The Old Spaghetti Factory — Restaurant in Newport Beach

Wow terrible, so sad to see what happened to a place my family has been going to since I was a child over 3 decades this location was especially disappointing, the ravioli had water inside and a couple millimeters of water on the plate sloshing around the sauce blob in the middle... They need to update the menu, it's time the ravioli needs some flavor, drop the spinach kids love ravioli not this kind. Umm garlic bread....? The tiramisu was frozen to the plate with a layer of frost clearly plated some day/s previous... The renovated location in Hawaii is the only OSF worth spending any money at what do ever... Amazing how different one location is from the other, my Mother's 71st birthday dinner was just .... Ughhh terrible... I never imagined I would be writing a review like this for a restaurant I grew up with while living in LA,OC and Honolulu. My mother was at the rebuilt location in Hawaii this past fall and chose this location for family in LA and us in South OC (Mission Viejo) as a central place to celebrate... Having to pay for self parking in a nearly empty lot, having to get cash and change to come back and park again, this guy up front really really wanted that $5 bill NOW !!! Seriously? No greeting at all as we walk towards the door, just give me $5 private Lot!!! Can't wait for a family member that was running 15 min late and had cash to arrive and cover our car as well, I told my mother and the rest to go in and Ill go get cash... Pay someone to help make the food better or wipe off the ice crystals off the desert that's been in the freezer instead of ruining the vibe before we even walk in the door, what a job that is, "$5 This is a private Lot Durrr.... $5 Durr... " Change for $20? " No $5 Durr..." Is a kindergarten diploma or kindergarten equivalency certificate required for this position? as well in orange county was insult to injury, this isn't Venice beach Los Angeles on a Friday night, it was a Monday night... $5 from a large group of people walking in to eat in the restaurant is the last of the problems this place will have, good luck to the next place that opens here, they have parking lot management software and a variety of hardware options much friendlier, smarter and easier to work with than this guy. Cost a lot less for the business at the end of the day as well if you want to charge to serve food my microwave oven can beat in 5 min any time. How this stays open much longer Is the most impressive thing of the night... Yes it is Old, the restaurant and the spaghetti, that may have once been a factory... W O W !!! Just .... WOW... So BAD in a Bad way.......

My experience is so in-between it's hard to rate good or bad, I had a reservation on a Tuesday for 5:15, came at 5:10, you have to either pay for valet ($4) or find Parking on street, $4 not too bad but is still a negative on my end. I came in and wasn't so busy and was seated outside of trolley car and the table was wobbly with a napkin under foot to "try" and make it not lol, I thought it's been 2 years since I've been here I'm about to spend some cash I should get a good seat right? So I politely asked for another/booth. I was granted my wish. Now this is where it's gets bumpy, I'm not a complainer! I'm very grateful wherever I go but I was stopped in my tracks, so our waiter was sweet as pie but seemed to be overwhelmed! My daughter and I waited 15 minutes we didn't get our waters requested, no napkins, and only a sprite, I guess something was up with the keg for beer, so I waited then finally the server came around with the soup and it was Cold!! Dang what's up with that lol and I asked what was up with my beer and soup cold and I asked to speak to manager because she said it was her 4th day and got 8 tables I'm like no way that's jacked up so manager comes by and I tell him, look I'm a manger too but you need to delegate that's messed up I see your employees just hanging around while service is lacking, so he gets me my beer, manager brings our food, my daughter kids spaghetti was good but I ordered crab ravioli and got spinach! I'm like ok I can't let this go too many downs so I told him look the only way I knew was by taking a bite but that's NOT what I ordered, I kindly asked instead of it getting tossed out just let me box it but get me what I truly ordered, I felt like a CRAZY PERSON omg it was crazy, anywho manager comped me which was cool, I was there to drop money but I wanted clean service and lastly before we left I went to restroom and in my stall no toilet paper and no soap in dispenser!! Total mcguiver lol I told the people at the desk but they didn't seem to care, people in parking lot have no respect for others leaving blocking driveway, with this explanation WILL JOT BE GOING BACK GO...

It's alright.

This place is nothing special. Just overpriced, but cheap quality Italian food.

My family decided to eat here because we never had and thought it looked fun. Reviews were decent and the atmosphere of the restaurant looked cool from pictures. And stupidly we thought this was a local restaurant that we might not find elsewhere and didn't want to miss an opportunity.

But the restaurant lived up to its "factory" name. It is just a chain of cheap Italian restaurants with cheap quality Italian food that is disgustingly overpriced. It was factory food. Pretty flavor lacking and tasted like it was fresh from the bag. I probably could have gotten the same meal for cheaper from a chef boyardee can lol. It was so bland and standard.

The only thing this restaurant has going for it is the atmosphere. And that wasn't special either. Our table had us pushed up against a wall in the back of a packed but small room with a closed window that would have only faced the parking lot if open.

I had seen a lot of original architecture during this trip to Cali so the building intrigued me. Just so I could find out that it's just the same "factory." Just replicas. Each restaurant factory made, each the same made to give an atmosphere. And hear me out at the time I thought it was a local restaurant and had the impression that it was original even though I should have known better. I was disappointed that I had skipped a better experience for the one I got at The Old Spaghetti Factory.

My family had first wanted to eat at Ruby's Diner for dinner, but we went with the Old Spaghetti Factory because we wanted to try something new. We always eat at Ruby's when in Cali so we know it's good, but we also know there are other things out there. But sometimes you need to stick with what you know lol. I could have enjoyed the ocean and had a good meal, but had to venture. Needless to say the whole experience left me disappointed.

And tomorrow I will be eating Ruby's...