Donatello Restaurant

We arrived early for our reservation so we could have a drink at the bar. The bar area is very nice and my lemon drop martini was a great size and was good.We were then taken into the dining room, which is huge. For a Sunday night, it was packed!!! The servers are all super efficient and everything moves along quickly, but you don't feel rushed. The menu is extensive. My husband and I shared the fried zucchini which is served with a marinara sauce. Although I took pictures, you can't really tell what they are because of the pink lights at the tables. The zucchini was a large portion and was great.For my entree I had the cannelloni which was stuffed with sausage and cheese. Again, good flavor. The best of all was that they heated the food right in the restaurant, so my food was piping hot, which I love. We had a wonderful evening and I would highly recommend coming here.

Atmosphere - Great! This is a quintessential, Old World Italian restaurant. Having said this, if you don't like the color pink, it may not be for you. When you enter the restaurant you will be warmly greeted by two gentlemen who make you feel like a special guest. The only ding that prevents a 5 star rating is that the tables are a bit too tight and the room can be quite noisy. The servers as dressed to the "Nines" and they are very friendly, but professional.Service- Very Good. As mentioned above, the restaurant is staffed with high quality, professional servers.Food - Excellent! As my entree, I had Veal Scaloppini sautéed with prosciutto and fontina cheese. The veal was extremely tender and the combination of the prosciutto and cheese in the sautéed sauce was delicious. My wife and I shared the Zucchini Fritti, which also very good. The breading was light and it was deep fried perfectly.Overall Value - Very Good. This is , in my opinion, one of the best Italian restaurants in the Tampa Bay Area

What an unforgettable meal and dining experience at Donatello Restaurant! It's an iconic, fine dining Italian restaurant. You see photos of celebrities who dined there covering the walls upon entering. The dining room is so elegant and each table has 3 fresh roses. Here's what we ordered:~Avocado and shrimp- avocado pear with jumbo shrimp and a European cocktail sauce. The avocado was perfectly ripe, shrimp were jumbo and fresh, and I like this cocktail sauce much more than the traditional red kind.~Lumache farcite- snails baked in mushroom caps with parsley and garlic butter. This melted in my mouth. They were very enjoyable, and I loved the addition of the mushroom as well.~Caesar salad -let me just say, the Parmesan ratio was ON POINT! You have to be a cheese lover for this! ~Risotto Principessa-creamy Italian risotto with scallops and lobster meat. We were blown away by the generous amount of scallops and lobster in this risotto. Also, the risotto portion was very generous too! It was creamy and the perfect dish for seafood lovers! This dish was unforgettable. The sauce was very similar to lobster bisque in flavor.~Veal Chop Colombo- porterhouse veal chop topped with mixed mushrooms and brandy cream sauce. The sauce was creamy and delicious and I loved the mushrooms in it. It also came with some mixed veggies which were the perfect texture. Donatello is the perfect place to celebrate a birthday, anniversary, graduation, or to go for a special and romantic date night. The service is flawless, atmosphere is beautiful, food delicious, and every woman walks out the door with a fresh red rose, which is a beautiful touch I've never seen before.

Still an excellent Italian restaurant, and it was a very busy night-Valentines Day- but the service has slipped below their 40-year standard. One dirty fork. Could only get one bottle of sparkling water because they did not have enough bottles chilled. Late with the bread. Late with the sugar for the cappuccino. Mistake/ overcharge on bill. Still, my veal chop was excellent, as were the dinner salads and deserts. But at this price point, we expect near flawless service which was sadly lacking.

What an amazing experience! One of the best restaurants I've been to in Tampa - the vibes, atmosphere, service and food were absolutely the best of the best. They make feel very special from the moment you walk in by shaking your hand and greeting you. The photos of all the celebs & VIPs who have visited hung up in the lobby is also a fun touch. The food was delicious! We had the melon and prosciutto for an appetizer which threw me off guard at first but actually paired very well together. For entrees we had a lobster pasta, but my favorite was the veal. Our server brought us a dessert sampler since they were out of the napoleon which was such a nice treat :) Can't wait to return!!

I have tried Italian food at a number of places but let me be CLEAR. Donatello's delivers authentic Italian Food within a great backdrop filled with great service, music, and total ambiance. The food had me making noises while savoring each bite. The portions were great and I was still full the next morning. Full transparency moment. For me. It's a special occasion place, but it's well worth the trip. My pictures are a little dark but just trust me on this one. Thank me later

My family and I found this restaurant on Yelp. We're from North Jersey and used to great Italian food. This place didn't disappoint at all. From the Bruschetta to the meals, top notch. I highly recommend this restaurant as all the food was phenomenal. The staff were fantastic as well!!

Este lugar es el más caro de Tampa , pero aún así ni el servicio ni la comida son buenos , las pastas con camarones horrible , crudo lo tuve que regresar , ambiente viejo y poco agradable

Step into a feeling of old world Italy with music and delicious dishes from Antipasti to pasta and meat and seafood dishes. This was my first visit and on a Saturday night, they offer valet parking only (so don't forget the cash to tip!). Entering the restaurant we were greeted warmly by "Gino" and about a hundred photos of celebrities all over the walls. From Frankie Valli to Kevin Sorbo and government leaders, for 40 years you can see this was no ordinary restaurant and has its own place in history. We made a reservation - highly recommend - and all of the tables were in a dimly lit dining room that gave you a nostalgic of grandma's kitchen, but with a bit more formality. People were dressed from casual to fancy dress and everything seemed appropriate. The lounge on the opposite side had a band playing all kids of oldies and lounge-style pop songs, that I would not have classified as "jazz" as the website said, but enjoyable nonetheless. We heard so many tables sung Happy Birthday in Italian, you can tell this was a locals favorite for special occasions. I ordered a start Caesar salad which was delicious and made table side. It was a large starter and the dressing had the perfect balance of anchovy and pepper - two ingredients some places cannot get right. My main dish was angel hair pasta with tomato and basil. It was light, tomatoes tasted fresh and they do not skimp on portion size. Everything was delicious, and service impeccable. My only criticism is the prices were a bit steep for Italian food. I'm sure you were paying for the privilege to be in this elite, family history. As we exited, ladies received a beautiful single, long-stem red rose. A romantic gesture that made you forget the bill. Definitely a lovely place for a great meal on special occasions.

Been here a couple times now and there is simply just other Italian places to go besides here.The ambiance is probably the nicest part. Very romantic red lighting in a spacious, low ceiling dining room. The bar has live jazz every night. The maitre'd is very polite and welcoming. Service and food is definitely lacking though.As far as food, it all just looks and tastes very bland. I had caprese and carpaccio to start and finished off with the New York strip on special. It was all so bland, lacked flavor, and had no real presentation. I ate 25% of my steak which I'm pretty sure came off a Sysco truck and still was charged $79.99 for it despite telling my server I didn't like it. (When you're with a big group, you don't wanna cause a fuss and demand it get taken off. But when more than half of a meal isn't eaten maybe you should take it off?)As far as service, our server seemed good at first when he took our 1st course order but after that there was never any checking in to see how it was going. When I asked for a wine list, the order didn't get taken until our entrees were practically at the table already. Wine glasses should be set and wine should be tried before entrees get to the table. At first I thought he was just really busy but at several points I saw him just standing around and talking to coworkers. Would've been nice to have a 5 minute check-in because I would've asked to send my steak back then probably.All in all, I'd go to Bella's, Piccola, even Rocca before coming back here.