The Old Spaghetti Factory in Gastown was one of the first restaurants I went to when I first came to Vancouver in 2003. I used to love going there for the old style atmosphere (is this grandma’s kitchen or a family restaurant?), and for the huge, affordable meals that left me stuffed to the max by the time I left.

Well, today is their 40th Anniversary, celebrating the opening of the original Old Spaghetti Factory restaurant in picturesque Gastown, and for today only, they are offering their 1970s menu to all customers. What that means is that you can get almost all your favorite spaghetti meals for as low as $1.75 each!

The full meal deals

To give you an example of how good a deal this is, let’s take one of the menu combos that I usually order that is listed under the “It’s all included” box, which looks like this:

Remember all our entrées include: Minestrone Soup or Crisp Green Salad with choice of Ranch, French, 1000 Island, Blue Cheese, House Italian or Low-Fat Oriental Sesame dressing; OSF Classic Sourdough Bread with Whipped Garlic Butter; Spumoni Ice Cream; Hot Tea or our own blend of Coffee. “It’s all included” means added value for a complete meal at one low price. SUBSTITUTE SMALL CAESAR SALAD OR SPINACH SALAD IN PLACE OF GREEN SALAD....$1.50; SUBSTITUTE CLAM CHOWDER OR FRENCH ONION SOUP IN PLACE OF GREEN SALAD ....$2.25

What a lot of people I take there don’t realize is just how much is included with the meal that they are going to order, even though it’s listed plainly in this box above the entrées.

Now, out of their 23 menu items listed under there (all the way down to the kid’s menu), the one I order most often is called the Manager’s Favourite, which is a big plate of spaghetti with a choice of any two of their sauces. Your choices for sauces are:

  • Tomato sauce
  • Rich meat sauce
  • Spicy meat sauce
  • Clam sauce
  • Mushroom sauce (contains several button mushrooms)
  • Browned Butter and Mizithra Cheese, a la Homer

I like to get the spicy meat sauce and the browned butted and Mizithra Cheese, a la Homer sauce together because it’s such a nice contrast. The spicy meat sauce is just a bit spicy, and the Mizithra Cheese sauce is just loaded with flaky cheese and butter (yummy!).

After ordering your meal, you can expect to get a nice, fresh bun of bread before long with two kinds of butter: regular and garlic butter. Try not to make the same mistake that many make, and almost fill yourself on the bread before you even get started.

Following that, you usually get your soup or salad, followed by your main course (in my case, the Manager’s Favourite plate of spaghetti). If you have enough room at the end, you can then order your ice cream, and don’t forget about the coffee or tea that is also included with your meal!

Anyway, that sounds like a lot of food, doesn’t it? Well, it sure feels like it was a lot after you’ve finished it. But can you believe that the whole cost for all of the above is just…

$10.95!

The 1970s menu

As I’ve already mentioned, The Old Spaghetti Factory has a promotion or special today to celebrate their 40th Anniversary. They have brought back their original 1970 menu, complete with 1970 prices. That means you can get one of these great meals for as low as $1.75. Consequently, the meal that I usually pay $10.95 for, today is…

$1.95!

If you have a chance, you should really check out their 1970 menu online. If you go to The Old Spaghetti Factory – Gastown’s 40th Anniversary, you can read all about today’s event, and you’ll also be able to click on an image there to see the original 1970 menu. As you’ll notice, not much has changed in 40 years (except for the prices).

Oh, it looks like they didn’t have soup included in the meal on the 1970 menu. Oh well, who’s complaining? I’m sure I can stick with a salad this time if it means saving $9.00 on the cost of the meal.

One more thing I should mention is that all revenues from today will go toward a good cause. On their website, it says:

We are proud to donate all revenue from these Spaghetti Entree’s to the B.C. Professional Fire Fighters’ Burn Fund.

You can find The Old Spaghetti Factory in Gastown on Water Street, just a couple of blocks past the Steam Clock, right after Abbott Street. If you are not familiar with the city, here is a map to help you get there.