Founder of Old Spaghetti Factory has died. Popular chain includes Tacoma location

Sally Dussin, who grew The Old Spaghetti Factory with her husband Guss from a single location in Portland to more than 40 locations across the country, including Tacoma, died of natural causes on Jan. 28. She was 92.

“Sally was a grand Texas gem with a big heart who lived a big life with her loving husband Guss,” the company said in a press release announcing her death this week. “Together this devoted duo created The Old Spaghetti Factory and shared their passion for spaghetti, antiques, crystal light fixtures, rich jewel colored velvet and old trolleys with millions of guests across the U.S. and abroad.”

She remained an active participant in day-to-day operations, marketing coordinator Kim Davidson told The News Tribune in an email, and was regularly in the office until the COVID-19 pandemic began last March.

“Her passion was for the décor of the restaurants and she played a significant role in new openings and remodeling of existing locations,” said Davidson. “Sally remained passionate and found great joy in being in her restaurants.”

The original Portland restaurant celebrated its 50th anniversary in January 2019, albeit in a new home along the Willamette River. It was a milestone Dussin saw without her husband, who died in 2004.

“We were young and full of aspiration,” Sally Farris Dussin, then 90, said in a release at the time. “We trusted Guss’ instincts in the restaurant industry and believed in the simplicity of delicious, affordable, three-course meals.”

Guests are always welcomed with fresh-baked bread, and many order salads with the house creamy pesto dressing, a recipe dreamed up by an employee and, of course, spumoni ice cream: cherry, pistachio, chocolate.

The downtown Tacoma location opened in July 1971 at 1735 Jefferson Ave., inside the Tacoma Paper & Stationery building. The University of Washington-Tacoma in 2015 paid $992,000 to move The Old Spaghetti Factory and its trolley to the restaurant’s current location at 1250 Pacific Ave. The downtown Seattle spot closed in 2016 after a developer bought the building.

Still headquartered in Oregon today, the company operates restaurants in 12 states, including five in Washington.

In 1984, one opened in Hamburg, Germany, though it closed 10 years later. Late last year, the Nashville location, open for 40 years, was badly damaged in the Christmas Day bombing that affected dozens of downtown businesses and could take a year to rebuild.

Sally Farris Dussin relished the “joy and purpose” of creating and nurturing new restaurants, the company said, as well as her staff. “She had a hug and a beautiful smile for everyone. She looked and found the good qualities in everyone and everything.”

Every detail mattered, from the trolleys parked in nearly every location to Tiffany-style chandeliers and generally welcoming environs of the famous “bed booths.”

The company remains family-owned. Dussin is survived by two children, Alexandra and Chris, six grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

This story was originally published February 4, 2021 at 12:04 PM.