As soon as we landed in Seattle, we headed straight to Old Spaghetti Factory because we hadn't been to one since our last visit to Seattle. Ryan and Kathryn searched for the closest restaurant between the two of our locations, and we rendezvoused for Sunday night dinner.

The staff was very kind and attentive even though the restaurant was quite packed. I ordered the whole wheat pasta with mizithra cheese browned in butter. Paul had the vegetarian lasagna. And Brent had whole wheat pasta with half marinara sauce and half mizithra cheese. My memories were better than the meal. It tasted very cookie-cutter, factory-ish. The cheese on the pasta is way too dry to be tasty. The marinara sauce was smooth with no chunks of tomatoes or onion to suggest fresh and unprocessed. Paul felt the same about the lasagna. Incidentally, the marinara sauce is made with red wine. I didn't remember that, either.

The entrees come as a meal with soup or salad and a choice of ice creams for dessert. I ordered the house pesto ranch dressing on a green salad and found it to be fairly tasteless. Also, either the dressing was watered down or the lettuce still had a good bit of water on it. The olive tapenade we ordered as an appetizer was acceptable, but I've had much better. We all passed on the dessert.

If going out to eat is a luxury, and you like basic pasta, consider visiting Old Spaghetti Factory. In honor of its anniversary, the restaurant is offering 40% off its "Pasta Classics" selections on Tuesdays only. Hurry, because the deal expires May 26, 2009.

Thank you, Ryan and Katharyn for taking the time to catch up with us. I'm sorry I picked a mediocre restaurant. We'll plan better next time.