nothing spectacular or mind blowing. The lasagna was a bit dry, I wished extra marinara sauce was used. The layers of the lasagna were nicely packed and the lasagna itself never fell apart.
I ended my meal with a scoop of spumoni ice cream, oh how long since I’ve had it! Definitely a good ending to a meal.
Our waiter was attentive, too attentive. During our 1.5 hour dinner we were asked how we were doing 5 – 6 times.
Overall a very decent place for pasta, the price matches the quality. I wouldn’t mind coming back, but it wouldn’t be my «go-​to» pasta location.
PARKING: Parking can be very difficult. There is complimentary valet, but if that’s full there is street parking all around the restaurant.

It’s fun to be here so that’s why we went even tho there are better options. This is just for fun.
There’s lots of seating so the wait goes by fast which is always good. We were quoted a wait time of 20 minutes and seated like 10 minutes later in nice plush seats with plenty of people watching opportunities.
It’s also cheap to eat here if you’re on a budget (which I am, but he isn’t). For $ 20, you can get an appetizer, a meal, and the dessert. Not too bad. I got a salad, their ravioli, and ended it all with their famous spumoni. All good but not great. The spumoni is always my favorite because I’m a fiend.
All in all, a fun experience with an attentive waitress.

I came here last night to celebrate my friend’s birthday so we were part of a larger party. We were a party of 14 and after 20 minutes, we got one tray of bread for the one end of the table. After another 10 – 15 minutes, more bread came out for the rest of the table. Another 15 minutes later, our server came back to take our orders; she was really nice but at this point we were all starving!
My 3 star rating is mostly for the pasta dish I ordered. The 3 course menu plan is a fantastic and affordable option, the minestrone was unbelievably delicious! I ordered the white clam sauce pasta and I was not impressed. It tasted like a milky pasta. The description of this dish included hints green peppers, parsley, and garlic and I didn’t even slightly taste any of those ingredients. It was a bland dish and I realized i should have ordered the spinach tortellini instead.
Overall, after a slow beginning, my food was ok, I definitely enjoyed the soup the most and would recommend ordering that instead of the salad because in the end, it’s simply just lettuce, cheese, croutons, and your choice of dressing. A very basic salad. The service was good after the slow start considering the large party; I would just recommend not ordering the white clam sauce pasta unless you want a heavy milky sauce drenched over your pasta.

I love coming to this place because I can sit in the train in the middle of the restaurant. Something about that just gets me every time. You have to specifically request it. So cool. :)
I always get the managers special which has two different sauces, and one of them is the special mizithra cheese with the browned butter. It’s Deelish. Actually, in the 10 years I’ve been coming here I have never ordered anything else.
Salad is included. Dessert is included. It’s good for kids. It’s just a good time all around, and the valet is free.