Excellent eating on the Esplanade

Samantha Osaduke
Contributor
The Old Spaghetti Factory
54 The Esplanade
Alarge wooden foyer greets visitors to The Old Spaghetti Factory: its a space always buzzing around meal times. The main dining area, a whimsical and playful looking room, features carousel horses, a train and large Tiffany lamps.
The best deal on the menu is the “It’s All Included” pasta dishes, which range from $11 to $15 and includes soup or salad, spumoni ice cream, tea or coffee and, for an appetizer, sourdough bread with butter and garlic butter, always hot and fresh out of the oven.
Not surprisingly, the Factory offers a wide selection of pasta, and their goat cheese agnolotti with pesto cream sauce is delicious. Other pasta and entrees, including steak, can go up to $21.
I would highly suggest “The Manager’s Favourite,” which lets the diner try two different spaghetti sauces. I combined the spaghetti with clam sauce and spaghetti with browned butter and Mizithra cheese. The clam sauce was decadent and rich, with large chunks of clams spread throughout the dish. This is a must-have item for any seafood lover. The browned butter and cheese spaghetti, sprinkled with cheese, is ideal for the lactose tolerant, but all of the spaghetti dishes at The Old Spaghetti Factory are large and rich.
If you’re purchasing a drink to go with your meal, try one of their house cocktails in an iconic Old Spaghetti Factory glass – yours to keep for only $8.50! If you prefer beer, they also have 20 oz. beer mugs with their logo, as well as your choice of beer.
The spumoni ice cream is the perfect finish to the meal – it’s rich and creamy. After, you can choose between tea or coffee. I personally wasn’t impressed with their coffee; this was a disappoint- ment, but it can be overlooked since the entire meal was really good.
Their prices are quite reasonable for the quality and quantity of their food.