{{Short description|American casual dining chain}} {{For|the San Francisco Designated Landmark|Old Spaghetti Factory Cafe}} {{Infobox company | name = The Old Spaghetti Factory | logo = File:The Old Spaghetti Factory Logo.svg | type = | industry = | fate = | predecessor = <!-- or: | predecessors = --> | successor = <!-- or: | successors = --> | founded = {{start date and age|1969|1|10}} in Portland, Oregon | founder = Guss Dussin | defunct = <!-- {{End date|YYYY|MM|DD}} --> | hq_location_city = | hq_location_country = | area_served = <!-- or: | areas_served = --> | key_people = Chris Dussin, David Cook | products = | owners = OSF International <small>(US)</small><br>The Old Spaghetti Factory Canada Ltd. | num_employees = | num_employees_year = <!-- Year of num_employees data (if known) --> | parent = | website = [https://www.osf.com/ American website]<br>[https://www.oldspaghettifactory.ca/ Canadian website]<br> }} '''The Old Spaghetti Factory''' is an Italian-American-style chain restaurant in the United States, Canada, and Japan. The American restaurants are owned by OSF International, based in Portland, Oregon, while the Canadian restaurants are owned by The Old Spaghetti Factory Canada Ltd. In 2003, the U.S. company had sales of $105 million.<ref name="oregonian2004jan">Brinckman, Jonathan (January 29, 2004). "Inside Oregon business, a weekly look at businesses' strategic decisions: Plateful of new recipes". ''The Oregonian'', p. D1.</ref> As of 2024, the U.S. company has 43 restaurants in 13 states and Japan.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Locations Archive |url=https://www.osf.com/location/ |access-date=2024-09-05 |website=Old Spaghetti Factory |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=The History of The Old Spaghetti Factory |url=https://www.osf.com/about/history/ |access-date=2024-09-05 |website=Old Spaghetti Factory |language=en-US}}</ref> The U.S. firm also operated an Old Spaghetti Factory in Hamburg, Germany, from 1983 to 1993, but this was its only European location.<ref name="nations1994">Richard, Martin (April 18, 1994). "The European challenge: US chains brave tough obstacles". ''Nation's Restaurant News''.</ref>
==History== thumb|upright|left|A BLT salad with pesto dressing and bread from The Old Spaghetti Factory The chain was founded in Portland, Oregon, on January 10, 1969, by Guss Dussin.<ref name=oregonian1994jan/> OSF International is the corporate name of the original, Portland-based company, which had 4,200 employees as of January 1994, in the U.S. and Japan.<ref name=oregonian1994jan/> The Canadian locations are owned by a separate company,<ref name=funding-universe>{{cite web|title=Old Spaghetti Factory International Inc. History|url=http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/old-spaghetti-factory-international-inc-history/|publisher=Funding Universe|access-date=October 29, 2013}}</ref> the Old Spaghetti Factory Canada Ltd., based in Vancouver.<ref name="osf-canada-corp">{{Cite web |title=Contact |url=https://oldspaghettifactory.ca/contact/ |access-date=2024-09-05 |publisher=The Old Spaghetti Factory |language=en-US}}</ref>
In 1983, the U.S. company opened an Old Spaghetti Factory in Hamburg, West Germany, which was its 20th location.<ref>"Ceremony surprise" (October 6, 1983). ''The Oregonian'', p. F11.</ref> The Hamburg restaurant was closed 10 years later, having been the chain's only European branch.<ref name="nations1994"/> The company cited high labor costs in Germany as the reason this location was not profitable.<ref name="nations1994"/> The U.S. company had $72 million in sales in 1993,<ref name=oregonian1994jan/> and an estimated $90 million in 1998.<ref name=funding-universe/> After the Spokane, Washington, location opened in 1974, a 1996 review by ''The Spokesman-Review'' called OSF "one of Spokane's most popular restaurants" and "truly an institution" in the city.<ref name=spokesman1996>{{cite news|last=Kelly|first=Leslie|title=Old Spaghetti Factory As Popular As Ever|date=November 1, 1996|newspaper=The Spokesman-Review|location=Spokane, Washington|url=http://www.spokesman.com/stories/1996/nov/01/old-spaghetti-factory-as-popular-as-ever/| access-date=December 9, 2013}}</ref>
An Old Spaghetti Factory restaurant opened in Sydney, Australia, in 1973, in the historic district of The Rocks; it was situated in the Metcalfe Bond Stores, which had been converted to offices, galleries, shops and restaurants. It seems to have been an instant success and was even visited by international celebrities (for instance, The Rolling Stones were photographed in a tram in the restaurant in 1973). By the second half of 1988, the establishment was being touted as a venue for "family fun".<ref name=nsw-oeh>{{cite web|title=Metcalfe Bond Stores|url=https://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/heritageapp/ViewHeritageItemDetails.aspx?ID=5053177|publisher=New South Wales Government Office of Environment and Heritage|access-date=April 8, 2019}}</ref>
By 2003, the U.S. company had 45 restaurants, in 14 states and Japan, and its sales in 2003 totaled $105 million.<ref name=oregonian2004jan/> It had 3,500 employees at that time. In a 2004 article, ''The Oregonian'' newspaper wrote that "the key to the Old Spaghetti Factory's success has always been full-service meals at fast-food prices, served in large restaurants with intimate spaces created by Tiffany lamps, refurbished trolley cars and lots of gleaming brass."<ref name=oregonian2004jan/> However, the article reported that the chain had recently recorded its first-ever same-store decline in sales as increasingly diet-conscious Americans were cutting back generally on their pasta intake. In response to that trend, OSF began adding some low-carb options to its menu but was not planning major changes.<ref name=oregonian2004jan/>
==Decor and locations== thumb|right|Interior of the Seattle restaurant, which, like many of the chain's restaurants, was located inside a historic former-industrial building Many of the chain's restaurants are located inside renovated warehouses, train stations, and historic locations. The restaurant decor traditionally features antiques, including chandeliers, brass headboards, and footboards as bench backs for booths. Each restaurant's most prominent feature is a streetcar in the middle of the restaurant with seating inside.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.oldspaghettifactory.com/history/history.html | title = History | access-date = 2008-03-19}}</ref>
The number of U.S. restaurants has fluctuated over the years. As of 1993, the U.S. chain had 30 restaurants in the United States and nine in Japan.<ref name="oregonian1994jan">{{cite news |last=Hamburg |first=Ken |date=January 9, 1994 |title=Using his noodle: By sticking to the basics, Guss Dussin gives the Old Spaghetti Factory an international reach |newspaper=The Sunday Oregonian |page=P1}}</ref> In 2003, the U.S. company had 45 restaurants, in 14 states and Japan.<ref name=oregonian2004jan/> In 2024, the number of U.S. locations stood at 43,<ref name=":0" /> in Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Utah and Washington. The Old Spaghetti Factory (OSF) Japan locations were in Nagoya (closed 2013), Kobe and Kawagoe, Saitama (closed 2009). The downtown Seattle location, which opened in 1970 and was the second in the chain's history, closed in December 2016 due to the sale of the building.<ref name="king-2016oct26">{{cite news|last1=Lyle|first1=Josh|title=Seattle's Old Spaghetti Factory closing in December|url=http://www.king5.com/news/local/seattles-old-spaghetti-factory-closing-in-december/341793595|access-date=October 26, 2016|publisher=KING-TV|date=October 26, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161029100151/http://www.king5.com/news/local/seattles-old-spaghetti-factory-closing-in-december/341793595|archive-date=October 29, 2016|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="sea-times-2016dec">{{cite news|last=Clement|first=Bethany Jean|title=Saying goodbye to Seattle's Old Spaghetti Factory|newspaper=The Seattle Times|date=December 21, 2016|url=http://www.seattletimes.com/life/food-drink/saying-goodbye-to-seattles-old-spaghetti-factory/|access-date=January 5, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161223102342/http://www.seattletimes.com/life/food-drink/saying-goodbye-to-seattles-old-spaghetti-factory/|archive-date=December 23, 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> The brick and timbers from the Seattle location were reclaimed in a new building constructed on the site in 2025, as well as other preservation efforts made "in a nod" to the Spaghetti Factory.<ref>{{cite news|title=Seattle's Old Spaghetti Factory remnants preserved in building reno |first= Ramsey |last=Pfeffinger|date=April 22, 2025 |publisher=KCPQ-TV|location=Tacoma|url=https://www.fox13seattle.com/news/seattles-old-spaghetti-factory}}</ref>
The OSF location in Nashville, Tennessee, which was located in the city's popular Lower Broadway entertainment district, was destroyed in the 2020 Christmas Day bombing along Second Avenue. The landlord of the property subsequently terminated the restaurant's lease early, despite Old Spaghetti Factory announcing its intent to rebuild the structure and reopen the restaurant.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Stephenson |first1=Cassandra |title=Old Spaghetti Factory in Downtown Nashville won't reopen following bombing, lease termination |url=https://www.tennessean.com/story/money/2021/02/19/nashville-old-spaghetti-factory-wont-reopen-after-bombing-lease-terminated/4509217001/ |access-date=27 November 2024 |work=The Tennessean |date=19 February 2021 |ref=Nashville bombing}}</ref>
<gallery> File:Trolley car inside Tacoma Old Spaghetti Factory at post-2015 location.jpg|Vintage streetcar inside the Tacoma restaurant File:Old Spaghetti Factory in Portland, Oregon (2014).jpg|Portland, Oregon location in 2014 File:The Old Spaghetti Factory Elk Grove California.JPG|A location in Elk Grove, California File:San Diego, 2016 - 137.jpg|San Diego 2016 File:Toronto Old Spaghetti Factory entrance at night.jpg|Toronto 2007 File:The old spaghetti Factory in Downtown.JPG|Vancouver in 2011 File:Old Spaghetti Factory Kawagoe 20061103.JPG|A former Meitetsu tram inside the Kawagoe branch of The Old Spaghetti Factory in Japan in 2006 </gallery>
==See also== *Spaghetti Warehouse *List of Canadian restaurant chains * List of Italian restaurants
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== {{Commons category|The Old Spaghetti Factory}} * [https://www.osf.com/ The Old Spaghetti Factory official American website] * [https://www.oldspaghettifactory.ca/ The Old Spaghetti Factory official Canadian website] * [https://osf-japan.jp The Old Spaghetti Factory official Japanese website]
{{Food chains in Japan}} {{Oregon Companies}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Old Spaghetti Factory}} Category:Restaurant chains in the United States Category:1969 establishments in Oregon Category:Restaurants established in 1969 Category:Restaurant chains in Canada Category:Restaurants in Japan Category:Restaurants in Portland, Oregon Category:American companies established in 1969 Category:Italian-American culture in Oregon Category:Italian restaurants in the United States