The Old Spaghetti Factory
$$ • Italian Restaurant
Most Recent Reviews
Loved it. They had a gluten free menu, and when you got the food they put a gluten friendly flag on.
I ordered pasta and clam sauce from the gluten free menu. I became sick within 30 mins of eating here. I think the GF pasta was cooked in the same water as the regular pasta.
This place is very easy for gluten free pasta. You basically can only get the options in Classic Entrees, which is basically the gluten free pasta with one of their sauces: Marinara, Rich Meat, Mushroom, and Mizithra Cheese & Brown Butter. Their gluten free pasta is one of my husband's favorite pasta as it tastes like normal (glutenous) pasta, and he's very particular about his pastas. The sauces are all pretty good. We love the Mithras Cheese but it's too much for us to get a whole plate of it so we often do the Manager's Special (which is their pasta with two different sauces). In addition to the pasta, and included with the meal, are a salad and a scoop of ice cream. The gluten free options for salad dressing are a vinaigrette and a ranch (called a pesto). The gluten free ice cream options are vanilla and spumoni.
I have Celiac Disease that definitely can't handle more than 20ppm and yet I've never been sick here. I've been here many times since they've opened in Colorado Springs, approximately once a week, and every server I've had has been knowledgeable. I'm not sure why it gets such bad reviews. The reviewer who had the Alfredo sauce obviously didn't see the gluten free menu, which they have but you have to use your phone to do the qr code.
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More Reviews
Good choices on gluten free menu and sauces. Delicious and my daughter had no reactions. Mention celiac and they take more precaution in the kitchen since it is not a dedicated gluten free kitchen. Would give it 5 stars but it’s not dedicated so can’t guarantee you can’t get cross contamination.
They have a gluten friendly menu not gluten free. I chanced it and ordered gluten friendly noodles with Alfredo sauce. I got pretty sick on our ride home. I do not recommend eating here. I have a gluten sensitivity, not celiac.
Old Spaghetti Factory is an old restaurant chain with a new location in Colo Springs. Long ago and in a galaxy far, far away when I lived in a different city and hadn't even heard of the words "celiac disease," my to-be husband and I loved to eat at OSF. So now that we have one practically in our back yard, we wanted to re-live and share the experience with our children. I was so happy to see a GF menu on their website!
Dining at OSF is a 3 course affair. 1st course is minestrone soup (w/noodles) or salad (GF without croutons) and a warm loaf of crusty bread arrives on the table with butter for your table to cut and enjoy with the soup or salad. At this time there is no GF alternative for the bread (other than requesting no bread for the table). 2nd course is the pasta and OSF has 1 kind of GF noodle and a choice of GF sauces and sides. 3rd course is ice cream which is GF.
Before making a reservation, I called the restaurant to inquire about the kitchen practices. I spoke with a kitchen manager who said he came out from Portland to help open this restaurant. He explained that even though it is a shared kitchen so that it cannot be guaranteed that cross-contamination won't occur, the kitchen is set up such that they are able to do a really good job keeping things separate. The GF pasta is prepped and prepared completely separately from their regular pasta. When I made the reservation, it had a spot to leave a comment. I included in there that I had celiac disease. I actually got a phone call from the restaurant the afternoon of the reservation to confirm that I was aware of the shared-kitchen. I was very impressed with their attention to detail in this matter!
My whole family really enjoyed the food, atmosphere, and 3 course meal experience. I told our server that I needed GF food when I made my order. She was knowledgeable about which choices were GF ones. The menu has a QR code for the gluten-friendly menu, so I had my phone open as well. My salad came out without croutons, and my pasta was labelled "Gluten-friendly." The pasta tasted good and wasn't overcooked or falling apart. Way better than when I make GF pasta at home! We did get the bread for our children. Our kids are very good with cross-contamination mitigation, and I was able to eat my own GF meal without getting sick.
While my impression of OSF is that they do a really great job in accommodating the gluten-free community (5 stars overall), it is definitely possible to get glutened, primarily by the bread and bread-cutting that happens at the table. I gave it 4 stars for safety, but I think how you handle the bread is the biggest safety factor. We debated asking if the bread could be brought to our table pre-cut, but forgot to ask before it came out to the table. Something to consider when dining with folks who may not be so aware to limit crumb-spread. I would also recommend sitting in an end chair/spot so no one tries passing bread over you or your food/plate/utensils. I'm sure you could always ask for no bread if you've got messy or careless eaters at the table.
Reviews of this Chain
We went there a few days ago and I order chicken and mushroom Alfredo with the gluten free pasta.
I wanted broccoli and was informed that the broccoli is boiled with the normal pasta!! I had ordered broccoli at another location a few months before luckily without a reaction. But the waiter at that location obviously didn’t understand cross contact, because it was not mentioned. The waitress did confirm by calling the other location, that they cook their broccoli the same at all locations, so I know that not all staff across all the locations understand cross contact.
So don’t order the broccoli!!
The Alfredo is made with rice flour, so it is Gluten free!
I confirmed all this information multiple times.
They did bring out a plate to me that looked like normal pasta (actually looked like Alfredo noodles)- so I asked if it was actually GF and they weren’t sure so they took it back. Found out they had accidentally sent it out to me.
They then sent out my gluten free pasta and it is a fusilli shaped pasta.
They also put a little flag in your pasta to indicate that it is gluten free.
The waitress was knowledgeable enough about GF, and I’m glad she was aware of the kitchen practices for the restaurant.
Days later and I’ve had no reaction. I usually react within 24 hours.
The gluten free pasta is NOT truly gluten free as of 03/06/2025.
Went here for a family dinner and was told the gluten free noodles are also cooked in a the same water as the regular pasta. I told the waiter that I appreciated the honesty!
I ordered a large broccoli, whole seasoned chicken breast, and a side of Alfredo sauce. Did not feel sick afterwards and the food was surprisingly pretty good.
Gluten free pasta is delicious! No cross contamination first time eating there. Ordered exact same meal second time and got sick. Could have been change in servers mid meal that might have been unaware of gluten allergy or protocol. Will try again in future and be clear with each new server or encounter.
I had the salad with house dressing, GF pasta with Alfredo sauce, and spumoni ice cream. Our server was very knowledgeable and helpful. No reaction whatsoever! It was delish!
2 stars strictly for quality of the food. My server assured me my GF pasta would have its own water, and I’m assuming it did since I have not gotten sick. All salads for our table came with croutons on the side because he couldn’t remember which one to leave them off of… alarming but I guess okay since none ever were put on. 2 stars is because the food just kind of sucks. My noodles were wayyyyy overcooked, sauce was literally just melted butter with shredded cheese on top. Do not waste your money here because that meal cost me $30. You’re better off finding somewhere else with GF pasta.
