I really want to like Donato, partly because it's walking distance from my house, and partly because the folks working there seemed very nice. As I write this it's only been open for about twenty days, so perhaps they're still working out some kinks. All I can say is that I was served the single worst entrée I've ever had in many decades of eating out. A head of cauliflower, steamed or boiled to a very soft consistency, then put on a hot grill until it developed a few burnt spots, and served without seasoning along a flavorless smear of sauce. I sent it back, something I've only done once before. Our friendly waiter took it off our bill, so some points for that. read more

My first experience with this restaurant was a bummer. I ordered the frilly salad 11.00 and the Clam pasta 19.00. The frilly salad was definitely no frills. The pasta was as simple as you could make it, linguine and clams with no flavour. The service was sterile, no smiles and not even an offer of parmesan. I would not recommend. read more

Friendly service. Excellent bar with cocktails and very nice Italian wines. Tried glasses of ones we've never had before that were recommended with the meal and the suggestions were spot on. The pasta was excellent and authentic and the fish main course was fresh and well presented. Look forward to returning. read more

A Great place for a date, a family dinner or a just a bit more fancy, special place to go with a group of friends considering the very reasonable price of dinner. The atmosphere is quite elegant and informal at the same time. The location right off College is easily accessible to walk to in the Elmwood neighborhood or if need be , to drive to and park with out much searching. The staff was very friendly and attentive. A big plus was that it wasnt noisy and we didn't need reservations. There were four of us for dinner on a Sunday evening. Everyone had a full course dinner . Two of of us shared a salad and we all each had our own dessert. Two of us had a glass of wine each and it was coffee and a soda each for the other two. All the main courses were good but my pork tenderloin dish was exceptional . It would be hard to say which desert was better then the other as they were all equally fantastic. I have walked past this many times seeing it quite empty but still it intrigued me. When I looked up neighborhood restaurants on Yelp for a Sunday night, and saw the two dollar sign price points that settled it for me as I decided I was going to treat everyone for dinner this particular evening. An added incentive was it was getting later , about 8pm and with my prior knowledge of how not busy it appeared settled the problem of possibly having to wait with no reservations. Happily it was a great success all around and we certainly will go back. Hence the effort to write this review. I dont want this gem to disappear for lack of business. Even though it might mean having to wait with out reservations. read more

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Had a great relaxing lunch here. Food was delicious. Ordered the Caccio e people. Buckwheat raviolio and pollo salad with two glasses of vermintio read more

Finally, a neighborhood Italian spot that is inviting, family-friendly and with serious and seriously good food. We went to Donato last night with our two girls, 7 and 5 for an early dinner. It was fabulous - highly recommend it particularly for the food, but also for the space/environs, which is not trivial especially with two children. We shared the housemade salumi to start. The porchetta and lonza were perfectly sliced and silky. The porchetta in particular was incredible - excellent flavor and fat. I then had half-order of quadretti (it is great they have half orders of their stuffed pasta, both as a kids size and for a primo) which were soft and cooked beautifully. Our girls had their buckwheat ravioli and they were super-accomodating in doing a simple tomato sauce and a parmigiano-butter. More and more places seem to have "take it as it is-no changes" policies, so this was quite nice. My wife had the sotto terra salad which she could tell was made with fresh vegetables and ingredients. I had braised beef over polenta as a main course and my wife had the calamari, octopus and Sicilian caponata. Both were fresh; the beef had a nice melt-in-mouth texture falling off the fork. Then desert - affogato and a flan. Plately elegantly and yum.. Overall, we had such a wonderful night. The space is large, airy and pleasant. The decor is true Italian, large oversized photos of Bergamo are beautiful on the burnt ochre/reddish painted walls. We were at a booth so it is nice, especially with kids (both for us and fellow diners!) to not be right on top of each other. The value is terrific - the prices are completely reasonable for good-sized portions - pasta for under $20 and entrees for $20...bucking the trend of super-high pricing for tiny portions. I also really appreciate the wine list - eclectic choices like Ligurian Pigato and Lagrein and staples like barbera and dolcetto. It's nice that you can order by the half-carafe which we started with Ligurian Pigato. Anyhow, had a terrific evening. So grateful people dream of restaurants like these, where you walk away with your belly, heart and mind feeling so good. read more

Donotgo to Donato. Food was very bland and undercooked. Uninspired food. Watery pasta. read more

My husband and I recently moved to Elmwood and figured we should give Donato a try. We were so impressed! First of all, the ambiance is beautiful and tasteful and we loved the open kitchen. Second, the pastas are all homemade fresh and they sure taste like it. Third, the service was friendly, quick and responsive. Finally, it's not cheap, but reasonable for the area. We couldn't have asked for more! We tried and loved: Arancini for appetizer Special seafood ravioli entree Spinach fettuccine with pork ragu entree Enjoy!!! read more

Ordered the CIABATTA house-made porchetta, wild arugula & pickled onions, it was warmed prosciutto di parma instead. I love porchetta and was very disappointed. The restaurant came highly recommended by a colleague. read more

This place needs help ASAP. The risotto that was serve was not fully cook not to mention the hair strand at the bottom of my plate. Other pasta dish was fishy. 1 1/2 star for serving fresh pasta. Hope you guys read the reviews and provide quality food. read more

I am so sorry to have to write this review. A week ago I was embarrassed in front of my friends and family because the dinner was one of the worst in recent memory. I am not even worried about the fact that we had a reservation but was told they had overbooked and we had to wait. I am not even worried how dinner arriving one at a time. It's the quality of food and lack of any taste you would expect from 2 well known chefs. The chefs were not even there last night from what we were told. Ossobuco, Il Malale, Swordfish and Ravioli were all over done, no taste and badly prepared. Deserts were average especially the Apple Comput. which was basically apple souce. Cappacino was cold and watery. OMG what else can go wrong at this beautiful neighborhood joint. In this day and age, you don't open a restaurant until all kinks are gone. I read more

I can't really say much, went in for lunch, only one other table with people, they had a lunch special, pizza with ham, they also had a dish with mushrooms, I asked if they could add mushrooms, server got very nervous and said he would ask, came back sheepishly and said they can't add mushrooms. We said thank you and left. I'm sure they have a good reason for not throwing mushrooms on a pizza, but i will never know the answer. read more

In Berkeley, so many good restaurants are closed on Mondays and Donato was a major find for a bunch of friends getting together. We all like the College Avenue area so all were happy to head there for dinner. Loved the layout of the place, the food offerings were diverse and everybody really liked what they ordered. Our server Francesca, fresh from her first day of sailing on the Bay, was terrific and offered a lot of good suggestions. We ended up hanging out for a couple of hours, eating and having an all around great time. read more

We ended up at Donato as it was on the latest Zagat list. Donato disappoints though. The ambience and decor is warm, cosy yet stylish. I did have high expectations so it was a bummer to wait for server to show up after a good amount of wait after being seated and then another good long wait before the drink order showed up, that too after a reminder. I don't know if they are still working out the kinks or is it the pretense of being high end but they need to remember that nearby San Fran serves pretty high end Italian with less callous service. So lets talk about food. Having explored Italy for great Italian food, my standard test is simple spaghetti. We started with some fritters that were simple and the marinara was just a splotch of tomatoes. It just tasted like pure tomato. Nothing else. The main course had a spaghetti, buckwheat ravioli and Roasted chicken and leeks QUADRETTI. Spaghetti is nothing to write about. Ravioli was pretty good twist but the ravioli was a disappointment. The chicken in the pasta didn't taste great and the leeks splattered on it didn't help. Its a value restaurant with good price point but it fails to impress. What does impress is the dessert, coffee and cocktails ! So its a good overall experience but nothing that differentiates it from the myriad Italian food purveyors in bay area read more

Donato & Co - Italian Near Me - Berkeley, California

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Donato was amazing!! Went here with my boyfriend and his sister and we enjoyed everything we ordered. The food was super tasty and plated beautifully. We ordered four items from the menu and shared them family style. The service was also really great. The servers, busters, and hosts were attentive and helpful. Thank you, Donato, for a wonderful evening! read more

Not your typical family eatery on College. According to my little research, this is a restaurant opened about 6 months ago by chefs choosing to introduce Lombardy (Milan) region (N Italy) food to Berkeley (instead of trendier e.g. Hayes Valley in SF). Apparently they worked in Michelin starred restaurant in Italy before moving to US. We walked past this spot many times without noticing. So, we decided to explore today. Their owner probably needs to do more to bring out this hidden gem! At lunch time, the two of us needed some help with menu and shared 3 amazing dishes:- Arugula with honey glazed walnuts and a deep-fried coated poached egg, Cauliflower head topped with pesto sitting on a pile of veggie/capers in puttanesca sauce, and Mediterranean smoked calamari and octopuses with eggplants. Heavenly! Of course we went to check out the deserts too. I feel sorry that there weren't many customers and wish their business will mature and sustain in this location. Surprisingly reasonable price ($20-30 pax coffee instead of wine) and attentive service. It is difficult to imagine nearby 'Wood Taxxxx' could be more highly rated than this. The space here is more flexible in my opinion to entertain different size of parties. Another thought of mine is that naming a restaurant 'Donato & Co' is very bold therefore not immediately recognizable as a foodie place for most when passing the dark tinted windows. But I plan to come back for a 'fine dining' experience one evening and learn more about Lombardia cuisine. read more

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I feel like 3.5 stars is most appropriate but I chose 4 instead of 3 because I would give this place another shot. The risotto and mozzarella arancini were tasty, but the accompanying spicy sauce was not at all spicy. The pickled mushrooms lightened the dish well but a better sauce would make this a stand out appetizer. The carpaccio was plentiful but over salted and in need of citrus. The lamb shank was good. Tender meat fell right off the bone. Well seasoned. Good mash underneath, and the radicchio (which seemed to be braised and then brought back to life for service on the grill) was a fantastic addition to the plate. read more

This is the real deal. Unusual authentic delicious food from Italy. There is nothing predictable about the menu and it should appeal to a more sophisticated patron. I loved the salami platter and the duck ragu pappardelle. The pork cooked 3 ways was given thumbs up by my husband. A fun buzzy atmosphere carried over from the bar area. So happy to have Donato as part of our Elmwood neighborhood. read more

The height of mediocrity. The limitation eggs benedict......the bérnaise sauce had no lemon flavor no tarragon flavor no vinegar flavor....extremely bland.....no good muffin underneath the accompanying salad dressing had no flavor......the room has mainly hard wood chairs....no cushions......service ok... read more

Amazing food! The steak and over easy egg is perfectly done. The pancakes after are to die for. read more

Donato & Co - Italian Near Me - Berkeley, California

Don't bother. The cocktails are good, but the food is mediocre and the one or two good dishes are so hit or miss that it is not worth figuring out which ones will be the hits. The wait for drinks is long and on our two visits, they never bothered to ask if we wanted second drinks. The interior is nice and the service is pleasant, but clearly novice. The salumi on the first visit was very ordinary, the salad on the second visit with uovo was good, but the egg was overcooked. The pasta on our second visit first came out under cooked to the point of being crunchy and then came back lukewarm. Dessert on the first visit was something called "polenta e salame", which is a terrible name for dessert, but tasted fine. We didn't bother with dessert the second time. As everyone says, the calamari is delicious. Bottom line, I would go back for a drink, but there are too many other great options (including the brand new Italian Homemade) to waste stomach space and money on the food. read more

Went here during lunch with my coworkers, and they had, hands-down, the best pasta I have had in Berkeley. I had their Spaghetti Neri (Squid ink pasta), and enjoyed it very much. They also only had one waiter working, and the place was decently full. Despite this, the service was swift and the waiter was very friendly. Will definitely come back again! read more

My fiancé and I are avid foodies so we appreciate good authentic cuisine. This is the best Italian you can get in the Bay Area hands down. So good we get Donato every week! I love their fish, squid ink pasta and even their homemade focaccia is amazing. We highly recommend this restaurant to all our friends and family. read more

I had a very offensive experience here with Vinero..my friends and I liked meeting there for happy hour.. After a few months I noticed a increase in my bill I ordered the same thing I always did. When I brought this to Vineros attention. He became belligerent and rude and told me I didn't need to come back! I was just asking about the inconsistency in the bill when I ordered the same thing every time. I said someone else experienced the same thing here. Again I wasn't confrontational he was !highly unprofessional as I walked out I asked the hostess his name he ran over to me a shouted DON'T TALK TO MY DAUGHTER! I left feeling very upset by his conduct it wasn't called for ! As a paying customer I have every right to question my bill! VINERO is a horrible, rude man!! read more

Nah. You can buy everything here from Berkeley Bowl and it will be 10x better. Stick with wine if you're stuck here, because it's the only thing I can guarantee they didn't make. The servers are quite nice though! read more

Unique Italian restaurant with well thought out dishes. Small/large dish options to really explore the interesting menu. Lovely by the glass, carafe or bottle wine menu of fine Italian wines. Serious cocktail options too. I live in the neighborhood so lucky to not have to deal with the neighborhood's limited parking. It's tough to have a successful restaurant in this neighborhood, but I so hope these folks make it. Their staff are so accommodating and really know the menu. Gets busy weekend nights. Worth the effort to check this place out. read more

The chicken liver with quince jelly was delicious as was the pappardelle with duck. The bacalao - usually one of my favorite dishes in any restaurant - was disappointing: kind of a deep-fried nothing. We went during Restaurant Week, but that menu did not look very appealing. Tables were so close together, it was really challenging to get in and out. On the plus side, we were able to hear each other! Decor is very attractive. read more

Great brunch spot. Sam at the bar is a pro. The perfect Paloma. See picture. Coming back to try the Uovo read more

Donato & Co - Italian Near Me - Berkeley, California

Open space, tall ceilings, open kitchen, nice bar and friendly service. This place is well setup.

My family and I recently had brunch here, and it was really a great experience. Admittedly, I was a little hesitant at first because the menu was a little different, but once the waiter explained that the words in all caps are a description of/word for the meal, it wasn't intimidating. I had the FRICO cakes, my 14 year old had the pancakes with the mixed berry compote (which I couldn't believe she tried) and my husband had the buckwheat raviolis and we ALL really, thoroughly enjoyed the dishes. The service was great. Everybody seemed to work together to make sure that each table had everything they needed. We will definitely be returning to try more items on the menu. read more

Great pandemic take-out. We've tried their "cook at home" pasta several times, and it's a great weeknight meal. Rich sauce that just needs reheating + fresh pasta. Just tried their "Sunday Dinner" carryout and really enjoyed it. Great, special meal - good portion and classic options. They also offer nice wine pairing options. read more

Went to Brunch. My dish was fabulous, poached eggs over sort of a potato/cheese pancake. So fabulous I ordered it again as a second. My 12 year old daughter loved the rustic buckwheat ravioli, but even after that she tasted her friends fettuccini with pork ragu and ordered that as well. The staff, manager and I would guess the owner were engaging, helpful and great in every way. read more

The staff and and the food were amazing!!My favorite dishes were the IL MAIALE, which is the meat trio, the BISTECCA which is the cauliflower and the QUADRETTI which is a chicken and leeks smaller ravioli with a brussel sprout broth. There was a large group of us and we ordered family style all the dishes at the reclamation of the staff - such a great experience! The wine list was exceptional and the cocktails were all ordered for second and third rounds. I would recommend this new place to anyone looking for a place to eat as well as a fun place to visit. read more

This new neighborhood spot is excellent. We had a fabulous butternut squash salad, liver terrine, pork three ways and risotto. All was superb including the service. Great wine selection as well! We will be back. read more

We had a delivery on Door Dash and we were looking for something different in these unique times. We ordered all appetizers and we were so surprised at the quality and uniqueness. Now we can't wait to go to the restaurant itself. The driver was quick and polite. We couldn't have asked for more. read more

My husband and I decided to try this new Italian restaurant in our neighborhood and were very happy with the experience. The seating is comfortable and space feels open. We especially loved the salad with the crispy egg which added a little flare to the usual poached egg. We had a bottle of wine from Naples on the recommendation of their staff which turned out lovely. I later returned for lunch and food was equally fresh and wait staff friendly. I look forward to going back to try the rest of their wine list. read more

Awesome place for happy hour! 3-7 everyday with amazing bar bites and cocktails. One of the best manhattans I've had is served here for happy hour. read more

We are happy to have Donato and co in our neighborhood. While they are still working out the menu and service it's a great set up - great menu choices and so nice to have reasonable prices with all the perks! We each had salads that were well dressed and fresh starts. The pasta dishes were fine and the fish dishes did not disappoint. This is a place that will get better with time and experiences and we hope to be part of it all! read more

I wish this restaurant we're better than it is. I've eaten there maybe six or seven times at this point. The service is friendly and generally good. The atmosphere is excellent. But the food is not that tasty overall. There's a lamb shoulder entree that was a weird cut of lamb, mostly fat with a kind of austere taste. I had a fettuccine with some kind of ground meat (perhaps al sugo) that again simply was not that tasty. This restaurant so pales in comparison to other Italian restaurants in the area, most notably Belotti, Oliveto, and A16. I think the menu needs to be re-thought with an emphasis on more sumptuous tasty items. If Belotti was in this space it would be packed every night. read more

We needed to find a restaurant in the Elmwood district to meet with family. Donato & Co was a random choice but became a delightful experience. The service was ideal: friendly and informative but not overbearing. It was a Saturday and the menu was brunch. We ordered the pizzelles (a plate of three clever little pizzas), the chicken salad, a farro and vegetable salad and the prosciutto plate. Everything was very fresh and wonderfully tasty. We truly had a great time, and would definitely return. read more