Doni's Italian Restaurant

Doni’s Italian Restaurant is a full-service, red-sauce Italian restaurant with a full bar at 339 Main Street in downtown Platte City, directly across from the Platte County Courthouse. It opened on June 24, 2026 in the renovated former Shirley’s Fashion Center, and is run by chef-owner Liridon “Doni” Mehmeti — who built a following cooking at Luigi’s on the Liberty square — with his sister Shqipe Mehmeti managing the floor and bar. The Star, canvassing servers and longtime residents, could find no record of Platte City ever having had an Italian restaurant before it.

Description

Doni’s occupies a 2,800-square-foot storefront on Main Street in Platte City’s historic downtown, in the building that housed Shirley’s Fashion Center; the building’s owner, David Barth, oversaw the renovation.¹² The Star’s Jenna Thompson described the result as having “kept its rustic brick walls and archways,” with “several tables and a long bar — where bartenders pour a variety of wines.”³ The Platte City Area Chamber of Commerce welcomed it as a gathering place that would “support our local economy, and add to the vibrancy of our community.”⁴

The menu is classic Italian-American, and the Star’s headline framed it as filling a void: servers and longtime residents told the paper Doni’s “might be the town’s first” Italian restaurant, and “The Star found no record of another one in its archives.”³ The kitchen’s own description is “homemade Italian favorites including pasta, pizza, seafood, chicken dishes, fresh salads, desserts and a full bar.”² A lunch menu (11 a.m.–2:30 p.m.) runs $13–16.50 and includes a side salad, garlic bread and house dipping oil with every entrée — chicken scallopini in a white-wine lemon sauce, a “Chef Special” of sausage, peppers and mushrooms baked with mozzarella over penne, lasagna, linguine with clams, ravioli.⁵³ Dinner brings the chicken list (fettuccine Alfredo, scallopini, Marsala, piccata, Diavolo, alla pesto, and a Chicken Albanese with broccoli, mushrooms and spinach in cream), seafood over pasta (shrimp Fra Diavolo, scallops alla panna, a frutti di mare), baked pastas, 14- and 16-inch pizzas, and a Doni’s Special of vegetables, sausage, chicken and shrimp in cream over fettuccine.⁵ Desserts are tiramisu, cannoli, and Italian cream, chocolate and lemon cakes.⁵

Shqipe Mehmeti told the Star the early reception had been positive — “They enjoy the food, they like the ambiance, they enjoy the service” — and that the restaurant sets itself apart “for its freshness and authenticity.”³

Ownership and history

The restaurant is named for its owner and operator, Liridon Mehmeti, who goes by “Doni.”¹ He and his sister and manager, Shqipe Mehmeti, “hail from Venice,” per the Star; Doni told the site’s readers that cooking “has been my passion since I was young,” that he began working in Italian kitchens at fifteen, and that his aim is “authentic food in a warm and welcoming atmosphere.”³⁶ Before Platte City he cooked at Luigi’s Italian Restaurant & Wine Bar on the Liberty square, where, per both the Landmark and the Star, he “accumulated fans.”¹³ “Ever since he moved to the U.S. several years ago, Doni has wanted a place of his own,” the Star reported; “He’s worked very hard to open his own restaurant,” Shqipe said from behind the bar.³

The Platte County Landmark first reported the project in April 2026: the city had approved a liquor-by-the-drink license with Sunday sales, Doni was about to begin interviewing staff, and a May opening was expected.¹ Opening slipped to Wednesday, June 24, 2026, which the Landmark and the Chamber of Commerce both recorded.²⁴ The Star visited the following Tuesday and published its piece on July 1.³

The space

339 Main St. sits directly across from the Platte County Courthouse, next door to the Mexican restaurant La Cabana at 325 Main.²³ The Star’s roundup of Platte City’s small dining scene named The Cove at 524 Branch St., Roxanne’s Cafe at 1126 Branch and Fetterman’s at 2405 NW Prairie View Rd. as the other options in city limits.³ Shirley’s Fashion Center’s own history at the address is undocumented here.

Links

• Website: https://donisitalianrestaurant.com/
• Menu / online ordering (Clover): https://donis-italian-restaurant-platte-city.cloveronline.com/menu/all
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Donisitalianrestaurant/
• Platte County Landmark coverage: https://plattecountylandmark.com/2026/06/26/italian-restaurant-opens/

Menu

Last verified: 2026-08-28 · Source: the restaurant’s own Clover online-ordering menu, linked from donisitalianrestaurant.com · Confidence: High for items and descriptions. Prices are as listed on the Clover page; they run about 3% above the in-restaurant prices the Star quoted on July 1 (e.g., lunch lasagna $15.45 vs. $15; shrimp Fra Diavolo $25.75 vs. $25), which reads as an online-ordering surcharge, so treat in-store prices as slightly lower.⁵³ Descriptions abridged; spellings the restaurant’s own.

Appetizers

• Fried Calamari — with marinara. ($12.36) · Mussels — garlic, onions, tomato, red onion, sherry-wine lemon sauce. ($14.42) · Shrimp Napoleoni — five jumbo shrimp, tomato, shallot, garlic, basil, white-wine lemon sauce. ($14.42) · Mozzarella Sticks ($10.30) · Sliced Italian Sausage — olive oil, garlic, shallots, basil, sherry-wine tomato sauce. ($13.39) · Dipping Sauce — Alfredo, alla panna or alla pesto. ($6.18)

Salads

• Side House Salad ($5.15) · House Salad — mixed greens, tomato, onion, mixed olives, mozzarella. ($11.33) · Mediterranean Salad — feta, olives, lemon–olive oil dressing. ($11.33) · Caesar Salad ($10.30) · Mozzarella Caprese ($10) · dressings: house Italian, ranch, blue cheese, Thousand Island, oil & vinegar, Caesar; add chicken or shrimp for a charge.

Lunch (11 a.m.–2:30 p.m.; served with side salad, garlic bread and dipping oil)

• Spaghetti with Marinara ($13; add meatballs, meat sauce, mushrooms or sausage $5) · Chicken Caesar Salad ($14.42) · Chicken Pomodoro ($14.42) · Chicken Mediterranean Salad ($15) · Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo ($15.45) · Shrimp Pomodoro ($15.45) · Lasagna ($15.45) · Shrimp Fettuccine Alfredo ($16.48) · Chicken Albanese — garlic, onion, mushroom, broccoli, spinach, sherry-wine cream sauce, linguine. ($16.48) · Chicken Scallopini — garlic, shallots, capers, mushrooms, spinach, white-wine lemon sauce. ($16.48) · Chef Special — garlic, onions, peppers, mushrooms, sausage over penne in red sauce, baked with mozzarella. ($16.48) · Chicken Parmesan ($16.48) · Linguine Clams — baby clams, sherry-wine white or red sauce. ($16.48) · Ravioli — meat, cheese or spinach. ($16.48)

Baked pasta & house specialties

• Spaghetti with Marinara ($15.45) · Baked Ravioli ($16.48) · Baked Ziti ($16.48) · Homemade Lasagna ($18.54) · Tortellini alla Panna — Alfredo–marinara blend. ($18.54) · Spaghetti – Garlic, Tomato, Basil ($18.54) · Chicken Parmigiana — with spaghetti marinara. ($19.57) · Chef’s Favorite ($20.60) · Doni’s Special — mixed vegetables, sausage, chicken and shrimp in cream over fettuccine. ($28.84) · Eggplant Rollatini — ricotta and mozzarella, baked in marinara, with spaghetti and side salad. (sold out at scrape)

Chicken entrées

• Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo ($21.63) · Chicken Marsala — shallots, mushrooms, sherry-Marsala, spaghetti. ($21.63) · Chicken Pomodoro ($21.63) · Chicken Piccata — garlic, capers, chicken broth, lemon, spaghetti. ($21.63) · Chicken Scallopini ($23.69) · Chicken Albanese ($23.69) · Chicken Diavolo — garlic, onions, mushrooms, broccoli, sweet and hot peppers, spinach, sherry-wine red sauce, linguine. ($23.69) · Chicken alla Pesto — garlic, onion, tomato, broccoli, olives, basil pesto, penne. ($23.69)

Seafood entrées

• Linguine with Clams ($24.72) · Shrimp Pomodoro ($24.72) · Scallops alla Panna — garlic, shallots, capers, hot cherry peppers, cream, penne. ($25.75) · Shrimp Diavolo — five jumbo shrimp, garlic, shallots, mushrooms, broccoli, sweet and hot peppers, spinach, sherry-wine red sauce, linguine. ($25.75) · Shrimp alla Pesto ($25.75) · Shrimp Fettuccine Alfredo ($25.75) · Frutti di Mare — mussels, shrimp, scallops, calamari, clams in sherry-wine tomato sauce over linguine. ($29.87)

Pizza (14” / 16”)

• Cheese ($16.48 / $18.54) · White Pizza — garlic, ricotta, mozzarella. ($17.51 / $19.57) · Supreme — hamburger, pepperoni, Canadian bacon, sausage, mushrooms, onions, black olives, bell peppers. ($20.60 / $23.69)

Kids

• Spaghetti w/ Marinara ($6.18) · Fettuccine Alfredo ($7.21) · Chicken Strips ($8.24) · Tortellini alla Panna ($8.24)

Desserts ($8.24 each)

• Tiramisu · Cannoli · Italian Cream Cake · Chocolate Cake · Lemon Mist Cake

Drinks

• Coke products, lemonade, Gold Peak sweet tea ($3.61) · Mexican Coke, San Pellegrino, Italian soda ($4.12) · Doppio Espresso ($3.09) · Brewed Coffee ($3.61) · Americano ($4.12) · Tea ($4.12) · Iced Tea ($3.61) · Coffee Latte ($6.18) · Wine and full bar: list not published online.

Sources

Footnotes

1. Ivan Foley, “Get ready for Doni’s, anti-incumbent mood, a Volkswagen Thing,” The Platte County Landmark, 2026-04-11 — Confirms: named for owner-operator Liridon Mehmeti (“Doni”); prior experience at Luigi’s Italian Restaurant and Wine Bar on the Liberty square; 2,800 sq ft former Shirley’s Fashion Center renovated by David Barth; liquor-by-the-drink license with Sunday sales approved; planned hours; May 2026 target; staff interviews to begin. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

2. Ivan Foley, “Italian restaurant opens,” The Platte County Landmark, 2026-06-26 — Confirms: opened Wednesday, June 24, 2026 at 339 Main Street, directly across from the Platte County Courthouse; former Shirley’s Fashion Center renovated by building owner David Barth; menu description (“homemade Italian favorites including pasta, pizza, seafood, chicken dishes, fresh salads, desserts and a full bar”); phone. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

3. Jenna Thompson, “This new Italian restaurant near Kansas City looks to fill a void,” The Kansas City Star, 2026-07-01 (Openings & Closings). Retrieved 2026-08-28 — Confirms: “opened just days ago at 339 Main St.”; former Shirley’s Fashion Center; chef-owner Liridon Mehmeti and sister/manager Shqipe Mehmeti “hail from Venice”; “Doni” and his Luigi’s (Liberty) following; David Barth redevelopment; brick walls, archways, long bar; lunch and dinner prices (scallopini $16, chef favorite $16, lasagna $15; Alfredo $21, shrimp Fra Diavolo $25, chicken alla pesto $23); hours (Tue–Thu 11–9, Fri–Sat 11–9:30, Sun 11–8); neighbors La Cabana, The Cove, Roxanne’s, Fetterman’s; quotes. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹

4. Platte City Area Chamber of Commerce, Facebook post, “Welcome to downtown Platte City, Doni’s Italian Restaurant…,” June 2026. Retrieved 2026-08-28 — Confirms: grand opening June 24; address 339 Main St, Platte City, MO 64079; phone; menu description; “gathering places… vibrancy of our community” quote. ↩ ↩²

5. Doni’s Italian Restaurant — Clover online-ordering menu (first-party). Retrieved 2026-08-28 — Confirms: address 339 Main Street, Platte City, MO 64079; phone; lunch window 11:00 a.m.–2:30 p.m.; every item, description and price in the Menu section; Eggplant Rollatini sold out; “isn’t accepting online orders right now” at scrape. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

6. Doni’s Italian Restaurant — official website. Retrieved 2026-08-28 — Confirms: name; Platte City; phone 816-858-6012; Chef Doni’s statement (“Cooking has been my passion since I was young… began working in Italian kitchens at age 15… authentic food in a warm and welcoming atmosphere”); Clover ordering link; Facebook link; several sections still “Coming Soon.” ↩