This review is based on service only, since I was told by the hostess that I could not dine there (more on that later). This location was understaffed on a Saturday night and the hostess could not prioritize her duties. I arrived around 5:45pm on a Saturday. The line was nearly out the door as the hostess ran around like a mad woman tending to all the carry out orders. She went over each carry out order with the person picking up the meal. I'm sure she excelled at that task, however she did not address anyone that walked in to dine at the restaurant. There was a "large" party of 10 (family dinner before a wedding) waiting for the entire party to arrive so they could be seated, but there were probably 3 other couples that were waiting to check in. When the hostess finally got to me, I asked if I could sit at the bar since it was just me. She made a face and told me that there was a large party and the bartender was too busy to have people at the bar. I said okay, she reiterated that they were very busy with a large party and made another face at me. I realize that the hostess is young, but I myself have been a hostess, and she was extremely unprofessional. Hostesses are not to tell people that they are too busy to accommodate you, they are supposed to tell guests the approximate wait time and let the guest decide if they want to dine there. I was one person and would have ordered dinner, ate it and left. I would not be having a leisurely dinner conversing with a friend or date. My "table" would have turned over quickly. I understand that everyone is understaffed, however Management needs to deal with it appropriately. Sorry, but Management needs to train the host how to do their job and advise them on the appropriate faces or looks they give their guests. If your restaurant has a large party and your staff can't handle it, perhaps it should be closed for a private party. The restaurant needs to communicate with its patrons. Do not take it out the lack of staff on your guests or you will lose them. I was made to feel unwanted and unwelcome, so I guess I will not be dining at the Spaghetti Factory in Carmel anytime in the near future. read more

Meh. After loving the downtown Indianapolis location we had big expectations for this place. And sadly we were disappointed. The atmosphere was fantastic. We loved the hallowed out train in the center of the dining room, the chandeliers, and the overall decor was very beautiful. Now to the food. It was not appetizing at all. The salads as you can see where meager and dry. My husband got the standard garden salad which (like another poster mentioned) literally looked like a bagged Dole Salad. There were several brown and old leaves. We couldn't believe they even served it. The Caesar was wet and soggy. My husband got the meat sauce spaghetti. The portion size looked like it was for a child. I got the chicken Marsala. The sauce was perfectly done. However the food was Luke warm and chicken was rubbery. Needless to say I didn't even eat it. At this point we were both starving and decided to order a side of cheeses. It was fantastic. And honestly the only reason I'm giving this place 2 stars lol. Overall this spot has some serious potential to be a heavy hitter in downtown Carmel. The staff was very friendly and service was excellent BUT they've gotta get better cooks/chef or they'll never have a returning crowd. read more

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I love the Old Spaghetti factory as a brand. They have a nice affordable family menu that is all about pasta. If you want steak or fish or some other nation's cuisine hang it up. This is a Spaghetti Factory, get over it. The big streetcar booth section they are known for is right there in what is a nicely appointed comfortable dining room. It is a bit dark with the paneling and soft light, but no need to use a flashlight for the menu. The food is, well, great. Huge portions and great quality. The Spicy Vesuvius Spaghetti is awesome. Just enough heat to make you happy, not enough to make you sweat. The dessert was awesome, I had a small dish of spumoni Italian ice cream. Karen had the cheese cake, it was a real one and had a crewman cheese topping that was delightful. Keep in mind, dinners come with: Bread - really good bread Your meal - uniformly tasty Salad - fresh and crisp, but can you really mess up lettuce on a plate? Ice cream dish - just right bite. Go in and enjoy some Spaghetti, it is what they are there for. read more

The food was ok. The service was incredibly slow. I love the ambiance. Manager made it right but I was in that place for over two hours after I was seated for some fettuccine. We did have a group of eight but I think every table around us was seated and checked out three times by the time our food arrived. read more

I like 'em! Cute, little spot with some pretty good food. My husband ordered the Garlic Shrimp Fettuccine, my son ordered the Chicken Parm and I ordered the Spicy Spaghetti Vesuvius. All our meals came with bread and choice of soup or salad. Thumbs up. Our service was... a little off. But she was nice. I think we were just there a little late and EVERYBODY was just ready for bed. Lol! I can't wait to go back... read more

Very accommodating and friendly...our poor server had multiple large parties but did a good job juggling all of them

Old Spaghetti Factory is a great place to bring the family. Reasonable prices, food is very good and simple, service excellent. Had a great time and will be back. The bar looks amazing, might have to check it out one evening. Everyone here is smiling so you know it's good! read more

First my wife and I love the downtown location but live in Zionsville close to Carmel. We went tonight for her birthday dinner. We had made reservations for a table. We did this because as a big Italian eater I'm 6'2" with a belly. We were escorted to a booth to which to sit down I had a table crushing my stomach. After having to deal with the table issue. By that I mean stuck there so we ordered drinks. So instead of receiving my drink I had ordered I was brought a lemonade. By this point I said leave it. Wrong move it seems like if this place knows they can screw you they hit you harder. We ordered a calamari appetizer. When it came out had remnants of other burnt chunks of things from the fryer basket. We ate what we could and proceeded to order our meal. I ordered the new limited mushroom ravioli with like 3 cheeses in an Alfredo sauce with mizithra. What I received was a plate with plain mushroom ravioli tossed on what resembled Alfredo sauce and absolutely no mizithra. So I asked the waitress for the cheese that was supposed to be on top. Which later was charged extra for. My sauce was tepid at best and was so runny it wouldn't stick to the back of a clean spoon. So you'd think that would be bad enough WRONG! Not only did I get a small amount of ravioli but I received cheese tortellini on my plate instead. After a simply horrible meal I was asked about my ice cream to which I asked for spumoni. What I received was what looked like watered down tub strappings. With all our troubles the manager was nice enough to take the extra cheese off our bill since it never had it on it in the first place. Never come out and say sorry for your troubles especially on a special night. Instead passed us by to check on the table next to us to see if their meal was satisfactory. There is not a low enough number this place deserves. I will stick to # The Old Spaghetti Factory downtown location and if I want Italian in #Carmel Indiana I'll go to fazolis at least the food will be warm and the day thank you. Mushroom ravioli and spumoni in pictures. read more

The Old Spaghetti Factory - Runny sloppy 1/2 portion spumoni - Italian Near Me - Carmel, Indiana

Have a lot of memories of The Old Spaghetti Factory from growing up. It was (and still is) one of my parents favorite places. I was happy to see a Carmel location opened up. My parents were in town this weekend and knew this was a place we had to go for dinner. I love the decor inside and the different options for seating. Next time we come here I want to sit in the trolley. We got here around 5 on Sunday night and it was pretty empty minus a few tables here and there. We were seated quickly....and then 15 minutes later still nothing. We kept looking around for a server but no one came to our table. We had my 2 small boys with us so I really didn't want to be sitting there for another 15 without getting waited on so my dad finally went to the hostess stand and said something. The manager came to our table and apologized and ordered us an appetizer on the house (which was very nice of him) and we got a server and he said he would check in on us throughout our meal to make sure everything was good. Now that is exceptional service! Food came out quickly and was very good. (And it comes with so much too). Kids loved their spaghetti and my chicken parmesan nicely bread and perfectly melty. The garlic shrimp fettuccine was nice and creamy and my husband downed that very quickly. For the amount of food, you can't beat TOSF - you get a 3 course meal for around $16 - bread, salad, meal and ice cream. They have a variety of sauces and a decent gluten free menu. My first impression of the service was pretty awful. I didn't think the host was very friendly and barely said hello to us and then we were sort of forgotten in our booth. But the manager definitely did his best to make up for it and our server was top notch. Food was very good and we had a lot of leftovers. Will definitely be back. read more

The Old Spaghetti Factory - Chicken parm - Italian Near Me - Carmel, Indiana

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Reservations don't matter you will still wait a hour and service was garbage, never got a water and talked to our waiter once.

We were a group of 4 on a Monday evening. They were not busy at all. Our server seemed to be pretty new, as was the other server who appeared to be training with him. You could tell they were both doing their best! I had the spinach ravioli with brown butter sauce ( after originally being told that I couldn't order it that way). It was very good, as was the salad. The restaurant is so uniquely decorated and has such great ambiance! Prices for the quality and quantity are in line with what I would expect. We ordered a bottle of wine. Our server couldn't open it, and neither could the manager. One of the guests at our table actually had to open it! They said that there was no bartender that night, and usually that's who opened the wine. It really just gave us a chuckle, but probably something to work on. They put forth an effort, and the food was good. I would go back. read more

Service with Courtney was superb. Unfortunately food left much to be desired. Tasted like institutional food delivered to the back door by semi. Salad is obviously from a Dole kit found at Kroger's. Lasagna was served room temp and was quite bland. Bread was ok but some oil with regular butter would have been nice. Ice cream was cold. Nothing else to say about it. Oh and the hours listed on Yelp are wrong. Call before you go. I came from Downtown Indy and wish I had called. Fazoli's j is similar for half the price. I won't go back. read more

Granddaughter took us out to eat here while on a shopping trip. Very enjoyable. Loved the spaghetti with the Mizithra cheese and brown butter with grilled chicken on top. The spring salad was delightful full of fruit with a very nice salad dressing. They made sure glasses were kept full and plenty of fresh warm bread on table. Will definitely eat here again. Would recommend. read more

Meh food. Chain restaurant dining. We ate here as it was late on Memorial Day and we were starving

Food is good. Service was not so good. Probably a staffing issue. Too bad since it's a nice location and the inside of the restaurant is nice. read more

A family member recently suggested this place for lunch. To be honest, my husband and I were not excited based on the poor Yelp reviews. WHAT IN THE WORLD? This place was great! I feel like some folks writing poor reviews may have outlandish expectations. This place is exactly what it says it is: "The Old Spaghetti Factory has been proudly serving deliciously affordable 3 course meals since 1969. Family owned and operated, we're committed to exceptional service. We invite your family to join ours for a memorable dining experience." The cheesy bread, minestrone soup, salad w/ pesto dressing, spaghetti with meat sauce, brown butter spaghetti, spinach ravioli, and complimentary ice cream were all delicious and tasted high quality. Zero complaints from our party of 7. Atmosphere and ambiance was spot on- our kids only complaint was that we couldn't eat inside the train. Service was attentive if a little slow, but the place was packed and its the Holiday season, we were happy to take our time and enjoy the food and company. Lastly, our bill for 2 adults and 2 kids was $55! What a great value! Overall the food AND the experience were awesome and we can totally see ourselves coming back here! Not for a fancy 5 course anniversary meal, but certainly a cozy comfort meal with our kiddos! I never post reviews but this place deserves way more than 3 stars! I'm giving it a 5 as I feel like it offers exactly what it aims to - high quality affordable pasta meals in a cozy family-friendly environment! read more

Ok, here's the 411 on this place. I ordered through DD, so a portion of this rating is for the dasher. OSF sauce is awesome and you can't get mizithra anywhere else, that I'm aware of...;) That alone locks you into going back here, however....their prices vs. portion is way off. I ordered the spinach ravioli w/ half meat sauce, half mizithra....excellent combo! Mix them together and it's a perfect blend! This comes w/ salad, 1/2 loaf of bread, and a scoop of spimoni ice cream. No bread arrived. The portion sizes were lunch size with a dinner size price! I also ordered the cheese garlic bread....this didn't arrive either. This is where the dasher comes in....isn't it their job to double check the order before leaving? All the little items were there, napkins, extra silverware, whipped cream for cake in separate container, little container of butter (for the bread). OSF packed it all up neatly, two bags I'm guessing and the dasher forgot the 'bread' bag! The food that arrived was great! read more

Honestly, reading some of the bad reviews about the service here made me nervous about coming, but I think we got lucky because we had a great waitress! We were celebrating my friends birthday, so she made sure to give us a big table in the center, not interrupt us when we were socializing, and add a candle in the birthday girl's ice cream!! Each item on the menu comes as a three-course meal, with a salad or soup, an entree, and ice cream (great price!!!). They even gave us four baskets of cheesy bread and marinara sauce while we were chatting it up and pondering over the menu. When we got to the salad, it wasn't anything special but they offer a variety of dressings (I could just eat the creamy pesto without the salad!!). THE LASAGNA THOUGH. Damn, I love lasagna. It was spectacular with its meatiness and cheesiness and blankets of tomato sauce and layered goodness. And THE SPUMONI. I was stuffed by the end, but it's creamy and colorful flavors kept me going. It's a mix of cherry, chocolate, and pistachio ice cream, which I just found out about today, but oh boy I wish I knew about it sooner!! I've never been to the Indy location that people rave about, but I definitely see myself coming back for the food and prices!! read more

The Old Spaghetti Factory - Lasagna goodness (Of course, I had to eat it before taking a picture!!) - Italian Near Me - Carmel, Indiana

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This location has given me nothing but bad service. I have been with my family 3 times and each time something else has been an issue. Not getting food I ordered, lag of time food has come out and length of time before seeing waiter to take order. I've talked with two different managers and each time I've gone back I've hoped for better service. Even though this is closer to home, I would honestly recommend just go to downtown Indy location. read more

Our food was great and the service was wonderful but my mom has to eat gluten free. We were excited to try their gluten free pasta but was very surprised that they have no gluten free pasta even though it is on the menu and on their website. It was very disappointing. read more

I met a young lady by the name of Amanda. She was great. I was waited on two waitresses. One who took my order and the other who brought a bulk of the food. She seemed very inviting and her sense of humor was awesome. As I was leaving I noticed I left my coat and she was thoughtful enough to bring it to me outside. I salute you ...Keep up the good work read more

Good experience from start to finish. Waitress (Chari) was great - very attentive, lots of fun, and made sure we were well taken care of. Our meals were served in a timely manner and were quite good (chicken alfredo and chicken parmesan). Definitely recommend. read more

We came for lunch and the resturant was pretty slow. I opted for the chicken Parmesan and it was ok... better than I could have cooked at home but not as good as others I have had. The salad that came with my meal was just ok as well. Our service was good and the rest of my co-workers enjoyed there meals... makes me wonder if I just ordered wrong. I will give it a try again... read more

The Old Spaghetti Factory - Italian Near Me - Carmel, Indiana

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Great service here. Very quick to get our food out! The browned butter mazithra pasta is DELICIOUS.

The most intriguing feature is the design. I enjoy the historical and vintage feel. The service was good. The food was just that. Food. Nothing more than a Olive Garden with unique plates. The flavors were either spicy or bland. I will probably not go back to this place. read more

I recently went to a lunch with large party at this location. I have fond memories of dining at the downtown Indianapolis location as a child, but after my experience, I do not recommend the Carmel location for large parties. We had 25-30 people, and the restaurant set us up in one of their lovely private rooms, however, they "forgot to turn on the heat." Our reservations were made 2 weeks in advance. I spoke with a manager, and was treated as if I was making a ridiculous request. We all ate in our coats and gloves. Management never came to acknowledge this to our group. In addition, for our party of 25-30, we had ONE server. Our water glasses were filled once. The bread for the tables arrived when our main courses arrived, instead of when we arrived for our lunch to begin. Again, I do not recommend this location for large parties. read more

I only had an okay experience. We had reservations for 7:15 but didn't get seated until 7:40 PM. It was my first time visiting and it was definitely a busy night from the Christmas market. The portions were large but the food wasn't anything to write home about. The manager ended up taking our order since it was so busy so it was nice to see the teamwork that was going on that night. Overall I thought it was okay but I probably wouldn't recommend to others. Not a very authentic experience read more

We finally stopped in for some dinner here. Pretty much what we expected. The decor is nice inside. No wait. Great service and solid food. The wait staff was nice and helpful the entire time. The bread was great. Salad was good. Ice cream at the end was a nice touch. All in all a good experience. read more

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This is one of my favorite restaurants in the world. I love the inside of the restaurant. The trolley car is so fun and cool. For this visit, I sat in the bar and watched the Final Four on the TVs. I ordered some cheesy garlic bread as an appetizer, and it was amazing. It was probably the best appetizer that I have ever had. My meal was the lasagna, and it was fluffy and delicious. I would 100% recommended this place. It is the best! read more

The Old Spaghetti Factory - Baked Lasagna - Italian Near Me - Carmel, Indiana

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They said ten minutes it took twice as long. There was no sauce on the spaghetti. How don you have spaghetti with no sauce. The bacon was good. The salad was the size of a child's fist and had no nutritional value. The pictures are very deceiving what we ordered was half of what it was supposed to be. Deplorable to say the least. The crab ravioli was terrible! No flavor at all! DO NOT GO TO THIS LOCATION THE ONE DOWNTOWN IS MUCH MUCH BETTER! read more

Food is fine, environment is good. Service is bad. Our server was very rude, she basically was throwing food on table and asking us to distribute among us (we were a big group), we asked to meet the manager on our way out, manger never came with no apology!! read more

I dislike going downtown Indy anymore so I was happy to here Old Spaghetti Factory was opening in Carmel. I did give this place a month or so to work out the kinks before I go. Great decor and atmosphere. Much brighter interior than the one downtown. Same great flavors. Started with the Fried Calamari. Good texture but overly breaded. Ordered the Pot Pourri as the main course which consists of mizithra and browned butter, a red meat sauce, and a marinara clam sauce. All delish! Bread and salad or soup comes with, along with a scope of icecream. read more

The Old Spaghetti Factory - Fried Calamari with a marinara sauce. Marinara was a request. - Italian Near Me - Carmel, Indiana

You know what, I loved this place! I had never been to an OSF before, we wanted to try it out since it's close to home now and I have no complaints! We sat in the bar and actually had dinner. Got a bottle of Ménage á trois for very inexpensive, and enjoyed a 3 course meal of salad, pasta, and Spumoni ice cream. All for like $15 a person, and we had leftovers. I was very surprised but the quality of food and all that was included! Our waitress was so friendly and our food came out quickly. We munched on bread and butter while we waited. I ordered the Chicken Alfredo, delish, my husband got the brown butter pasta dish, also delish! Great addition, even if it is a chain, to that empty spot at city center. We'll be back! read more

Honestly, I will never be back at this restaurant. I took my Fiancé here for Father's Day and we've always wanted to go since we drive by often. The service was beyond awful. No refills, no taking plates out of our way, didn't even check on us until we were done with our dinner, also supposedly your supposed to get a scoop of ice cream complimentary with your meal. And, the server hardly mentioned it and acted like we were a bother to him when we mentioned it. He took a very long time to come back to our table to take our order, after telling us three times of "oh, I'll be right back to take your order". We were here for 2 1/2 hours, and not taking the time to do anything special. Just coming in as a family wanting to eat and leave. Usually, I'm not one to reach out in the event of bad service or even having a bad experience in a restaurant. But even after reaching out to management and we were blown off, I feel this is warranted. But we eat out VERY often, but this was a special treat and it's someone that was a special occasion to take our kids. No, the restaurant wasn't busy so this can't even be an excuse. I reached out to the manager after our meal, she was hardly apologetic. Asked where we were sitting, and I told her. She mentioned the servers name and was like "oh I'm sorry you had that experience with this person". Like it wasn't the first one they had about this person. And, she said that next time they would be happy to make our experience better. Don't worry Old Spaghetti Factory, there absolutely won't be a next time. Trusting to have a nice family meal on a holiday, and it was ruined by an experience by a team who couldn't even give us the time of day. read more

Carmel has become the new home for popular downtown Indianapolis restaurants, so I was not surprised to hear an Old Spaghetti Factory would be opening up. My husband and I ordered takeout on a Saturday evening, knowing it would have been a really long wait to dine in. We like to get Italian food, and aren't too picky about authenticity, so we were excited to give it a try. Close to home, reasonably priced? Sounded good to us. We tried the Toasted Ravioli, Angel Hair Pomodoro, Chicken Fettuccini, and the Cheesecake. The meals are all 3-course, and we opted for salads. They also sent us home with a loaf of warm bread. I opted not to take home the ice cream, which normally accompanies all meals. For the salads, I do love their Creamy Pesto house dressing. I don't think it is a substitute for Ranch dressing like they say, but it is tasty. The generous portions were enough for me to have leftovers. The Cheesecake slice was HUGE and came slathered in strawberry sauce. All in all, a nice three course meal for us. My takeout order experience was super easy. I looked up the menu online, called it in, and parked in one of the "take out" spots. When I walked in, I was escorted to the take out table to wait. I wasn't sure if anyone was bringing my food or not because no one came to check in with me, but a few minutes later a hostess appeared with my order. She ran through all of my items and made sure everything was correct. Super easy! I'm not sure how often we will dine in. It's popular for families and groups, and can get pretty loud. read more

Two separate experiences, one from my parents which visited end of May and then our family on 6/10. Food okay, nothing special, but not bad. Would be a good place to take kids. Service was poor on both occasions. SLOW, oh so slow. We waited 15 minutes to be greeted by our server, 40 minutes for our food. It was apparent that should could care less. Food came out incorrectly, my parents bill was wrong twice. I am mainly writing this review because I would like the OSF to get their act together so we can keep this restaurant in Carmel. You have a long way to go . . . read more

Ordered the lasagna and spaghetti with marinara sauce specialty entrees. Both were bland and the spaghetti was overcooked and limp. The parmesan cheese tasted terrible like kraft cheese. The bread was slightly doughy and not cooked enough. The service was mediocre, dirty dishes were not cleared away and We were not offered any refills for our drinks. The server talked to us in a casual manner like we were her acquaintances from high school. The caesar salad and spumoni ice cream were ok. It was a disappointing meal. read more

Three stars pretty much describes our experience. My wife sent back her entree twice because her spaghetti was cold. Still cold the third time so she gave up. The manager brought the second try but didn't wait to ask if it was better. No more Old Spaghetti Factory for us. There are too many other good choices. read more

I've always loved Old Spaghetti Factory ever since I lived in Southern California. I always get their brown butter spaghetti with mizithra cheese and it's always amazing. I just can't order other entrees because I will end up regretting it thanks to this infamous pasta dish. This place is perfect for kids. It's affordable too since your entree includes bread, salad and a scoop of ice cream. read more

Our family has gone to the spaghetti factory around Christmas for 30 years. every visit has been really good. But this year we went to the spaghetti factory in Carmel on Sunday, the 19th. The service was really slow and we are very patient bunch.. We were there two and a half hours and had to leave before ice cream was served to our children. Very disappointing. if There was a staff shortage, inform your guests. We spent over $300. Won't go back. read more