Donato Enoteca Restaurant Review, Redwood City

Donato Enoteca is an Italian Restaurant in downtown Redwood City, located right next to City Hall. They serve modern Italian focusing on fresh, simple ingredients, and focusing on the chef’s Donata Scotti (formerly of La Strada) Northern Italian roots. Our last visit was in the middle of 2010.

Decor, Vibe – Modern, clean dining room with back room and bar area. Donato Enoteca has patio seating outside for warmer months. Couple, families, and large groups of all ages were here for dinner. This restaurant has gotten very popular over the last year.

Menu Pictures (Click to zoom into any picture)

Weekly changing modern Italian menu with an emphasis on seasonal ingredients and fine imported Italian artisanal products. Tasting menu available as is the daily special entree and wine.

Website Donato Enoteca Menu

Full Donato Enoteca Image Set

Picks:

Nice fresh warm bread with an olive tapenade.

BIGOLI   E  CODA  Braised Niman Ranch oxtail, Sangiovese, asparagus tips & “bigoli” pasta ($15) was an excellent pasta dish with very tender and flavorful shredded oxtail and a freshly made al dente thin tube style pasta.

Spaghetti Con Cipollotti Gamberoni ($14) Spring onion, prawns, Trebbiano wine; roasted garlic “mollica” had tasty home made, hand made noodles in a garlicy sauce that was on the zesty side. Five good sized prawns pre cut.

Pizza Margherita ($10) Tomato, basil, oregano & fresh mozzarella cheese was excellent. Nice very thin crust, not soggy, crispy edges, flavorful cheese. Some of the best thin crust pizza on the Peninsula.

Tagliata DI Agnello ($19) Marinated grilled & sliced Colorado lamb top round, “aceto balsamico” was a nice meaty dish full of high quality lamb cooked to a rare, making it a little chewy. Not gamey. Included a pretty healthy polenta made with buckwheat and some veggies underneath. If you do not like rare, let them know.

CALAMARETTI E  FAGIOLI Fresh Monterey Bay calamari, “bianchi di Spagna” beans & mache lettuce ($9) was an excellent appetizer with several large pieces of grilled calamari, some large tender beans, and a small arugula salad.

RISOTTO GAMBERO E CECI Fresh organic garbanzo beans, roasted jumbo prawn & fresh tomatoes ($17) was super hot out of the kitchen and full of vivid flavors and three large shrimp on top.  A very good seafood risotto with bits of chopped prawn.

Kid’s Penne Pasta ($5) was a decent quality and should satisfy any kid. The cheese was powdered though.

O C C O L A T O   F O N D E N T E   E   N O C C I O L E  Warm chocolate hazelnut cake served with vanilla bean gelato  ($9) was an excellent dessert with the warm chocolate cake containing a molten center that oozed out and went à la mode with their milky homemade gelato. If you are chocoholic, come here and just try this dessert!

OK:

Biete E Fave ($7) Half Moon Bay fava beans, roasted Chioggia & golden beets salad looked nice but was fairly light and had a little too much olive oil. Nice fresh beets and beans.

S A L S I C C I A  E  R A P I N I Pizza with Homemade spicy sausage, broccoli rabe, tomato & fresh mozzarella cheese ($13) possessed some excellent flavors but had a soggy middle and a soft crust edge. Compared to a margarita pizza we had on another occasion, there are some inconsistencies here.

Pans:
None

Donato Enoteca had good service. Bus boys kept our water full, the server was friendly but not knowledgeable on the food’s special details. On a later occasion the server was overloaded and service faded throughout the meal.

Prices are reasonable and quality is high, making this an easy bet for superior Italian food on the San Francisco Peninsula. Acqua Pazza of San Mateo is the other authentic Italian place that comes to mind. Nice selection of glasses of Wine from $7, $11 8oz , $21 16 oz carafe. bottles from $27, with many smaller producers. Kids menu available.

Book Donato Enoteca Reservation

$25 Dining Certificate for $5

Donato Enoteca Overall Rating: (Very Good 2.5)

Come Back?

Food Rating:	(Very Good)
Service Rating:	(Good)
Atmosphere Rating:	(Very Good)
Value Rating:	(Good)

Guide: 0 = poor, 1 = Below/Average, 2 = Good, 2.5 = Very Good, 3 = Excellent , 4 = Extraordinary

Alcohol:	Full Bar
Attire:	Casual
Hours:	Sun - Th 11:30am - 10pm, Fri - Sat 11:30am - 11pm.
Parking:	Street
Reservations:	Yes
Prices:	$10 - $25 (Dinner)