Finding the Old Spaghetti Factory

One of our favorite restaurants has been the Old Spaghetti Factory. It's one of those places where we love the food so much that we could go on a weekly basis, and occasionally have done so. We're also ready to order the second we're seated, because we have our favorites. For me, there's nothing better than a pile of spaghetti with a pair of sauces. On the menu it's referred to as the Manager's Favorite, and it gives you the option of two of their sauces. There's the standard marinara, a meat sauce, an alfredo, a red sauce with mushrooms, a clam sauce, and the mizithra. I always go with the mushroom and mizithra. Oh baby... My mouth waters just thinking about it. But, perhaps the best thing about the Spaghetti Factory is the amount of food included in the menu price. Your pasta meal includes a soup or salad (trust me, get the salad, and go with the house dressing), a warm loaf of sour dough bread with whipped and garlic butter, and after your meal, they also bring you a scoop of spamoni ice cream.

We haven't been to the Spaghetti Factory as much since we moved to Kansas City. The closest one is in St. Louis. We ate there with some friends over Labor Day weekend just after moving. We've also made sure to grab a bite there whenever we've visited Utah. But, even though we go to St. Louis once a month for our temple trip, we don't get close enough to the downtown area to justify the trip to quite possibly our favorite Italian restaurant. But that all changed with a simple detour this month.

No, we didn't eat at the Spaghetti Factory we knew about, beneath the Arch's shadow. We found a new one, just off the freeway on the way home from the temple. Now there's something more to look forward to for December's temple trip.

Speaking of the Old Spaghetti Factory, here's a great copy-cat recipe for their house dressing. It's the only dressing Brookie loves more than Ranch.


Old Spaghetti Factory House Dressing (from mosdemo.com)
3/4 Cup Vegetable Oil
1 Cup Mayonnaise
3/4 Cup Buttermilk
2 Tbsp Grated Romano Cheese
2 Tbsp Crushed, Dried Basil
1/2 tsp Salt 1 Clove of Garlic, Minced
Hot Sauce (to taste)

Whisk together oil and mayonnaise. Add buttermilk, cheese, basil, salt, garlic, and hot sauce. Mix thoroughly. Cover and let flavors meld overnight in refrigerator. Also makes a good chicken marinade, or so I hear.