Donna's

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

If you’re going to Donna’s with a mission to eat pasta, order this so that your lasagna doesn’t get lonely. These sweet, taleggio-stuffed marinated peppadew peppers pop open like ruby red balloons.

photo credit: Jessie Clapp

Garlic Bread

Spongy sourdough. Cheese. More cheese. Roasted garlic. You do the math. Save as much as you can to sop up future sauces.

photo credit: Jessie Clapp

Shrimp Scampi

A perfect companion to the garlic bread, Donna’s take on a classic scampi is labeled as an entree but it's on the smaller side. We think it's better as a share plate. Each order comes with five or six head-on prawns and a garlicky white wine bath that gets a boost from chopped Calabrian chilis. No pasta needed.

photo credit: Jessie Clapp

Lasagna Rollatini

One bite and it'll feel as if this pasta is standing up on the table and shouting, "That’s right, I’m the lasagna version of Fruit Roll-Ups and I’m fantastic." If you're only ordering one pasta, make it this. It has bolognese and plenty of creamy parmesan fonduta oozing out of the sides (some of which gets nice and crispy). The rolled shape makes the dish easy to share.

photo credit: Jessie Clapp

Fusilli Alla Vodka

The food at Donna’s is very good, which is why this pasta stands out as totally fine. Don't take that to mean it's badly made—the chili oil drizzled on top of the whipped ricotta is an especially nice touch. But when the bar is set this high, even good pasta pales in comparison to the rest of the menu.

photo credit: Jessie Clapp

Chicken Parmesan

Is it normal to write a love letter to a plate of chicken parm? Asking for a friend. In all seriousness, this is the most meticulously executed version of the classic we’ve ever had. It has a crispy, thinly breaded cutlet crust, rich pomodoro sauce, and enough mozzarella to blend, but never overpower the rest of the plate. Share this with a date or save the other half for a sandwich the next day.

photo credit: Jessie Clapp

Tiramisu

The tiramisu at Donna’s has just enough bitter espresso to balance out the thick layer of amaro-cognac cream. This is a massive slice, and we still don’t like to share it. Get one.