Hi friends, welcome back! You may recall from my 2023 Bucket List that one of my goals was to dine at Don Angie. This West Village restaurant opened in 2017 by a husband-and-wife team with a passion for Italian comfort food. The restaurant earned a Michelin Star in 2021 and their pinwheel lasagna is one of the hottest dishes in NYC. It has been on our list for a few years, but reservations are hard to come by. Reservations go live on Resy at 9am for seven calendar days in advance, and within about fifteen seconds are gone. You have to refresh the page at the right time and get lucky. They also accept a few walk-ins if you’re feeling spontaneous.
I’d been trying for months, but was never quick enough until a few weeks ago. On a Sunday morning I logged into my Resy account (if you aren’t logged in, Resy will text you a security code and by the time you get the code the reservation is gone – learned that the hard way for Jon’s birthday) and at 8:59:58ish I refreshed and clicked on the first time slot I could see. The miracle happened, we were confirmed for a Saturday lunch at 1:15pm! I know it sounds dramatic, but it really feels like the Hunger Games of making a dinner reservation.
After a quick subway ride, we were very excited to be seated at our table. The interior is very cozy and small, but it didn’t feel like the tables were on top of each other. It looked like a pretty even mix of couples and groups of friends catching up over a delicious meal. The menu is relatively small so it’s easy to decide on what to order. We started with a Margarita, The Italian Coffee Situation, and Stuffed Garlic Flatbread. The bread tasted like spinach artichoke dip and it was cheesy, garlicky heaven.
If you come here for the first time you have to order the famous Lasagna for Two. It is expensive ($68), but you could easily have this as your only entrée and be stuffed or share it with the table. Jon was impressed how thin the noodles were. It was such a creamy and delicious lasagna.
We also ordered the Veal “Da Pepi” which was a veal schnitzel topped with prosciutto and arugala. It was a great complement to the lasagna.
Jon and I were STUFFED and definitely did not earn the clean plate award. We were eying the tiramisu for dessert, but we were just too full! The leftovers made for a delicious dinner once we were hungry again.
We loved our meal here and I’d highly recommend dining at Don Angie if you can get a reservation! We would definitely go back to try more of the menu. You don’t have to twist my arm when it comes to Italian comfort food!
Congratulations on getting a reservation!! Securing one in a Michelin starred or plated restaurant here is, sadly, a similar challenge!
Thank you! It makes sense why it’s so hard to get a reservation, but that doesn’t make it any less frustrating haha
The food looks delicious!
Is that an espresso martini with Jon?
Essentially, but they used cold brew instead of espresso. I think they’re just trying to be different.
It was delicious!
Wow. I can see why you were wanting to visit the place. The food and drinks look amazing. Great Italian food with a twist. Thanks for sharing Lyssy. Allan
It was a great meal! Glad we finally made it in.
That’s the trouble with some restaurants, you have to work out the best way to get a reservation. Once secured, if asked if we’re celebrating anything special, I always say: « Yes, finally securing a reservation here »
That’s a great line! I might have to start using that 🙂
It always goes down well 😎
I wish you’d videoed the happy dance you did when you finally secured the reservation – ha. The “Italian Coffee Situation” looks like a latte straight up (unsweetened)? I love the way you worded your first sentence about the lasagna – makes it sound like ordering the dish is mandatory to eat at the restaurant. $68 is a little easier to swallow considering you made a second meal out of it later. Good choice to pass on the tiramisu since it probably doesn’t travel well.
We have a NY Italian restaurant here in our little town with similar standards. Reservations can’t be made until the day you want to go (and only by phone). No kids. No takeout. No modifications to the advertised preps. Ingredients flown in from Italy. Pricey. But the sacrifices are well worth it in exchange for the delicious food. Definitely a “special occasion” kind of place.
After I made the reservation Jon asked why it was so early. I said you get what you get, I’ve been trying for months. His drink was cold brew and vodka. The lasagna is really mandatory, people would think you’re crazy if you don’t order it.
That restaurant sounds amazing! It is definitely worth it to splurge for special occasions, you can easily taste the difference of a high quality restaurant with special ingredients. Way better than Olive Garden!
Wow, so many yummy dishes. Don Angie looks like one of those places where you might leave with a sense of existential dread about what you didn’t get to try. I would love to sample Stuffed Garlic Flatbread filled with garlic and cheese, served pizza-style as I like food that is salty, crispy, cheesy, garlicky, and a little oily in a mostly good way. Thanks for sharing and have a good day 🙂 Aiva xx
If only you could order a sample plate of everything on the menu! The garlic bread was heavenly, you’d love it! I’d never seen anything look like that before. Hope you have a great day!
We’re not Italian, but we do love Italian food. Don Angie’s fare looks amazing, and I’m sure it is if you say so 🙂 I can’t imagine having to “compete” for a reservation time, but I’m in a small town compared to NYC. Are there a lot of restaurants in the city that require scrambling for a reservation?
Italian food is so good! There are quite a bit of restaurants that are very hard to get into and I usually hear about them from Instagram. It’s mind blowing how many restaurants there are in NYC!
How wonderful that you just clicked at the right time and managed to secure a reservation Lyssy. The Italian comfort food looks delicious and I’m certain it was a memorable lunch for you both.
We were so happy to finally dine there and were even happier it lived up to the hype!
This place looks so good! I am impressed how quickly the reservations go here too!
It was an incredible meal!
Glad to hear that you were finally able to snag a reservation for this restaurant. That lasagna looks dynamite! It sounds like it was worth the wait!
It was awesome, I’d have been sad if it didn’t live up to the hype. Some people think it’s overrated, but we enjoyed it!
Glad you finally secured your table at this coveted restaurant, and that you weren’t disappointed. The lasagna, and everything else, looks absolutely amazing,
Yum! It looks like an amazing restaurant 🙂