Old Spaghetti Factory - website - #54 The Esplanade, Toronto

I went here with a party of 30, so some things could possibly be skewed, but I will try to be as unbiased taking this into account. This restaurant is located at The Esplanade just east of Yonge and west of Church. They have a massive circular sign that you really should not miss.

Service - This was pretty impressive given out party-size. It's so hard serving 30 people from the same table, but I must say this waitress did exceptional. She was able to go around and get everyone's order, able to recognize where the entrees and desserts belong to with somewhat ease, which is very impressive. Although we were very demanding bunch, always asking "can you get this" or "can you get that", she maintained her poise and general good nature of acceptance with ease. Now I guess I talked about this in previous posts, but the one thing that she did not do is take initiative too much. Granted it's hard with 30 people, but still. Water was never full. We were not informed (although we did not read either) that ice tea, coffee, ice cream all comes with the entree. But she was willing to give us seperate bills for the 30 of us, which is amazing in itself. I give it 0.65/1.0

Environment - Okay, firs thing I think was good is that there is a lounge near the entrance so that people can sit, have a drink and wait for the table to be called. This helped our large group a lot, although they could of told us earlier. It was a family restaurant, so don't expect ambience or something. It has a ship flavour to it at parts, I guess cause it's close to the harbour/lake. I think it was spacious enough, large restaurant. Overall, environment was a fun atmosphere. I give it 0.50/1.0

Food

Veal a la Parmigiana - $14.29 - I don't know exactly what I expected from this. But I knew that with parmigiana, usually it's something breaded, with tomato sauce and cheese. And that is exactly what I got. The waitress asked me if I wanted fries or spaghhetti, which I found odd, but I guess it's not out of the question. Anyways, the spaghetti was very unoriginal, something I could get out of a can. The Veal was okay, surely because it's fried and breaded it loses some of it's taste, but it was alright. Though the cheese was melted on top, it was also kind of hardened, I would of enjoyed it more of it was softer I find. The parmigiana sauce on top was okay, tasted just like the spaghetti sauce, thus, nothing spectacular. In all, this dish was alright, but it was not anything special.

Seafood Fettuccine Alfredo - $13.99 - I did not try this, so I cannot comment on the taste, But I can tell you when it comes, it looks small. But that is the case a lot of times with pasta. The pasta has 2 or 3 different colours, which is a nice addition. Looked like a fair amount of seafood, thought nothing special. But from the general impression I got from those who ordered it, was not the best. Seriously, I think it's the portion that deterred the meal.

Apple Caramel - $3.99 - I did have this, thought we found this free dessert coupon at tourist information booths. So it is actually a cheesecake, I expected a crumble because I saw that on the menu. Anyways, was good, looked a bit like it sat there for a while, because the caramel looked like it sat there for a long period of time. It was an okay cheesecake, though nothing close to spectacular. It's a nice treat to have.

Overall - Food - I would say this place is not that great for food. I would probably recommend for large groups because of the space and to those who want cheap eats, because with all the extras you get, it's an decently priced meal. Though the food is nothing good, I probably would not go back unless someone else wanted to try it. 0.25/1.0

Presentation - They do not try to impress you with the presentation. My Veal had a veal on one side, spaghetti on another, and that is it. Yeah, very original huh. Although this is a family restaurant, does not mean you cannot design you dishes to look nicer. 0.2/1.0

Price - If I had read the menu that told us it included coffee, ice cream, ice tea (although now I think it was unsweetened) and stuff, I would of found it a better value. I did get my coffee at the end though. I would say it's not an expensive meal, though it's only spaghetti. But thought it's cheap, it's not great value. 0.50/1.0

Overall - Anyways, I would not go back like I said unless in area, and someone else wants to go. It's not horrible, just I'd definately choose something else in the area over this. Such as Hot House, or even Spring Rolls, both are in that area within the same price range. So add it all up, I give it a 2.1/5.0