the old spaghetti factory

the very first time i went to the Old Spaghetti Factory was my first date with cc. then, this placed looked so magical. with its ornate decorations, it's as if you are in an amusement park. a great choice for casual dining and birthday parties for kids! what kid wouldn't like to have a party in a restaurant that has a merry-go-round and a train???



the menu is printed on folded recycled paper. it's all included! for a low price you can get (almost) a three course meal. entrées come with choice of salad or soup, ice cream and tea or coffee. the menu isn't overly exciting but variety of pasta dishes offer some choices. view menu here.



as many family restaurants are, the old spaghetti factory offers endless supply of freshly baked bread with garlic or plain butter (they are whipped so spreading is no problem). the bread is very soft and warm, i can just eat this all day.



for $1.49 you can substitute a clam chowder in a place of minestrone. the clam chowder is full of flavour, thick and creamy. lots of chunky potatoes and clams too. i especially enjoy this soup dipped with the bread. (i ate half of the soup before i took the picture, sorry).



i had the Manager's Favourite ($14.25) with tomato and clam sauce. they don't have rosé sauce and this is the alternative i came up with. the portions is big but this depends on the day. some days i will get enormous amount of noodles and little sauce, others i will get little noodles and little sauce. the sauces are well seasoned and tasty. the clam sauce is very similar to the clam chowder but creamier and richer. tomato sauce is tomato sauce. nothing special.



my sister had the Lasagna ($16.50). it's made with "Mama Pulosi’s secret homemade recipe" according to the menu. i am not quite sure if there is really a "secret" recipe. it just taste like ordinary lasagna to me. as a matter of a fact, most of the dishes (of ones i have tried in the past) taste like regular italian dishes (well, not authentic italian but something i'd make it at home).



we were seated inside the train which is cozy but difficult to get the wait staff's attention. i came in a bigger group here before and had one of the chefs come up to our table and show us magic tricks. the other time i was here, the wait staff named Tim was super friendly and offered us extra scoops of spumoni ice cream.

this is a casual restaurant to enjoy a simple italian meal at a vibrant and exciting atmosphere. they are not pretentious and get you worked up with menu written in italian with ridiculous prices. i see many kids having birthdays here too. it's a great place for kids. despite the huge dining area, the place fills up very quickly and expect line ups on weekends.

old spagetti factory
54 The Esplanade
Toronto
416.864.9761
oldspaghettifactory.ca

please excuse the terrible photos, i was without my camera and iphone was trying its best to capture hdr.
posted by rin