LAReview
photo credit: Jessie Clapp
Donna's
Included In
Walk into any of LA’s legendary red sauce joints and you’re almost guaranteed to find the same three things: cutlets doused in marinara, slabs of garlic bread, and spaghetti circling a couple of meatballs. Regardless of quality, these Italian American classics are often secondary to flowing martinis and red-checkered tablecloths. Too many restaurants in the category coast on big portions and a Goodfellas-adjacent scene to make their customers happy on a Saturday night. At Donna’s, an Echo Park neighborhood hang with an old-school theme, Italian American comfort food is just as considered as the nostalgia-core backdrop.
Eating at Donna’s will take you back to whatever strip mall trattoria you grew up visiting, except here, the dishes taste better. Familiar pastas get an upgrade. There's handmade fusilli alla vodka topped with chili oil. Pinwheel lasagna bolognese comes out looking like a batch of parmesan-crusted cinnamon buns in a cast iron casserole dish. The larger stuff works, too, like chicken parm with a crust that stays crispy under all that pomodoro sauce and melted cheese. And, of course, you're going to need an order of Donna's sourdough garlic bread to sop up the spicy, white wine bath from a plate of plump shrimp scampi served sans pasta.
photo credit: Jessie Clapp
photo credit: Jessie Clapp
photo credit: Jessie Clapp
photo credit: Jessie Clapp
photo credit: Jessie Clapp
Donna's Italian American comfort food honors tradition while acknowledging the calendar year, and so does the space. The restaurant looks like a mid-century red sauce joint rendered in TikTok-friendly technicolor. You'll see gold curtains, teal floral wallpaper, and cool people wearing cool pants. But the mood inside is more like a locals-only supper club than a collection of internet fads come to life. Families giggle in retro vinyl booths. Servers deliver free limoncello shots to regulars at the long wooden bar. And friend-group gossip gets drowned out by clinking glasses and penny loafers clopping across the checkerboard floor. It's a restaurant that feels custom-built for date night. So invite someone who appreciates a scene, share some lasagna, and feel confident in your ability to choose a restaurant that's casual, fun, and genuinely firing on all cylinders.
Now, the tricky part: getting in. Reservations during primetime are about as common as spotting a tattoo-free sommelier at El Prado. So if your patience is wearing thin, ask about walk-ins at the host stand. You’ll likely have to wait an hour for a table or a bar seat, but that's where Bar Flores upstairs or Lowboy next door come into play—both are run by the Donna's team.
Donna's could find success as a photo-op restaurant with cold martinis and bad food. But it's much more than that. Instead of cashing in on the nostalgia trend that runs rampant in LA, the kitchen treats red sauce classics with care and attention. So you get well-made Italian American revamps and a fun room to match. No need to choose one or the other.
Food Rundown
photo credit: Jessie Clapp
Stuffed Peppers
photo credit: Jessie Clapp
Garlic Bread
photo credit: Jessie Clapp
Shrimp Scampi
photo credit: Jessie Clapp
Lasagna Rollatini
photo credit: Jessie Clapp
Fusilli Alla Vodka
photo credit: Jessie Clapp
Chicken Parmesan
photo credit: Jessie Clapp