Donato — Restaurant in Melbourne

When we first arrived we were ignored which as I’m disabled and was on crutches and clearly in pain is completely unacceptable! I had to step into the path of a waitress who continually had had her head down ignoring us each time, then there seemed to be confusion until I actually said - is it that table with the reserved sign? Answer - ‘I’ll ask my supervisor’ - surely it’s there on computer booking screen? Then we were brusquely asked if we ‘were ready to order’ followed by an equally brusque ‘you’re aware you have to order inside?’ & she walked off without any politeness or even plain manners! We were aware as it’s not our first time there. Then there were two of us and my order arrived first minus the ciabatta it should have been served with. She then came back (5 minutes later) the other dish my friend had ordered. It was supposed to be scramble eggs and bacon but for some reason they’d added 2 poached eggs?? So she decided it was for someone else, wondered around aimlessly looking for anyone who’d take it then went inside after finding no takers. It then returned minus the two poached eggs though it was clear where they’d been. It was also clear that the plate had been microwave zapped as it was cold - making the scrambled eggs (which had looked nicely cooked) dried out, rubbery and not nice - not great. Then my meal which was miniature especially without the toast was barely warm and yes I had started as soon as it came to me so pretty terrible. To top it off when our coffees eventually arrived they were both quite weak and almost cold, by the time I’d drink a bit over half of mine it was cold so I didn’t finish. It has been noted that it was my birthday but there was no acknowledgment of that (there was no service so that’s not surprising…) so why do they ask if you’re celebrating anything? They also ask if you had any requests and if asked for a table with a place to put my crutches or help to place my crutches somewhere out of the way - there was no acknowledgment even of the crutches and disability, I was left to fight with chair and crutches while my friend looked after the dog.- It was extremely disappointing. Barely warm anything, no welcome, terrible and very basic service, a total failure really. To finish off and stop any excuses they weren’t full yet so it wasn’t even busy! I’ve been three times recently and only one was enjoyable but that was as much the group of us - people still had to leave table to chase things up when sitting inside. I’m afraid Donato’s is coming off my list of good places to go. They’re believing their own hype far too much and becoming arrogant. Cutting back staff, not training staff and not showing any interest in customers unless they are friends or go there every week! The fact that they weren’t packed on a Saturday during the height of summer holidays probably says it all. Beyond...

We attended today as a group of 6. When ordering the service wasn’t very friendly but we’d had a nice day so were unperturbed at that stage and patiently waited for our food. Four of the people at our table were served quickly and started eating, a waitress came to our table offering drinks we hadn’t ordered. 20 minutes later, food for two people was still yet to arrive so we approached a waitress who said she’d check on it. The food missing was a chicken salad roll and chicken schnitzel focaccia, both from the front display cabinet. A couple of minutes passed and the focaccia (which had been toasted) was delivered. After waiting another 10 minutes, I went to the counter to enquire about the chicken salad roll I’d ordered again. The person who originally served me pulled it out of the display cabinet and put it on a plate for me, offering a half hearted apology- ‘sorry, don’t know what happened’. The rest of the table had finished eating (it had been over 30 mins) and I sat down to eat my roll. The filling was tasty but the roll a little stale. Overall it was reasonable and I was pretty hungry by that stage. As we left, we got our first smile of the day from the man who was washing his car out the back. He seemed more interested in us than any of the staff inside, although this isn’t difficult because not one person we interacted with (3 waitresses and the gentleman behind the counter) made our group feel welcome. It’s a shame because the outlook is very nice and the venue spacious. It could be a great cafe/restaurant but the service today was a real disappointment and left me feeling embarrassed Id recommended our group dine there. On the way out, one of our party shared they had been here 12 months ago and the service level and food quality had gone down...

It's only a Matter of Time, so. It's When... not If...The the Answer to... "Are there Aliens out there in the Universe ".... that Contact and Forceful Demands will be made From a Galaxy Far Far Away... And The Ruthless Cyborg Sith Lord Darth Vader from the Dark Side of the Force serving the Galactic Empire invades Earth and specifically Donatos with the Forces of Evil to take by Force and whatever means necessary, to hand over without compromise the secret French Vanilla Slice Recipe for their own enjoyment.

Have no Fear.., I will be there with my Trusty Toyworld Light Sabre in hand.... Cleverly disguised and concealed as my trusty loyal walking stick...with torch guidance.... and non slip end... To Fight off, Crush and Destroy the Evil Marauding invaders..... To save Donatos from a certain destruction and to stop the Senior pastry chef and the secret French Vanilla Slice Recipe going over to the Dark side by the Galactic Empires Dark Forces of Evil and lost forever from our great lands.

So after the Epic and Monumental Battle for control of the Secret French Vanilla Slice recipe and when the Icing Sugar dust settles on the next delicious batch of French Vanilla Slices.....Donatos is saved... The Owner, Senior Chef and Crew all become Officers of the Order of Australia (AO)..... And Humanity and Mankind can breath a collective sigh of relief and to rest easy knowing it is saved from never having the Best French Vanilla Slices from Donatos ever again..

The World is now a safer and better place.

The Coffees are alone worth the trip from anywhere across the Galaxy....even WA.... Come on over... No Border Lock downs here.

Don't believe me... Try just one... I doubt you will finish it in...