Love this place! The food was amazing! The drinks from the full bar made for a relaxing Saturday mid-morning brunch. The service was top notch. We were checked on regularly and they anticipated when we needed more water or drinks. Don't miss out. You should make it a point to go. You won't be disappointing. read more

The service was excellent . The food was authentic. A perfect date night and lovely time!

Ate dinner here last night, party of 4. We had the prosciutto, and the oxtail ravioli as appetizers. Prosciutto was perfectly salty with a moist, soft texture, served with two cheese sandwiches, and an apricot drizzled with a balsamic vinegar reduction. This was a 4/5 because the oxtail ravioli was fantastic. Six pieces of oxtail shiu mai in a light beef broth with walnuts and English peas. This is also available as an entree. This is star dish that needs to stay on the menu. For entrees, spinach ravioli special, roast chicken with roasted potatoes, pappardelle with rabbit, and lamb shank on polenta. The pasta dishes were great. The chicken looked beautiful. The lamb shank, my dish, lacked some seasoning, but it was a satisfying dish nevertheless. Desserts were a chocolate dish, gelato, a chocolate mousse-like dish, and a mint meringue with apricot sauce. All were reported delicious. Best part? All of this, with a bottle of wine, a Coke, and a limoncello was just $205.39, plus tip. Our server, Francesca, was pleasant and professional. We lucked out with a parking space in front, free after 6 pm. As in most of Berkeley, parking might pose some difficulty. read more

Came here for our son's graduation dinner. Love the ambiance and the serving staff are quite friendly. My husband and son enjoyed their dishes (steak and pasta) but my sea bass is way too salty, so was the side brocoli rabe. Salt does help enhance the flavor but too much does the opposite. read more

Both me and my friend wanted the risotto, but we were told has been removed, although it was still on the menu. - had an alternative mushroom pasta - reasonably acceptable read more

Love the food and friendly staff. The squid ink pasta was amazing! I hope everyone shows this place some love post pandemic!

Thank you for the fabulous dinner! Everything was absolutely delicious. The staff were very attentive!

My wife and I discovered this place for dinner and was blown away by the food. Really unique, flavorful and reasonably priced. Excellent service and beautiful ambiance rounded it out. We also tried the brunch, and it was as amazing as the dinner. It's our new go-to. We really hope it stays around. It's a real Italian gem. read more

Had a great time last night at Donato with my partner. We shared the tortelli and the seabass and they were both amazing! We also got a lovely pear dessert (see photo). The best part was definitely our server, Andrea, who was amazing. She recommended the seabass to us and also our wine pairing, which was perfect. Thank you, Andrea and Donato, for making our Friday night special! read more

Donato & Co - Italian Near Me - Berkeley, California

Came with friends for a group of 4 for dinner. Chicken liver pate ('vasetto') was good but cold from fridge. Ditched the crostini for regular bread. Fig jam was lovely. Frilly greens with crispy egg/mustard dressing: a variant of the French frisee aux lardons, but not successful. Egg yolk overcooked and not large enough for the amount of greens; also needed a bit of salt to overcome strong lettuce bitterness. Spouse thought citrus dressing would have been more successful and I agreed. Crispy baccala: served whole, this was outstanding for salt cod lovers! Prosciutto and cheese board very good, but ask for some bread slices. Crostini sticks just don't cut it. Pizzelle: we had both versions and rated them highly. Carnaroli risotto w/oxtail. A shame to waste aged Carnaroli with oxtail stew, which just overwhelms it. Rice like this deserves the simplest prep to show it off. Stew was good, but nothing exciting or creative. Pork and polenta dish: No real seasoning so dull although generous and high quality. Flaw was Savoy cabbage, which was...pickled! Absolutely awful, have no idea what kitchen was thinking on such a combo. Fettucine w/pork ragu and buckwheat ravioli dishes were fine. Desserts were pedestrian. Service was cheerful but absent-minded and got worse over the course of dinner. Hopefully, like Desco (Scotti's other EBay restaurant, which he closed), with time Donato & Co. will find its footing. There is much to like here, but the flaws in seasoning and service need to be fixed. read more

Definitely an above average neighborhood restaurant. The menu changes, and keeps lots of old standards. The atmosphere is friendly; we always had perfectly attentive wait staff, and it like experiencing a small slice of Italy in the Elmwood. Making the restaurant a nice change from La Mediterranee, or In the Woods. A bit of an upgraded experience. The sound suppression system is terrific. The clientele includes students on dates, couples having romantic meals together, and a collection of Elmwood oldsters out on the town. read more

We came for dinner and had the pate appetizer, the pork chop with polenta and endive, the walnut paste tortellini, 2 cocktails and a beer. My husband's cocktail was divine, and that was the standout of this meal. Everything else was just ok. The pork chop was dry, and could have benefitted from some dipping sauce, and the polenta was served in a firm and flavorless cube. The tortellini were unremarkable - with a thicker skin and firmer than I'd like. The paté was flat without any texture or complexity. My aperol spritz was a bit on the weak and small side. This restaurant could be so great if they just got on top of the ball. $110 before tax and tip. One of those meals where I wish I had gone somewhere else. read more

This review may be over the top but I'm SO SO happy to have this amazing restaurant in my neighborhood. The food is authentic to the chef Gianluca's native Venice. The pasta is made by hand. The bar is excellent. Definitely save room for dessert. Our approach is to try a variety of starters and small plate s and share them among the table, but we have also ordered just traditional main courses and have been so pleased. We love in particular: Chicken liver pate Arancini Salted cod mousse on fried polenta Handmade ravioli with oxtail The dark chocolate dessert with blackberry sorbet read more

Had brunch there today, and was very impressed. Beautiful interior, good service, and delicious food and drinks (and not very expensive, even). I had the poached eggs with creamy Grana Padano fondue, mushroom & black tartufo sauce, and focaccia crostini: kind of small, but SO rich and delicious. My wife had the spaghettoni (fat spaghetti) alla carbonara, with yummy pork guanciale, egg yolk, Grana Padano and Pecorino cheeses. This dish was sizable and delicious, with a great sauce. Then we managed to share a Monte Bianco, which was chestnut puree, chocolate sauce, little pieces of puff pastry, whipped cream, and cocoa nibs. Made us dizzy! There were lots of other tempting items on the menu, so we'll be back! read more

Probably less than 50/50 chance that they make it past their lease. I understand how Donato & Co is taking steps to avoid the fate of their predecessors, The Advocate. Critically, they've brought down the price point. And hopefully they got fire-sale terms on this gorgeous space. But they've been open long enough to iron out their early challenges with novice (I mean, really novice) staff and uneven cooking. What's left now just isn't enough--not even at these moderate prices. Service is improved but still very shaky. Basics like offering another beverage may not occur (and that's profit you're missing!). Cocktails can still (still!) take a long time to arrive. Really, though, it's ultimately about the food. And that remains...meh, at best. As others have noted, there are perhaps two or three dishes on the menu that are consistently good. But on our last visit, the pasta was emblematic of the rest. Simple papardelle. At an Italian restaurant. When it was served, there were cool and luke-warm temperature pockets within the dish. And the pasta was crunchy. We sent it back. (We were asked, "you're sure it wasn't just al dente?" No, it wasn't.) On the second iteration, the dish was now piping hot, but still with crunchy pasta. Look--we've traveled in Italy plenty, we've eaten in restaurants run by actual Italians; they don't serve crunchy pasta. We know the difference. read more

Food: 4/5 Price: 3/5 Service: 5/5 Ambience: 5/5 Donato is a pretty popular new restaurant in Berkeley run by chefs Donato Scotti and Gianluca Guglielmi. The restaurant is modern, clean and sleek while giving a cozy atmosphere. There's an open kitchen at the very back of the restaurant where you can see where all the magic happens. The food here are very unique - each dish has a cool modern twist to your traditional Italian fare. Carnaroli RISOTTO alla Parmigiana - with Nebbiolo braised beef oxtail. The oxtail is stewed with red wine and very flavorful. Risotto was cooked perfectly with a rich and creamy texture tingled with parmasean. IL MAIALE - pork sausage, ribs and crispy belly; borlotti beans & Savoy cabbage. Pork 3 ways was super interesting. Pork sausage was ok, ribs was slightly dry, and the crispy belly was delicious and soft. I liked the cabbage which tasted like sauerkraut. Seasonal vegetables FRITTO - with spicy tomato sauce. Beautiful presentation, disappointing taste. The vegetables were thin and overly battered. composta di mele - Organic apple compote, corn meal crumble, gelato. The apple compote was mainly apple sauce, with little pieces of actual apple. Corn meal crumble was delicious, so was the gelato. Next time: Grilled POLLO, Dry squid ink SPAGHETTI, cured SALUMI Favorites: * Carnaroli RISOTTO alla Parmigiana ($18) Others: * IL MAIALE ($21) * Seasonal vegetables FRITTO ($9) * composta di mele ($7) read more

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Good service, very hospitable and welcoming. Maddie got a birthday ice cream with a candle! So sweet! We had the il maiale, strapazzate and prosciutto. Cappuccinos and orange juice were delicious. Dishes were a little lacking. The polenta is a healthy serving on the il maile, I couldn't finish it. The eggs were nicely done. Loved the roasted veggie. Potatoes are VERY nicely done. Strapazzate flavor was good. Prosciutto dish was nice, enjoyed the cheese bread but not the pickled onions. Overall good potential! Good experience. read more

Donato & Co - Italian Near Me - Berkeley, California

I love this spot! It's a must for me to go with people who like to share dishes because there's always a lot I want to try. Haven't been disappointed yet! read more

The food was very good and the service was great, but we won't be going back anytime soon. There were too many unmasked coughing customers covering their deep and ugly coughs with their hands, then walking around the restaurant, unmasked. The tables are less than a foot and a half apart. We are fully-vaccinated, but with the delta variant raging we didn't feel safe. We left as quickly as we could and won't return. Restaurants in our area requiring proof of vaccination are booming. Catering to the inconsiderate and irresponsible is not a good business strategy. If you're an unvaccinated jerk who doesn't want to wear a mask and who thinks you might have covid but still wants to go out to dinner, your coughs are apparently welcome there. read more

We came for Christmas Eve dinner-myself, my husband, my elderly handicapped mother, my in-laws, my child and my 2mo old baby. We spent almost $600 dollars on dinner- cocktails/appetizers/mains & desserts. We were presented with the check and then asked to leave within 10 minutes of signing the bill. The GM comes over and asks "how much longer were we planning on staying? Because they need the table to seat another reservation." I couldn't believe how rude and tacky they were, especially after the amount of money we spent, the fact that is was a holiday and we'd made reservations in advance. AND they are Europeans themselves and know how significant Christmas Eve is a holiday and how rude it is to ask guests to leave. TEN MINUTES after dropping the bill-crazy. So incredibly rude. I'd left to nurse my 2 mo old in the car and returned in ten minutes to find my elderly disabled mother trying to rush out from the restaurant so they could seat their next table. TACKY! Never have I ever had this experience as a guest. Heads up Donato-- the classy thing to do is offer your next reservation a round of drinks in your bar while the previous table of guests finish their meal! Or vice versa! I was so upset and complained- they hastily apologized, gave me a $50 gift certificate and hustled me out is the restaurant. I do not recommend this restaurant for Christmas Eve or New Year's Eve or any special occasion. My experience was negative and disappointing. read more

My company was doing a training yesterday and decided on Donato's for dinner. Making the reservation was easy. Per the attendees; The service was good. Cocktails were nice. And, everyone who got the lamb really enjoyed it. The two that got the pasta dish, gave it a meh. It was so meh all they could remember was that it had beans, "Some pasta dish with lots of beans." One of the attendees said, "I work in San Jose, so it's better than eating there." Not sure this is helpful; but for a restaurant that is run by an excellent chef, I am told it is run of the mill. The attendees all enjoyed it for the cocktails, ambiance & excellent service. read more

I'd been eager to try Donato & Co ever since it opened and was delighted to be able to come by with seven other diners one weeknight last month. We had a good experience at D&Co! I thought that the food was excellent and found the prices to be completely fair (i.e., not ridiculously high). The menu is small, but there are one or two choices in every category that I could think of. It was very helpful to get the advice of our server, Lily R., who was happy to nudge us in the direction of her favorite dishes. I ate a fish carpaccio ("catch of the day" -- $12) as an appetizer and then moved to il maiale (the pig) as a main dish. Both were excellent, though the carpaccio probably pleased me more than the pig. We had two bottles of wine on the table: a Hendry Napa albariño and a red from the Fattoria del Cerro estate. I loved both, end of story. It's surprising that this restaurant was not crowded when we visited. Have there been no laudatory print reviews to date? I recommend that you check out Donato & Co while it's still easy to do so. read more

Went for brunch. The food was ok. BUT, we ordered two items on the menu, and they all happened to be unavailable. Waiter said these item are updating thus unmatched with the menu, and everything else is available. However when we order another dish, he again said that's not available. Really? Why the brunch is such a drag, especially all the rest dishes are really not that attractive. Suggestion: if you are going to this restaurant, probably go for a dinner, and they will treat you like a normal customer. DO NOT GO TO BRUNCH! read more

So we went right after it opened, very busy night service was so-so, food was fine but unspectacular (oxtail risotto) We decided to give it another try late night, and it was awesome! We sat at the bar high top and service was crisp, our salad we had to start was simple and fantastic, we had pork ragu as the main course which again, common theme, was awesome. Also had some negronis which were delightful. Moral of the story is if you had a so so experience early in Donato's life, head back and give it another run. I'm glad we did. read more

Started with a pear cocktail. It took maybe 7 minutes to come out, but it was delicious. Perhaps worth coming here just for this drink. I had a thick pasta with a bolognese-style sauce (with duck) it was okay, but not what you'd expect from a $17 entree. Chocolate cake was really disappointing, pushing this down to a 2-star restaurant. Won't be coming back, except maybe for the pear cocktail read more

Was very excited to try this new restaurant out on NYE, as the menu and interior looked great. Unfortunately, the service and our waiter really killed the experience. We waited 10 minutes for our server to greet us, and then an additional 15 minutes for our drinks (wine was great ). I used to work in the service industry and thus am pretty understanding, however it wasn't until I actually had to get up from the table and find our server to ask if we could order food that it became a bit ridiculous. Our thanks to the kitchen who sent amuse-bouche because all in all we didn't get our food until 55 minutes of being there. The food was okay. We had the NYE menu as well as some other little plates. My seabass was partially uncooked and I even mentioned this to our server when he asked how I liked it and his response was "that's a bummer." Service really needs some ironing out before you could convince me to go back here. Unfortunately, I wouldn't recommend this restaurant to anyone as it is now. read more

$20 for plane noodles with scraps of crab shells. No tools were given to crack the meat from the crab and the noodles were pretty much plain. Every bite had the sharp shards of crab shell in it. Also as seen in the photo we were nicely seated shoulder to shoulder next to another couple and their loud talking over powered our conversation. I understand space is at a premium but there are seats open all over the rest of the place. Needless to say I'm pissed I had to pay 40 for these two dishes. Never returning. And will be eating Trader Joe's noodles today because I'm still hungry :( . read more

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Overall unimpressed. Waitperson was admittedly new to the job but asked kind of strange questions like right after we received the food they asked "how does it look." I wasn't ready for that question. Food was good but not that good considering the price and portion sizes. If the food across the board was solid I would have excused the service and weird elements such as the booth tables being too big to easily converse (seems to be an attempt at decreasing number of tables to make the restaurant less empty). A double plate is $17 and the size of a half plate? I was at a comfortable fullness but this is Italian food after all. My fiance wanted desert sadly and we waiting for the chocolate cake to arrive. Unbelievable. The cake was filled with something that had the texture of chewed coconut. The one redeeming factor for this restaurant was the Steely Dan although we were right below the speaker which contributed to making it hard to hear. 15 minute wait for the first cocktail. read more

Great restaurant right off College Ave. They have a great menu and a great bar with excellent cocktails and a very high quality beer selection. Great ambiance and very friendly service. We ate at the bar and got served very quickly and efficiently. The food that we ordered was excellent and delicious. I will definitely come back here again and would wholeheartedly recommend Donato & Co to friends and colleagues. Awesome, classy place with a great atmosphere! read more

Donato & Co - Italian Near Me - Berkeley, California

Friday evening dinner for 2. We showed late, but although full they found us a table within 10 minutes, and we were made to feel welcome. Nice cosy and relaxed atmosphere. Service was attentive, punctual and not overbearing. Simple but great menu with some excellent vegetarian choices. Otherwise typical Italian fare, but prepared exquisitely. Overall, great place for a low key but fantastic dinner. read more

I'm an elmwood resident, I really like italian food, I'm a fan of Donato Enoteca in Redwood City. I was really rooting for this place to be good but unfortunately I'll probably never go back and the restaurant will not last longer than a year if the restaurant does not adjust drastically. I went last night and ordered from the left side of the menu (they describe as appetizers) and the right side of the menu (the entrees). I ordered the tuna collar and it was uninspired and bland. It was a small piece of dry tuna steak on canelli beans and celery. We also got the cauliflower entree, which was basically one floret of baked cauliflower with some butternut squash cream to dip in. This is the vegan option which I appreciate, but it was really bad. We also got the swordfish special appetizer. This was good. Tasty and flavorful (unlike the entrees) We also got the Uovo - this was the only interesting thing that we ordered. If I had to go back to the restaurant, I would only order this again. It's a battered and fried egg on a salad. There are plenty of restaurants that have succeeded in Elmwood for years. Donato needs to think about what works at those restaurants and also what they will do to differentiate and add value to the neighborhood. Otherwise they will last as long as The Advocate. read more

Excellent food selections and attentive service! Prices were reasonable. A comfortable roomy venue for a birthday celebration.

Went for cocktails in bar. Delicious and well balanced. Prosciutto app was great. Personable bar tender. Had a great time. read more

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The lady and I have made two trips to Donato. The first for dinner and the second for birthday dessert. Both were wonderful experiences. Lily was our server both times and made the experience an excellent one. Our dinner started with the trout appetizer and a salad. The trout was beautiful and surprisingly delicious. We were both suprised how well all ingredients came together. I had the pork three ways and she had the buckwheat ravioli. Could have been a bit more salt in the pork, but was otherwise cooked beautifully. The buckwheat pasta was toothy and the house-made ricotta sweet and perfect. We will be back. Had my eye on the guancia, so I believe that will be next. read more

This is a new place just finding its way so take that into account. The venue is sophisticated design and has active sound dampening which is necessary and very welcome in such an open venue. Clearly $$ were spent. The service was excellent - best part of the experience. Our waiter tried his best to address our dissatisfaction and did everything he could to make us happier diners. Our impression was that he was used to hearing such complaints and was more than a little concerned. Alas, the dishes ranged from tasty (but small) - the Bacala- to downright terrible- the Miale. No seasoning of any kind was discernible in any component of the dish. NO salt, pepper, garlic, bay leaf- ANYTHING! Utterly bland and tasteless. The radicchio was grilled so black that its bitterness overwhelmed and even adding lemon could not save it. The pork chop was so tiny and thin it would be impossible to keep its juice- and it had none. The pork belly had a suspiciously sour caste and was over-cooked. The desserts (which were graciously comped because of our complaints) merit a mixed review: the Montebianco looked impressive but tasted more like a tiramisu without the coffee and had whiff of refrigerator on it. The apple crisp was much tastier, I hope they succeed but the menu needs a real re-think - too many dark and bitter flavors- and the kitchen needs real help from seasoning to execution to plating. read more

Went for happy hour which lasts until 7pm on weekdays. Wine was great. Bartender was very nice and helpful. The cocktails were spot on. The risotto balls are delicious. Went again a few weeks later and had more of their food. Sad to say the food wasn't worth it. There are so many better Italian places on colllege ave to go to. read more

I enjoyed Donato & Co when I went this past Friday night. I ordered the pappardelle which was pretty tasty, but I wouldn't say that I NEED to go again. The service was great and they provided heaters when sitting in the cold outside. My whole group agreed that it was good food, but not something we'd crave again. read more

Donato & Co - Italian Near Me - Berkeley, California

The food is very good, you'd think that'd be enough... but no. The acoustics are better, too... much quieter during our evening visit January 14 than during the Advocate times. But the menu is tough to puzzle out... with an online Italian dictionary, and a few questions of staff, we sussed it out. Hints: there is a soup of the day, pumpkin bean at our visit, though there's no mention of soup on the menu. And the "beef steak" is a vegan dish made of cauliflower. Really? How are we supposed to know THAT! Why so customer hostile? But the service was glacial. We were seated at 7pm; our drink order arrived at 7:30. Our food arrived at 8:20. Yikes! Food was tasty... hope they can figure out how to write a menu and run a kitchen. read more

We came here for Valentine's Saturday night dinner, because we could not find openings for our 1st choice restaurants for dining in. We did not know what to expect, but this place exceeded our expectations. We were very happy with food, drinks, service and prices. Best Italian restaurant I have experienced and surprisingly so affordable. Great vegetarian choices. We especially loved the potato/artichoke dish and the hazelnut cake. We had to wait a bit for the cake due to some confusion, so they just gave it to us for free! We arrived quite a bit early but hosts were very welcoming and seated us anyway. There were no heaters outside but when we made reservations, we were told to wear warm coats, so I was warm. It did look like the were understaffed for the Valentine's Day weekend, but we can see that they were doing their best and truly put their heart into this restaurant. Most servers were running from and to the kitchen to save time. We were not in a big rush since we were enjoying our date night, appetizers and drinks and therefore were very happy with everything. Raviolis were a bit underdone, way under Al dente, and did not taste like anything special but everything else was super! read more

Was looking for a delicious sit down Italian restaurant with yummy wine and I have to say that everything here was super mediocre. I wouldn't recommend it. If you're in the neighborhood - you should check out the other Italian fast casual spot up the street..... read more