Looking for Old Spaghetti Factory vegetarian options? You’ve got more than you’d guess at a place built around pasta. The marinara is meat-free, the famous browned butter and Mizithra spaghetti is a vegetarian classic, and a few sauces go vegan if you ask the right question. This guide covers what to order, what to skip, and what to check with your server. We’re the ones who wonder what about the vegetarians every time a menu reads like a meat list.
A Quick Look at the Old Spaghetti Factory
Guss Dussin opened the first Old Spaghetti Factory on January 10, 1969, in Portland, Oregon. The idea was plain. Serve a full Italian dinner, soup or salad, bread, pasta, and ice cream, at a price a family could afford. That formula stuck.
The chain is still run by the Dussin family through OSF International in Portland. It’s privately held, so it doesn’t publish current sales. As of 2024 there were 43 restaurants across more than a dozen states, from Oregon and California to Ohio, Kentucky, and Hawaii.
You know the look. Tiffany-style lamps, polished brass, and a real vintage trolley car parked in the dining room for seating. The menu leans classic Italian-American, which is good news if you skip meat. Tomato sauces, cheese-filled pasta, and that browned butter dish carry the table.
Old Spaghetti Factory Vegetarian Options: What to Order
Here are the Old Spaghetti Factory vegetarian options worth knowing, with a quick read on which ones go vegan. When an item depends on the kitchen, it’s marked to check.
| Menu Item | Vegetarian | Vegan |
|---|---|---|
| Spaghetti with Marinara | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes* (confirm egg-free noodles) |
| Spaghetti with Mushroom Sauce | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes* |
| Spaghetti with Tomato Sauce | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes* |
| Browned Butter & Mizithra Spaghetti | ✅ Yes | ❌ No (butter, cheese) |
| Fettuccine Alfredo | ✅ Yes | ❌ No (cream, butter, cheese) |
| Spinach & Cheese Ravioli | ✅ Yes | ❌ No (cheese) |
| Roasted Mushroom Ravioli | ✅ Yes | ❌ No (cheese) |
| Olive Tapenade | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes |
| Spinach & Artichoke Dip | ✅ Yes | ❌ No (cheese) |
| Sicilian Garlic Cheese Bread | ✅ Yes | ❌ No (cheese, butter) |
| Fresh Broccoli (browned butter & Mizithra) | ✅ Yes | ⚠️ Ask for it plain |
| Minestrone Soup | ⚠️ Check broth | ⚠️ Check broth |
| Cream of Broccoli Soup | ✅ Yes | ❌ No (cream) |
| Caesar Salad | ⚠️ Check (anchovy dressing) | ❌ No |
| Spumoni & Vanilla Ice Cream | ✅ Yes | ❌ No (dairy) |
Pasta and Sauces
The core of the menu is spaghetti with your choice of sauce, and three of them have no meat. Marinara is the safe one, a tomato sauce built on tomatoes, onions, carrots, garlic, and olive oil. The mushroom sauce is that same marinara with sauteed mushrooms on top. A plain tomato sauce works too. All three skip the meat sauce, the clam sauce, and the meatballs.
The signature plate is spaghetti with browned butter and Mizithra cheese, a family recipe since 1969. Warm browned butter over the noodles, then a heap of salty, shredded Greek Mizithra. It’s vegetarian, not vegan, and it’s the dish most regulars come back for. Fettuccine Alfredo is the other rich pick, built on butter, cream, and Romano.
One thing to confirm. The standard spaghetti noodles are usually egg-free, which is what makes the marinara plate work for vegans, but ask your server before you count on it.
Ravioli and Filled Pasta
Two cheese-filled options work for vegetarians. The Spinach and Cheese Ravioli comes with marinara and is the lighter choice. The Roasted Mushroom Ravioli is filled with portabella and cremini mushrooms, garlic, mozzarella, and Parmigiano Reggiano, then topped with Alfredo and more Mizithra. Both have cheese, so neither is vegan. Skip the meat-filled and sausage versions.
Soups, Salads, and Sides
Most entrees include soup or salad, so this is where you round out the meal. The Minestrone is the vegetable-forward choice, but the company doesn’t publish the broth, so ask whether it’s vegetable-based before you assume. The Cream of Broccoli has dairy either way. Skip the clam chowder. That one is seafood.
The green salad comes standard. Balsamic vinaigrette is your vegan dressing. The Creamy Pesto, Blue Cheese, and Thousand Island all carry dairy or egg. Be careful with the Caesar. Its dressing usually contains anchovy, so it isn’t vegetarian unless the restaurant tells you otherwise.
For starters and sides, the Olive Tapenade is a genuine vegan option, just olives, capers, olive oil, and lemon. The Sicilian Garlic Cheese Bread is vegetarian but loaded with cheese and butter. Fresh broccoli arrives with browned butter and Mizithra, so ask for it plain or steamed if you want it vegan.
Desserts
Dessert is easy here because spumoni or vanilla ice cream comes with every entree. Both are vegetarian, not vegan. If you want something bigger, the New York cheesecake, the chocolate cake, and the tiramisu are all vegetarian and all contain dairy and eggs. There’s no vegan dessert on the standard menu, so a strict plant-based eater is out of luck after the meal.
Drinks at the Old Spaghetti Factory
Most of the drinks here are easy for vegetarians. Soft drinks, coffee, hot tea, Italian sodas, and lemonade are all on the menu, and the non-dairy ones are vegan. Skip the milk and anything cream-based if you’re avoiding dairy. Many locations also pour wine and beer, though some wines are fined with animal-derived agents, so ask if that matters to you.
What’s Vegan at the Old Spaghetti Factory?
A vegan meal is doable, but the vegan options take a few questions and a request or two. Your best plate is spaghetti with marinara, mushroom, or plain tomato sauce, as long as the kitchen confirms the noodles are egg-free. Start with the olive tapenade and add a side salad with balsamic vinaigrette. Ask for the broccoli plain. There’s no vegan cheese and no vegan dessert, and the cream and butter dishes are out. It’s a tomato-sauce-and-vegetables night, but it’s a real meal.
Special Dietary Requirements and Allergies
- Cheese rennet. The company doesn’t publish whether its Mizithra, Romano, Parmigiano, or mozzarella use animal or microbial rennet. Strict vegetarians may want to ask.
- Caesar dressing. It typically contains anchovy, which makes the Caesar salad not vegetarian.
- Soup broth. The Minestrone and the cream soups don’t list a published broth, so confirm before you treat either as meat-free.
- Egg in noodles. Standard spaghetti is usually egg-free, but verify if you’re vegan.
- Shared kitchen. Meat sauces and the same pasta water run through the kitchen, so cross-contact is possible. Tell your server if it matters to you.
- Gluten. Many locations offer a gluten-friendly menu with gluten-free noodles, so ask if you need it.
Tips for Vegetarians at the Old Spaghetti Factory
- Order spaghetti with marinara, mushroom, or tomato sauce for the simplest meat-free plate.
- Get the browned butter and Mizithra at least once. It’s the signature, and it’s vegetarian.
- Ask whether the spaghetti noodles are egg-free if you’re eating vegan.
- Start with the olive tapenade, the one appetizer that’s vegan as served.
- Pick balsamic vinaigrette on your salad to keep it dairy-free.
- Confirm the Minestrone broth before you assume it’s vegetable-based.
- Ask for the broccoli plain or steamed to skip the butter and cheese.
Conclusion
The Old Spaghetti Factory is an easy night out if you skip meat. Order a meat-free sauce, get the browned butter and Mizithra at least once, and ask the two or three questions that turn a plate vegan. For more on ordering at chains like this, see our guide to eating vegetarian and vegan at restaurants and browse every restaurant guide we’ve published.
Hungry for more Italian? Check what’s meat-free at Olive Garden, Maggiano’s Little Italy, and Carrabba’s Italian Grill.
