Donna’s

Definitely not worth the money. Food was not at all good — and extremely overpriced…$ 30+ for short rib that had NO flavor. Portions were good, but too bad the food was inedible. Wait staff was friendly, but all over the place. Sad we wasted our money here.

Terrible food. Bad service mixed with horrible presentation all keep me from returning. Not to mention the overpriced menu.

Not a chain and definitely worth a return visit!
Located off of a busy road it isn’t a place you will stumble upon, so word of mouth must be working well because the place filled up while we were there. As another reviewer noted, they have strong competition from Victoria Gastro Pub, which is a stones throw away. The two places couldn’t be more different!
They have a small, but good selection of beers and wine which we enjoyed before and during our meal.
Appetizers consisted of Fattoush and Roasted Pear Flatbread. Both were excellent.
For dinner we had the Bistro Burger, Pistachio Pork with sweet potato mash, sauteed greens and roasted grape marsala, Rustic Chicken with polenta, red wine sauce with portabella mushrooms, artichokes and olives and Moroccan Spiced Tender Goat — yes, goat, with house made pappadelle with mushroom ragu. Everything was excellent.
We were in for an early dinner and, as I said, the place filled up while we were eating. A trio came and set up as well for a little background music. The front of the restaurant is set off from the dining area and looks like a nice place to have a drink and enjoy the entertainment.
Will return again.

We ordered a vegetable quesadilla to start, which I envision for brunch to be quite thin and succulent. Oops! We received a roasted veggies pizza instead, since the order was messed up. It was nice of them to give this to us for free. The positives of the pizza is that it tastes healthy and ungreasy, but it isn’t something memorable enough to come back for. If I had the option of eating this as a meal for free, or buying a different entrée, I would choose the latter.
We peeked at the quesadilla (now in a carryout box), which was surprisingly thick and dry. It didn’t have that «oozing in all kinds of goodness» feeling that you usually want. Took a bite of the tomato salsa that it came, and was pretty bland and sour (tomato not at full ripeness). Both of these, I feel, seemed like something you could buy and make at home for the same, fresh tasting result. But I wanted to come out and eat a scrumptious, out-​of-​home tasting result.
As for the entrees, the tuna panini was decent, but something was off about it. We felt like they should have chosen a different bread to go with. This was the same for the turkey burger as well. While we appreciate and understand the trend to go healthy and offer wheaty, grainy options, there comes a point when there is too much grain and dry bread that the protein is disregarded. We would have preferred the tuna salad to be cold, to add some sort of dimension to the sandwich, as everything just tasted like a mish mash when chewing through.
The turkey burger tasted like lamb, which was a bit off-​putting, since I specifically avoided the lamb burger on the menu for gaminess. The «lamb» taste was so strong that we contemplated asking them if they accidentally gave us a lamb burger. Fries were standard, with some pieces burnt tasting. I would recommend getting the sweet potato fries instead. Coffee is portioned well (large mugs) and you can ask them to reheat and take out the rest. Make sure they seal it right though… mine was closed improperly and I ended up dribbling coffee onto my white hoodie. For me, it’s the little things that count, and there were many little things that were missing from our day at Donna’s.
Forgettable is the key word. If you are in the area and want a café-​feel, fresh brunch/​lunch and coffee, this is a good option. However, if you are looking for a winning brunch, go elsewhere.

Roasted veggies pizza. Mediterranean sampler. Italian soda.
That is what we had and it was good. Nothing really too special about this place. Maybe when I go back it will hit me better. Definitely go check it out if you are in the area.

I have Donna’s to thank for teaching my fiancée how to cook!
This particular Donna’s location is off of Snowden; near a bunch of office buildings in Columbia. Kind of a random location, although once you try the food, you’ll always come back! Parking is plentiful, free, and convenient!
Some of my favorites include the Old Bay Pasta, delicious salads (pear & gorgonzola), Italian sodas, and yummy desserts! The pizzas are also pretty good.
My fiancée used to work in the kitchen and I know that they make all the food fresh to order. The quality of the food is good considering prices are affordable. Everything always tastes fresh, healthy, and is displayed nicely. It’s a great place to take your mom for brunch, or to go on a more casual date.
The atmosphere is great too — occasionally there are live performers, and it makes you feel like you’re at a jazz café. Highly recommended!

The origin of my «credentials».
Upon reading the fine print and checking with my dorkest, lawyer of a fiancé, I determined the yes, it is okay for me to Unilocal the restaurant where my eating & cooking craze began.
I got a summer job at Donna’s by my parent’s house about 8 years ago because of two reasons. 1) There isn’t much to do in Clarksville, MD and I’m not strong enough to go cow tipping, 2) I wanted women to look at me and at least think… «Well, he might be gross and fugly, but at least he can cook.» Given my age and inexperience, I was surprised that they actually offered me a position.
From my time cooking in the kitchen, I learned a lot about Italian/​Mediterranean food. All the food here is prepared fresh (salad dressings, marinara sauce, etc.) and made to order. My favorite things to eat here include all of the salads, sweet potato fries, Four Cheese Pizza, Burgers, Spicy Paella, and the Old Bay Torralini Pastas. I wasn’t a fan of the pear & gorgonzola risotto or the walnut chicken fettuccini; they were both a little bland for my taste. If you see a goat cheese, red onion, and roma tomato pizza special, it was created by yours truly. The desserts here are amazing. The Bread Pudding is delicious (ask for extra liquor sauce) and the brownie is a safe, fall back dessert. Try any of the seasonal cheese cakes. Brunch here is pretty good and it can get busy.
The current Restaurant Manager, Thomas Johnson, was the one who trained me and taught me everything I needed to know about the restaurant business. He’s a real good guy and I know that he will help make sure you have a good experience dining at Donna’s Café.
A little about my credentials:
I first got into cooking & food when I was in college. After being rejected by numerous girls and getting zero action, I decided it was time for a change. I needed a new makeover to boost my geeky, engineering image. I applied for a cooking position at a Mediterranean-​Italian Restaurant near my home and learned to cook all sorts of pastas and dishes. I never became a professional chef, but I continue to enjoy & love food. 9 years later and 55 lbs heavier, I am now an engineer that travels all over the world trying new foods and learning about different cultures.

We are finishing up dinner now and we had an awesome experience!

This review is for coffee bar only.
Donna’s is a pleasant place to go for a client meeting because it’s usually pretty empty during morning hours, lunchtime or early afternoon. Now the DD has descended on the same business park, I can imagine service at Donna’s has slowed even more.
Their coffee is good but not fantastic. Their muffins are really good. The gentleman that works the coffee bar during the day shift is super personable and friendly with a good sense of humor. I once had a GC that was over a year old and he typed in all the numbers which didn’t work, so he took my word for it and issued me a new GC with no question.
The coffee area is adjacent to a some brightly colored leather lounge chairs and a few bar stools at a highboy. Not super comfy to relax in for a few hours but good for a quick stop-​in to check emails since they offer free Wi-​Fi. I would come here more often if Donna’s wasn’t so trying so hard to be so ultra trendy. It just isn’t working well for a Columbia area bistro/​coffee bar.

I’ve read the Unilocal reviews and cannot account for my experience. They must have been having a really bad day.
I stopped in to get a sit down lunch because I wanted to try the place. Looked like a nice place to have real food. So, checked Unilocal reviews and reviews were good. So I went in to try it.
Waited at hostess stand for 10 minutes without so much as a greeting, acknowledgement or comment. The woman in front of me had been waiting far longer without any acknowledgement either. She finally got fed up and left with a huff. No one still bothered to look up or approach me. Two other customers were now standing behind me waiting too.
I felt as if I was standing there watching a movie. I could observe the activity but was invisible. The staff’s obvious attempt to avert gaze and ignore incoming customers waiting at the hostess stand signaled to me that they didn’t want any new business. I didn’t see a smile. Not a «wait, I’ll get you someone.» No. It was an «ignore them and they’ll go away» attitude.
I took the clue and left. May be good and nice, but I won’t visit again.
P. S. — The two other customers left shortly after I did. I was sitting in my car checking Unilocal for other restaurants nearby when I saw them come out and get into their car. 4 People turned away and who may never return.

If Donna’s were a bit closer, I might be more inclined to grab brunch here again. However, there are a bunch of places that are nearby that are much more convenient and are on par, if not better all around.
Apparently, Donna’s just recently started serving brunch. Although their brunch menu is not extensive, the options are pretty decent. No pancakes or waffles which bummed me out, but my salmon omelet was pretty good although extremely heavy on the mozzarella cheese and the slices of red onion were huge, overwhelming distractions. Every time I bit into the omelet and encountered the red onion, a piece a few inches long would follow. I had to take out a bunch and put them to the side.
However, our waitress Michelle was amazing. She was so attentive, helpful, sweet and had a great sense of humor. She managed to deal with our playful antics gracefully and even brought my friend out an iced, birthday muffin with a candle when she realized it was my friend’s birthday.
I also learned that Donna herself comes into all of the locations daily and even teaches cooking classes at this location. Additionally, they even host wine tastings on the weekend. These few learning points made Donna’s a bit more multi-​dimensional to me.
Otherwise, I would definitely recommend Donna’s if there is one nearby. The food is pretty and presented beautifully and the prices and service is impressive.

I’ve been to two cooking classes here and they were very tasty and fun.
I had dinner here a few weeks ago and surprisingly the food did not taste very good.
I love the location, the atmosphere, and the service. I’m going to give this place another shot. I’m still a fan, but I’m yet to be convinced that this place deserves 4 stars.

Quaint little bistro with a bit of indecision on what it is (a coffee house, wine bar, or bistro). That aside its a fine destination for some grub, don’t plan on a long sit unless you like basically uncomfortable seating.
The food (the most important part) was delightful, starting with a great salad of fresh veggies and light dressing. My salmon was perfect, and the Brussels sprouts (yes I like them) and bacon (everything is better with bacon) were excellent. My Pumpkin spice cake was most and tasty (not over sweet). A real culinary winner here.
The service was great, attentive and speedy.
Overall this was a good eat

You’ve gotta have a Plan B.
We thought grabbing a table at the nearby Victoria Gastro Pub on a Wednesday evening wouldn’t be a problem. But with a private event going on and an hour wait for general seating, we were wrong. Our quick-​thinking friend remembered enjoying a lunch at Donna’s a while back, so headed in. Plan B was in effect.
Early into the meal, I was afraid our plan was setting up to be a failure. While our friend liked the tomato bisque soup, our starter salads, while not bad, were simply uninspired. Thankfully, the main courses came through solid. My lamb burger was juicy and well-​spiced, my wife was reasonably pleased with her eggplant tower, and our friend enjoyed her turkey burger. The sweet potato fries accompanying both burgers were especially good — crispy on the outside, smooth on the inside. Our desserts were all good as well, nothing earth-​shattering, but all enjoyable.
The wine list, however, blew a gaping hole into the evening’s plan. We were told right off the bat that three of the reds were unavailable, already limiting our selection. I chose a pinot noir only to be brought a different pinot because, you guessed it, they were out of my original choice. Not having four (or maybe more?) reds on an already not-​too-​extensive list just isn’t good, especially when the wines aren’t exactly a bargain. (I’d estimate a 250% to 300% markup, which is typical, but kind of insulting without the selection to justify it.)
But all in all, Plan B worked out fine. Three courses and a large glass of wine worked out to about $ 40/​person (including tax and tip), which was a bit on the high side, but not offensive. While it’s not a place we would necessarily seek out, we all agreed that we would return to Donna’s in the future if given the chance.

i came here during howard county restaurant week, but since it was sunday during brunch time, they did not have the restaurant week specials. their service was pretty slow. it took a while for us to get our order in, the food came out within a decent amount of time, but then it took us a while to get our check.
they give some coffee crumb cake for the table to share as we sat down, which was very yummy.
i ordered the egg strata, which did not have much taste and the texture was not very uniform. there were some parts that were too dry and other parts that were too moist with some parts that were just right.

I went back to Donna’s on a Friday night for dinner, again using an Entertainment book coupon. I had a much better experience this time around. It’s definitely more of a café then restaurant and maybe that is why I feel like the entrees are a little overpriced.
They start you out with a small basket (honestly, looks like an office pen cup) full of bread, crackers, and breadsticks with a olive oil type dipping sauce. I had the chicken with veggies over penne in a light cream sauce for my entrée. It was good. Lots of veggies, spicy chicken, and not that thick kind of nasty cream sauce. Just light and flavorful. My fiancé’ had the salmon and he loved it. We were full finishing our entrees, but not stuffed. The portions were just right.
Our server was pretty good, but she did disappear right when we finished our meals. We sat at the table with our dirty dishes to the side for a good 10 – 15 minutes. I’m not sure where she went because the place is so small she couldn’t have missed us. Anyways, otherwise she was good and she even told us that we can come back and use the entertainment card again for 20% off. Usually you have to print those coupons on the web site and use them within a week or so, but they let you just show your card at Donna’s.

Donna’s is interesting. Don’t know exactly where it belongs in the restaurant spectrum. The décor is fast casual. The food is sit-​down priced. The menu is American/​Italian. The walls are green, purple, or red. Along the way to the bathroom are various magazine clippings stating achievements from the 90’s. I’m sorry to say but there is something a bit tacky about the place; décor, menu, and food quality all contributing to it.
I had one of the specials — chicken breast in a lemon caper sauce. The sauce was more of a soup. A strange and sour soup. I’ve never had a dish like that before. I don’t know if that’s a good or bad thing. The chicken was well seasoned and tasty — and it was probably the largest portion of chicken I’ve had in years. The texture of the dish was great. Firm chicken, soft chunks of potatoes, and «al dente”-esque bits of artichoke hearts. But the lemony sauce was not doing it for me.
The wife had one of the specials as well — a salmon pasta. The pasta was strangely pink. Chunks of salmon and cooked red onions accentuated the otherwise bland sauce. The pasta was cooked well; overall a decent dish.
Our two orders were part of the «Table for Two» deal which involved two of each of the following: soup/​salad, entrée (selection of 3), coffee, and biscotti. It was priced at $ 35 — which I would say was ok for the quality/​quantity of food that was delivered.
Service was decent. Not a horrible place, but don’t expect to be wowed here.
2.5 stars.

Donna’s was on the vanguard of the trendy café/​bistro breakout of the mid-90’s in the Baltimore area. And, at the time, they were the place to go for a cappuccino, a slice of tart, or a tasty sandwich. Over time, they branched out to bistro fare with some fairly original flavors for the area.
Nowadays, this formula’s a little tired. Donna’s is still an OK place to go for a light dinner, and generally the food is pretty good. It’s a bit overpriced for what they deliver, though, and service at this location can be a bit uneven. Donna still works in the restaurant, and she’s a nice lady, but something here needs an update. Sandwiches are over-​reliant on a chiabatta-​style roll that gets used over and over, replacing the pleasantly toothsome and crunchy baguette that the rare roast beef sandwich, for instance, used to sport.
On the plus side, they do good sweet potato fries, the salads use fresh flavors and interesting combinations to pretty decent effect, and there’s usually a surprise or two on the specials list. The roasted vegetable panini is hearty and tasty. Lamb and bison burgers have shown up on the lunch specials from time to time, and are pretty darn good, if pricey.
The Columbia location’s got outdoor seating that’s pleasant enough on a summer evening, even if it does border an office-​park parking lot. The dining room is in need of a refresh, and the service plates really need to go. The dishes show so many cutlery marks and rough spots, I’d be surprised if they weren’t from the original opening. So, Donna, please ditch the 90’s coffee-​shop IKEAesque chairs, get rid of the neon accents, ditch the dingy-​looking tableware, and bring back a baguette or two.

I’ve never been to Donna’s for dinner, but it is a nice treat for lunch every once in awhile. I say occasionally for a couple of reasons — 1) the wait time for receiving your food can make you easily surpass your alloted hour timeframe, so be prepared or do take-​out and 2) I could literally eat their Sicilian Tuna Salad every day, but at $ 9 for a small sized salad I would easily got broke before I got sick of it.
I would also be weary of their catering services — I’ve used them for a couple of events and they did not go so smoothly. Not only did they serve each and every sandwich on the same hard baguette (not how it was listed on the menu) but no one touched the side of roasted potatoes (it wasn’t helpful that they were cold and bland.) But the worst part about it is that they showed up minutes before our event started and failed to bring any plates and utensils to serve or eat with.

I found this place near my work and have been frequenting it for lunch quite often. The variants of salads is great and the lunch specials are interesting variations of well-​known themes (e.g., ham and cheese with the ham being capicola and culatello with mozzarella cheese)
I have found the service to be responsive and very good. Even during the lunch crowd, the pace seems expedient. Though I do admit I have only experience service while seated at the bar and did not try at a table.
The cost is what I would consider above average.
edit: By ‘above average’, I meant to say that the menu item prices tend to be higher when compared to the costs of an average lunch.