Last night after frolicking at the beach for a little while, we drove over to The Old Spaghetti Factory in Newport Beach, California. It had been a while since I’d eaten there.
I was shocked when the bill came. $29.74. I double-checked it. It had to be a mistake, right? After all, the standard bill for my family of four to eat out at a restaurant is always at least $40. But the bill was correct.
If you haven’t been to The Old Spaghetti Factory let me tell you why this was such a shock. Our meals began with our choice of soup or salad. I chose the salad with delicious pesto dressing. If you’re a ranch dressing buff though, order it here because it’s homemade and delicious. With our salads the server brought a whole loaf of sourdough bread and two kinds of butter. (in case you’re wondering, yes, you can order another loaf of bread…we did) After our salads, the entrees arrived. The kids ate large servings of macaroni and cheese, my husband had spaghetti and meatballs and I had a side-by-side combo of spaghetti with meat sauce and spaghetti with browned butter and mizithra cheese. Yum-o! After we’d stuffed ourselves until we couldn’t take one more bite, the waiter offered us our choice of Spumoni ice cream or vanilla ice cream. Well, what sane person would resist THAT offer?
It was delicious.
If you’re in the mood for Italian food but don’t want to spend a lot of money, go to The Old Spaghetti Factory. With locations around the US there is likely one near you. The ambiance is old world-style charming and a dinner for four complete with drinks, salad, main course, and dessert for less than $30 can’t be beat (without a drive-thru).
In my book, The Old Spaghetti Factory is worth visiting again and again. My only advice? Wear loose pants.