I'll come clean right up front...I've always been a huge fan of Donovan's. I consider myself a "steak guy" and I've probably been to the old Donovan's UTC location 25+ times. I considered it the best steak house with the best steaks in all of San Diego, and it was always one of my favorite steak houses anywhere. The dark woods, low light and hushed elegance - combined with superbly cooked steaks - were what a fine steak house should be in my opinion. The food quality hasn't changed at the new Prospect Avenue location in La Jolla, and now they have an absolutely fantastic view from the bluff looking over La Jolla Cove to add to the mix. Having said all that, they've completely lost the ambiance of the old UTC location. The new spot is LOUD, LOUD, LOUD...TOO LOUD!!! Our party of four for a birthday dinner on a Monday night could literally not have a conversation across our small (3 ft square) table because of all the noise in a not-packed-to-capacity dining room. Everything we said to each other had to be nearly shouted. There is a private room that accommodates up to 20 people which is completely enclosed in glass and, between that and the large glass windows fronting the cove, I can only conclude that the designer/architect wanted to achieve a bounce-back effect for the noise in the restaurant, because that's exactly what all those hard surfaces do. Mission Accomplished! It's a shame, because I've always had great experiences in Donovan's both here in San Diego and in Scottsdale, but this location is off my list now, and I'm very sad about that. Contributing to our frustration was poor staging of our meal - they completely missed one appetizer (although they did comp that at the end of the meal) and it took 1 hr 50 minutes from the time we sat down until our entrees were put in front of us. Just an overall poor experience that has left this steak lover and avowed Donovan's fan sadly wondering "How could you guys have ruined such a good thing?"

Wonderful scenery, delicious food and incredible service!

Food and service was great. View is spectacular! We were able to get a window seat because we went early and had a drink at the bar.

This is our go to restaurant for celebrations. Food is amazing and the service outstanding. The entire staff is warm and welcoming from the minute you check in until you leave. I highly recommend.

The Service and food were great . We also had a great view from our seat .

Outstanding food and service. Parking a little challenging, but it is downtown La Jolla. View is tremendous.

The service was phenomenal and the food was absolutely delicious!

Perfect steak. Great window seat table!

Birthday ... was a wonderful experience.

Absolutely fantastic. Our server Lindsay was incredible, should be commended!

Donovan’s was the best dining experience I’ve ever had! Obviously it is pricey but the food is worth every penny. We received outstanding service and excellent customer service from every employee we encountered. I would highly recommend if you’re looking to have a fancy date night. Also, the view of the ocean is INCREDIBLE!

The service was so wonderful and attentive but not overbearing. The food was delicious! I had lobster and my husband had the filet. The cocktails were made perfectly!! And the wine list first rate.

You can’t beat the view at this great restaurant overlooking the Pacific in La Jolla! The service and food are also excellent!

Great food great service great time! Highly recommend.

Bob our server was amazing!! There when we needed him, but not too much! Food was delicious and the atmosphere perfect! Thank you!

We celebrated an anniversary and a birthday. The food and service were excellent. We will definitely return. Thank you so much for making this special for us.

Celebrated our wedding anniversary. Was great until they seated another couple directly beside us (too close) and a noisy party behind us, afterwhich I couldn’t even hear what my husband was saying. Kind of ruined the evening in the end.

It was a great experience with a wonderful ambiance. We had a wonderful time celebrating my husband's birthday and the entire staff made sure to wish him a happy birthday. The food was amazing and the view unbelievable. Can't wait to go back for another celebration.

The food at Donovan's is always good, but I guess I just miss the old place.

Has been a long time since I hated a dinner experience this much. The male staff are sexist pigs, the interiors were shabby and uncomfortable, and the food was Terrible. I'm so sad we wasted our anniversary here and $400.

Everything was great, except there was a hair in my colleagues meal. But the restaurant was very responsive and gave us complementary desserts which was appreciated. The staff was a little slow to refill waters and didn’t refill our wine.

The filet mignon was cooked to perfection.
The brownie with ice cream was very good and a generous portion.
The only problem for us was that the beef and the potato was too salty, but that seems to be how they generally do it in steak houses.

Great service friendly and courteous staff. Excellent decor and the food is delicious. Definitely, a must try out! Your stomach will be very happy!

The food, service and view were all exceptional. Our server and the manager, Arnold really went out of their way to make us feel special and have a special night. I could not recommend this place more for a nice dinner or special occasion.

We were there for celebrating my boyfriend birthday, but had the worst service ever in Donovan's. Our waiter never paid attention to our table as he was busy to other tables he had. we end up ordered wine to a busboy and he took care of us very well. Also we ordered medium rare for our stakes, but came as rare. We sent them back the kitchen and it came back as over
cooked. we didnt want to stay for our desert so asked a busboy to just pack them up. again where is ou waiter????? we were so disappointed to their service.

An exceptional meal with time-warp ambiance. Welcoming and friendly with a very high level of service, which was a bit theatrical and intrusive at times. Except for the spectacular ocean view, this could be a clubby restaurant in the financial district of any major city. Very expensive, but worth every penny.

Hi this is Isaiah! Excellent experience this past Friday, and expect a review and photos from me.

@isaiahphotons

It was a very nice restaurant, with a wonderful view. The only complaint I have is that it was a special occasion, I called beforehand to have a message written on the menu, and they misspelled my girlfriends name. I called made sure they had the correct spelling. Had it repeated, wrote it on the website on the special request box.

Very nice dinner. Service was outstanding. Only hiccup was they put Honey-Mustard dressing on my Caesar Salad. The good news is when I mentioned it oddly sweet,, they went back to the kitchen and figured out the problem and told me what happened. They comp’d the salad.

We had a wonderful experience at Donovan’s on our anniversary. It was our first time there and highly recommend it for the quality of the food and the service was excellent and very friendly. The tables aren’t located so close to each other like so many restaurants are, much nicer for conversation and brings down the noise level. We will definitely return in the daylight hours to appreciate the beautiful views or dine outside on the lovely terrace in warmer weather.

Consistently get great food and service. A great special occasion place.

Anniversary

Great restaurant great food the service was outstanding we were able to get a window table and it was awesome

A dinner to remember! The service matched the quality of the food- top notch!

Can’t go wrong here, a good, quality experience.

This was our second time at Donovan's and we have enjoyed both very much. Beautiful view if you get there before sunset. Excellent menu for seafood and meat as well as wine. The service was good, always attentive without being intrusive, but my wife was pu toff by our waiter who came off a bit arrogant and condescending.

Great location and food, cheesecake was delicious

Donovan's never disappoints!
Jason was our Captain and he did an excellent job!

Jason was our head waiter and he was great but the service as our food was GOD awful. Over 3 hours and we got there at 430 when they opened. Order two seafood platters and would NEVER recommend the North Atlantic salmon. I am catholic and follow the no meet on Friday which I usually get the Australian rack of lambs which are amazing and highly recommend but didn’t have them this time. My girlfriend and I had a movie reservation at 715 at THE LOT in LA JOLLA and were late when we were seated at Donavan’s at 430. THIS PLACE IS ALWAYS HIT OR MISS

Visiting my son who now calls San Diego home. I had not been to the SD area in 10 years, but I remembered Donovan’s and it was my first pick to take he and his girlfriend out for dinner. Great atmosphere! We will be back.