old spaghetti factory

very dissapointed! i had eaten there once before with my daughters and loved it! i love the atmosphere its beautiful! however on my 2nd trip it was a date night we live in lexington & came to louisville to shop and have a romantic evening,i was excited to take my b.f he loves italian food & i knew he would love it! we were greeted & seated promptly,in a very cozy romantic booth. i realize it was a busy sat night & as long time servers we took that into consideration,but it took over 10mins for the server to greet us we were ready to order everything by the time she came. i have no idea what her name was because she never introduced herself she came to the table and said "hey guys what can i get ya" we ordered the garlic chz bread and they were out :( so we ordered our drinks n food. by the time we got our drinks we had been there over 20mins.she finally brought our bread & salads however the food came literally 45secs later! ironically the exact same thing was happening at the table across from us! our server wasn't the one to bring our food & i needed stuff ie: parmesean chz,a refill ect. when she did come over she asked if she could remove my plates? i hadn't started because i was waiting on her! i had planned on ordering another drink but she never acknowledged my empty glasses.our meals usually comes with ice cream & i really wanted my b.f to try the spumoni but she said it was to frozen & to hard to scoop out? we were given cherry popsicles? the table across from us asked to speak to a mngr & we spoke to him as well... i hope they get their act together soon that's 2nice of an establishment to have customers leaving unhappy :(

likable noodles. almost always get good service. on our last visit we had a server that went mia, but that is not the norm for this place. menu could stand an update, but on the list of places we can go, eat well and relax. love the carriage ride that parks outside.

a very good place to dine.... not really too terribly much to say about this place except that i have been here a few times now and i have never had a bad experience. the food is great, the service is great, the fact that it is located at the forks is great. nuff said. eat here.

jb

they always overcooked the pasta. soft and chewy for a baby. never al dente. too bad since nice ambience and nice staff.

dependably good. service, atmosphere, cleanliness, food are all very good. nice small tables in their open-seating bar area (at least one by a window) great for when dining alone with no waiting. my only suggestion is that i wish they would improve their salads - basically just lettuce and nothing more. please add tomatoes, cheese, onions, anything to make them more interesting.

great service, ok food. a group of us went here with somebody who needed her food specially prepared, and they were great about getting everything pureed for her. our waitress was gracious, friendly and quick, staff was very accomodating. that being said we ended up waiting over an hour for a table, and the food was ok. wish they had healthier options, maybe whole wheat. very affordable.

good if you like cardboard!. everyone in winnipeg has heard the name "the old spaggetti factory" and in fact, im quite certain thats the only reason they drum up any business at all.

sure they have dirt cheap prices, but that low price is reflected in the low quality food. just awful! seriously now, how do you screw up a salad?! where's my lettuce?! and what is this thick discolored sauce on it? i sincerely hope that wasnt my raspberry vinagrette...
i'm a big veal fan, so i ordered the hunters veal. it was tough and tasted like cardboard covered with a crappy gravy.
tried the spaggetti too since it is what they are suposed to be famous for. it also tasted like blan cardboard. and whoever said the sauce tasted like it came from a jar of preggo was right on the button.
service was okay, and the building was unique. the antique shower really wierded out my friend though...

manufactured italian. this "manufactured italian" place is just not memorable for me. i know it's a favorite of out-of-town conference-goers to downtown louisville, but the wait is not worth it for me. food is not bad per se, but just, well, not memorable.

love their hunter's veal!. is this place the fanciest restaurant? no. but! they are an inexpensive family restaurant. great on the wallet, and everyone is happy. i love how we get everything with each meal: salad or soup, unlimited bread, and ice cream. my boyfriend got the ribs and he loved it. i got their marinara sauce and hunter's veal. so good. i love how they prepared their veal - it's actually bordering on rich to me due to the gravy. the pasta was satisfactory. not horrible and i could stand to finish it!

only thing is this place makes me full so fast. not a bad thing. i'd go again just because it's a comfort food place... if you want to take your family here, it's a nice place to go. if you happen to be at the forks, it's a nice place to eat if you had to choose between pancake house or sushi train as a sit-down restaurant.

a safe bet but sadly no whole wheat pasta options. nothing extraordinary on the menu here, just safe, ordinary choices that are fairly well executed.
went with my little sister tonight as her choice (she loves pasta !!) while we were at the forks enjoying the the go jets go festivities. i was surprised at how large the restaurant was when we where shown to our booth and that they have an old shower displayed in one corner. (very odd !!) our server came promptly, took our drink orders and was helpful when we were selecting our entrees. bread and salads also came quickly but as another poster commented the salads were most obviously bagged lettuce.(though we enjoyed our dressings of raspberry vinaigrette and especially the ranch) our bread was very warm and soft and we totally adored the garlic butter !
entrees were served hot and we fancied them so much we actually finished our entire dishes ! we had the manicotti and the seafood linguine marinara.
my only major disappointment was discovering they did not have whole wheat pasta options. this is 2011...i think it`s ok to go there and offer your clientele a healthier option especially when pasta is your main attraction !
very organized, well run and a pleasant experience for us both tonight !

reliable. i've always had a soft spot for the old spaghetti factory. i remember my mom telling me stories about going to the old spaghetti factory at their former location in the exchange district when she was a girl. she would go with her girlfriends and they would wrap the bread in napkins and sneak them into their purses, collecting as many loaves of bread as they could.

though this wouldn't be my first choice if i were dining with a foodie snob, i would have to say that i always leave satisfied-- my partner and i are return-patrons. even though the old spaghetti factory wasn't a a winnipeg original, i always feel like it's a winnipeg staple, and even that i'm participating in something historically significant when i eat there (largely because the decor is made up of interesting antiques).

i love, loved the steamed mussels, which was our starter. even though i knew ordering them would leave me with too much food, i couldn't stop myself, because they're so delicious. they're not something that's on the main menu; maybe they're just featuring the mussels for a period of time.

my dining partner had the spicy meat sauce spaghetti. my favourite has always been spaghetti with browned butter and mizithra cheese a la homer. that's super-rich, and not something i'd ever make at home, so it's quite a treat. because it's a bit too much (and too salty) on its own, i tend to get the manager's special which allows you to choose two sauces (i like it with the clam sauce). the salad is unimpressive. i usually go with the soup option. either way, it's good value for money, and i'll likely be back soon. now that the river walk is "open" (there are still signs saying that it's closed) it will be fun to go for evening walks to the forks until it's time to skate!

okay. my thoughts on the spaghetti factory are neutral.
i can say for the price you pay there is alot of value 2 people for under $30 is great. food quality however; not so much.

the bread was awfully dry, still warm but dry.
the salad, fresh out of a bag is poorly presented and well it taste like salad from a bag.
the spaghetti and meat balls, which coming from a "spaghetti factory" was mediocre at best. the meat balls were bland and tasteles, the sause, maybe homemade, but lacks spices.
the ice cream, well i never got any because my server forgot and knew she forgot but proceeded not to get any.


the neighbouring seat ordered a dry martini, 15 minutes later he got a fruity drink. maybe it was the server.

regardless, great decore, location and prices. food not so great.

nice atmosphere, low food quality. 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. it's truly a sight to see. our waiter was prompt, but couldn't 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 who've 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. it's nice that for many entrees a salad and dessert comes included with the price, but i wish they'd 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 wasn't 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. it's spaghetti tossed in butter and topped with crumbled bacon, grated cheese, and minced garlic. while it wasn't a revelation in my mouth, it was satisfying, filling, and tasty. if you must go, try it. my husband's 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, it's 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!

i have to admit, the mixed reviews had me wondering if it was worth one of my precious evenings while visiting the city. but, after spending $50 @ blu and something similar @ the oak room, i was hankering for some good, unpretentious pasta in a good, unpretentious atmosphere. after strolling the downtown and passing by some possibilities that just didn't feel right, i sucked it up and came here. brilliant. the service was so spot on to what i wanted - someone who would get my mood and meet my need... honestly and unobtrusively. yeah... this place has got what your itching for- basic, tasty, down-home italian dishes. i don't eat meat, so that's tough in this town; but, the lasagna vegetariano was so fresh and tasty, i could have made it myself. and, the bread is the type of basic italian my mom used to bring home from the market. i've been away from home for a week, and i wanted really good comfort food. this place gave it to me! oh, and with a tasty wine that would have cost me twice as much at those other places.

pretty good italian. we started out with some cheese bread, which was pretty good. i had a salad, while the wife had soup, both of which were ok. her lasagna, while good, didn't blow her away or anything. i had the chicken parmigiana and it was good. good italian place for downtown with the ambiance and decor.