Donovan’s, it isn’t what they think it is!
Establishment: Donovan’s Steak & Chop House
Location: Downtown & La Jolla
I pity anyone who tries to make a living working at Donovan\’s either Downtown SD or La Jolla. The General Manger for the two locations- Steve Josefski tries to bill this place as the premier fine dining Steakhouse, however it is really a glorified Claim Jumper sans benefit of a well managed, professional work environment that a large, successful corporation tends to have.
If you\’re not already familiar, it might help for you to know that the failures of this organization really start at the top. Donovan\’s was started as a \"monument\" to honor the \"greatness\" of its namesakes, the owners- Don & Devan Wollan. It is with that sense of ego that the place was named and subsequently knighted by its owners as \"America\’s Best\" before the doors even opened- LOL! And what might you ask is the pedigree of the owners of the self-proclaimed \"America\’s Best\" Steakhouse? Don Wollan was one of the first franchise owners of TGI Fridays(where he made his fortune) and his wife Devan was a barmaid who he dated and eventually married.
The lack of fine dining prowess is evident immediately when you visit Donovan\’s. The downtown San Diego restaurant that I worked at is especially embarrassing to work at. There are tall bar height tables in part of the \"Dining Room\" sans traditional table settings because the silverware is in a \"roll-up\" (two forks and two knives rolled up in a white linen napkin) and placed in front of each table setting Sizzler style. The steak knives are the same flimsy, wood handled cutting implements that you would find at the Outback Steakhouse. The finish is well worn from use and washing and the blades themselves are scratched and sometimes bent. Once I asked one of the managers (Ben Sinon whom I\’ll talk more about later) what I should do with the bent knives and he said \"Roll \’em up and put them on the table\". The downtown location has only 1 uncomfortable, clumsy booth that seats up to 8 and is impossible to serve hot plated entrees to the back of booth guests due to its abnormal depth. Other than that, the entire dining room is made up of cramped table seating to encourage guests to leave immediately after dinner so they can turn the tables faster.
These restaurants bleed money because they are of poor reputation amongst serious diners. Nearly every table in the dining room is seated with elderly couples celebrating anniversaries and children celebrating Birthday parties so that they can get their free dessert, and drink bottomless sodas and coffee all night long. You\’re lucky if they order a glass of wine; perish the thought of your guests springing for a modest priced bottle!
The original owners, the Wollan\’s have had such financial difficulty with the restaurant that they\’ve had to take on addittional partners including Dean Spanos (Owner of San Diego Chargers) who use the restaurant as a personal entertaining ground as well- and they don\’t tip! So basically, if you\’re not serving cheap patrons, you\’re serving the cheap, hypercritical owners.
The menu is crudely simple and lacks identity. There are some steakhouse classics like a Caesar salad, Seafood platter appetizers, and various steaks; then there are some items that are just plain out of place such as a plate of giant onion rings. It was always tough to contain my laughter everytime I saw an order of onion rings with a big boat of ketchup being carried out to the dining room by a guy wearing a tuxedo and placing it on the white tablecloths for the guests dining pleasure. The rest of the boring menu speaks for itself so I won\’t elaborate.
The steaks are of Prime Quality but the management is grade D Chuck. The hierarchy of power is best described as a caste system where fear is the ruling ingredient to cook up obedient behavior in the staff. The owners spew a toxic brand of negativity which seeps layer by layer through the Donovan\’s chain of command so that even the newest employee feels it immediately. You see the restaurant is the Owner\’s private club so they are there often and they make a big production of their visit every time. They invite guests and will drink heavily in the bar where they will stay until their pre-arranged meal is set at their dining room table. Once they finally go to their table they will eat quickly- often times on their way to a show and leave abruptly, expecting you to box-up their remaining meal for them to come back and get later. It\’s like having the biggest nightmare guests you could imagine everytime…. And remember, THEY DON\’T TIP! They are Hypercritical, a theme that resonates throughout all of the Donohell\’s (my name for Donovan\’s that will be used herin). They have and will fire most of the staff including the restaurant manger on a whim. They fired a first rate staff at the downtown location and a wildly popular manager who took an active role in helping staff members earn their sommelier credentials.
The Managers at the downtown location consist of a lame-duck GM named Nicola Gabrielle who is soon-to-be-fired; but too stupid to realize it, and a young, racial epitat using, sexist remark making, rude young man (and I use the term man only to describe gender, not stature) named Ben Sinon. Ben is about 25 years old and far too young, inexperienced, and immature to hold his position. He openly uses sexist remarks and degrades employees. Nicola is just there. She might make a snippity or hypercritical comment from time-to-time to employees, but most of the time she is in the office text messaging whoever. Posivitive reinforcement is not a utilized management style. For example: If a guest writes a thank you note about your outstanding service on a given night you will not hear any praise or recognition. If on the other hand on that same night you make a simple error like bringing a guest a fresh steak knife immediatley after their entree arrives instead of before- you are likely to be given a written warning and read the riot act.
The worst and probably most dissapointing part of it all has to be the money. For all the crap you put up with- and believe me I don\’t have time to tell you about the rest, such as the arrogant dining captain hierarchy and the lack of training, and getting threatened with job loss at every company meeting…. THE TIPS SUCK! It\’s not like the REAL Steakhouses: Morton\’s or Fleming\’s where the Servers will bring home a legitimate $300-$400 per night. The most I ever made was $200 an I broke my tail to get it- 8 hours of work (oh yeah, you don\’t get breaks, but they make you clock out for one anyway to make it look like they are complying with labor laws). It\’s not unusual to make $50 or less than $100 per night on a regular basis. You can\’t make a living here, so save yourself the agony and just get a job at a bar- you\’ll make more money and have more fun 
Comments
DUDE, are you kidding me? Devan is my sister and Don is my brother-in-law. YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT YOU’RE TALKING ABOUT. They are the nicest people I have ever met. And you’re a joke. My sister was NEVER a barmaid. Learn your facts before you go running your mouth on the internet and make yourself sound completely STUPID. kthanks (:
And if she was a barmaid, it matters why? She married Don because she loves him. Now they own their own business. How about you grow up and stop running your mouth and giving false facts. Donovan’s IS one of “America’s Best” not just because Devan and Don say it is but because critics say it is. LOOK IN MAGAZINES. It was one of the countries Top 10. Donovan’s has been a major success. The first year I went out there they had the Governor there for a campaign. SOUNDS PRETTY SUCCESSFUL TO ME, BUD (:
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