The Old Spaghetti Factory
275 Fifth Avenue, San Diego,
www.osf.com; 619-233-4323
111 North Twin Oaks Valley Road,
San Marcos 760-471-0155
In 1969 Gus Dussin opened the first Old Spaghetti Factory in Portland, Oregon. His idea was to offer his customers a complete meal of fresh baked bread, salad or soup, an Italian entrée and then finish it off with the classic spumoni ice cream for dessert. Today there are more than thirty locations.
The San Diego location on Fifth Avenue opened in 1974. I remember going to The Old Spaghetti Factory as a kid. My parents liked the reasonable prices and good Italian cuisine. My sister, brother and I loved to order Shirley Temples from the bar and eat as much buttered sourdough bread as we wanted. Today, families are still enjoying the restaurant. In 2008, Parents magazine voted The Old Spaghetti Factory one of the ten top kid-friendly chain restaurants.
While the Old Spaghetti Factory still offers the Famous Complete Meal, there have been some changes over the last 35 years at the San Diego location. The inside was remodeled and Dussini, a Mediterranean bistro, took over the location for four years. As of February 23, 2009, The Old Spaghetti Factory is back with the same charming interior of chandeliers and intimate booths and tables. You’ll find the award-winning Dussini Loft Bar on the top floor of the restaurant.
My family—David, my husband, Molly (19), Kelly (17) and Jack (5)—went to The Old Spaghetti Factory on a Sunday night. Since they do not accept reservations, be prepared for a wait.
For dinner we were seated in a large booth which sat the five of us comfortably. We immediately got our fresh, warm sourdough bread, which was tasty. Once the first loaf was done, we were given another.
I had the Spinach & Cheese Ravioli ($9.99). The marinara sauce had a tomato kick to it and was delicious. David ordered the Our Famous Baked Lasagna, which is made from scratch with layers of noodles, marinara sauce and four kinds of cheese ($11.50). Molly had the Sicilian Meatballs ($10.99). The two meatballs were so large she had to take one of them home. Kelly had the Fettuccine Alfredo ($9.99), which she thoroughly enjoyed since there wasn’t anything left to take home. All the meals came with salad or minestrone soup. We all ordered salads—chilled and served in a good-sized bowl. Mine had a balsamic dressing that tasted homemade.
Jack ordered the Spaghetti with Brown Butter. There are nine kids’ meals (each $4.99) to choose from including spaghetti with meat sauce, meatballs or tomato sauce, macaroni and cheese or a grilled cheese sandwich. Kids’ meals come with applesauce or a salad, choice of milk, apple juice or soft drink and spumoni, vanilla ice cream or a frozen juice bar.
Dining at The Old Spaghetti Factory reminded me of the good old days. I hope it will become a favorite of my kids, too.
Michelle Murphy Zive wants to carry on the tradition of dining at The Old Spaghetti Factory.