Mad Donnas

Mad Donnas
1313 Woodland Ave
Nashville, TN
615-226-1617

brunch - southwestern omelet, avocado bacon Swiss burger

Sorry the photos are so bad and grainy, they are from a camera phone. My trusty Canon Elph has finally started to fail. My flash smokes. Has this happened to anyone? Can I fix it? What does that mean? The camera can still take photos just fine without a flash, but the flash smokes every time. Any suggestions about a new camera that can take an SD Card? I just bought another SD card, so I want to get another camera with SD card technology.

A few weeks ago, I just got back into town after an exhausting few days of eating some really bad banquet food that I normally don’t eat. There was a lot of rubber chicken served at this event, and not many veggies were available. I tried to step out of the conference center to see what there could be for restaurants or coffee, or anything that was not banquet food, there was nothing. The conference center was an island in a deserted city, and the only game in town was the conference center restaurants, bar, gift shop. Friday and Saturday night there was nowhere else to go besides the giant hotel. I felt like I was being held captive in a manufactured environment that I could not escape. It was like a Twilight Zone, no matter where I tried to go, I ended up at the same hotel restaurant or hotel bar. Everyone I asked, staff, other guests, people on the street, they all pointed me back to the doors of the hotel and conference center. I was defeated in trying to find locally grown or made food while I was in the Twilight Zone.

hot sauce bar for Bloody Mary's

When I got back, it was time for Sunday Brunch and I was too tired to cook. I wanted to go to eat somewhere that was completely opposite of giant hotel highly processed generic banquet food. The options that come into mind are always sushi, vegetarian and local. This time, I decided I wanted to go to Mad Donna, a locally owned restaurant. Mad Donna has recently revamped the menu to be more accessible to those who want a neighborhoody type feel, comfort food, bar food and fun food. The menu remains friendly to the vegetarians and vegans. Also, as usual, special orders to make a dish into vegetarian or vegan is no problem, as for no cheese, no eggs, no meat, and Billy the chef will make your meal exactly as you want. If you have an allergy to some ingredient, let them know, and Billy will not put it into your dish. It is just really easy to eat at Mad Donna’s with the widest variety of picky eaters because Mad Donna’s will adjust to what customers want and need.

We got a breakfast and a lunch item, or we both got brunch items. The southwestern omelet and the avocado bacon Swiss burger were exactly what we wanted. For Sunday Brunch, the mac and cheeses are not on the menu because there are so many other brunch items that are, and the kitchen isn’t big enough to include the mac and cheese on Sunday. I suggest the mac and cheeses, the perfect comfort food with a twist, for lunch or dinner during the rest of the week. On Sunday, they have other fun brunch foods like Cap’n Crunch French toast and build your own Bloody Mary bar. Mad Donna’s Sunday Bloody Mary bar has all sorts of goodies. There is horseradish, lemons, hot pickles, olives, peppers, and dozens hot sauces. It was really fun looking over the hot sauces and peppers to see what was on the Bloody Mary bar, and the pickles and hot sauces are sure to help cure anyone’s hangover.

I should mention, Rachel who is the managing owner of Mad Donna's, has a concept for her dinner menu that should appeal to budget minded. There are options for dinner and daily specials that can be paired with a drink special, and you can walk out of Mad Donna's with a meal, a beer or mixed drink for less than $10. There is Tuesday taco day when you can get tacos and a Dos Perros for less than $10, or Wednesday wing day when you can get some really hot Hades chicken wings, and a cooling drink for less than $10. There are also plenty of soups, salads, burgers, sandwiches and wraps that are also under $10.

more Bloody Mary toppings

Mad Donna's is located in the old Radio Cafe location. There is a thing amongst Nashvillians in which the old-timers always give directions by the old business that has closed. Old-timers are defined as people who remember at least 1 former business in a location. This is what I mean. Today, I was giving directions to Mad Donna's by saying it is the old Radio Cafe Location at 14th and Woodland. I did not just say it is on 14th and Woodland, I had to say the old business which was the Radio Cafe. It has been many years since the Radio Cafe closed for good, and Mad Donna's started renovating and creating this restaurant and bar. Other examples are the Stoney River used to be the old Rio Bravo, or the new Pink Berry is in the old Blockbuster movie rental, next to the old Tower Records. Whatever business is in the old Tower Records is where Tower Records used to be. If people want directions in the area of where the old Tower Records used to be, I usually say it is near the old Tower Records, which closed years ago. I gave directions the other day referring to the Melrose Bowling Lanes location, which is now a big hole in the ground because of a failed and bankrupt developer. I used to get irritated by the old timers doing that to me when I first moved here, when I asked for directions, and when they would refer to the "old this place" or the "former that place". I am not sure when I became an old timer, but I am one now. I have become one of the old timers referring to the "old this place" to give directions.

Anyway, I guess I should mention the elephant in the room about Mad Donna's filing for Chapter 11 financial re-organization. I can tell you that Mad Donna's is business as usual, and you will enjoy a meal of comfort food at reasonable prices no matter what is going.