By Mia Lupo –
The eighties- themed restaurant, Donick’s Soups, Sundaes, and More, is the perfect place for Salve students to go, whether they wish to find study places during finals or crave an ice cream sundae on a Saturday night.
Walking into Donick’s is like entering a wonderfully preserved time capsule that captures the best of the eighties. Posters of movies and television shows decorate the ceiling and the walls (The Breakfast Club, Ghostbusters) as well as Hollywood stars (Madonna, Johnny Depp) and bands (Guns N’ Roses).
Media Credit: Mia Lupo - It's a blast from the past!
Upon entering the restaurant, Working Girl was playing on the television, a movie featuring Alec Baldwin decades before 30 Rock, Harrison Ford during the height of his acting career, and Sigourney Weaver in a business suit instead of a CGI-animated character in Avatar.
Nick Maione, the owner, is just as positive, upbeat, and fun as his restaurant’s atmosphere.A graduate of University of Rhode Island, Maione knows that Donick’s suits the college lifestyle.
Maione knows that “college kids stay up” and want to have late-night snacks while studying during the week or a go-to on the weekend.
Maione wants locals to take advantage of Donick’s for its convenience and variety. The price range was set with locals in mind, and was not aimed towards tourists.
Maione encourages Salve students to come enjoy the restaurant’s atmosphere, even if they end up using it as a place to study.
Students can open a tab for food and drinks—if they stay for three hours or more, the tab is fifty percent off and coffee is free.
Comfort food best describes Donick’s creative menu selection. Nearly every dish has an innovative and creative eighties-themed name.
“Jumping Jack Flash” comes with three pancakes and two servings of sausage or bacon; the “Breakfast Club Sandwich” is a pretzel breakfast sandwich with a slice of syrup-soaked Portuguese sweet bread French toast in the middle.
The ice cream sundaes have the best names—“Raiders of the Lost Bark,” “Miami Vice,” “E.T. Phone Home” and “Acid Bath.”
Donick’s has won 11 awards for best ice cream from Newport Gourmet Tours, Mercury, and GoLocalProv.
One selection in particular may catch customers by surprise—the “Mick Dundee Burger” is a quarter pound kangaroo and lamb meat burger with lettuce, beetroot, and tomato.
Maione assured me that eating kangaroo is not as controversial as it may seem. Kangaroos are overpopulated in Australia, similar to how deer are overpopulated in Connecticut. The kangaroos are not bred in mills, but live in the wild.
With the exception of the kangaroo meat and a few other ingredients, most of the ingredients come from local New England.
Half of the ice cream comes from Bliss Brothers, a traditional restaurant establishment located in North Attleboro, Massachusetts.
I had the pleasure of trying a “doughboy” made by Maione while watching the beginning of Working Girl before I left Donick’s.
To clarify, “doughboy” is a Rhode Island term for fried dough. It was topped with cinnamon, sugar, confectioner’s sugar and butter. Although it is by no means the healthiest food, it tastes amazing.
It is my hope that other Salve students will come into Donick’s with their friends and enjoy Maione’s wonderful restaurant as well.
To stay updated on any special promotions and events at Donick’s, “like” their Facebook page.
