LaDonna’s Owner Persists After Losing Husband

Almost a year after losing her husband, LaDonna White continues and still manages the business they started together.

Ladonna’s was opened in 2018 in Atascadero by LaDonna White and Aaron Ezell.

White and Ezell would tie the knot in the fall of 2020.

“On our first date, we were having lunch and I asked Aaron what he wanted to do. He said he wanted to build a restaurant. It took us a year to build this, ”White said.

The couple exchanged wedding vows as their restaurant was closed due to the pandemic.

December 7^e 2020, Ezell would suddenly die of a heart attack at the age of 41, four months after their marriage.

“On the way to the hospital the last thing Aaron said was I don’t want to lose the restaurant and the last thing I said is we won’t. We reopened a week later, ”White said.

After her passing, LaDonna worked on her own while trying to balance her life with two children.

“I wish he was here to see he was right. He gave me and the kids a gift, ”White said.

“She’s the toughest woman I know,” said White’s best friend, Joanna Nowinski.

Thanks to the help of Nowinski, who took over Aaron’s place at the bar, the restaurant prospered.

“I came to help and here we are 10 months later and I’m still helping and I love it, it’s really fun,” Nowinski said.

And his clients accompany him on his journey to a better future.

“I know all of my clients personally, they have become my family,” White said.

“It’s amazing to see the same customers come and love her and she loves her back,” Nowinski said.

“She has a strong will and desire to keep her restaurant legacy and to keep Aaron’s legacy,” said customer Barbara Edmonston.

“They were a really lovely, very loving couple, you could tell how much they really were in love, and they were such a team,” said customer Amy Holloway.

“We just trusted each other, he rocked the bar and I rocked the kitchen and we were a great team,” White said.