{"id":3796,"date":"2021-12-03T03:08:03","date_gmt":"2021-12-03T03:08:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/4guysmagazine.com\/?p=3796"},"modified":"2021-12-03T03:08:06","modified_gmt":"2021-12-03T03:08:06","slug":"old-spaghetti-factory","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/4guysmagazine.com\/?p=3796","title":{"rendered":"Old Spaghetti Factory"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

54 The Esplanade <\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

416.864.9761 Website<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Old Spaghetti Factory is an institution for\u00a0pasta in Toronto, been in the business\u00a0since before the city was even known for restaurants.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The chain started in Portland, Oregon, however, Toronto’s\u00a0location has been owned and run\u00a0by the Hnatiw\u00a0family since August 1971.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Graham is the prodigal son who took over managing in 2008. He still remembers driving to the restaurant every weekend with his Dad. He would pay him $5.00 to scrape gum from underneath the same tables that sit inside the building today. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"oldHnatiw says at one point, you could see the\u00a0Gardiner Expressway\u00a0from the front windows of the restaurant that has stood on\u00a0the Esplanade\u00a0for half a century.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nowadays, the Esplanade has a cascade of restaurants, but in the 70’s, Toronto was mainly made up of cafes and hotel restaurants. Old Spaghetti Factory was one of the first stand-alone food places, which helped shape the strip into decades to come. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"oldIn the 80’s and 90’s, it was known as a party block, where Blue Jays players would come out and visit the notorious bar\u00a0Brandy’<\/a>s which is now\u00a0Bier Markt, and the Keg that sits on the left side of Old Spaghetti Factory.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Old Spaghetti Factory has hosted some historic legends back in the day, Terry Fox stopped\u00a0in for a meal while he was passing through Toronto on his Marathon of Hope in the 1980s.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"oldThe inside of the restaurant has remained almost identical to how it looked 50 years ago, before this, the building was an old blacksmith shop in the 1800’s. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It’s sort of like one big vintage market, antiques, medieval art, an old telephone booth, and a carousel of 200-year-old horses, are just a few of the thousands of artifacts that surround you. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Church-stained\u00a0windows encompass the walls and ceilings, designed with a mosaic of colors.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"oldThe most picture-worthy antique inside is an old streetcar, that was remodeled after the version that ran near Yonge and King in 1900.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You’ll have lots to keep you distracted, even if you show up to the restaurant starving. The good thing is, all of Old Spaghetti’s entrees include a soup, salad, bread, ice cream, and coffee or tea. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"oldBam Bam Shrimp ($11.00) is an addictive\u00a0appetizer, easy to pop in your mouth but beware of the\u00a0spicy kick that comes along with it. Crispy breaded white shrimps are tossed in a Sriracha sauce and garnished with fresh green onion.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"oldSpaghetti Carbonara ($24.00) is one of the more simple versions of the\u00a0restaurant’s famous spaghetti noodles. Its tossed with fresh egg yolks\u00a0and\u00a0parmesan cheese.\u00a0Small cubes\u00a0of pancetta are sorted on top, with black pepper and parsley to finish.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"oldIf you’re looking for creamy-based pasta, opt for the Factory\u00a0Ravioli ($24.00). Each noodle is deliciously stuffed with butternut squash, caramelized onion, and brie cheese.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alfredo sauce is generously poured on top, with a mix of spinach and cherry tomatoes. You can get it with sauteed chicken or garlic shrimp for an extra $5.00. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"oldBite into crispy edges of the Chicken Parmigiana ($26.00), a hand-breaded chicken breast is topped with marinara sauce. Mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses are melted on top, it’s served with a pile of spaghetti tossed in marinara sauce on the side.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"oldOld Spaghetti Factory has gone through numerous exterior changes over the years, but its large neon sign on top of the building has remained the same. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

54 The Esplanade 416.864.9761 Website Old Spaghetti Factory is an institution for\u00a0pasta in Toronto, been in the business\u00a0since before the city was even known for restaurants.\u00a0 The chain started in Portland, Oregon, however, Toronto’s\u00a0location has been owned and run\u00a0by the Hnatiw\u00a0family since August 1971. Graham is the prodigal son who took over managing in 2008. He<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":3797,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[50],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3796","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-dining"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/4guysmagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3796","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/4guysmagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/4guysmagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/4guysmagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/4guysmagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3796"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/4guysmagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3796\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/4guysmagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3797"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/4guysmagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3796"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/4guysmagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3796"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/4guysmagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3796"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}