Donovan's - La Jolla

Excellent meal. Excellent service Food was outstanding. Can't wait to return

We had a fun birthday dinner this past Saturday night. The staff was amazingly friendly and made the evening more enjoyable. The food was great and the wine suggestion was spot on. The atmosphere was very nice. The food is pricey but we knew to expect that. The quality was excellent.
We plan to return as soon as we can!

Terrible service. It took an hour and half to get our meal.
Food was not good. "Prime" steak was not good quality (too much fat) and was well done when we ordered medium rare. The wedge lettuce was fresh, but the dressing was bland.
The place is tattered and feels dirty, unkept and worn.

We were sat at 6:45pm and didn’t get our dinner until close to 8:30! We weren’t offered an explanation, an appetizer, bread or anything. In fact our waiter avoided us. We asked for steaks cooked medium and it was rare! Not at all what I was expecting when spending over $200

Really enjoyed the overall experience at Donovan’s. Food was amazing and service was too notch. We definitely will go again next time in the area

Service, food and view are amazing!

We were very disappointed with the experience. The waiter David was very courteous and professional but seemed to be getting pulled too many directions. Our appetizer came out after our salads, then it seemed as if we waited an eternity for our main course. During our meal it seemed as if we only saw a "busgirl". Additionally, an obnoxious party brought their own "music" into the restaurant and was allowed to play some lady singing in Italian. The gentleman who appeared to be the manager looked way over his head trying to get a handle on things. Looked like staffing and management issues.

The food took over 40 minutes to arrive. Other than that, it was great food and great atmosphere.

Our waitress would constantly look everywhere but towards us when talking to us.. other waiters continually wood bring orders from other tables to our table.. it isn’t what it used to be.

All in all a very good experience, seems that the quality of food and service has improved greatly over the past several months. Donovan's is in our rotation and we dine here or the Downtown location several times a year. Give them a try if you haven't done so recently, pleasantly surprised.

Beautiful views, amazing wine list, perfect, professional wait staff. Love this place. Ask for Victor - he is amazing.

This was our fourth evening out at the lovely Donovan's restaurant in La Jolla. Always outstanding! Our server, Jason, was excellent. We have always ordered steaks at Donovan's in the past. This time, my husband and I both opted for the halibut. Perfect portion, perfectly cooked. So fortunate to have this great restaurant close to home!!

We needed to eat early and Donovan’s was available around 4:30. We were able to sit outside of the porch with a fire pit lit in the center of our table. We ordered off the happy hour menu and it was just perfection. Julian served with low key attentiveness and we were just impressed with everything. Wonderful food wonderful experience. Thank you Donovan’s.

Celebrated our 28th wedding anniversary here, And boy did we make the right decision! Service was superb, food was outstanding and ambience can’t get any better than the view overlooking the ocean. Fantastic experience overall and will be dining here more often (can’t wait for the kids come visit us so we can take them)

The food was fantastic and we got a nice ocean view, which makes it even better. The service was excellent.

Wait staff was excellent and the view was incredible:)

disappointed in my filet. I ordered medium rare and it was cooked medium.

Food was excellent. Server Adam is the best of the best! Thank you for an enjoyable evening.

Birthday/anniversary
Best lemon drop in San Diego, service and food unbeatable, our favorite place for special occasions

Donovan's has been our "go-to" place for special occasions for several years and this past Sunday was everything we go there for. We celebrated our 24th anniversary with a table by the window overlooking La Jolla cove. From the moment we came in we were treated like royalty and the meal was absolutely delicious! I recommend reservations to get the most from your experience. The staff are very good at fulfilling requests included within reservations.

There was a problem with kitchen being backed up and food coming out slowly. It was our anniversary and I expressed disappointment at our celebration dinner being held up. The manager came to our rescue and made an upsetting experience a wonderful one! He got us to a table, gifted us with a split of fine champagne, treated us to an appetizer and by the time all that was done the kitchen had caught up and the rest of our wonderful dinner appeared. He really made an unhappy couple very happy! We LOVE Donovan’s for this very reason — they don’t let you have a bad experience...their customers always come first.

steaks were good, but not great. potatoes the same.

My boyfriend and I went there as a going away dinner before he deployed with the Army. As soon as staff found out, we had a manager come up and give us a $50 gift card as thank you for his service. The waitstaff was very attentive and personable. Food amazing as well (we are both used to a bit more seasoning on the vegetables but the Ahi tuna, lobster, and crab legs were absolutely delicious). At the end of the meal, when asked for a dessert menu, we were both absolutely stuffed and declined. They still came out with a delicious chocolate graham cracker ice cream dessert on the house. I had never had anything like it but it was absolutely delicious and just something extra they had decided to do for us. My boyfriend and I walked out agreeing that that was the best dining experience either of us had ever had. Definitely recommend. We even made jokes about how when he gets back from deployment, we’re going to just meet in San Diego and eat there for his first meal back.

Great meal. Great service.

Steaks were great. One of the best rib eye steaks I've ever had. The au gratin potatoes were tasty as was the wine. Service was unobtrusive and efficient. We will go back.

Second time at Donavan’s! Love the food and view and David was an excellent waiter. Will be back for sure!

Their steaks are on the overcooked side so for e.g. if you usually get medium, then better order medium rare here.

Fui a cenar con mi hijo de 13 años.
Estuvo todo de maravilla! El servicio y la calidad de la comida fue muy buena, aún para una persona de 13 años.
La carta de vinos por copa es muy buena.

40 minute wait between salad and main course. Too long.

Great food great place
Just wish they had organic veggies and salads
And beef is all corn fed! That is a big no no for me!
Most corn fed is GMO and really not good for the animals as well as humans for consumption
Please switch to Organic Grass fed beef from small farms!

Our favorite restaurant in the SD area. Ambience, views, food and service are all first class. Thanks to Victor, our expert server, for a perfect evening.

we love Donovan's La Jolla and especially server Jason, who is always so friendly and unpretentious, always recommends the best choices if we ask. Steak & lobster terrific as usual. We return as often as we can - it's our "go-to" place for special occasions

Beautiful location with excellent food and impeccable service!

Me and my husband were recommended Donovan’s from a friend as well as his father. We got there a little earlier than our reservation and were seated right away. Service was excellent, the restaurant itself was beautiful and so was the view! We split a NY because we weren’t that hungry, but it was fantastic! One of the better steaks we’ve had, and that’s including restaurants like Morton’s, Fleming’s, Ruth’s Chris and Mastro’s. Not to mention the sides were delicious as well! It was the highlight of the food we ate while in San Diego for a couple days. We live about an hour away and were even talking about going back to eat, and coming home the same night. Will definitely go back and bring friends/family with us. Wonderful experience! 😊

I was unimpressed by the quality of service and the overall ambiance. The food was good and well prepared but unexciting. For the price, I expect something more. will not return.

Great food, but the place and view were wonderful.

This was my first time here. My boyfriend treated me to a fabulous dinner with an ocean view. We ordered a shrimp cocktail to start which was delicious. We then shared a rib-eye dinner with potatoes. The ribeye was cooked perfectly and the gravy on top of the potatoes topped off an an amazing meal. We ended our dinner with a yummy key lime pie. Overall this was a wonderful experience and cannot wait to come back.

Good food, so so service, very high prices.

Excellent service. Great ocean views. Great Cajun steak. Thanks Donovan staff. We will return.
Gary G
El Paso

Great food great service. I could tell they were behind but the managers stepped in to help and it was wonderful.