Donovan's Steak & Chop House Review

The food was so savory. Looking forward to returning with my friends. This place has a good design. Feels similar to a cafe in Chicago I liked.

Pros: Both steaks were tender, seasoned well, and cooked perfectly. Filet salad was perfect sized meal. Staff was great.
Cons: shrimp was terrible and rubbery.
I thought it was overpriced. We had 1 appetizer and 2 entrees...spent $135.

Very nice place. Rich cuts of meat, the place is beautiful. Worth spending a few dollars.

It's amazing and I've gone to it on special occasions ever since I found out about it.

This place will surprise you. Prices are fair. Feeling here is similar to a cafe in San Jose I liked.

The atmosphere, service and food of the restaurant are very good. There were many locals who came to the store with a little dressing up, and it was full on Friday night.
I had a Tomahawk steak, but I was impressed with the quality of the grilled meat after a long time.
The price is reasonable, but it is also recommended for a little entertainment.

When it comes to a top notch steak experience there isn't anyone who does it better from a high level multi restaurant point. I've been to Ruth's Chris and Morton's but Donovan's is a touch above and delivers excellent food with exceptional service. I love dining here and celebrating my daughters birthday because she wanted a juicy steak made it even better because it was her first time of many more to come!

Best steak I have had in a long time.The service was phenomenal!

Great happy hour with free steak sandwiches/burritos!

Outstanding. Had the ribeye. Amazing. Expensive though. But worth it.

Top notch food. Excellence in service. Expect to get what you pay for (but don't expect it to be cheap).

One of the best steaks we've ever had! The staff was amazing can't wait to go back

Best steak I have ever ate. Service was impecible. A must if you are traveling to San Diego

The food is amazing and is so juicy and perfectly done. Love it!

Excellent food and service in the heart of the Gaslamp District

So the wife and I went to Donovan's Steak and Chop House for dinner and the staff are very courteous and professional. Three of them work as a team with Charles as the leader and they made sure that we were well taken care of. I can't say I'm a big fan of Lamb but if I ever have it again I hope it's just as good as it was here. We had what they called " Lamb Chop Lollipops " for the appetizer and it was da bomb! It comes with a baked potato kinda hollowed out and filled with Ranch dressing. My better half had the Alaskan King Crab and I had the Bone-in Beef Ribeye steak (I think it was 24oz) and my steak was great. I can't speak about the crab legs cause I can't eat them but I can say that my wife was pleased because she didn't gripe about a single thing. Her salad was awesome too. In fact IMO it could make for a great lunch meal by itself. We ended with the Tripple Chocolate Brownie with Haagen-dazs vanilla ice cream and slowly waddled out to the car. Truly an experience that you should share with someone special. The atmosphere is like during the 50s or 60s with music from Frank Sinatra, Ray Charles and others from that era. It is kinda dark in the restaurant but still light enough to see what you're getting. Yes it can be expensive but it was great to be catered to and for the wife to have everything the way she wanted. Win Win for me.

Did I mention how good the Lamb Chop Lollipops were?

Everything is excellent, service, first class steak.

I wish there were more places like this around town. I had a cousin come into town and she asked me to go back here. The bill was reasonable I would say. Food is like a restaurant in Louisville I loved.

Good meat and also wine. Beautiful location, nice and helpful staff, good value for money. Recommended.

Nice place, good quality in their products by a reasonable price.

The menus are lit... Like they have led backlit menus. The food is great but the price high.

No doubt an excellent restaurant, good location in the center of San Diego, good cuisine, excellent service, good wine cellar, very nice place in all aspects, excellent appetizers and desserts, spectacular cuts

For the price, I expect the steak to taste much better than it did. I ordered the peppercorn filet and it was average at best. The sides were nothing special, but it is nice to have them included with the meal. The sauteed mushrooms were pretty good, and the chop salad was the best part of the meal, which is disappointing and a steak place. Service was good, they weren't hanging around your table like some places seem to encourage their wait staff to do.

Very classy with delicious dishes and generous service. The staff was friendly and helpful, even with our casual attire (printed t-shirts).

Love the downtown location. My go to steak and chop restaurant. Every time I go there it's perfect.

Enjoyed our time at the bar with Angelique and dinner with Charles.

In the past this has been a very pricey but nice place to enjoy fine dining. The last trip we made was not the best visit. I received the wrong dinner which would not be to bad but I specifically shared that the last visit I enjoyed the steak with stuffed blue cheese and I wanted to order that again. I received shrimp and streak instead. I do not care for shrimp. I then ask if I still got the desert with the new dinner and if yes can I change it to the Oreo desert. They said no problem left and there was the cream Brule' instead of the Oreo. No words, no apology just the bill for 395.44. I will not be celebrating at Donovan's again, not for that price.

service was very slow and smug. several times we had to remind the waiter of missing items. the food was mediocre and was not very well paced. drinks took 40 minutes to make it to the table. the waiter kept pushing the seafood platters as appetizers and when we ordered one he insisted we needed 2. the waiter neglacted the price but it turns out they were 145 a piece and we could not even finish the appitizers. ate here a year ago and liked it but will be finding another place to each with everything considered. dinner turn around time was 3 hours and over 1k for 9 people.

Saw this on food network and went for happy hour to taste the steak sandwiches. Sat down and the waitress told us they don t do that anymore. We left, why are they still using the advertising. So wrong.

Service was a little slow, on a slow night. A bit pricey for the quality.

Most enjoyable. Great food, drinks, & atmosphere. Great for a high-end, romantic date or evenings with friends.

We were wondering around the Gaslamp District in San Diego, wondering where to eat. I was looking for a BWW, but my wife decided to try out Donovan's, because of the reviews she had read as we were walking around. I was of the opinion that it would be really expensive and not that much better than other Steak Chophouse restaurants, to justify the price. How completely wrong I was !!!
We went on a Saturday evening at around 7pm and it was still quite light outside, as we stepped in to the darkened interior, it felt like I had stepped into a dark and dingey, basement like bar. As my eyes adjusted to the low light, I realised just how rich and sumptuous the restaurant was. It gave you the feeling that you had just stepped back in time and been invited to an exclusive dinner event. The bar and the glass screens and dark wood as well as the subdued lighting really set the scene. I instantly felt under dressed, but I needn't have worried. The staff made you feel instantly special, and even though we hadn't reserved a table, the hostess quietly went about her business seated us at a romantically placed table for 2, away from the larger tables. Because of the impact of the ssetting and the attitude of the host and hostess, I just thought, "note to self, this is where I bring my wife for a special occasion, next time we're in San Diego".
The service was top notch. Attentive but not obtrusive. Our waiter was very knowledgeable about the menu and the extensive wine list; the evenings special was well presented and descriptive, so much so, that, after much deliberation, that's what I ordered. The level of lighting inside the establishment is low enough to give you a sense of private dining but high enough to be able to see your food and the person across from you. It had a candlelight quality to it, without the candles. Seeing the menu was easy, the menus are gently lit from behind, demonstrating the restaurant's dedication to giving their clientele the exclusive feeling, "no need to spoil the ambience by turning the lights up, just gently light the menus !!!" Inspired.
So, I had the 16oz prime rib with potatoes and sauteed mushrooms and asparagus. Cooked to perfection. My wife ordered the 8oz fillet mignon, rare; again, cooked to perfection. It really was a relaxing, enjoyable dining experience. My wife and I actually spoke about the service, There's good service and there's great service, the level from all the staff at Donovans, was EXCELLENT.
I remember at one point, my wife and I were in fits of supressed laughter at something that had happened a few days ago; the waiter approached our table, smiled and just refilled our water glasses and faded away. He didn't ask if we wanted anything else or do we want more water, which would have killed the mood, he just let us enjoy the moment. He came back later ( when we'd stop crying with laughter ) and we ordered another couple of glasses of their gorgeous Argentinian Cabernet Sauvignon.
All in all, it was fantastic dining experience and somewhere I'd recommend you go for a special occasion or when you want to feel special.
Thank you Donovan's, you made our first evening in San Diego a memorable one.
Oh, by the way. For dessert, try the Tiramisu. Designed and perfected by the chef's at Donovan's. It's lovely.

Solid steakhouse serving cornfed Midwestern beef. I had the Cajun ribeye, it was a little over flavored but it was cooked great. Not a huge fan of their martinis. Service was solid though had 3 people taking care of different aspects of my meals.

Excellent wine list. Staff is very knowledgable and makes incredible pairings with wine and food. Highly recommend sitting at the bar for the best experience.

Great service, excellent steak(ribeye) and exhaustive wine list.

Expensive, especially high wine markups, but outstanding high end prime steakhouse. Amazing NY strip! I've had fresher oysters, but I still rate the place very highly.

I love this place so much. This place has a cool atmosphere.

Their food is amazing and the ambiance as romantic as well. Their service was a little slow and at times it was hard to get the attention of the waiter. But I would still go there just for the food alone!

Great atmosphere, great food, great cocktails. My favorite is the French Pear Martini. Having a few of those sitting outside in Gaslamp and people watching is a fun night!

Great place to eat. Best steak in the USA and it comes with the best service in town. If you don't want meat the Salmon is incredible. Their wine selection is second to none and you don't like what they have they will let you bring yours for a corking fee.

Great steaks. Service was good. Just a little uncomfortable in the bar setting.

looking forward to coming back with my relatives. the bill was decent. if it wasn't far from my work i would come by more.

Very nice. We went with a family that had two small children. The one was very hungry and noisy. The staff accommodated his eating by making something that was not strictly on the menu. They worked with the language barrier. This is not a place I would recommend for small children but they rose to the occasion and did very well. It was appreciated.

Best food i have EVER had, i ordered the filet mignon with a side of bakon rapped scalops and i almost licked my plate because of how good it was, for desert i had the oreo cake. A slice of cake with oreo cookie crust and vinilla icecream and chocolate icecream in the middle all together the best meal i had in my life

Nothing beats chewing a prime steak while inhaling the excellent ambiance that Donovan's provides.

Love it whenever I go back...

Great steaks, impressive selection of wines. Highly recommended.

Loved the appetizers during happy especially the burger and ahi tuna.

Had a great time! Great service... Excellent food (as you'd expect)!!! Thanks, D!

If I could give this place 10 stars that's not enough, absolutely phenomenal service. Food was great, waiters are there for your every whim. Just all around great service and food. Will definitely be enjoying another meal here soon!!

Service was not good, very slow compared to other times I've been there.

If you want to pay 2030s prices for 1950s food this is your place. Food very was good, but nothing was amazing. An extremely lacking beer list in San Diego? How you cannot put together a decent 5 or 10 beers on draft in SD is beyond me. Service gets 5 stars though. Great service. Raising my review to 4 stars for ambience and environment. I realize some people really like the classic steak House. Just not my thing.

Excellent steak and drinks. A fun fact to know is that the menus light up! Be careful with the hard candy up front however as it could possibly cut your tongue.

If you want an intimate, excellent (and expensive) restaurant experience, don't go here. This lovely place is in San Diego's Gaslamp District, adjacent to the convention center. Their bread and butter is large, loud and drunk convention parties. Our meal was punctuated by more Mother F'rs than I ever care to hear again . . .and the staff did nothing. Understand: those out of town low class jerks is where they make their money and YOU DON"T MATTER. I've never left a dinner more angry. And when I complained? Nothing but defensiveness. Never again!

So sad that this place closed down. It was amazingm maybe the best place i rver ate.

Go during happy hour to get the free Philly cheesesteak sandwiches and fillet burritos serve weekdays 4 to 6 PM at one of the best steak houses in town. Multiple locations.

I've been here for Restaurant Week and had a mighty fine steak and excellent service but visited recently for the happy hour which features those FREE Philly steak sandwiches and burritos. Getting to happy hour at 4 has its perks, meaning that not many people are there yet translating to more sandwiches for me! They are delicious!

The dirty martini (and all specialty drinks) are $10 ($5 off the regular price) and the asterisk'd wines on the list are $6 during the 4-6 happy hour. Sipping a martini in a beautiful space can really make you feel like a lady (or gentleman).

What probably made our experience (other than those eats) was our amazing server, Brett! Loved him and was bummed when a second (less friendly) server began to come around and upset our friends and people around us. I think he was rattled by by the groups of people, not just ours. We weren't rowdy, but we were celebratory. Thank goodness for Brett, a true pro.

Tip: Check out the street parking on 3rd that has the pay to park options. If you get there before 5, you can probably beat the crowd and then pay about $3.50 for parking like I did rather than the expensive lots.

Probably the best 10 ounce Peppercorn Filet I've ever had. Awesome creamed Spinach as well.

We went here because we saw a review on the Food Network's "Best Thing I Ever Ate"...we were really hoping to try the CheeseSteak sandwiches during Happy Hour. Unfortunately, they are no longer given out. Fortunately, the Food and drink we had was incredible. I had the Stone IPA and my wife had a Donovan's Lemonade. We shared the Steak Quesadilla which was Awesome! They know Steak of course. Delicious food and great drinks. Enjoy!

My wife and I sat in the bar area, it was very nice and our server was great.

The most delicious filet minion I've ever had! So good we drove 400 miles to get it

Food was good the service was average. Our server was more concerned with talking to his fellow employees.

Thr do not serve free steak sandwiches or any food free anymore but the steak skewers are very good.

The staff is friendly, and the food and drinks are delicious; but that is no reason to have such expensive menu items! Also, the lighting is poor.

Big prices for mediocre food. Rather have a steak at Chili's.

Great drinks, great food, great service, great Padres atmosphere. Need a place to go before the game? You just found it

Amazing restaurant with an extensive wine list. One of the best dining experiences I've ever had.

Great but expensive. Service beyond all expectations.