Donatellis Homemade Italian Food

On May 4th, the 4th graders of Mrs. Anderson's Willow Lane Elementary School class took over Donatelli's Family Restaurant. From the front of the house to the back the restaurant was filled with ambitious young people serving family, friends and Donatelli's loyal customers...

Every year at Donatelli's we invite the kids from St. Andrew's Academy to spend a day in the life of a Donatelli's staff member, as part of an annual fund raising effort. The youngsters greet customers, wait on tables, prepare & serve food, box leftovers and bus dishes. Parents and siblings watch as the kids try to balance food while keeping their cool. It's a tad chaotic at times, but so much fun for everyone involved. Check out our gallery of photos...

To help celebrate the grand opening of Frattalone's Ace Hardware, we took our secret recipes to the street and served lunch to our new neighbors as well as the surrounding community. We met a lot of new friends and got reacquainted with some old ones. Overall the day was a hit. Good weather. Good friends. Outstanding food. What more could you ask for? See for yourself...

On November 3rd, 2008, Donatelli's was featured on the hit TV show Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives. The show aires on the Food Network and is hosted by food fashionista Guy Fieri.

We had a blast during filming and captured quite a few priceless moments. Check out our gallery of photos...

Food Network's Guy Fieri has been all over the Twin Cities this year: Bryant Lake Bowl, The Weinery, Town Talk Diner, Victor's 1959 Café, Emily's Lebanese Deli, The Modern, and, in an episode re-airing Friday at 8:30 p.m. and 11:30 p.m., Donatelli's in White Bear Lake. I had heard of Donatelli's, but not in a way which brought any sort of formed image to mind, so Fieri introduced me to a restaurant in my own backyard (or at least on the White Bear-Mahtomedi border).

Read the whole article at the mspmag.com