Donna Jean, San Diego CA

Donna Jean has been a go-to neighborhood place for Vegan Pizza, but after this last takeout experience we were deeply disappointed.

To start, I was put on hold for 10 minutes before giving up and calling in with another phone. They took my order right away, so I do not understand why I had been on hold so long for the first call.

We ordered a pizza (four horsemen), the squash pasta, and the cauliflower appetizer. They told us it would take around 35 minutes which was accurate but seems fairly long for what we ordered.

The squash took much longer than the rest of the order, so the Pizza was slightly soggy and the cauliflower was cold. Worst of all the portion sizes were TINY for what we payed for. You can see the portions in the picture, but seriously? The cauliflower was $9 for mid-taste and 4 florets. The squash was over $20 for a tiny portion with alright flavor as well. We always get the pizza, but it was soggy because of the wait.

This was extremely disappointing. Please either lower your prices or increase your portion size, and at a minimum improve your customer experience. I do not recommend this restaurant for anyone looking for a fairly priced meal with quality service in San Diego and we will no longer be returning customers.

I can't recommend this place enough. We were just driving by looking for a bite and got lucky enough to stop here. It's a vegan restaurant with the most unique and delicious meals! We were quite surprised and delighted by the butternut squash gnocchi, and the salad was one of the best I've ever had. The staff was so accommodating and friendly, and the atmosphere with outdoor seating and lights everywhere was romantic and relaxing. A top-notch dining experience.

Absolutely loved their mushroom pizza when partner and I were here in October 2022. Fantastic vegan food and excellent service.

This was fabulous. The lasagna was some of the best I have had, vegan or not. The chicken fried shrooms were crunchy and had a great, creamy gravy. The greens were just the right amount of salty. Our server was friendly and helpful. The atmosphere was nice, although the music was just a touch loud for my taste. Everything was beautifully presented.

Food was really great. This has to be my favorite vegan pizza ever! Really delicious and great flavor. I recommend the 4 Hoursemen pizza.

Tried to place an order for pickup for the 3rd straight time as soon as they open and they cannot fulfill (not for 2hrs). So frustrating, given that we live in the hood and love their pizza. Anyone got alternative suggestions?

Delicious food. Prices are on the higher side but the food was excellent. We got a salad, the lasagna and a pizza and all were delicious.

I was hoping that a VEGAN restaurant would have a wide assortment of vegetable dishes. Sadly, this was not the case. Rather, this place specializes in starch (pizza, bread, pasta) and non-dairy cheese - LOTS OF NON-DAIRY CHEESE. Most of the few vegetables they have are for appetizers or pizza toppings. There is an entree with broccoli as an ingredient. Some of the pastas have mushrooms, lentils, tomatoes, & beans. Mostly what almost every dish has is lots of NON-DAIRY CHEESE.
I had the truffle dill agnolotti. It was AWFUL, which made me less upset that the whole entree could fit in a measuring cup - with room to spare. It was oily, heavy and smelled like it was just about to go bad. The fitful sleep I had that night made me wonder if indeed the food had gone off. I think, though, that the non-dairy cheese was just so oily and heavy that it sat in my stomach, quite unhappily.
Dessert was an improvement. A friend had pseudo-cheesecake that tasted like no cheesecake I've ever had. The apple pie was good. In fact, it was the best thing I had there.
I guess because these folks make their own non-dairy cheese they want to include lots of it in most of their food. Their non-dairy cheese goes bad quickly - in a week or less - so it seems they use as much of it as they can in their offerings.
Ironically, I got FEWER vegetables at this VEGAN restaurant than I do at most non-vegan or non-vegetarian restaurants.

Aspen took fantastic care of us! Everything was amazing: fried mushroom was better than any fried chicken I've ever had, their lasagna was delicious (best I've ever had + it's vegan!)

I fell in love with Donna Jean on my first trip to San Diego to the point that it was the first thing on my mind during my visit 6 mos ago. They weren't open for dinner so I used my airplane wifi to order and then email some higher up person on staff (possibly the owner) and ask that they postpone my order so it could be fresh when I arrived. I lost the connection but the man came through even though he was in the Midwest for some reason. We walked through the beautifully lit garden to the shop, everyone was lovely, I bought some cheese and a tote. In retrospect I feel like a nightmare client but at that moment when I read the confirmation email, I cried from joy.

Lovely and intimate, with nice decor and tables both inside and out, non-gendered bathrooms and very LGBTQ+ friendly. We noticed lots of people on dates. Our servers were very friendly.

For the food:

House Bread: delicious, just get it

Hot Shrooms: two of us enjoyed these, one doesn’t like mushrooms but conceded these were better than most, one thought they were too fried

Really Good Salad: fresh, crisp, tasty, and well dressed (we usually do not like raisins, but the pickled raisins were surprisingly good)

Cast Iron Mac and Cheese, Raviolo: both yummy

The Bronx: the person who ordered this said it wasn’t among his favorite pizzas, but he ate the entire thing

This place has some of the best flavors I've ever tasted, they make their cheese in-house using all plant-based ingredients making it a true vegan gem. Plus our waiter Michael was super pleasant and attentive. I will be back again and again.
- next time I'll make a reservation although I was able to walk in today with a party of four.

Everything made in-house, the freshest, most amazing tasting food. We had pizza and pasta - both were delicious. Our waitress was really friendly and cheerful.

The food is very good and the patio is adorable. The pasta was unbelievable and better than the pizza - I’d say the pizza could have gone lighter on the cheese ideally. Still an A+ experience!

Well the pizzas and appetizer arrived an hour and a half after pickup and it was all cold. Perhaps consider using a real delivery service and not some random 3rd part App who just hands off the order to the cheapest bidder. So sad considering your accolades. Disappointed for sure.

Also, your missing the spiced tempeh on the About Damn Time.

Absolutely delicious vegan Italian restaurant. I tried the Mac and cheese and four horsemen pizza. Definitely better to make a reservation as there can be a long wait. It seems you can even order ahead and get take out. Pizza took awhile as they had so many orders but it was worth the wait.