The Old Spaghetti Factory — Restaurant in Elk Grove

As a seasoned server myself, I understand how it can be very challenging sometimes to provide top notch service when it is busy. However, tonight I had some of the worst service I have recieved ever and noticed that everyone else under my server’s (Ana’s) watch also were not paid nearly enough attention to while we were there. Before I go on with my story, I want to explain that I am NOT trying to act crazy about this or over exaggerating this at all. I am usually very very lenient with restaurant service as long as I’m checked on a few times and the server seems like she really cares like I would about my tables if I were clocked in at my restaurant. Alright here it goes. First, when me and my boyfriend came in tonight, we noticed there was nobody at the host stand. I assume this restaurant doesnt need a designated host on weekdays and uses their bussers as hosts which is perfectly fine. I didn’t mind waiting a second to be sat. Walking in, I loved the decor and was pretty excited to try this place and meet our server and waitress talk with them. Well, we ended up waiting for around 10 minutes for her to notice come by to our table finally even though she already had a pretty full section, around 5-6 tables which I understand is technically busy for us waitresses, but she wasn’t even on the floor before this watching over her section as I definitely would be if I was that full. At this point its still fine with me because I don’t know what her schedule is like, she could just be burnt out from the weekend and took a seat in the back for a little too long on accident. She takes our order with minimum friendliness and walks over to a booth to pre-bus. She quickly brought out our drinks and pre-meal stuff but didn’t say anything. I start to get a little irritated here. Our actual main courses take quite a while to get to our table after this but its okay, I don’t know how the kitchen works here and its not her fault. My issue was that she did not check once in between the 20 minutes that we got our pre-meal stuff and our entrees and she forgot a couple things that I could have quickly told her. The whole time, I’m looking to see if shes just busy or running around anywhere doing things for other tables, but no. Shes not even checking on them between their courses and I can see them looking around for her too. Maybe shes getting stuff from the back for a table? No! She’s just sitting in the back either doing closing work or just sitting down. Anyways, we finally get our main courses and I’m generally not that impressed with the food but that had nothing to do with the service so I’m not going to say much about that. Once again, she just drops it off and says nothing other than an “enjoy” or something along those lines and walks off to do the bare minimum for her other tables. Again, she doesn’t check on us once for another 15-20 minutes while we eat. By the time she comes to the table, what I was hoping to ask her for is irrelevant and we’re ready for boxes and the bill. Now I feel so guilty because I’ve NEVER tipped $5 on a bill like that. I always tip 20% as long as my server shows effort and genuine compassion for their customers. I just did not see that tonight at all and I’m so sorry to have to post this but there may need to be some re training done with this server in particular. I love my waitress job so much and I hope she can find that same love with her’s because I’m just not seeing it with the way she treated her customers tonight. I unfortunately probably won’t be coming back to this chain at all, but I hope you guys...

I was really disappointed in my most recent visit. The food was great but the service was very bad. I have been here before with a group of friends and it was a great experience over all. For this Valentines day I decided to take my boyfriend here for our date and I was really excited. Hannah, our server of the night, came up to our table asked for our drinks and appetizers. Not much later we got our appetizer and then our soup. Typically I would expect to receive our drinks first but I figured it had crossed her mind and she would eventually get to it. The table behind us had already gotten their drinks and their food and we had sat down before them. A few minutes later my boyfriend and I received our meals but from a different waiter yet still no drinks. I searched for our waiter and no luck, a few more minutes later our waiter appeared and she noticed I was looking for her and she walked up to us where I then asked for our drinks. She then again took a few more minutes to just get a coke and a dr pepper. After getting our drinks she said she would be back with straws and my boyfriend and I just chuckled because we knew we would not get those straws anytime soon. I am a waiter myself and I get Valentines day is busy but half the time our waiter was no where to be seen. We got our straws half way into our drinks and once we finished our meals we wanted to get out of there. The vibe and overall energy of the waiter was very low and it was not a great experience. We asked for a to-go box and the check was brought to us by a different waiter. I usually always tip but this was a very bad experience and not at all what I was expecting for our Valentines date. May I add that the table who had gotten there after us had also left before us because we were waiting for our waiter, Hannah, to come pick up the payment. Very disappointed in the service, however food was good but it ruined our overall mood. Not a pleased...

We needed a place to offer a group dinner (at least 25 people) in less than 48 hours for a family member flying in from out of state last minute. This was our first time booking at this location as we have traditionally lived in the Bay Area.

The location contacted me 24 hours in advance to set the expectations and offered me a variety of solutions. I loved how I also received reminder text messages, which made the coordination process so simple. For guests coming from the Bay Area/Rocklin/Central Valley, it was centrally located with plenty of parking (we did this before in the downtown Sac location and it was a struggle to find parking).

Because my party includes plenty of picky eaters from kids to the elderly, I had them all order from the standard menu. The table was perfectly set and ready to go upon arriving (no waiting). Shout out to our server, Makena, for getting all drink orders (cocktails included), custom entrée orders, kids orders, and desserts accurately, timely, and keeping things so simple for us.

The best parts of all were 1) Makena helped us maintain the element of surprise as the guests came in and situated us in an area that wasn't as obvious to the celebrant, 2) Makena rounded up the other staff to sing happy birthday (I completed forgot about that), 3) helped us light up the celebratory cupcake (of course I forgot a lighter), and 4) assisted us to take a few group pictures. Overall, great food, excellent customer service, and a beautiful/memorable atmosphere and experience. Even the kids ate all their food and felt entertained, so this was well worth it. We will book again and recommend others to...