The Old Spaghetti Factory — Restaurant in Westminster

I've always heard about The Old Spaghetti Factory many years ago from co-workers and friends and unfortunately back then, this restaurant wasn't located anywhere near the different areas I was residing in. I noticed the Westminster restaurant back in Aug 2023 when I was visiting the area with my family but we got so busy that we didn't get to try it out. However, on 24 Aug 2024, that opportunity presented itself; my daughter and I finally ate here for dinner.

We arrived a little earlier than "normal" dinner hours so the restaurant wasn't busy at that time, resulting in us getting seated right away. The hostess escorted us to a nice booth by the bar area and handed us our menus; however, I didn't feel that she was as enthusiastic to be there, as I was. Nevertheless, although she wasn't as friendly, it didn't ruin the evening because she did what she was supposed to do and the main service stems from the primary server. Speaking of which, our main server, Sarah, did a remarkable job that evening. She was very attentive, courteous, and highly efficient throughout the evening - all attributes that I appreciate from an employee regardless of the field of work.

We ordered Sicilian Garlic Cheese Bread for our appetizer; the Chicken Parmigiana and Spaghetti Vesuvius for our main entrées. The Cheese Bread was great...I just wish that I would've known that bread gets served at the beginning for free because at the end of the night, I felt like I was "carb-(over)loading" enough for two marathon events. I will admit though, that free bread was delicious and all by itself, was worth the visit. The Chicken Parm was ok; nothing fantastic about it. The one thing that took us back (I guess we should've read the menu better), was that the Chicken Parm was not breaded and fried. The menu described this entrée as, "A perfectly seasoned breast of tender chicken with melted cheese..." Silly us for assuming but I thought it was implied that it was going to be breaded and fried considering all other Chicken Parm recipes we've had were prepared that way. Regardless, it did bring a different approach to the way of preparing it and was great to experience it in a different manner - I just wasn't a fan of it. As far as the Spaghetti Vesuvius...that too was just ok for me. First, I thought it could've been served with a little more sauce. Second, the sauce/ingredients sounded good when I read it on the menu; however, I don't feel it complemented each other as well as I thought it would.

The décor and ambiance is nice; definitely set for a nice family dinner or an affordable option for date nights. Speaking of affordable...I felt the prices were reasonable, especially when you compare it to other "popular" franchise Italian restaurants in this country. Overall, this restaurant is ok, as depicted in my 3-star rating; the experience was nice because it was new to me and because the service was good (primarily by Sarah), but I wasn't a huge fan of the entrées we had. I am willing to try other items on their menu if I am ever in this area again (I live in Las Vegas and we don't have this franchise in my city). If I do get the opportunity to try this restaurant again, I'll be sure to update my review/rating, as appropriate. Based on all these factors, I am still recommending this restaurant...

I’d like to start by saying this was one of the most disorganized and unprofessional dining experiences I’ve had—and the price absolutely did not reflect the quality of service or food.

We had a reservation at 7:00 PM. A portion of our party arrived at 6:45, only to find six people waiting in line and two staff members at the host stand. One young lady (in black) stood silently over the shoulder of a visibly overwhelmed hostess. She did not greet a single guest or offer help—only observed. We later found out this was the manager, Britney, which was shocking considering her complete lack of engagement with customers.

Despite having a reservation, our party was not seated until nearly an hour and a half later. I overheard the hostess informing Britney that a walk-in party of 8 had been waiting for 30 minutes, and Britney chose to seat them ahead of our reserved party of 22, which had been waiting significantly longer. At the same time, smaller parties—like 2-tops—were being told there was a one-hour wait, while large walk-in groups were being prioritized and seated ahead of those with confirmed reservations. When this was brought to her attention, it was completely brushed off.

We didn’t receive waters until 9:00 PM—two hours after our scheduled reservation. The only reason we stayed was because it was a special birthday dinner that had been planned in advance, and we were hoping things would improve. Unfortunately, they did not.

The food came out cold, about a third of the items we ordered never arrived, bread was served 30 minutes after the meal, and no one received the included ice cream dessert. Several staff members were noticeably rude—including a server named Seattle, who was incredibly unprofessional, clearly hated her job, and walked around like the guests were an inconvenience to her. When these issues were brought to Britney, the manager, she offered no apology and showed no concern whatsoever.

After the experience, we attempted to escalate the situation to General Manager Justin. Although we were told he was on vacation during the incident, it’s now been six days with no follow-up from him—(we have called and even showed up at the restaurant to be told he is”working on it”) demonstrating a clear lack of accountability and customer care at this location.

The entire experience—from the lack of communication and long wait times to the cold food and unprofessional management—was unacceptable. If you’re looking to celebrate a special event, I strongly recommend going somewhere else. Cinzetti’s or any other organized and customer-focused establishment would be a much...

There was an Old Spaghetti Factory in Cincinnati when I was in my teens. I used to go there frequently and have fond memories of the experience. I was surprised to find an OSF when I moved to Arvada (more than 30 years later) and happy when my son picked it for a weekend lunch. My kiddos and I had a great time. My daughter was especially taken by the atmosphere. She loved the chandeliers and stained glass windows. It takes a lot to impress a 15 year old! The 3 of us devoured spinach artichoke dip and fried calamari. The calamari may have been just slightly over fried but not enough to affect the inside. We cleaned the plate.

For our main course my daughter had Fettuccine with Shrimp and my son had Lobster and Crab ravioli. In my opinion, it would be better if it wasn't ground up so much or maybe if it had a few lobster and crab pieces in the sauce but I know these are decades old recipes and they won't be changed. Long time customers count on that!

For my meal, I was compelled by nostalgia to have the same meal I always had in my teens. I had the garden salad with creamy pesto dressing (OMG, yum) and spaghetti with white clam sauce. I always ask for a little marinara on the side and I drizzle a couple tablespoons over the top. I assume that cuts the richness for me. What it really does is make it super yummy!

To be fair, I will say that our bread wasn't as warm as we would have liked but it wasn't important and I feel certain we would have received another one if we had asked. We never order dessert when we go out but spumoni comes with the meal and it definitely rounded it out nicely.

Finally, I want to give a big shout out to Tara, our server. She was awesome. Someone had called in sick so Tara had her hands full but she handled it with grace. She made us feel welcomed and didn't give us a sense that she was rushed at all. Tara was a big part of making our Saturday very pleasant. I had a wonderful culinary trip down memory lane and introduced my children to the magic of The Old Spaghetti Factory. ...