Fine Dining - The Old Spaghetti Factory: "Why the Trolley?", Mizithra Cheese, & the Nashville Bombing

Episode Date: December 3, 2025

🍝🚋🕯️ The Old Spaghetti Factory: Trolleys, Mizithra, and Guss Dussin's Dream 🕯️🚋🍝 This week, VyVy Nguyen (@cest_la_vyvy) joins me for a deep dive into the charming, old-world history of The Old Spaghetti Factory. We uncover how a humble warehouse filled with antiques became one of America's most distinctive restaurant chains, complete with a refurbished trolley car centerpiece and chandeliers that make every meal feel like a special occasion. From its signature mizithra cheese and brown butter pasta to a story of explosive disaster, this chain has us asking the question: is "meat sauce" a good euphemism for jizz? 🏭 Founded in a Real Warehouse Filled with Antique Décor 🚋 The Iconic Refurbished Trolley Car in Nearly Every Location 🧀 The Legendary Mizithra Cheese & Brown Butter Dish 🔥 How the Nashville Bombing Led to a Lost Lease 👑 Founder Guss Dussin Has the Best Name in Restaurant History 🍽️ A Reviewer So Petty He Roasted a Waiter from Another Restaurant Too 💬 COMMENT BELOW: Have you ever eaten inside one of The Old Spaghetti Factory's trolleys? 📢 SUPPORT THE SHOW & JOIN THE COMMUNITY: 🎉 Patreon (Bonus episodes, full Yelp segments & more): patreon.com/finediningpodcast 💬 Discord (Food talk, memes, cursed Yelp): discord.gg/6a2YqrtWV4 🎥 Watch full episodes: youtube.com/@finediningpodcast 🔗 All links: linktree.com/finediningpodcast 🎤 Guest: VyVy Nguyen | IG: @cest_la_vyvy Patreon Producers: Sue Ornelas & Joyce Van Patreon Subscribers: David Ornelas, Kellie Baldwin, Jeremy Horwitz, Herbert Amaya, Simone Davalos, Scott Bennett, Amy Reinhart, Josef Castaneda-Liles, & Travis Langley Free Patreon Followers: Joe Warszalek, Lauren Cummings, Grace Krainak, Keri Estes, Robert Duran, Patrick Elliott, Michelle Elmer, Dave Plummer, Nicholas Volney, Michael Gerard, Tracy Molino, Phuong Duong, Tyler Robinson, Brandon Gully, Mason Cruz, Michael Milito, Mez, Aaron Hubbard, & Steff 👉 NEXT WEEK: VyVy returns as the Bridge Season continues with the history of Islands Fine Burgers & Drinks, a tropical twist on California casual dining!

Is the Old Spaghetti Factory the best Italian chain restaurant? With a vintage trolley car in every restaurant location, the Old Spaghetti Factory has managed to stay a family-run venture for over 50 years of operation. An attempt to offer Italian food meals at low prices, the Old Spaghetti Factory has grown from a struggling opening night to almost 69 locations. Nice. From a very specific cheese and brown butter recipe used in their signature pasta to an explosively devastating end to their Nashville location,

the Old Spaghetti Factory has experienced the highest of highs and the lowest of loads. Today on the podcast, I'll chug-a-chug-ch-chug-ch-chug-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-choo-migh-choo, my knowledge directly into your caboose of curiosity before we look to Yelp to see what those degenerates have to say about the Old Spaghetti Factory that I went to. Stay tuned. This is the Fine Dining Podcast.

Your table's ready. Take a seat. The flavor of the day is me. I like caboose of curiosity. I bet you do. Oh. I mean, I liked the alliteration, but yeah. Yeah, I was just like.

I'll compliment your caboose too. I can't pass this opportunity up. Caboose of curiosity was maybe my favorite combination of words I've ever thought of. It's pretty good. I like it. Yeah. Hello and welcome to the fine dining podcast, the quest to compare all restaurants to Chili's. I am your host, Michael Ornellis, and welcome back to the bridge season.

Season 3.5 will run through the end of the year before season 4 officially begins in January. We'll be continuing our look at the histories of restaurants covered in the first few episodes of the podcast because back then it was just a review with no eat deets. Today, we're going to look at the story of the old spaghetti factory, a chain whose very name makes me chuckle with glee. A factory? Full of spaghetti? Teahy, that's silly. And joining me is now a podcast, five. live timer as her residency for the bridge season continues. She's an incredibly talented actor.

She's one of my favorite people. And she puts the thrifty scapegoat in spaghetti factory. It's Vivi Nguyen. What? Just an anagram. Okay. Oh, I see what you are going for. Okay.

I was just so confused for a second. But now I understand. I like anagrams. One two points them out to me. Or scapegoat 30 fold is old spaghetti factory. Whoa. Look at you. But I liked thrifty scaped goat more.

Yeah. You chose well, even though I didn't understand what you were going for. All good. All good. I'm back, guys. I'm back. You can't get rid of me. I mean, I could. Yeah, you could. But why would I want to? Yeah. This is my show now. Okay, Captain. Captain Phillips, you're the pirate. Do you have a history with the old spaghetti factory? I've been once. Okay. And I remember really...

Childhood or adulthood? Adulthood. And yeah, it was a really cool vibe. I loved the trolley car. Did you go to the one in Dwarte? No, there used to be one somewhere in Orange County that I... Okay. Yeah. There was a Fullerton one that isn't there anymore.

I think that's the one. Okay. Because I'm from Orange County and I went on a date there and it was cool. Yeah. I got to eat in the train car for the podcast episode that I did. Yeah, that was a fun episode. And the one that we went to was haunted. I loved the ghost stories.

Revisit the episode, guys. It's a fun episode. It was episode three of the show. And many of the Yelp reviews mention the haunted nature. It's perfect. Yeah. I remember when I was a kid, as soon as I found out, there's a restaurant with a trolley car in it. I always asked to go.

It wasn't the go-to Italian spot. There was a macaroni grill down the street from us. You love your macaroni grill. Look, they used to have the best bread. And their bread is still good, but they've kind of changed the recipe. You would think they'd have the best macaroni. You would. Yeah, but honestly.

For that, it was the appeal of getting a right on the table. I would just play endless games of hangman with my mom and my dad. That's really sweet. Yeah. Aw. Yeah. But they don't offer that at the old spaghetti factory, but a train car is a pretty good substitution.

Yeah. Cool vibes. Yeah. So that's your history with the brand. That's my history with the brand. Do you want to hear the history of the brand? Okay. We're going to jump into this week's Eat Deets. Eat Deets.

Eatery Details. Founded in 1916. 69 by husband and wife. Nice. 69. Again. By husband and wife, Gus and Sally Dusson. Ducine. D-U-S-S-I-N.

His name's Gus Dusson? I love it. I kind of do too. I never even, because it was broken up with by Sally. Yeah, yeah, Sally. I didn't even Gus Dusson. Attorney at law. Especially when you say it like that.

Yeah. The old spaghetti factory opened its first restaurant in a renovated Portland, Oregon warehouse. Despite a slow first night, just 171. $81 and 81 cents in sales. Word spread quickly. By the end of the first year, the old spaghetti factory had served over 200,000 guests.

Wow. Proving the Dustin's affordable Italian dining concept was a hit. It was in a warehouse. Yeah. So it did not start out with the trolley car concept. It started, that warehouse did have a trolley car. Oh, whoa, okay, okay. Yes.

So from the start. From the start, it had the trolley car, but it was a just didn't do very well. Physical warehouse. Yeah. I feel like I wouldn't go to a warehouse for food. Maybe that's what was going on.

Well, I feel like L.A. actually has some like bars and stuff. And then like I think it may not be a warehouse, but I think of a angel something brewing. Oh, the brewery. But that's different because that's like where they make the beer. Yeah. So you're like, okay, I'll go there. Yeah. But I'm not going to be like, hey, let's go to the warehouse.

They have food trucks there. So like there is a food element. I don't know. I don't. I think have also changed over the years. I do, I do view it as a more modern thing. But they may have been the reason that eating in a warehouse became a modern thing. They're the trendsetter.

Oh, wow. The Dussons. Gus Dussin. Trendsetter. From the start, Old Spaghetti Factory's formula centered on offering full three-course pasta dinners at bargain prices in a whimsical, nostalgic setting. The large restaurants were filled with authentic antiques, think Tiffany-style lamps, brass fixtures, and even old bed headboard for booth backs. And every entree included bread, super salad, a beverage, and a dessert, delivering full-service meals at fast food prices that kept customers coming back. What an interesting array of things to put in your restaurant.

It's kind of like junk. Yeah. What are we implying here? Getting down at the old spaghetti factory. In the warehouse. Starting in 69. Yes. The Gussens knew what they were doing.

The Dussens. Oh, my God. Dussons. I call it combined Jim. Gus Dusson became Gussin. And they were busson. Oh, look at you. You're so hip. Look, I'm going to be honest. That is a word that I don't know the meaning. I know it's a thing that people say, but I do not. I could not define it. And I don't really care to learn it. Okay, calm down. You're out of control. There needs to be like a timeout trolley car. Oh, man. A signature quirk of the old spaghetti factory is the vintage trolley car installed inside nearly every location's dining room. This tradition began with the very first restaurant. Co-founder Sally Dustin spotted an old streetcar near Portland's Reed College and had it refurbished as dining seating in 1969. Nice. The whimsical trolley in a restaurant motif was so popular that Old Spaghetti Factory made it a staple of its decor nationwide and the original Portland trolley still resides in the company's flagship location today. So she just saw this trolley car

and she was like, I have a vision. Yeah. I wonder though, was it still nice at the time or was it really run down and she was like, I'm going to fix this. Well, they refurbished it. Yeah, I don't know. I mean, I think the idea of maybe seeing it just like sitting like out of commission or whatever, maybe it was like nicely painted still or something. And she was like, oh, that like pops. That would be a good element or just maybe even she just noticed the like booth seating inside or something. It was like, oh, I can do something here. Yeah. Yeah. Good job, Sally. I think it's unique. I love stuff like that. I'm a big, I'm a big kitsch fan. So anytime a restaurant has something that stands out so fantastically in a visual sense, I really like. Yeah.

Yeah. It definitely has personality. Yeah. And I would even still want to eat in the trolley car. Oh, I definitely. Like, I don't age out of that. No, trains are for all ages. Even if I'm like 70 and I need a walker, I'm going to take those steps up into the trolley car.

Like, even if it is difficult for me physically, I would want to do it. That's reward. Yeah. You get to pretend you're commuting. I didn't say that, but sure, that's cute too. Pretend you're going through America. God, imagine just overcommitting to that theme. Your waiter is getting annoyed.

Like, I'm sorry. I'm sorry, conductor. Here's my ticket or something. I don't need the conductor. You don't need that. Conductors got more important things to do. Then take my order. Yeah.

Yeah. Throughout the 1970s and 80s, old spaghetti factory expanded steadily beyond Oregon. The second restaurant opened in Seattle in 1970, and new locations followed across the West Coast and Midwest, often situated in historic warehouses or train stations that the company painstakingly restored. By 1993, the chain had grown to 30 U.S. restaurants, plus a number of units overseas. And a 1996 review even deemed Old Spaghetti Factory truly. an institution in cities like Spokane, where it had become a local favorite. As of 2024, the old spaghetti factory was operating 43 restaurants in 13 states, maintaining a loyal following built over five decades. Hmm.

They did it. Is that what success is? I think that's pretty dang good. I would absolutely call them successful. Yeah, yeah. And especially when you're doing all this stuff with trolley cars, that's really specific. you really kind of have to find specific areas for where to put the restaurant. Well, and I do like the specific note of like renovated warehouses because there is just an element of like space.

It is nice to have that much space. Yeah. When you're dining. I typically don't like a cramped restaurant. No, hate it. I don't mind a small restaurant, but you know, if they cramped too many tables in there or whatever. And you're bumping elbows with the people next to you don't like it. But I know that the one that I went to in Duarte was, it used to be a school, like a historic school from 1909.

Orgos. Which is why it was haunted. But it, like there were classrooms. Like there were still like decor on the wall that were like, this was the band room and there were like instruments on the wall. Or there's like, this is the math room and there's like arithmetic like little chalkboard. or something around the side. So they really played into the theming, I thought, really well. And I thought the decision to renovate a school to be their restaurant was really neat.

Yeah. That's a cool combination of history and ghosts. Yeah. But yeah, I think it's a real cool approach. International expansion has been selected. Old Spaghetti Factory entered Canada in 1970 when the Poulos family, relatives of the Dussons, opened the first Canadian location in Vancouver. The Canadian Old Spaghetti Factory chain remains a separate company

and today has 15 locations across five provinces. In 1980, Old Spaghetti Factory granted a franchise choice. It was a franchise choice. In Nagoya, Japan, the first of eventually 10 old spaghetti factory restaurants in Japan by the late 1990s. The Japanese outposts were run by local partners, and as of the 2020s, only a couple remain open. The brand even ventured briefly into Europe with a branch in Hamburg, Germany, open in 1983, but high labor costs led to that location's closure in 1993.

Oh, Japan loves old spaghetti factory. I have found more and more, it seems like, Japan and Korea, really like American food culture. Like a lot of chains, I feel like, are opening locations over there, or even some chains that have died here still have. have life either in those places or like the Philippines. I wonder though if they adjusted the menu because I love Japanese spaghetti. It's delicious. And I wonder if they brought, you know, both cultures and that'd be cool.

Yeah, maybe. I mean, I'm sure that there is an element of their interpretation of it. You know, it's really big in the Philippines. Shakey's pizza. What? Yeah. Ew. I know.

That's how I've been. Philippines. I'm pretty sure it's Philippines. We've got better pizza than that. Over the years, the Old Spaghetti Factory has largely avoided major scandals or controversies, but it has faced some challenges. In late 2020, the Chains' downtown Nashville restaurant was destroyed in the infamous Christmas Day bombing, after which a dispute arose when the landlord terminated Old Spaghetti Factory's lease instead of allowing a rebuild on the site. More recently, Old Spaghetti Factory went to court in 2023 to protect its name, filing a trademark lawsuit against an unrelated New Yorkie. Eatery calling itself the spaghetti factory in order to defend the brand's identity.

They're not old. They're just a spaghetti factory. We're a regular age spaghetti factory. We're not young either. A federal judge allowed old spaghetti factories claims of trademark dilution and false origin to proceed. So it does seem like they took the side of old spaghetti factory. I mean, it's such a specific name.

I know. Well, there's also a company called Spaghetti Warehouse. Oh. And old spaghetti factories in warehouses. But they're not spaghetti warehouse. I guess why do they even call themselves the old spaghetti factory? I don't know, but I do genuinely love the name. I have so many questions.

Why is it old? Why is it a factory? Because it's not a factory. And it's always been old even since when it was new. Yeah, exactly. I mean, I guess they found old trolley cars, but they're not bringing. I do think that's the element is the fact that it was covered with antiques. Okay.

Yeah. Because otherwise it should be like the old spaghetti trolley car. Yeah. But the whole restaurant is in the troll car. Yeah. Yeah. But yeah. The factory part just tickles me.

It's so strange. Like I think of like I love Lucy with like the conveyor belt of chocolate. Yeah. Yeah. They're pulling the pasta. Yeah. Yeah. So factory is just always a word that will make me laugh when it comes to like fresh food.

Oh, okay. I thought you just meant in life. No. Old Spaghetti Factory hasn't relied on celebrity spokespeople or owners, but its unique ambiance has attracted famous diners on occasion. For example, the Rolling Stones paid a visit to the Old Spaghetti Factory's Sydney, Australia location in 1973, and were even photographed enjoying a meal inside the restaurant's antique tram car. In general, though, the chain's popularity has been driven by everyday families rather than Star Power. Oh, Gus Dyson didn't want to represent? Hi, I'm Gus Dussie. I think it would be weird to get like celebrity endorsements. Yeah, no, I didn't expect that at all. I was just saying Gus should do it.

Like there are, I guess there are certain celebrities where it's like, okay, I could see, like, I could see Pat and Oswald doing a commercial for old spaghetti factory. I don't know why, but it does feel right. I feel like he could be a spokesperson for a lot of companies if you wanted. Pat and Oswald, I don't know your feelings on the old spaghetti factory. But if you like them, reach out. I think y'all could find a lucrative partnership. Notably, the Old Spaghetti Factory has never changed hands in its core U.S. operations. It remains a family-run business.

Founder Gus Dusson oversaw the company until the late 1990s when he gradually passed day-to-day management to his son, Chris Dusson, who opened Old Spaghetti Factory's Fullerton, California location, as his first project. After Gus's death in 2004, the Dusson family continued. to lead the company and to this day old spaghetti factory is still owned and operated by the dustins with chris dustin serving his chairman his name's not as fun that's chris dustin isn't bad though doesn't have the same rhyme yeah be right yeah uh but it's that's a rarity for a 50 plus year old chain restaurant for sure all keep it in the family yeah yeah good for them yeah uh now i'm just trying to think of like what would be a good alternate first name buzz buzz buzz dustin now how Are there other usses? Cress? Yeah, yeah. Not Chris, but crust.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm crust-dussed. Also, I get, we put the southern accent on them. They might be from Portland. I assume they are. Yeah, yeah. But the name just sounds so fulksy. Yeah.

Yeah. Guss-duss-Sin. In 2019, the old spaghetti factory proudly celebrated its 50th anniversary, a milestone few restaurant concepts achieve. Over five decades, it has served tens of millions. of meals, including its famed spaghetti with Mizzithra cheese and browned butter, an old dust and family recipe that became the chain's signature dish. By staying true to its original vision of value atmosphere and family-friendly dining, old spaghetti factory has cemented itself as a beloved fixture in the communities it serves.

I don't know what Mizzithra cheese is. I actually don't either. I didn't want to say anything because I was just like, I don't know. I'd never heard of it before. Yeah. What did you eat when you were? there. I'm not getting cheese pasta. Oh, that's true. I had the meat sauce pasta. Okay. Okay. Mizzithra. That's a fun thing to say too. Yeah. But that's like that's like the thing there is the

Mizithra and brown butter. I feel like that kind of cheese though doesn't even come up in everyday life though. No. Like Parmesan. Right. It's not one that like it's not a greatest hits cheese. Yeah. What's also interesting is they do, forgetting the official name, but I noticed it in some of the Yelp reviews, but they do a a pasta where you get like a trio of sauces. Okay. So it's like part of it is meat sauce. Part of it is the mazithra and brown butter. Part of it is Alfreda.

All on one plate. Well, that's crazy. Yeah, that sounds like too much for me. Oh, and it's all mixing. What if you don't like your sauce is mixing? That's the thing. I feel like it's like keeping it organized seems like a chore that they're giving you. Yeah, but then does it taste good if you mix it all together too?

Yeah. Who knows? Yeah. People who like cheese. and sauces, I would assume, like it. We're not the ones to talk to about that. I like my meat sauce. Yeah, you do.

Yeah. What's that implication? I don't know. Like, what could that mean? You know. Jizz? Yeah, basically. Sauce that comes from the meat.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. He likes his meat sauce. I don't know. Sorry. And that'll do it. For this week's eat deeds. We started with 69 jokes. Come on.

So that's the history of the old spaghetti factory. But what do other people think of the super haunted location of the old spaghetti factory that I went to back in 2022 when this podcast first launched? We can find out right now as we head into this week's Yelp from Strangers. We need a little yelp, a little yelp, a little yelp, a little yelp, a one star, two, star, three, star, four, or five, y. So get a little yelp, a little yelp, a little yelp from strangers. A little yelp, a little yelp. Give us those complaints while you literally whited. Yelp!

All right, this is Yelp from Strangers, our segment where we turn to Yelp and read out our favorite. One, two, three, three, hey, we said three at the same time. Two, one, five star Yelp reviews of the very restaurant that we didn't dine at. No, we did it. I went two forever ago. Do you mind if I started us off with the first one? It doesn't matter. I'm going to do it.

Two-star review. All right. This is a two-star review. This is from Liquid J. From Los Angeles, California, written January 6th, 2024. Do you think Liquid J stands for Liquid Jeth? It's like Liquid death, but. Oh, my God.

I didn't go there. Liquid Jeth. I want to just drink a lot of water. Yeah. Some really. But real hardcore water. I do love me some liquid death. Yeah, that's fun.

Yeah. A fully stocked pantry is cheap pasta's best friend. But sometimes you don't have the time, patience, or will to cook dinner. Lost the will. I lost the will to cook. Spaghetti isn't typically thought of as an expensive meal except here. The spaghetti dinner starts at $23. But when you add a handful of more ingredients like meat sauce, meatballs or sauce,

message, its price per diner will climb. Yeah, that's typically how it works. Spaghetti is something I could eat every single day and I would never get tired of it. I love pasta because it is a cheap and filling meal. Dinner for three with two glasses of shit wine ran $120. Josh Cabernet, $16 bucks, Berea Spaghetti, 250, rouse marinara, 875, total 2725. Four dinners at home would be cheaper. He's doing math.

He's doing equations. If you're longing to dine in a restaurant with kitschy decor, look no further. This place has enough antique hutches, ornate decorative glass, and inexplicably trolley-themed seating for all your needs. Throw in soggy noodles, bagged salad, and some low-brow drinks, and voila. Or should I say, bada-bing, bada-boom. Oh, is that what he typed? Or say, forget about it. Oh, wow.

And head to Ralph's with $30 bucks. Yeah, he's upset. No one was forcing you to buy the Josh wine, though. No, no, no. That was his alternate, like, what you could get if you went to Ralph. Oh. He was like, get Josh wine for $16. Oh, I thought he paid for Josh wine, a glass of Josh wine at the restaurant.

No, no, okay, I'm missing. Yeah, that was like a separate stanza. Yeah, he was just doing his own grocery list. He was like, here's what I would make at home. And by the way, you go to a restaurant so that they take care of it for you. You go to a restaurant to be with people. You know you're not getting a better deal, but you're there for the experience, the ambiance. Like, I love a restaurant experience.

Yeah. I wouldn't be doing this show. If I didn't love. Imagine you actually hate going to restaurants. No, it's so nice to be able to, like, offset the cooking process to, or outsource, you know, have someone cook for you. They're going to be better at it than I am. Hopefully. Hopefully.

Hopefully. Use more butter and oil than I'm willing to. Yeah. And sometimes it's best not to know how much they're throwing in there. Yeah, but like it's nice to just sit around with company and, and eat. It's one of my favorite things to do is just going out to eat. It's one of the pleasures of life. Yeah.

So, yes, you could do it at home. Of course. But like. But sometimes you treat yourself. Yeah. And treating yourself means knowing that you're not going to pay more. Yeah. You're not like getting a bargain.

No. And if you are getting a bargain, it's probably fast food. Yeah. Which is fine too. Yeah. And also can be quite delicious. Yeah. I love me some fast food. But come on. Yeah. It's just know what you're getting into. It's a different budget. Yeah.

Two stars. What a shame. Five star review. Oh, wow. This is a lot. Yeah. Christian D. I'm having you read this review because I feel like I would be viewed badly if I said those words out loud. Oh, dear. Okay. I've not read this. So I don't know what I'm getting into. But it's five stars.

Yeah. So that's good. Christian D from Pasadena, March 16th, 2024, five stars. Let's see. The day yesterday. The occasion. None. It was like any other day. The birds were chirping. The weather was nice. And I, as usual, was extremely famished and ready to eat another monstrous meal. My fiance and I have truly been everywhere in the last six months everywhere. Everywhere. was the time for a casual meal. I insisted we blow a band. I truly did. I wanted to blow someone's George Fox University tuition on a meal. I just want to let you know, blow a band I believe means spend. Like a band of money? Yeah. I don't think it means that he's going to like suck off of like

incubus or something. Give them fellatio. Wow, wow, wow, wow. I didn't go there, but thank you for I just wanted to clarify. Okay. Is that why you didn't want to read this? No, there's more. This is, his general attitude just gets a little bit harsher. I like his writing, though. Yeah. Okay. Um, for all men who haven't experienced what I am about to describe, I pity you. There is a rush I get from watching the bill become higher and higher an amount. As the zeros add on to the end, as the mental calculations go from 100, 500, 100, 1,000. Wow. Yeah. Unfortunately, a lot of men these days are brokey cucks who don't have morals.

Oh, my God. Who aren't romantic with their girlfriends or wives. Yeah. Oh, wow. This took a turn. Anyways, we walked in and loved the place. It was nice. Service was great.

Unlike BJ's, literally never go to BJs in Glendale. Please. because Paul will absolutely ruin your experience. Who's Paul? What did he do to you? What did Paul do to you? Did you go into his profile and see what he said about BJ's in Glendale? Yeah, Christian.

We need an actually, we could do that. You should, please, because Paul will absolutely ruin your experience. I had the delicious garlic shrimp fettuccini. Not going to lie, it low-key rivaled cheesecake's shrimp scampy, my favorite meal. That's good. note. Why the fuck? Does everyone look down on cheesecake as a date or first date? I will never understand it. That I do. I'm on his side. Because there was that list that came out like a few years ago that was like places you should like women should leave your man if they try and take you on a

I like cheesecake factory. So many places on there were like chain restaurants and I was like I love a lot of these places and I'm sorry if you won't join me for a first date at these places. You're not going to be compatible. Yeah. But also like look I think a first date isn't what you go all out on. Like an anniversary, a birthday, sure. Yeah. But like, what are you too good for? Cheesecake Factory?

For Cheesecake Factory? It has everything. Yeah. Its menu is a book. Yeah. You can't go wrong. Why wouldn't you go to Cheesecake Factory? I love it.

I have no issues with that. Okay. Anyway, but yeah, okay. Why are you talking about this tangent? Okay. I'm telling you, I've blown more money than a lot of men at restaurants. I've gone to truly the nicest places, most fancy, bougie. However, there is something special about simplicity.

Restaurants like the old spaghetti factory or cheesecake, again, bringing up Cheesecake Factory, are just casually really good. Honestly, if yo girl acts like that, that's how he typed it. Honestly, if yo girl acts like that, that's not yo girl that someone else is. And she's for the sewers because the streets are too good for her. That's what I didn't want to read out. Okay, I get it. Yeah.

Yeah. I fully recommend this place and back it up with my word. Okay, Christian. Not very Christian of you. Wow. Oh, there's a lot to unpack here. Yeah. Did he?

He's like both misogynist but hates men. Yeah. Well, he hates weak men from his perspective. Brokey cucks. Wild. That was in a Yelp review. That is a public place that he wrote that. I don't want to piss off Christian.

What does he have to say then? Okay. Wow. Okay. So I found Christian. He's only got 31 total reviews. All right. We're going to find this BJ's review.

But he's Yelp Elite. Oh, in 24. He lost it. Okay, okay. Wait, wait, wait. So let's see. BJ's, oh, I found it. Is it one?

It's one. Oh, oh, oh, it's long. Do you want it? I kind of do. Okay. Christian, one star, BJ's restaurant. and Brew House, contrary to previous claims, this BJ seriously needs to shut the FU star down.

Asterisk, asterisk. Should I say it? Well, did he censor it? He censored himself. Well, then, you know, you say it the way he does it. I like that he had evolved by the time he did old spaghetti factory. He was just saying it. Yeah, yeah.

He's not even. Listen to this crazy story. I'm not going to out the server. Well, he does later. Ha ha ha, ha. All right. I'm not going to out the server because I actually feel bad, but he completely ruined the night we had. Thank you.

P. Oh, I wonder what P stands for. We already know because this is like when you watch season two of a show first. Yeah, yeah. You're like, oh, I know who the killer is. A group and I come and order a few appetizers to get the night started. One of those appetizers was bone in chicken wings. The waiter brought us no plates and was inaccessible the entire time.

I ate the Tommy from Mastro's like a barbarian when the bone come out with it. What's the Tommy? I don't know. I was like a, okay. Well, he ate it like a barbarian at Mastroes. Oh, so a brag. But I'm not going to eat my wings like some hooligan rat possum without a plate. I simply asked for plates for the table.

Hulgin rat possum? Paints a picture. I simply asked for plates for the table and he said he would bring it. 15 minutes goes by and finally he brings the plates. No one's touched the wings. And they were literally. Arctic ice cold. No way.

Arctic ice cold, A, I C, both capitalized. Not the whole word. Just the, it's like a proper now. Okay, the other appetizers we ordered, we ate because we could just pick them off the plate. However, the wings we saved for when the plates would arrive.

I asked the waiter if you could give us a fresh plate of wings since this one was cold, and he took a very long time to bring four small plates. They were not super backed up, so there's no excuse. He becomes very passive aggressive and starts fighting with me, asking me what's wrong with the wings.

I tell him nothing. It's just I'd never been to a restaurant that doesn't give out plates with the wings. We even asked for extra ranch. Wait, what do you mean you say nothing's wrong with them? You already said they're Arctic ice cold. Well, I guess like, other than it being cold. Oh.

Yeah. Okay. We even asked for extra ranch. I don't know why he put this in quotes. And they gave one ranch for the entire table, not even an extra one. After some back and forth, he then, which I think is a lie,

says it took so long because they were washing the plates. Okay, that's fine. Not your fault, but you should have maybe not brought the wings out without plates? He's so upset about this. I know. I would just like... Like, is this really the whole thing? It is. Why he's giving one star. I would just like to eat hot chicken wings. It's simple. After being passive aggressive and rude, he finally grudgingly goes and brings back the wings. 20 minutes after, when we already finished our meals, how quickly did they eat their meals if it was in 20 minutes? Oh, anyway, not once did he walk by our table and ask if the food was was okay. If we could use anything, nothing. He did not fill up any of our drinks and purposely

went to other tables besides ours. Oh, okay, so now he's really just like a accusing. Well, this feels like a thing where like when you're a jerk customer, this is the type of service you're going to get. Yeah. Also, the burger tasted like complete shit. In another review, I mentioned being transported to the cow that was sacrificed for my steak and shaking his hoof. I think he's just proud that he thought of that way of describing it. I do like that imagery. I'm not going to lie. I didn't even want to meet this cow. This was disgusting and abysmal ruined the whole night. I didn't want to meet this cow. He was the worst server I've ever had. The crazy thing is, this never happened to me at any other place. I still tipped him 15%, which is way too good for him. Calm down. And went on with my

night. But this has bothered me since. This was a complete waste of my time. And if you want, please go check out my other reviews to some really nice places that serve great food. Don't waste your time please. I've never actually hated a restaurant before. Congrats BJ's and Glendale. You've made the list of only one. Wow. I love that we got the waiter's name and a different review. I do. I love that detail. He didn't want to say it a year ago, but that later he was just like, I've had some distance. I'm going to name and shame. Paul. Paul, I'm totally different review because we're following. I'm sorry you had to put up with this. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I sympathize with Paul. But now I want to go back and figure out the burger.

Yeah, like where was he transported to the cow that was sacrificed for his steak and he wanted to shake it. Oh, God. Yeah. Yeah. Let's find this. No. No, I shouldn't.

I don't want to go down. Again, I was just invested. Yeah. Anyway, wow. Thank you, Christian for that. I guess. Dang. I heard you like Yelp reviews.

Well, you can get three more over at my Patreon. That's patreon.com slash fine dining podcast. You can get the full. Yelp from Stranger's segment instead of just those two. You can also get an exclusive full episode of the Fine Dining podcast that's only available there. Nowhere else. This month, I will be doing the Popeye's Thanksgiving dinner, specifically a full turkey frozen that you can get from Popeyes and take home. They season it for you. All you have to do is cook it. I did that last year and I'm excited to finally release the episode about it. I'll also be doing tastings of exclusive

limited time offers at restaurants, similar to the How to Train Your Dragon meal at Burger King or the Wednesday Adam's meal at Wendy's, stuff like that. So if there's anything exclusive that you want me to try, well, go try it out. I'll review it there and put it there. This show is supported by listeners like you. So if you've got a little bit to support, I'd always appreciate you go into Patreon and checking that out. And whether or not you do, I love and cherish you regardless, I hope you have a wonderful holiday season. Thanks so much. Back to the episode.

All right. So I asked at the beginning of the episode, is the old spaghetti factory the best Italian chain restaurant? I don't think so. I think macaroni grill is better. I like a Maggiano's little Italy. You love them. Yeah. Yeah.

I like Olive Garden. Yeah. As I've said before, I know you're not the biggest, biggest fan. It's very mediocre. But it does it right for me. Those breadsticks. I think the breadsticks are tasteless and that's why I don't like it. You just had the wrong.

You know what? You're right. I've had two batches of the breadsticks and the first time was flavorless. The second time was a little better. It redeemed itself a little bit. It was just like it still wasn't like great, but it was better. I will say I feel like the consistency hasn't been as good in the recent years because I, there was one down the street from my high school growing up and we used to go there

all the time. And like, it was solid breadsticks every time. And then I've gone back since. And it's sometimes I'm like, it's a little overdone. Yeah. Or it's, yeah, a little not as seasoned. Sure. Yeah. Honestly, I'm not going to old spaghetti factory or Olive Garden is like a go-to if I want pasta. Yeah. But again, I'm going to a mom and a pop. Like I'm, yeah. Or make it at home. Or make it home. I actually do make pretty good pasta. Same. Yeah. And meat sauce. V-Vie, thanks so much for coming back to the podcast. Thank you. And wearing these outfits that, what did we wear these for?

It was for our Chili's rap video, which is super. Was that your rap debut? It was. Yeah. Yeah, he got me out of my comfort zone. And it was a lot of fun. And I think the video came out great. The song's really catchy.

It was in my head for days afterwards, after recording. And then we released the video and then it was back in my head. So you should watch. it. You should see us be silly in these these jumpsuits. Yeah. What do we call them? Either. Oh, my God. I'm so hungry. Yeah, we're just wrapping about how we want our baby back. We just want Chili's to be good again.

But they're not. They're mediocre. And that's fine. Perfect five is okay. Yeah. Right there. That's the whole point of this show. Boom. Well, it was the whole point of the show. Well, yeah, yeah. Now it's just to compare everything to Chili's. It's on detra's gone. Yeah. But old spaghetti factory is somewhere. And it is notably higher than Chili's. Notably. Yeah, that's a pretty good amount.

6.2.6 over a 5? That's more than, that's like. It's not a 9. I feel like that's notably. Okay. There's like six inches of space between the two. We're like looking at the visual of this. Yeah.

It kind of does. But I would say if you've someone said I give this a six over a five. five. I wouldn't call that notably. 6.2. Whatever. Stupid. I don't even like you. You're not my friend. Thanks for coming on. Tell people where they can find you on social media. We're not going to be back. I'll be back next week. Oh, okay. Yeah.

But against your will, apparently. Even though I'm the one reminding you. Social media plugs. Social media. Instagram. Say la Veevee. C-E-S-G-U-L-A- underscore V-V-Y. V-Y. That's me. And I'm at Fine Dining Podcast on Instagram and TikTok, and you can see clips from the video version of the podcast.

And I am on Blue Sky. That's fine dining.b sky.com. Social. But I'm also on Discord. And you can come chat with me and tell me your food opinions. You can post pet photos. You can talk about your favorite board games. Talk about Brokey cucks. But most importantly, you just get in touch with me. And I love chatting with you. So join me there. If you haven't, I'm on Patreon.

If you want an exclusive episode every single month, this month I will be covering the Popeye's Thanksgiving turkey that you can get. I'm excited to hear about this. Yeah, that is another one in the books. We will be back next week with a look at Islands, Find Burgers and Drinks. It's called Islands Fine. That's the official name of the restaurant is Islands, Fine Burgers, and Drinks somewhere. So are the drinks also fine? I guess.

Yeah. Or is it just the burgers? Yes. And then they just say, we've got drinks too. It would be weird to put islands, fine burgers and fine drinks. I will assume that it is all encompassing, but I love that place. Yeah, they're good. They're tasty.

Yeah. Anyways, that's another one in the books. I will see you all next week. Thanks for watching. Have a fine day. Judge the service up to the cooks And while we may have gotten A couple of dirty love

No, the journey can never stop That from the bottom down to the top We got our things on lock And that's because Chal days too We've got the babes are main course There's another one in the folks Yeah, there's another one in the folks

And we will see you next A week and next a week, baby. Have a fine day.