Bar pasta! (Image: Donna’s)

With reporting by Alex Garland
First Hill classic Vito’s might be forever stuck in Seattle nightlife limbo but its spirit and some of the real people who made the legendary nightspot work are back in business at the base of Capitol Hill.

CHS noted the opening of Donna’s here earlier this month along E Olive Way. Owners Austin Polley and Benjamin Smith tell CHS the new bar is more than a nod to the dearly departed First Hill hangout.

“We have like four people from Vito’s here,” Polley said. “We’re just like ‘Vito it up!'”

“Vito’s means so much to so many people.”

The new sister bar to E Olive Way’s Rose Temple, Donna’s is now open a few blocks down the curving street after taking over the space formerly the Speckled and Drake and once home to comfy nightspot The Living Room and, before that, Capitol Hill curiosity shop the Anne Bonny.

“We’re downtown,” Smith says of the vibe at this Capitol Hill elevation. “We know and love the Hill. We’re excited to be at the bottom.”

Donna’s isn’t going anywhere

The location, the Capitol Hill business partners hope, opens Donna’s up for lively happy hour possibilities and will help make the major investment of time, effort, and money pay off in building out a full kitchen for the bar. Former Vito’s sous chef Peaches runs the joint and is putting the new setup to work with a menu of pasta and more.

“We knew we wanted to do pasta but we didn’t know how ‘Italian’ we wanted to be,” Polley said.

The kitchen is open til midnight on Thursdays through Saturdays and 10 PM the rest. The hope is to eventually offer late night food every night of the week.

Like Rose Temple, Donna’s will feature pop-up collaborations in the kitchen on Sundays, a feature that gives the team a night off while also opening new opportunities for up and coming food and drink ventures to take shape.

Also like Rose Temple, Polley and Smith say they are not trying “to take things too serious” at Donna’s and hope the new joint feels “timeless and approachable.” Donna’s is “a little more cocktail-y” and elevated than Rose Temple, they say.

Donna’s is being shaped with echos of Vito’s with the blessing of the nightclub’s owner Greg Lundgren. He ways Vito’s remains closed indefinitely after a damaging fire last summer in the E Madison building it calls home. Earlier this year, Lundgren told CHS the building’s owner was still in negotiations with the insurance company and “they remain uncertain if the building will be torn down or rebuilt.”

Art from Vito’s now hangs above the Donna’s bar along with chandeliers brought back to life from the shuttered First Hill joint. Unfortunately, the Vito’s cougar hasn’t been spotted.

Donna’s is located at 1355 E Olive Way and open daily 4 PM to 2 AM. Check @donnas.seattle for updates.

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