Donatelli's Restaurant — Restaurant in White Bear Lake

If you're reading this, you obviously have some inkling to visit this place. In case you're ravenously hungry, the TL;DR: stop reading and just go. You will not be disappointed!

On to the review:

First, the menu is incredible. There are a ton of options, from pizza to pasta, to burgers. They have a great gluten free menu and plenty of vegetarian options. There's also Gelato and ice cream, as if you'd have any room left. Maybe start with that and take your meal home...

Second, the waitstaff is attentive but not annoying. They are happy to answer questions and go out of their way to make your meal pleasant. Ours saw that several us were wearing light tops and when we started to tuck napkins into our collars asked if we wanted bibs, half joking, however she brought them by when we were stoked to have been asked. (For the record, they are children's bibs but none of use left with a stained shirt, so we were happy about that!)

Third, did I mention the menu? When they say the spaghetti pie serves 2, what they really mean is it serves a small family (see image, sadly forgot to get a pic before we dug in). Everyone's entrees were well portioned, hot, and delicious.

Fourth, the food is GOOD. A lot of places suck at making marinara sauce, it lacks flavor and texture. Not here. This is sauce like your grandma would've made. Properly seasoned, the right thickness, tons of flavor.

Finally, our waitress packed up my leftovers (did you see the size of that dish?! I shared and it wasn't happening) wonderfully, see image #2. Perfect to toss the dish in the oven and reheat. And let me tell you, I think the leftovers are almost better than the original meal.

It's a good thing I live in Rochester, because if I was within 30 minutes of this place on a regular basis, I'd be prone to gain...

I’ve been to Donatelli’s a few times, and while the desserts are amazing, I can’t say the same about the consistency or service. The ice cream is rich and creamy, and their freshly made cannolis are a real treat, no doubt. That said, my experiences have been hit or miss when it comes to consistency, and that’s starting to turn me off. The inconsistency is especially frustrating. One visit, I could get 4 fresh cannolis, but the next, I was told I could only get 3 fresh ones and would have to settle for frozen if I wanted a fourth. Sometimes they’re happy to accommodate special requests, but other times they flat-out say they can’t do it. It’s really frustrating when you never know what to expect, especially when you’ve had a great experience before. That said, the staff is generally pretty good at fixing any mistakes with orders, which I do appreciate. They try to make things right, and I respect that effort. However, when you’re going back hoping for the same experience and things keep changing, it’s hard to justify recommending it to others. For a place that has so much potential, I’m really disappointed by the lack of consistency. While I can’t speak for every visit, I personally won’t be returning anytime soon due to the unpredictability. The desserts are great, but the hassle of not knowing what you’ll get is no longer...

The place was very different esthetic wise loved it.

I had added the antipasti salad for $5 more it was good, typical balsamic dressing which I love and the potion was basically a meal on its own. Came with soft bread which tasted and felt like pizza dough. Which is also,, different salad in general taste was great. Have I had better 100% would I come for it again ehhh prob not 8/10

Garlic Bread- 10/10 brought me back to my middle school days. It’s good, and have had the taste at places that charged over 40 for a dish so definitely 10/10

Baked Rigatoni- it’s okay, the cheeses threw me off and the sauce kind of tasted like Ragú or high sugar canned sauce would compare to Boca di Peppo pasta vs Olive Garden in taste. It’s good, just expected wow factor with the hype

Black Forest 5.5/10: when I see Black Forest on a menu my expectation is German chocolate with cherries. This was 2 slices of DRYYYYYY CHOCOLATE BREAD (saying bread vs cake bc it gave me bread esthetic not even brownie esthetic) when I mean Dry… even the ice cram didn’t help… which brings me to the dysentery topping…. Really wish it was cherry if you market it as black Forrest. REALLY DISAPPOINTED ON IT. Is it good? I mean sure if you’re wanting dry cake

Tiramisu: BETTER THAN BLACK FORREST, not by much bc it was also dry but the taste...