Donna

I’m definitely coming back to Donna. I came here to kill time while I waited for a friend’s grad party. I very much enjoyed the diverse and interesting cocktail menu. I had the Wander With Me and operation Bootstrap punch. Both were amazing. The staff were very pleasant.

Really pretty room. Very good drink.

I’m really not the type of person to return a drink, but this was truly horrible. The strawberry smoothie happy hour cocktail was just un-​drinkable. Server took it away but charged us for it. No.

Please update your menus! You apparently have not served brunch in 6 months but it was advertised on your menu a couple of weeks ago, so we walked in the cold rain from the M train all excited about your supposed «unlimited brunch.»

This place is fine.
$ 13 for a glass of wine is way more than I want to pay when I go out, so there’s that…
The crowd is copies of the same person, all trying way too hard to get sex.
Despite being kind of far from the subway, there’s a lot of people in here — which was disappointing.
Whatevs.

I love places like this. I was packed when we went and somewhat hard to get a seat, but it’s okay. Staff was stressed, to the point where they were responding a bit snappy. Great place, despite that stuff. But they should consider an extra person working the weekends.

These people really care about what their pouring. Great service. Their cocktail menu is great and very animated (great little symbols). The atmosphere is great. My girlfriend said she felt like she was back in Barcelona. I thought it was well executed down to the glassware.
Had the milk punch on draft and the vice frozen cocktail (mix of strawberry negroni and mentha branca piña colada) and both I would order again and again. My girlfriend loved the autumn drink, but for me it was just standard very good.
Tacos were very good. You can’t beat their taco happy hour!

SO GOOD FOR TACO TUESDAYS :)
Best neighborhood bar in South Williamsburg.

Swagger. Here we are having frozen dranks. Jake and half of the crew are in California doing some mega jump. Just got a load of nachos to cope with the stress of having a homey fly 3000 miles away. Dranks go. Chips don’t go so hard. They may be out of a bag but so what. Askeddit

Donna
NY Brooklyn Williamsburg
6pm Thursday 29^th January 2016
Four Stars
I walked into a completely empty place but the staff were welcoming. The space was hip: open space, wooden stools, wooden floors, white walls, and dim lighting. The long bar is the definite focal point for the space with a bookcase of interesting rum, tequila, mezcal, whiskey, and other liquors. I used my Whiskey Passport to drink a Medley Brothers Bourbon Old Fashion. It was a half pour of whiskey served in a thin rocks, with three cold draft ice cubes and garnished with both a large orange peel and smaller lemon peel. It was a bit too sweet for my taste.
They had Chicharron (fried pork skins) on the menu but were no longer available. The bartender offered me an empanada instead … which they were also not serving. Instead, I decided to take advantage of their M-​F 5 – 7 Happy Hour and get half off Chicken Pibil Tacos ($ 9 regularly). The double corn tortillas were soft. The shredded chicken was for the most part tender and must be housemade because I found a little piece of tendon. The avocado was more like guacamole spread on the bottom. The toppings of crema, pico, and tomatillo made for a decent bite to eat.
The cocktail menu was fun and interesting. It included infographics displaying the style of each of the cocktails. The Frozen cocktail machine was not working so I opted for the milk punch which came a cool Frank Gehry looking glass. It was sweet, not milky, and not that special.
This place has some definite growing pains but overall I really enjoyed myself.

Love the drinks, love the vibe, love the music… my go-​to in this area, preferably before dancing my butt off at Bembe.

My partner and I slinked over here after a show at Baby’s All Right and cozied up in a corner by the entrance on a sleepy Friday evening (sleepy and Friday admittedly are not typically written together, I’m aware).
There was a specific drink I’d thought would be on the menu, but given my propensity to read old thrillist/​eater articles, it’s likely that the selections got flipped for the fall/​winter season. regardless, i asked the waitstaff for a hot cocktail recommendation and went with a classic toddy. now, you’d think a hot toddy is nothing to write home about, but actually I find the simple cocktails are the ones that are the easiest to really muck up. not so here, thankfully! i thoroughly enjoyed my toddy and the ambience of the space.
although they’re well known for their drinks, i think it’d actually be more fun to come here for a meal, since that portion of the space felt much more energetic (and also somewhat separated from the bar area).
plus i mean, breakfast tacos are pretty hard to come by in this city, so any place that even entertains the concept is alright in my book.

Overall, a very positive experience, would definitely come back.
— great cocktails — especially the Milk Punch
— The pork tacos are tasty
— The shrimp ones were also good, but a little watery
— Great guac
— Friendly service
— Nice interior

«Where is this place?!! In the river?»
I absolutely love this place.
1. It does not seem to have an overly «hipster» vibe that has affected much of NYC. I will say this observation may be due to the fact that I was at Donna’s on a Monday night (I think there was about 10 people in the place). I’m pretty sure that this place is very busy on Weekend nights.
2. They have a great assortments of cocktails AND FROZEN drinks. The strawberry negroni (11 bucks) is to die for. Unfortunately, that was the only cocktail that I had so I cannot speak to the other drinks … Yet. I think that I will have to go back a few more times in order to get a full appreciation of the drink menu.
3. The food was oooookkkk. I ordered the pork tacos and they were pretty standard for an «upscale» place. The tacos did not compare to the drinks at all. Then again … I typically prefer booze to food.
4. My only complaint is that the place could use a little extra lighting, especially with so many different things on the menu.
5. The service was pretty on point.
6. I cannot wait to go back again.

I fell in love last Saturday.*
It doesn’t hurt that Donna looks good. Actually, if we’re being honest, she’s downright beautiful (I can’t imagine a more stylish location for first date drinks, if you’re in the market).
And happily, Donna’s got the personality to match. Every cocktail we’ve tried on their menu** is interesting, unique, and so very, very tasty. The Mirror Maze, The Riverboat Gambler, The Rest for the Wicked… I’d gladly revisit any of these again, except that because of the high quality, I’m more interested in seeing what the untried options have to offer.
Best of all, because of the location, the price point, and who knows what else, I don’t dread coming in even on a Saturday. Many of the tables were reserved, but there was plenty of seating for our small party. I can’t speak to the food yet as I have yet to sample Donna’s tacos, etc., but that’s just another reason to return.
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*I’m not saying I’d leave my wife for Donna, but as my pal Sean says, «Hopefully they’ll menage before I reach my garage.»
**I love the little icon indicating how it’s served.

I love this spot. I came here on a Friday night to have some drinks to kick off my birthday weekend celebration. The place has a real nice chill vibe. Music’s low enough that you can easily hold a conversation with friends.
I ordered the Autumn’s Edge after trying my friend’s drink. I wish I could make this my go to cocktail everywhere I go. It’s so good! We ordered some pork and shrimp tacos from the ½ happy hour deal. These tacos were awesome!
Our serve Olya was awesome. We bonded over talking about our signs, I’m a Scorpio, she a Taurus and both of us Leo rising. A few minutes late, she brought me and my guest complimentary birthday drinks. That was a really sweet touch.
The drinks are on the expensive side (frozen drinks start at $ 11 and regular cocktails at $ 14). I wish there were more options for these drinks to be included in the happy hour. Other than that, cool spot.

Love this place. There new menu is excellent. When I go out for a drink, I like to try something I can’t replicate or make at my home bar. Donna does a great job in specialty drinks, and they use hard to find ingredients. My money is well spent here. They have a nice brunch as well.

Donna’s that girl you dated, who didn’t have her act together, then you see her again and you’re like «Damn girl, where you been?»
Donna wasn’t my favorite bar in South Willy B, but after she closed down for awhile, some changes were made and I finally went back. I’m glad I gave her another shot.
There were problems. The Mac Book DJ. The overcrowding bar area. The slow service. None of that remains. It’s all gone. It’s like someone who went from tragic mess young adult, to «Yo, they got their masters and know how to do things without googling it first.»
They have one of the best cocktail menus in Brooklyn. I can’t say it enough. Bars need to label their cocktails with not just the ingredients, but also the cup it’s served in, type of ice, (up, rocks, crushed), and if it’s stirred or shaken. I have the right to know God dammit!
As for the cocktails they have always been amazing. Even when homegirl didn’t have everything going on, she always could make a great drink. Just tried the Better Red Than Dead, the other night. Get on that.
My only remaining quarrel is the bathroom. Don’t get me wrong. They’re beautiful. It has a classic look for the old building that it’s in. What’s the issue then? The sink. The sink is one you’d find in your grandmother’s apartment. There’s a cold faucet and a scolding lava faucet, that bring out two different streams of water/​lava from two different pipes. Even if you turn the scolding lava faucet a millimeter, it’s still scolding hot lava. Don’t touch it. Don’t ever touch it. Be careful, she will burn you.
In the end, you should give Donna a first or second chance. But I’m telling you Donna, I don’t give third chance. Don’t mess up!

I have mixed feelings about Donna. We came as a part of the LOADed Cocktail passports. It was a great bar — dim lighting, fancy bar, nice décor and layout, sort of a Puerto Rican feel. We also ended up getting some pretty good drinks (not as good as Randolph Brooklyn but pretty close second)!
The only downside is the loud music and how crowded it gets. It’s going to be hard to get a seat and whenever you walk around, you will inevitably have to wade through all of the people!

This place is awesome. I stopped in while working on an article about hot cocktail spots in South Williamsburg and fell in love. This place is beautiful! Low light, gorgeous big bar, and tall cathedral ceilings. gorg! The service was fantastic as well. I was really impressed with how helpful everyone was! The bartender was more than happy to tell me all about their most popular drinks. The Brancolada should be world renowned… no really it should. The texture was ON POINT. Not icey but frozen… soft and creamy but not sickly sweet… damn that is a good cocktail! A DJ is always up playing great «loungey» music but it was never overpowering, just great ambiance.
On my last visit I had some of the tacos they offer — I was very impressed. The pork taco was delicious and my Mexican corn in a cup… to DIE.
See ya this weekend Donna ;)