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Walleye dinner with steamed broccoli at Donavito’s Italian Grille.

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Tortellini served in spicy Alfredo sauce at Donavito’s Italian Grille.

By Rebecca Nieminen Sloan

STRUTHERS

Donavito’s Italian Grille in downtown Struthers is known for its traditional Italian fare, but owner Alan Donatelli also cooks up some fantastic seafood.

His famous lightly-breaded walleye, for example, is melt-in-your-mouth mild and flavorful. Every Friday the walleye dinner, which comes with two sides and costs $11.49, is buy-one-get-one-half-off between 2 p.m. and 6 p.m.

“We specialize in Italian food, but we have a large menu with a lot of variety and a lot of popular favorites,” Donatelli said.

Many of those popular favorites are featured as weekly specials.

In addition to Friday’s walleye dinner, Monday’s special is the tortellini and pink sauce (buy one dinner, get another one half off) for $12.49. The spicy pink Alfredo sauce gives the cheesy tortellini a tangy kick. Add chicken for $2 or blackened chicken for $3.

Tuesday evenings at Donavito’s are truly festive with live jazz music and award-winning ribs.

Donatelli prepares his renowned ribs in a large cherry-wood smoker with superb results.

“I do a lot of catering — weddings, golf outings, reunions, graduation parties, holidays, sporting events — and I use the portable smoker to prepare a lot of the food I serve at these events,” Donatelli explained.

Wednesdays at Donavito’s are Mexican night and feature the famous Park Inn wet burrito, and Saturdays mean slow roasted prime rib dinners.

“We’re open on Sundays only during football season,” Donatelli said.

The Bridge Street restaurant has a down-home feel and boasts ample seating and a spacious bar area. “We can seat about 200 people,” Donatelli said. “We have a lot of loyal customers.”

Donatelli, who said he has always loved to cook, worked at other restaurants and attended International Culinary Academy in Pittsburgh before opening Donavito’s 12 years ago.

“I believe in quality and consistency,” he said. “Many of my ingredients come from a Cleveland specialty shop, and we make as much food fresh and from scratch as possible.”

In addition to the walleye and tortellini and pink sauce, I was fortunate to sample a few other house favorites during my visit.

The hearty lasagna ($13.99) has heaping portions of meat and cheese, and the filet Calabrese ($19.99), which consists of grilled filet mignon served with shrimp, scallops, crab meat and asparagus, will surely earn gourmet status from anyone who orders it.

Donatelli’s Italian greens are sauteed to succulent perfection, and he forgoes traditional Italian greens and uses milder, unexpected varieties.

The chicken and peppers ($13.49) — another house favorite — features tender chicken medallions sauteed with portobello mushrooms, yellow, red and hot peppers in a light marsala wine. It is superb.

Donatelli said he has been cooking since he was a kid and that it’s his primary passion.

“I’ve always loved to cook and have been doing so for basically 30 years,” he said. “I have met wonderful people here in Struthers. We have many local customers but also customers from farther away. We aren’t far from Boardman, Poland, Niles. I encourage people to come out and give us a try.”