"The Echo Park restaurant was the epitome of the hard-to-get table when it opened in summer 2023; even now, free tables for spur-of-the-moment visits can still be a rarity. But the enduring hype is well-deserved for a menu of reliable red sauce-gone-2020s dishes, a booth-lined room that begs you to linger, an almost too welcoming bar, and a waitstaff that become fast friends."
"Garlic bread is almost a misnomer for the entire half-loaf of crusty sourdough that's brought to the table toasty warm and caked in a garlicky, herby slather. It's listed as an appetizer, but order it with your pastas to sponge up the sauce. You can't flick a cigarette in Los Angeles these days (and boy are they getting flicked again) without hitting a dramatic Caesar salad,"
"Packed but in a casual way that doesn't feel like it's trying too hard. Imagine the restaurant version of your edgy friend who can wear their Italian grandmother's sweater and somehow make it fashion. That is Donna's. I waited almost a year to come here because I'm generally hype averse and I immediately hated myself for not coming sooner. It's not too cool; it's just a great time."
Donna's delivers modern red-sauce Italian cooking with reliable standouts such as fusilli alla vodka and seasonal mushroom gnocchi with morels. The dining room is booth-lined and lively, anchored by an inviting bar and a personable waitstaff who quickly feel like friends. Appetizers include a half-loaf of garlicky sourdough ideal for sopping up sauces and a dramatic Caesar dressed with a tonnato-style tuna riff. The tiramisu is ethereally light, layered with mascarpone and an amaro-cognac cream over espresso-soaked ladyfingers. Reservations can be scarce, but occasional last-minute tables appear and polite patrons may receive a tiny house limoncello.
Read at Eater LA
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