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L'usine De Spaghetti
Category: Restaurants Italian Italian [Edit]
273 Rue Saint-Paul EMontreal, QC H2Y 1H1
(514) 866-0963
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Delivery:
- No
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Alcohol:
- Full Bar
5 reviews for L'usine De Spaghetti
5 reviews in English
-
Review from Joshua K.
Montréal, QC
11/15/2011
Decent food and service, can't complain. This place is American-style Italian food, both on selection and portion size. A bit on the pricey side ($15-25 for lunch); right next to Jacques Cartier Square this is more of a tourist spot than anything else. Overall, good food and unobjectionable for entertaining groups.
-
Review from Michael F.
Boisbriand, QC
2/22/2012
Spaghetti sauce was super meaty and hearty, the carrot cake was one of the best I've had, and service was a lot better than people are suggesting it is. Next time I'll try dining a little more adventurously at this place and see what else they have!
-
Review from John Q.
9/28/2010
I don't very much care for Old Montreal, but an intriguing spot called Le Club Chasse et Peche in the area had been recommended to me by a trusted poster on a certain restaurant review website so I attempted to have lunch there on a Saturday afternoon round quarter to two. Many tables were occupied, but I was informed the kitchen had already closed so I immediately turned away. The host called out to me as I was hurrying off:
"And today was our last day, we're closing for the season!"
"And don't ever come back to Montreal!"*
"And I hope you get into a head-on collision with a tractor-trailer on the Thruway when you get back to the US!"
Quickly I turned onto Rue St Paul searching for alternative place to eat. The first menu I passed by listed 36s, 38s and 40s, so I trudged further on. The menu at L'usine De Spaghetti had a couple of items that appealed - one with smoked salmon, another with lamb, but I didn't necessarily want Italian, so I planned to continue on and save this place for a backup.
Then I saw the masses of tourists further down St Paul and couldn't bear to brave the trampling hordes so I settled on pasta. There probably wasn't ample time to leave Old Montreal to find lunch in a more desirable locale.
The interior of the restaurant was charming enough, wood tables topped with glass and wine corks underneath. Some pleasant archaic jazz was playing. A lengthy wine list on the blackboard included some rather expensive bottles, but inexplicably just a single house red and house white were offered by the glass.
Even more vexing was how poor the house red turned out to be. A place with several bottles over $100 should at least offer a little more choice for those who don't require 750 ml of wine.
All entrees came with some decent crisp crusted soft bread with a tasty garlic butter. They also included the dreaded salad bar. Only this salad bar was reasonably interesting. There were a couple of potato based salads that I passed on since I would be loading up on bread and pasta. There were beets and artichokes, mixed greens of course, and even some mystery item I was entirely unfamiliar with but impressed by enough to take a second helping.
Additionally there was a pasta salad with some woefully undercooked shells, the saving grace being an ample seasoning of fresh mint, triggering memories of the previous night's mojito. Perhaps this place truly specializes in spaghetti to the detriment of other pasta shapes?
I ended up ordering the lamb shank, it was served with a fettucine or linguini, some long pasta. As undercooked as the shells in the salad bar were, the pasta served with my main was equally overcooked and far too soft. Once again I was befuddled as a spaghetti restaurant didn't appear to have a handle on how to prepare...spaghetti.
But I have to say after some initial trepidation with the lamb shank, that portion of the meal actually turned out to be quite tasty, lambilicious even. I would eventually put in the extra effort to separate every last morsel of edible meat from the bone. As I was dining solo I even took the opportunity to chomp on the shank in full barbarian mode, discreetly returning the annihilated bone to its rightful place on my plate when I suspected the waitress would be stopping by to check on my progress.
All this food was $18 which I considered reasonable in a section of town one wouldn't expect to find many bargains.
So the moral of the story is if you're stuck looking for a moderately priced spot to eat in uber-touristy Old Montreal this place really isn't a horrible option. As long as you pass on the house wine for a proper selection from the wine list and arrive with low expectations of the pasta in this supposed factory of spaghetti.
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*There's a distinct possibility those last two comments only existed in my mind. It may even be plausible the man was simply trying to be helpful. -
Review from David R.
Read carefully!! The food was great!! My food was awesome!! Again, Food gets 5 stars!!!! However, the service SUCKED!!
Our waitress was just not good. She tried to do nothing but upgrade us. No drink refills. After we got our food she was gone!! -
Review from Mathieu B.
Roxboro, QC
2/23/2009
For lazy readers:
Food: 6.8/10
Service: 6.5/10
Decoration: 7.5/10
General comment: crowdy, good for kids, established since a long time, cheap for a Old Port Restaurant.
Review:
I went there with my pal and his friend on summer at a very touristic time of the year. On the marvelous St-Paul. E St. This must be one of the best deal and it as established a solid reputation. Set on 2 floors, the concept is pretty simple : Free Bread (with butter or Garlic Butter) and Salad Buffet with approx. 10-12 choices which is pretty decent. The menu has approx. 50 choices of fresh pasta. You will pay approx. 20-25$ dollars for the whole thing. When we were there it was really crowdy and we were on the second floor, near the kitchen. Normally I would be annoyed but the very same place, Charles Dickinson was there when he wrote his Christmas Novel.
I don't think I would go back there because I'm rarely amazed by pasta restaurant. What makes me come back to a restaurant is based on: Could I do this at home without being annoyed and if the answer is: NO well i might come back. However the quality of the food is good, and the service rushed but not pushy.
