The Old Spaghetti Factory — Restaurant in Happy Valley

We waited all year to come have dinner with friends at the Clackamas restaurant. Sadly it ended up being the worst dinner we have ever had. It started out with Tim the manager being so incredibly rude and nasty to our whole party, we had 7 ppl in our group. We reservations and were told to wait until they texted us. They texted us 45 mins later and said table was ready. We headed into the restaurant and another text came Ober saying oops not ready yet, we'll by then all 6 of us were in the restaurant. Our waiter seated 4 of us at one table and then took the other 3 clear across the room. We found an empty table 6 ft away and asked to move closer to our other family members. The waiter said yes so we moved. Then here comes Tim the manager "hey you come with me come here come with me " thats all he keeps saying. Then he says " you came in too early we accommodated you all and then you move." We quietly told him, after he kept raising his voice and trying to embarrass us in front of the restaurant, that we asked our waiter and he said yes., and that we wouldn't fit in the small booth they offered us. He finally relented with a sneer. We then sat and started to order drinks we wanted Italian Margaretas super simple for an Italian restaurant right? NOPE the bartender came to our table and asked how to make it. We'll I just so happened to have the recipe that I had just looked up I then proceeded to read it off the the bartender Ron who abruptly cut me off saying "we don't make it like that". I was shocked at his not knowing how to make the drink, and maybe he could have looked it up and then ask me the question then be rude when I tell him how. This was an absolutely horrible experience. Our meal came and most of us couldn't eat because of the shock we had at the treatment we received. We spent over $350 as a group and were extremely disappointed in how horribly we were treated after waiting almost a year to dine out. We choose the Old Spaghetti factory as out first meal out and ended up being so upset. Our group of 7 will Never go to the Spaghetti factory again if this is the treatment you get. We will also never go to that Clackamas location as well. Its a shame because we all love the food the people ruined it! I have also made sure to post on Facebook and have had several friends say if this is how Old Spaghetti factory treats their friends they wont be going back either. What a shame that Tim and Ron ruined our experience and thought their behavior would go...

It was a birthday gathering for my niece and the restaurant did a fantastic job of accommodating our party size in terms of space available, privacy and overall organization. The atmosphere, arrangements and service was great. The staff were efficient, friendly and I'm not aware of or recall any errors or mix-ups which would have been a reasonable fault- considering our group size.

However, I've never really been fond of and am still not fond of the food here. I already take issue with the concept of not making my own spaghetti which is an easy dish to prepare even to my most specific and meticulous specifications (I ran XC in HS so I've had a plethora of pasta preparation including numerous visits to the spaghetti factor). An outing at this place is never one where my opinion holds weight as to consideration of the venue location or I wouldn't have come here in the first place.

If, at the very least, angel hair pasta ever becomes an option, maybe I'll find something to like here although I never would have suspected you guys striking out on the crab and lobster ravioli. Whatever your expectations are concerning how disappointing it's gonna be- take that and divide it by 1/3 and you'll have a more accurate prediction about the satisfaction you can expect. There's nothing about it that would have tipped me off that I was eating anything seafood related, let alone crab and lobster (other than the price). Even the texture was like that of canned Chef Boyardee of some mystery contents rather than the very distinct and uniquely satisfying chewiness of lobster or crab. The "Factory Shake" was a very literal "shake" which I learned was not a clever labeling but rather a deliberate and purposeful omission of the word "milk" - as in it tasted like it was made from anything else but ice cream. The bread and Cesar salad were actually pretty great though and as an overall event, I had a good time. If the food had been any good, this place would actually be a really awesome establishment!

Ultimately, I had to base the bulk of my rating on the food which was unfortunately, and always has been in my opinion, not worth the money. People go to restaurants first and foremost to eat good food which can't take a backseat to even the most exceptional service and atmosphere.

PS. I was pleased to see they still serve spumoni which earns you guys a 2-star instead of 1-star so don't ever...

Menu is limited and the 3-4 red spaghetti sauces offered are pretty bland, (the marinara tastes like crushed tomatoes out of a can, with very little seasoning), the one exception being one red, spicy (weird) one they call Vesuvius, that tastes like it has Tobasco sauce in it, making it seem a bit vinegary.

The portions used to be enlarged to "hearty" portion for $3.99 more, now it's a $4.99 upcharge which gets you about 50% more pasta & sauce if you're ordering from the "classic" pastas section down center of menu.

The meatballs (about 2.5" tall) are like your least favorite aunt's version of meatloaf shaped into a ball. Texture is a little spongy and it's a slightly strange pink color, like marinara may have been incorporated into the recipe.

I love the spinach tortallini covered in Alfredo sauce and parmesan, but it's almost 1000 calories, so I stick with the spaghetti with white clam sauce or browned butter with myzithra to get my creamy/ cheesy satisfaction. Or you can always order a kid's portion to-go for later, but note that Alfredo sauce can be tricky to reheat, as the butter and cream can separate and turn oily.

The basil-pesto dressing is amazing, and unique to the Spaghetti Factory, as was the chicken mulligitani soup that they used to sell on Thursdays (which would always sells out shortly into dinner hours) but they removed the daily rotating soups, and now all they offer is the boring old minestrone soup.

They serve, hot bread loafs with bland butter and a dull steak knife, (I swear I'm sneaking in my own bread knife next time, because they give you a ridiculously dull steak knife to slice with, and it almost always ends up smashed up by the end of the loaf because the knife won't saw through. Honestly, they should just offer a pre sliced option, so everyone at the table doesn't touch the bread so much with their dirty hands, each trying to saw through the bread with a dull knife.

Love the spumoni ice cream option. The service (once they make it to your table) is always friendly and accommodating. The wine list sucks in Clackamas for some reason, but the wine list is amazing at the...