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| - After my recent experience at Donato's I'm honestly stunned by the bad reviews. Donato's is on the top 25 (34) Pittsburgh restaurants this year and I couldn't agree more. The service was phenomenal! THE best service I have had all year. Yes, the food is a bit pricey but well worth it to me. Also, Donato's has many deals out right now including a burgh bargains deal and even better, a travelzoo deal which, for a couple, includes an app, two entrees, a side dish and two glasses of wine for 69$ or double that for four people- 135$. We went with the four person deal and joined another couple on a recent Friday night.
The decor was nice- table cloths, large photos/paintings of Italy. Surprisingly, the restaurant was quite dead. We were one of about 5 tables leaving about 3/4 of the restaurant empty. As we were coming in, we noticed a jazz band setting up in the bar area which was fantastic dinner music.
Our waitress came over immediately to get our drinks. She also asked us if we had been to Donato's before. We had not so, she brought us out their famous meatballs on the house. Who would turn down free meatballs? Wow. What a great start to our meal. Tender, juicy and a hint of spice. Hubs and I decided on our appetizer- shrimp wrapped in mozzarella and proscuitto. Before our app came out, the waitress asked about our drinks. When I gave her a half hearted "ok" she probed further to discover my discontent. I explained that the wine I had ordered was not what I was expecting but I was fine with it. She asked if she could bring me something else but I declined. I really was "ok" with it. A few minutes later, she arrived at our table with a tasting of another wine she thought I might enjoy. I did take a liking to that wine but again assured her that my current glass of wine was fine. Before our apps arrived, we were served a bread basket with three different types of bread. Wonderful breads but nothing to dip them in which made me a little sad. Not to worry, our apps soon arrived and I fell in love with the huge shrimp skillfully wrapped in soft mozzarella and crispy proscuitto. I could have lived without the pickled eggplant underneath the shrimp.
On to the next course. Soup or salad to go with our entrees. I ordered the wedding soup. Perfect with lots of spinach and cheese. At this point I am pretty full. Then our entrees arrive. Are you kidding me? This was huge.Hubs ordered the filet oscar and I ordered the 10 oz filet with seasonal vegetable- green beans. We also got the truffle mac as a side dish. I took a deep breath, got my second wind and dug in. The green beans were crisp and flavorful. The filet was oh so tender and juicy. And the truffle mac? Rich, creamy and decadent. Now this was a meal! Unfortunately, I could only make it through about a third of it before I had to tap out. No worries. My filet and truffle mac made for a wonderful lunch the next day. The only downfall I see in Donato's menu was the dessert. Yes, I looked despite my growing waistline. Nothing jumped out at me. The basics were there, tiramasu, gelato, sorbetto but, nothing interesting and different that I just HAD to try. All in all, Donato's has fantastic food and great service. If it's the price that steers you away, keep your eyes open for a deal.
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