Business & Tech

O'Donjo's Offers Great Food in a Great Atmosphere

Great food can be found at O'Donjo's, which is in the old Bean Encounter building.

When I sat down for lunch at O'Donjo's, I scanned the menu. I had to do a double take. There on the menu was an option for clams that were not breaded and fried before they came to my table. I was so excited that I missed that the clams, which are served on the shell, had bacon. Missing that was hard to do since the dish was called BLT clams.

I am weird about bacon. I don't like it mixed in my dishes. I like it on my plate with my eggs, but I don't like how it changes the taste of a dish into a smokey, hickory flavor. But, these clams were pretty amazing. I finished my dish. And that was after I devoured a small serving of a Caprese salad. The mozzarella was fresh and the tomatoes, basil and vinaigrette were served perfectly.

I dined with Three Rivers Arts Council executive director Amy Hayes. We had to discuss the upcoming TRAC fundraisers and we both wanted to try the new restaurant in town. Patch will have a story on the events next week.

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Hayes started with a small serving of the Grape escape salad. The salad had romaine lettuce, grilled chicken, granola, red grapes and shaved parmesan, served with a red vinegrette.

"I thought the salad was amazing," she said.

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She added that the chicken on the salad was very good. For her lunch, she ordered the crab cakes, which the menu describes as Louisiana style.

"The crab cakes were very good, but they were a little spicy for me," she said. "If you're going for a Louisiana crab cake, that would be for you."

Both of us ordered the creme brulee for dessert. Regular readers know this is my favorite dessert. While the food that came to my table was incredible, the creme brulee needed a little attention. It had great flavor, but the top was not crisp enough and not thick enough. I am not sure if it needed more sugar or just a different or longer treatment when cooking. Despite this, I ate the whole thing.

I already want to go back to O'Donjo's. While I jumped on the clams, I did not order the grilled eggplant dinner dish, which I would have to see if they would prepare without the pasta twist. I enjoyed the food. I thought they did a good job updating the interior to change it from a coffee house/art space to a restaurant without eliminating the nicest touches such as the bar and the fireplace.


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