Valentino’s Lounge

The food is awesome, thus the two stars.
We came in at night being fully aware that it will be busy; our expectations were realistic that we will have to wait a few minutes.
— We stood for ten minutes while the hostess was talking to two workers. A little awkward but we stayed. This wasn’t their fault as it became clear soon after (see next point). They looked overwhelmed.
— The place is highly understaffed. However, once seated, the workers are diligent and worked extremely hard. Unfortunately, their numbers just weren’t sufficient. Kudos to this place for having such great workers. How long can a good group of people sustain that work output? Hard work on 100. Work ethic is lit AF.
— A good leader is one who leads in front instead of the back. The manager casually walked around talking to the workers, taking away time that they could be using for the customers. He has nice hair so I understand why he simply walks around looking like the most interesting man in the world. Looking like Yung Erik Estrada. A handsome gentleman that didn’t do much, except look handsome. Get your hands dirty, homie. Your workers are busting their asses for your establishment. Help them out.

This used to be one of my go to spots for sushi. It was close, fresh and was reasonably priced. Im not sure if there was a change in ownership or what, but the overall quality has went way down. The past 2x I have went, the sushi was not fresh, not to mention prices seemed to have soared through the roof if you didn’t order off their happy hour menu. :(

So disappointed the Lemon Roll was removed from Happy Hour menu!!! Should be renamed to unhappy hour menu, Huge disappointment!!! Service was snail slow and everything was just super sloppy. My martini glass stem was sticky each time I received my drinks. The California Roll was not good. The rice was hard and the roll was tasteless. Sorry to say but I will now be looking for a new place to enjoy my happy hours

Wow,
This use to be one of my go to spots for sushi if I wasn’t trying to go all out at Hane, or Ota. I would still argue its got the best quality of Sushi in the Chula Vista area. Its usually happening, lively and classy. I use to come here twice a week because I loved the ambience and the food.
Unfortunately,
The service here has gone extremely down. We came and were told we had to wait 15 minutes for a table but we could get started at the bar. So we sat and I ordered a bunch and were in the restaurant for over 2 hours. Every 10 minutes we asked if we could get our table but they kept saying to wait another 15 minutes… I spent nearly $ 200 on food and still never got a table, I would have ordered more but we were fed up and couldn’t even reorder what we liked because we didn’t know what it was. Never got asked for refills on our drinks, got our dishes told to us as they were brought out. normally wouldn’t care for a table but when you do sushi and order that much its hard to share it at a bar and kind of an awkward elbow bumping crossover mess, let alone we didn’t even know which rolls where which.
Sad to say after chalking this place up to my people, I felt embarrassed as the execution was not there other than by the Chefs.

Horrible customer service !!! We waited an hr 1:45 min to be seated. On top of that another 30 min just to have someone to ask if we wanted any drinks. The only good thing i had was the tamarindo margarita.

Sushi was ok but my goodness the service was HORRIBLE! If your thirsty bring your own drinks because you have to ask multiple times for a refill!

The Aloha roll is really good and so are the truffle fries! The ambience is nice and laid back and the servers are very friendly and professional. Definitely a favorite spot!

That atmosphere was very nice and the food preparation was quick so the wait time wasn’t too long. However, the restaurant overcharged me for my food and I didn’t notice until know. I ordered a side of Eel nigiri which was $ 6 on the menu but when I reviewed my check, they charged me $ 9. Very unfortunate.

I’ve only been here once but it was really good. The happy hour 7 days a week is really awesome. And it’s not like some restaurants where they only have 3 items on there… it’s a pretty big list. They tamarindo margarita is so good!!!

This place is great, and usually has great service. Our waiter, Alfonso, was great and attentive, constantly checking if we needed anything. The food tasted great, but I must admit, it is pretty expensive compared to other places. I would come here again.

The best Martinis & Margaritas. The Salmon is amazing. Like the rest of the meal!
Super recommend the restaurant !!!

We came here on a Friday night. It was busy but not packed. Waited 30 minutes for three rolls. Only received two, the third order was lost. Food is good and good prices but the kitchen is understaffed.
Just be patient and you’ll do fine.

I’ve got my eaten here once and visited the bar a couple times and not been impressed. Bar staff was not friendly, food is a bit over priced.

This place has BOMB sushi!!! Prices are on point with an amazing happy hour. The bartender was straight up serving and our waiter as well. I’m stuffed! Favorite roll was The BAJA roll! I totally should have tried this place before now!!!

La primera vez que fui a este sitio me gusto bastante, era nuevo y tenía una calidad aceptable. Al estar cerca de casa hemos ido en varias ocasiones y en cada una de ellas ha sido más decepcionante. Hoy ha sido la última vez que voy. Hemos pedido bastante variedad y nada bueno que decir de nada. Asian chicken wings recalentadas y con olor a podrido, sushi rolls hechos de sobras, «kobe» sliders (jajaja, kobe dicen, y era carne picada de cuarta categoría redescongelada), unos tacos con una amalgama indescriptible… Salí de allí decidida a, si mi hijo de 5 años se ponía enfermo después de haber comido semejante porqueria les iba a poner una denuncia en sanidad de la cual se acordarían. Ahora entiendo porqué éramos los únicos clientes. Solo espero que cierren pronto y pongan otro restaurante la mitad de malo que ese antro. Los camareros sirviendo de mala gana, y encima caro como si estuviera ubicado en downtown.

Una buena alternativa para ir a cenar tarde, por lo general a estas horas la mayoría los restaurantes de sushi están cerrados, por eso lo recomiendo ampliamente, ya que es un lugar donde comes rico, en un lugar agradable y con un buen servicio.

You would think with the name that it’s an Italian restaurant… but it’s not. They do have a lot of items to choose from but serve mainly Japanese style food: yakisoba, sushi, tempura, ect. I had their salmon and ahi tacos and they were amazing. They also have Tamarindo martinis that are so good. Next time I’ll try the horchata martini! Great service, nice ambiance!

Good food. They tables inside are a little too close for my idea of fun. Great happy hour. My friends love their sushi. Parking can be problematic as it’s in a residential area.
I would come here again for the happy hour drinks and menu.

I’ve been to Valentino’s MANY times. Their happy hour menu is pretty awesome so you won’t get all depressed when they bring the bill. In the past, their service has been a bit lacking. I know the place can get really busy, but that doesn’t mean customer satisfaction should be neglected. However, my last couple of visits were so awesome that I was willing to forgive and forget. Our waiter was very attentive and we never had to wait long to order, eat, and pay. The food was delicious and came out quickly. A woman who looked to be the manager was also very helpful. She anticipated everything we needed (refills and boxes). Other staff members came quickly to clear plates so our table was never crowded.
I usually order exclusively from the happy hour menu (I love a good deal), but yesterday we were celebrating my husband’s promotion so we went big and ordered from the entrée menu. Everything was delicious, but both the chicken and steak tepanyaki were a bit over cooked. Don’t get me wrong, they were still good, but could’ve used a bit more juicy-​ness. The fried fish was amazing and having it served as bite sized pieces made it easier to eat. All three dishes came with garlic fried rice, which was so good I almost ordered extra to take home.
Overall, the food and experience on this recent visit were excellent. I hope that this level of service continues!

First off service here was totally off. My friend and I were sitting right in front of the kitchen where the servers and waiters are standing and after asking if we can make our order, we waited 15 minutes before someone finally took our order. there was one server that kept checking up on us and he was great everyone else ignored us whenever we asked for something.
I got the ahi tacos, aloha roll, and kobe sliders (came with fries) and tamarind blended margarita
The good: the happy hour menu. everything is $ 7 and there is a good range and variety of things you can get. i loved my aloha roll and margarita. the food came out quickly.
The okay: ahí tacos. I would of liked this more if i knew that their sauce had a wasabi in it. I do not like wasabi. I thought the slidiers were a little dry and plain for my taste. The fries were my least favorite. I would hold one up and it would just break. I personally prefer crispier fries.
I would like to come back because the scenery is beautiful and theres a good crowd friday nights however I hope to get better service next time.

I have been here several times. The place always seem to be busy.
On my most recent visit, the service was okay. The food was okay too. I have had better on previous occasions. The most recent visit, the server mixed up our orders and forgot one person’s sushi order. So they were left sitting there eating our edamame and french fries, and their sliders, however we had to ask where the sushi order was at.
I have had their vegetable tempura and other fried foods and they were tasty. This most recent visit, the vegetable tempura and the shrimp from my crunchy roll tasted like it may have been cooked in older oil.
Valentino’s now offers All Day Everyday Happy Hour. I liked this. $ 7 for items listed on the Happy Hour Menu. They also had drink specials that were listed on the Happy Hour.
Parking was on the street. Decent selection of drinks available. Outdoor seating is also available.

2.5 estrellas es lo que quisiera darle pero .no hay opción, desde hacia mucho tiempo quería ir a este sushi y por fin hoy me llevaron :) no estuvo como lo esperaba, me imaginaba algo wowww pero no fue así, pedimos jalapeño poppers (estaba pequeñisimo y yo que como tanto! Jajaj) estaba X ni muy bueno ni malo :$, valentino’s lettuce wraps este fue el que más me gusto el pollo tenia muy buen sabor estaba guisado con zanahoria y tenia cacahuates lo único malo fue que los palitos de arroz no estaban crujientes, parecían chicle, tambien pedimos unos camarones que no recuerdo el nombre esos estuvieron sin sabor eran 4 camaroncitos por 6 dolares: |, la margarita de tamarindo que me tome estubo muy fuerte así que no puedo decir que me agrado mucho porque cada trago era como casi tomar el tekila directo, honestamente no creo regresar a este lugar se me hizo caro, por el sabor y porciones de la comida no creo valga la pena.

I’ve been here a few times now, and I’m surprised I have yet to write a review on this place. I’m actually quite a fan of this place, even though I’m not a regular. I like that they have late happy hour, and that everyday of the week, there’s different drink specials. I’m not much of a martini drinker, but I do LOVE theirs (half off on tuesdays)! They’ve got one of a kind flavors, and my favorite is the tamarindo. I’m sure I’d love the lychee one too.
The food they have listed on their happy hour specials are well portioned. I usually go for the sushi rolls, the lemon roll is my favorite. I’m also sure that each time I’ve been here, Alfonso has been my server and he’s very polite and gives quality customer service.