Evanston Lunch Group @ Donatella's 11/11 12:30 pm

Chances are if you mention Donatella's Mediterranean Bistro, someone will say, "I've heard mixed reviews." There are only 2 LTH posts on the subject, predictably one pro, one con.
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Even the Reader commented, "Donatella Majore's late, lamented Cucina di Donatella in Rogers Park had both fans and foes, and the same is... true of Donatella Mediterranean Bistro, which she opened in Evanston in late May." Most of the negative comments do appear to be centered on service, more than food. So the Evanston Lunch Group has decided to voyage forth to make our own determination about both.

Please join us on Thursday, November 11, at 12:30 pm at
Donatella's Mediterranean Bistro
1512 Sherman Ave.
Evanston, IL 60201
847-328-7720

All are welcome!!!

I'll be there.

I'm in.

Just a bump to see if others might like to join us this Thursday?

I plan on attending, however, if a family matter becomes urgent, I will have to drop out.

Sharon

We are planning on coming. See you tomorrow,
Robert and Catherine

Hi- I plan on attending tomorrow, and a friend of mine might come with me. Thanks, Nancy

FYI - just received Donatella's lunch menu in my front door.

Looks like it's shaping up to be a nice-sized group. All the better to sample with! Donatella's normally doesn't take reservations for lunch, but I just talked to the lady herself, and she is on alert that there will be 8-10 of us at 12:30 pm.

Looking forward to seeing everyone tomorrow! Sharon, I hope you can make it--and Nancy, your friend also.

It was a good group this afternoon at Donatella's ... and as always, it was the quality of the people that really made it a great lunch. But the food wasn't bad, either.

Donatella's lunch menu is much simpler than the dinner menu - divided into three sections - Panini, Salads, and Pizza (plus desserts). We ordered from each of the first three. (I think the French Couple might have had dessert ... one or the other might comment on that.)


The first Panini was Tuna with Artichoke and Tomato. Seemed like Donatella was using canned artichoke hearts and canned tuna, but the flavors still came together. The house-made crusty bread added a lot.


I thought the Pancetta Panini might have been a bit light on the pancetta, but the eggs and goat cheese were interesting additions.


The Vegetarian Panini, with eggplant, zucchini and peppers, was good - about what you'd expect, but the crusty bread is what really made it work.


The Octopus Salad featured one of the tenderest cephalopods I've ever enjoyed, although it didn't seem as there was much effort to incorporate it into the salad, other than just dumping the protein, capers and kalamata olives on top of the spring greens. A dressing might have been nice. Still, it was enjoyable.


I love mushrooms, and the Mushroom Pizza was no disappointment. (Note that this had been sliced for sharing prior to picture-taking; it comes as a large rectangular slice.)

Overall, I was impressed with the food, and Donatella was in a friendly, chatty mood (unlike the usual knock on this and her previous place on Howard Street — surly service). She recently received her liquor license, and is still feeling her way with alcohol ($6 glasses of nice wines at lunch are a bargain, but she didn't know whether my Lagunitas IPA should be priced at $5 or $7 - she hadn't entered it into her POS system yet).

I look forward to trying a dinner with Donatella sometime soon.

Hi- I had a really good time today. The vegetarian panini and the pizza were both wonderful. The pizza had a crispy thin crust, for people that like that type of crust. Their lunch prices were very reasonable. It was kind of strange though, because when I passed around copies of the dinner menu so people could see it, she told me that the take out menu for dinner which I was passing out, was cheaper than the in house menu.

The food came very quickly, although for some reason it took a while for the dessert to come. Donatella seems to pretty much run the dining room by herself, even though she did have one assistant that helped out occasionally. Thanks, Nancy