why is anyone waiting in line at La Donna?

After our meal there on Saturday, I honestly do not know the answer to this question.

My mom was in town, and she does not often go out to dinner. Italian food, especially homemade pasta is one of her favorite things. I wanted to go back to Leonardo's...but husband won and said he had never been to La Donna & wanted to try it. He called, made a reservation, and we took the little walk over for 7.45 pm seating.

Even though we had a reservation, we were forced to wait over half an hour, while sweaty waitstaff walked around us, bumped into us, and more and more people tried to cram in the door. After a few minutes of this, mom and I stood outside and my husband nicely waited inside. After 20 minutes he complained and they said they'd have a table for us right away. 10 minutes later we were seated and told we'd have an appetizer on the house.

The menu has way too much going on, it reminds me of Calvin Trillin's description of "Ristorante su Casa la Maison et Haus ..." I'm not doing it justice, but something to that effect of a restaurant that has so many choices you don't really know what type of food they specialize in. La Donna obviously serves Italian food but, really, a menu does not need 6 types of pasta with 12 choices of sauce to "pair" them with. Anyway, even though there were lots of choices, the appetizers didn't thrill me and we got fried calamari. It was okay. Not greasy, but not great either.

The entrees were really the downfall. Husband had bolognese which was alright, not worth describing, and I had gnocchi. It was very chewy and dense, and the sauce was supposed to be a light white wine w/ pancetta but I guess they must have run out of that and subbed in hamburger granules. I'm not kidding. Little round bits of beef that they thought they'd trick me into believing is pancetta It was pretty terrible, with a thick white sauce and some wilted spinach throughout but I just didn't have the energy to send it back. I know we should have, because Mom's entree was supposed to be crabmeat and fresh tomato but the crab had no flavor and the tomatoes were super watery. She kept adding salt and cheese to the dish but nothing made it taste better. The portions were huge, which is never a good thing in my opinion, but also a waste because I didn't want to take it home.

I can't really imagine what is going on that the food is such poor quality, that so many people want to eat here....Any other experiences that are different than mine?

Leonardo's, which I think I posted about last year (also visited w/ Mom) was really excellent. Quiet space, thoughtful food with quality ingredients, very good dessert as well. I feel guilty that La Donna got our money, so I am going back to Leonardo's ASAP as penance!

La Donna: 5146 N Clark St., (Andersonville)
Leonardo's: 5657 N Clark St., also, past post: http://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.ph ... =leonardos

messycook, I have to agree. I live within walking distance of La Donna and had much the same experience as you when we went there a few months ago.

When a restaurant serves so-so food, we tend to give it a break (if the service is good) and try again, using the excuse that they may have just had a "bad night". But it's got to be much better the next time, or it's off our list.

When a restaurant serves just plain ill-prepared food, there's no second chance, and for that reason we won't be returning to La Donna.

Their tables are way too close together.

I'm sure there are exceptions out there, but I've yet to encounter a good plate of pasta from a place that allows you to choose from a list of shapes and sauces. That's perhaps the only thing on an Italian menu that'll get me to keep walking

Dmnkly wrote:I'm sure there are exceptions out there, but I've yet to encounter a good plate of pasta from a place that allows you to choose from a list of shapes and sauces.

This seems like an Olive Garden-esque menu tactic. I don't pretend to know-it-all about pasta - but this seems like a big no-no in traditional italian food.

I've disliked La Donna for many years. I've been in the hood (about a block from La Donna) since it opened and I think it used to be better in its first or second year but they have gone downhill and raised prices at the same time. I think a very telling thing about them is that they always bring you substandard, cheap, stale and cold bread to the table. Freezing sometimes. And then they expect you to swallow $15.99 for a silly pasta.

It's outrageous and not very good.

In terms of decent Italian, Anteprima is really good and a treat. It's further down the street from me...but worth the walk.

I'm sure there are exceptions out there, but I've yet to encounter a good plate of pasta from a place that allows you to choose from a list of shapes and sauces.

I have-- but in Reus, Catalonia. And they did make pretty strong recommendations in most cases.

Even though we had a reservation, we were forced to wait over half an hour, while sweaty waitstaff walked around us, bumped into us, and more and more people tried to cram in the door.

We have choices . . . the choice to walk away and not accept conditions which do not conform to our own personal standards. I think you should have walked away.

Looks like La Donna is packing up for points north:

"Upscale Andersonville restaurant moving"

La Donna
5146 N. Clark St.
Tel: (773) 561-9400

sassafrass wrote:Looks like La Donna is packing up for points north:

Cool. I am not a huge fan of La Dona, but they will do a lot for the stretch of Clark st that they are moving to. The building they are buying is the one that housed Caracas Grill.

sassafrass wrote:Looks like La Donna is packing up for points north:

"Upscale Andersonville restaurant moving"

La Donna
5146 N. Clark St.
Tel: (773) 561-9400

The article implies that the business was hurt by the popularity of nearby Hopleaf, and the funny thing is that the only time I've been in La Donna was to kill time getting a glass of wine before Hopleaf opened at 3:30 on a Sunday.

I have to say I'm not at all unhappy about La Donna moving. It's not been even a decent place to eat for several years. Plus their menu prices increased to ridiculous levels (like $16-$18 for a very simple pasta). I hope another restaurant moves in that's more interesting with a higher quality.

I guess for once we can be pretty sure there won't be another bank in its place.