Donatello Restaurant — Restaurant in Toronto

After checking reviews, we decided to come to Donatello to celebrate our anniversary.

I’ll start with this first. This was the best experience we have ever had together dining out the past 31 years, anywhere.

We’re parked at the Atrium underground parking garage (entrance is on the south side of Edward Street just east of Bay Street - Donatello is one small block north of Edward Street, a 2 minute walk outside). This lot is cleaner and without the shady characters you will find closer to the parking lots just east of Yonge Street.

We were greeted by a young man out front of the restaurant and told him of our reservation. He guided us to a table on the second floor patio facing Elm Street. Beautiful.

Our main server was Khalid, with William and others assisting.

We started with a cocktail then Prosecco.

Complementary bread (sourdough i believe) with butter came and there was a bottle of oil and vinegar on the table.

For an appetizer, we chose their special of the day, clams in garlic butter. Now this was NOT a plain garlic butter. This was much more flavourful. I could see there were diced tomatoes and green onions in the garlic butter. It was so good, we were brought more bread to soak up the garlic butter sauce.

Upon my request, Khalid recommended the Meiomi Pinot Noir which was an excellent recommendation. Fruity with a slight smokiness and low tannins. A smooth finish which we like.

For entrees, my wife ordered the Vitelli Marsala (Veal with mushrooms and sweet sherry sauce with pasta on the side). I order another special of the day, a whole sea bass with a side of vegetables. I have never had sea bass before and wanted to try it. We both loved out entrees.

Khalid introduced us to a man ( I didn’t get his title but I believe he was the owner or if not, the manager or other person in authority) and he congratulated us on our anniversary. A nice touch. Khalid also congratulated us and offered to take a photo of the two of us which we gladly accepted.

For dessert, I chose the Tiramisu and my wife had the chocolate raspberry Tartufo. It was hard to choose these as 3-4 other desserts on the menu are items I know I would have liked also. I requested a decaffeinated version of their Italian coffee. The desserts, just like everything else here, were delicious.

The food here was quality and perfect. Yes we have been to some other restaurants with food equally as excellent but the service here from Khalid, William and others who assisted us was easily the best we have ever experienced. Service was very friendly, attentive without being intrusive, professional and NOT pretentious.

Thank you Khalid and others for making this special evening, the best experience we have ever had in...

My visit to Donatello’s in Toronto was, unfortunately, a memorably disappointing experience. From logistical lapses to service that soured the evening, it’s difficult to find any silver lining in the time spent at this establishment.

To ensure a seamless dining experience, I made a reservation weeks in advance. To further cement this, I called a day ahead to confirm. Imagine my dismay upon arrival, when the welcome I received was not with open menus and a smiling host, but with the chaotic reality of no table ready for us. This set the tone for the entire evening.

The staff’s handling of the situation only further exacerbated our discomfort. Rather than acknowledging the oversight with professionalism and courtesy, we were met with a wall of indifference. We were left in limbo, seemingly invisible to the very people meant to be our guides to a pleasant dining experience. The bustle of a busy restaurant is no excuse for neglecting guests, especially those who’ve made every effort to follow protocol for a guaranteed table. Invisible to staff, my husband and I were forced to wait over 30 mins outside without any follow-ups or bread for us while we sat.

As we waited, an air of tension hovered over us, thickened by overhearing staff members speak poorly of us. To overhear one's self being spoken of negatively, and in error, is both disheartening and infuriating. It is an etiquette one would not expect from a reputed establishment. To note, this was the MANAGER who was speaking poorly to her entire staff, who then overlooked us during our entire experience or would come to the table and ASK us "what did you do? Why is she so mad?". We were nothing but kind and perhaps a bit confused, my husband and I are not ones to make an ordeal or ever treat anyone with disrespect. As you can imagine, this 'drama' being asked to us while we are trying to make the best of this already poor experience was quite the shock. I have been to Donatellos a dozen of times before so I was willing to wait out their mistake, but never would've anticipated this horrendous display of unprofessionalism.

It’s regrettable to report that my experience at Donatello’s was marred by such a sequence of service failures, a stark contrast to the culinary excellence one would expect from a fine dining restaurant in Toronto.

To future patrons, I would suggest ensuring the establishment is ready to honor their commitments before deciding to spend a special evening there. As for me, it is unlikely I will return or recommend Donatello’s, as the most basic ingredient for a satisfactory dining experience - respect for customers - was...

Honestly, at the start everything was going well with the vibe and atmosphere when appetizers were brought out.

When it came to ordering entrees, I asked if I could Change the pasta in my dish, he basically said no they couldn’t. So much for being accommodating.

Anyways, the food came and I requested fresh ground Pepper from our waiter and he only brought cheese. He didn’t go around the table to ask, he stood there lost. Than he left and went to his other tables. Another serve came and went around the table asking if we wanted both. THANK YOU.

We had another guest join our table, he didn’t even go up to him to ask if he wanted a drink or food, we had to FIND our server to tell him. Pathetic

Now when it came to the bill, there were 7 of us at the table and he didn’t even offer to split it against who had what, he just took the bill and gave it to one person. Very unprofessional. They only care about getting paid, by doing the least work.

Anyways, we took it upon ourselves to split it 3 ways. I payed first, the machine gave me the office to give tip of $ or %. So I gave a $ amount. Mind you he was hovering over me while I was making payment. And within 3 seconds of me giving him the terminal Back he asked how the service was. I said it was okay , he said you should’ve tipped 15%. LIKE WHAT?!!! There were still 2 other bills that had to be paid. He was VERY RUDE AND UNREASONABLE. We are the customers!!! You are to accommodate guests, not yourselves. If you can’t handle having so many tables and not being personable and attentive to your tables, than don’t take on more than you can handle.

Now, he went to take the other payments and I am Trying to explain to him how I have the option of tipping what I want, he ignored me. After the table Left I went up to the bar and told him he was rude and disrespectful. I gave him more of a cash tip because he basically embarrassed his guests.

BTW, this is to the Indian man that served a table of 6 on august 14th reservation for 8:30 on the...