Service in the reception was not good ( manager was rude). First they told us 20 minutes then 10 minutes after manager told us 1:30 minutes

The decor is on point! The service is great! But the food is even better! If you are looking for a fun place to take friends for small bites and great wine, this is your place! If you are looking for a charming place to take someone special on a first date, look no further! The place is small, so do plan ahead! You will not be disappointed! read more

Great food. Great service. We've been for brunch and dinner and both were excellent. Great for a girls night out or fun brunch!

Alrighty.. here's the deal: We've been here a plethora of times, and support this family's locally-run businesses in Leucadia. We have loved Valentina until the last two times. Specifically tonight. We had a reservation for two (My husband and I) that he made three days prior. About 5% of the restaurant was occupied when we arrived. They sat us at the worst, undesirable spot, against the wall, in-between two other booths, people at our backs and faces, in a sea of open tables. 95% of the restaurant was open but they talked me out of all of the other seats. Excuses for all of them. I kindly asked for a 2-seater booth instead. Nope. Not happening. "Ok, well, What about this other 2-seater booth?". Nope, not that either. OK now the joke is on us. No flexibility, no compromise and robotically rude. Almost felt like there is an elitist reservation list. Very disappointing, Unfortunately, We will not be supporting Valentina or their other businesses again and we abandoned our reservation and chose to support a different local business. read more

When's the last time you had a Goddess-in-the-details meal? For us it's been too long, and we just spent a year in LA. From the wine list with the Billecart-Salmon to the Mer Bleu oysters, to the divine ingredient sourcing and jewel tones of the food, to the perfect hen's yolk on the tartare, to the gorgeous local espresso, all wrapped up in warm, attentive, but unobtrusive service care of Jade... Heavenly! Praise be to the Goddess Valentina! read more

My husband and I were looking for something "different and special" that we had not gone to before and boy did we find it at Valentina! Everything about the little bistro in Leucadia was well done -- from the decor, to the staff's smiles before we even walked in, to the variety of guests, our amazing server (Todd) and -- the AMAZING CUISINE! We started with oysters with a perfectly tangy but not overdone mignonette and, of course, champagne (turns out it's one of their specialities). We then were treated to the best tuna carpaccio that literally melted in our mouths, homemade bread with crisp crust and butter at the perfect temp, an excellent Caesar salad, and the oh-so-flavorful black cod fish special! The desserts were top notch too. Valentina may have been a new, undiscovered find but it will most certainly become an old favorite going forward! read more

If I could give 10 stars I would. I moved to San Diego from LA in July 2022 and have struggled to find a food scene that is comparable to what I was used to. Valentina was the first "wow" meal I had in 7 months, despite my consistent efforts to find top quality restaurants. This is now a staple for us, along with Ken Sushi Workshop in Carmel Valley. The two best meals we've had since moving. On top of the amazing food, they have great cocktails, a unique wine list, and excellent service. Shout out to Louie our server for the great recommendations! read more

Valentina - French onion soup burger - need I say more? - Seafood Near Me - Encinitas, California

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WOW! Love this place. Such a cute little hidden gem in Encinitas. Their flavors are AAAMMMAAZING! We ordered their chicken paella, peppers & they gave us churros on the house for my hubby's birthday which was so so so good with their French press coffee! This has become one of my favorite go to places for paella & churros now! And yes.. the ambiance & decor is so inviting and super cute. Love the service too. All the staff was really nice & friendly. read more

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Great place for a date or Dinner. Menu is limited but everything on it is delicious. Lots of small plates like tapas. The wine selection is good as-well. Limited seating in the restaurant and they have out side and inside. For Starters we had the Sardines with olive oil, Mussels and Clams. Every dish is well seasoned and kept you wanting more. For Main course, Colorado trout - Didn't know Colorado had trout . And 28 oz T - Bone. 2 of us shared it. It took a while for the main course to come out but I'm sure the steak took extra time. It had a nice chard and very flavorful. Fish was great as well. Over all everything was really good. I would highly recommending coming here. The wait staff was very friendly and attentive. read more

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Incredible food, unique and authentic vibe. Certainly worth the calories . I wish it was closer to my house but my waistline doesn't. The drinks are excellent too. read more

Dining at Valentina is like being transported to a neighborhood bistro in Europe. My favorites are the Milanesa de Cerdo and the pan Tomaquet con Iberico. I love to start with the oysters and the Basque Cake cannot be missed. The service is great and the wine list is as eclectic as the menu. I would recommend Valentina to anyone who loves to travel and appreciates a neighborhood restaurant vibe with international cuisine. read more

My wife and I have wanted to try Valentina ever since it open, so we were excited to finally get the chance for a midweek lunch with another couple. It turned out to be mixed experience with both highs and lows. First the lows! Parking is all "on street", so terrible! It was 1:30 and we were lucky to find a space across the street next to the RR tracks. We sat in the patio area which was heated from overhead with heaters that were either off or on/roast. Even though it was a chilly day, we chose "off". We were greeted and served water, but it took quite some time before our order was taken. Although it appeared our waiter was a bit overstretched, he was friendly and welcoming. The lunch menu was a bit disappointing, as it was quite limited and missing the paella dishes I had seen online. It also included a footnote, in tiny printing, advising of a 3% surcharge "to cover recent cost increases". We weren't having alcohol and other beverages were not listed. My wife asked for ice tea and, while it was bottled, the "Harney & Sons" tea was good. Our friends shared some Lentil and Butternut Squash Soup which 1 person enjoyed but the other thought it was just okay. Two of us ordered Nicoise salads which were not really "traditional" preparations, but rated "delicious" all the same. The third person order the Steak Frites which unfortunately was rated "just OK". I settled on the full-order of Mussels in Wine Broth and Frites. I must say, they were some of the best mussels I've ever had. The wine broth was very aromatic and flavorful with plenty of garlic, while the mussels were fresh, plump, tender and delicious. They were served with 4 slices of toasted baguette and a generous portion of crispy frites. I thoroughly enjoyed my dish and is the main reason for the 4th star! One final issue presented itself along with the check, when we noticed the charge for the steak frites was more than the menu price. When it was pointed out to our waiter, he "checked" and confirmed that the price had indeed increased but had not been changed on the menu. The difference was only $2, but I insisted the menu price be charged. Unfortunately, the manager was not there to hear my complaint, but thankfully, our waiter took care of it to our satisfaction. I hope "dynamic" price changes don't become a trend, like surcharges, and charging for bread and butter! I'm not sure what this restaurant is trying to be? IMO, it would be better off promoting its good food and avoid trying to be trendy or sophisticated, at least at lunch. As for me, the mussels beckon, but the rest, not so much. read more

First off this should be a 3/4 for pricing certainly not a 2/4. Upon entering the host (who I believe was of the owners) sat us very quickly at the communal table outside. Our waitress (Jade) was very casual, nice and ok with service. It is extremely loud when the train passes, it must have passed three times during our dinner. My husband had the Txuleton ribeye steak (which was $55) and Medium Rare, when it came out it was tough and overcooked to a well done steak. I had the sea bass it was also overcooked, dry and too salty. Unfortunate to spend $130 on food over cooked. read more

Great experience. Management resolved an open table reservation issue quickly. Service was great! Very knowledgeable about the menu and wine list. Food was fantastic. Highly recommend and will come back. read more

This is a relatively new restaurant and for that reason I am giving it 3 stars for now as it needs some improving. I do think it has a very good possibility of being a 4 star place if they can fix some of their knew restaurant problems. The vibe is VERY casual but they do have wait staff. The wait staff are very nice. I went with a different friend each time but ordered the same thing because it was so delicious. Food has the potential to be delicious if it is served right. I ordered the grilled octopus ( so yummy) and the cucumber salad. My friends got the caesar salad and the mushroom caps and something else (can't remember). We also had the churros. The problem here is that they need a food inspector/quality control person to make sure that when the food comes out of the kitchen that it is correctly made and worthy of being given to the customer. 3 times food was served that was bad or prepared incorrectly. I think what happens is that the chef puts the food out and then servers bring it to the table but no one is checking to make sure the food is truly something that should be served. When my cucumber salad came out the first time, the chef had forgotten to put the nuts on the salad. I had to call the server and ask about this. She said "oh they must have forgotten" but she never got me the nuts to put on it. Then my friend ordered the mushroom caps and when she took a bite they were so spicy she couldn't swallow. We called the server over and he (different night) said they weren't supposed to be spicy at all. He took it back to the kitchen and came back and said that they said they had made a mistake with the spice. He did bring her a remade version and she loved it. Then we ordered churros for dessert. Our server presented us with a plate of things that looked like little poops. We looked at the churros and looked at each other and thought, how disappointing that they think these are churros. We tried them and they were disgusting balls of fat. It was like someone had started making churros and then messed up and threw them in the grease, burned them and put them on a plate to be brought to the customer. Our server came by and asked how they were. We said "these are not churros and they are horrible, they are just fried grease" He said "let me get you some new ones". He came back seriously like 30 seconds later, with a beautiful plate of piping hot and DELICIOUS churros. We were in a state of shock, how could he have served the first poops to us when he obviously knew what good churros looked like. I think the problem here is lack of quality control and training. Those poop churros should NEVER has been given to a customer, they were an embarrassment to the restaurant and should not have been seen by a customer. Someone should have known that before delivering the food. The person delivering the salad should have seen there were no nuts where there should have been. Negatives: It is VERY loud in here and the restaurant is open to the outside. The train comes by often and it is right across the street. You have to literally stop mid sentence to let the train pass because it is so loud. Secondly, I think they play their music too loud. With the street noise, the train and the loud music it was really hard to hear my friend even though we were sitting very close. Menu is limited They do not have a pepper mill/grinder. My friend asked for some fresh black pepper to be grinded on her caesar salad and they said they did not have a pepper grinder on the premises. They just grind the pepper in the kitchen and bring it out in a bowl but it is just like pepper from a spice can. I don't see how you can own a restaurant and not have a pepper grinder to grind pepper over your customer's food. The first night there was a couple next to us with their 2 large dogs. Very adorable dogs and nice owners BUT the dogs were really in the way and the servers kept tripping over them. This is a small place with very little room to maneuver so they might want to keep people with dogs in a different spot (were seated in the back area which is REALLY tight). I will go back as I truly love the Octopus and other things sound good on the menu too. I do hope they can work out the kinks. I may wait awhile and see if they can get things figured out before I return. read more

Nice atmosphere and good service for lunch. Parking is a problem. Had high hopes for my lunch but was very disappointed. I tried their pork schnitzel and it was very dry with no flavor. It was very large in size so I took some home and tried a bite later only to throw the rest in the trashcan. I only ordered water, the pork schnitzel and a dessert and paid over $40 for lunch. I also don't appreciate the 3% service charge they put in before totaling the bill. I do not have any plans to return anytime soon. There are better choices. read more

Not local but I visit the area frequently. This became one of my favourite spots! I liked all dishes I tried! Brunch menu is great too! Will definitely be back again and again read more

We were looking for something different than our normal Faire and Valentinas hit it for us. Cravings for oysters drove us to them, but the menu kept us there well beyond. We enjoyed the wine choice with the FannyBay oysters as creamy as they could be. Then on to the Steak TarTar...mmm with notes of garlic and pepper and a rich aioli sauce. We rounded out with the Sea Bass on a bed of Israeli CousCous and some Butternut Squash Ravioli with Zucchini and ribboned carrots in a tasty Bourbon cream sauce. The flavors of the night were enjoyable and made us want to come back for more. Zane was so helpful in our meal decisions. Thank you for a fabulous experience. -yours truly TNT read more

Love this place. Hidden gem. Excellent food, service and atmosphere. Highly reccomend.

Service was very wonderful. Wine selection was a good list, tapas were outstanding. Will be coming back and totally recommend

These tapas are on point! The jamon, the octopus, Aji shrimp, and just order the bread and butter, everything is to die for!

Sorry to rain on the parade but ate here tonight., Tuesday for the third time. Ate here about three weeks ago also on a Tuesday if that has anything to do with it. As we don't eat meat at home both times I ordered steak. Last time it was steak and frites for $21.00 . Tonight was a ribeye for $34.00 . Both times I ordered the steak medium rare and both times it came medium well. I mean I am not a chef but I can certainly touch meat and know how done it is. They returned my steak rare I could tell by touch before I even cut into it. The third time was a charm and it was medium rare but by then my companions had all finished their meals and I was pretty full on French fries. I guess their chef totally lacks expertise in cooking meat. I love how close this is to our house but I won't be back. read more

We had a spectacular time because of Harvey! His service was wonderful and we appreciate how personable he was. He was very endearing and knowledgeable. The food was delicious and we were very pleased with our experience. We will be coming back!! read more

My husband made reservations 1 month in advance for Valentines day. We didn't even get to step inside because we were seated outdoors and it wasn't set up pretty at all. It was disappointing considering we prepared ahead of time and booked in advance and was hoping for a more romantic ambience but it felt like any regular restaurant with metal table and chairs. It was pretty noisy with the trains and cars whisking by. While we cannot control external circumstances we can control how we feel so we tried to make the best of it even though we drove all the way from east county sd. Our server was wonderful and attentive, she checked in appropriately and was very kind. Since it was Valentines day it was a set course menu. We got the Spanish sashimi and the beef carpaccio to start. Not bad, presented well but nothing extra special either. I added a side and tried their pulpo and that was very good. For entrees we got the rib eye and scallops with some puff pastry. There were only 3 scallops and 3 puff pastry I could have used more scallops since 3 seemed too small. The rib eye was beautifully presented and you could taste the butter but we asked for salt because it was missing some flavor. For dessert we got the apple tart and a chocolate cake (forgot the name). Apple tart was the winner. Overall food was still good but I was also hoping for some unique flavors and it was fine to try once but I don't think it's good enough where I would want to come back. read more

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Cool place good food but please get rid of copper table it's so bad for you and plus it smells like metal every breath. Copper is toxic too the skin..... iv never seen this before at restaurant all I smell is smell read more

Delicious good and great service. The corn flake breaded pork was so good. The Owners really hit a home run here Love Leucadia read more

Loved the food, the service, the vibe. If you want a Barcelona-like seaside tapas experience this is the place. My only beef is with the service charge. Please just add it to the menu prices and stop this awful trend that is so confusing and stressful. read more

Went to Valentina for a date night. It was very nice and the service was excellent. Wine list was nice. And the tapas were excellent. The paella was really good. Totally recommend this restaurant. read more

Yes, parking is a pain. Yes, it can be noisy, but this is one of the best restaurants in the area. Full stop. It does get busy, but the servers are typically friendly and helpful. We love it here. Don't forget to try the artichoke hearts or the steak tartar. read more

Food was fantastic. Seating is limited so make reservations. They have outdoor seating which faces the highway, so it can be a bit loud, but they do provide a barrier which makes it better. The outdoor seating is on the sidewalk. read more

Amazing foooooooood!!! High quality ingredients and atmosphere super cute. Will be back!

We went to Valentina as part of the soft open on a sleepy Wednesday night. We enjoyed the redesign from the daytime Moto Deli to a hip dinner spot. We had the octopus, mac n cheese, cochinita pibil, and chimichurri steak frites. We enjoyed all of it. The cohinita pibil came with a very spicy salsa that either needs a little warning or to be toned down a bit. Steak was cooked to a perfect rare/medium rare and the sauces were nice and garlicky with tons of flavor. The Helado de Mamey was a refreshing and unique dessert to cap off the meal. Good beer and wine list. We're not wine connoisseurs but each found something that suited us well. Service was friendly and quick, though the kitchen was slow considering there were only a few tables sitting. Not too much of a knock as they're just opening but definitely can be improved. 5 stars otherwise. A nice value for the quality at $90 before tip/tax for the 2 small dishes, 2 mains, 2 glasses of wine, and (comped) dessert. We'll definitely be back to try the rest of the menu. Good luck with the opening! read more

My boyfriend and I went here for dinner the other night and were greeted by a super kind hostess who seated us right away. After looking at the menu we notice some of their prices and food selection were different than their online menu, and we noticed a beer was misspelled (Ferr. Movie. Lion should have been Fear Movie Lion). Nbd. Just a typo but an oversight. When our waiter came over my boyfriend was split between two entrees and asked for advice. Our waiter was young and appeared to be newer. And didn't provide very good explaining of the food. The waiter did make his best attempt, just needed a clearer understanding of the menu. In time I feel he'll get that, the restaurant has only been open about 3 months. We ordered the roasted cauliflower and crudo as our appetizers. Both we're delicious the crudo was just the right about if zang with the strawberry and green tomatoes. And the cauliflower came with a dipping sauce that was amazing. For our meals I had the mussels and it came with two toasted pieces of bread. The broth was so delicious I asked for some extra bread. They brought out some bread that looked as if it was grilled but it was ice cold, I was bummed. My boyfriend decided on the Cochinita Pibil and it was amazing! The pork was super crispy, the sauce on the side was just the right amount of spicy the pickled onions could have used just a hair more flavor. The habanero salsa that it came with was delicious and had just the right amount it heat (really spicy). For dessert we got the churros with Mexican chocolate dipping sauce on the side.... yummmmmm! We can't wait to go back and try more food on their menu! I love this family owned little restaurant in our sweet little town of Leucadia. I would have given this review 4.5 if I was able to. read more

Just had the best dinner! Food, service, and ambience were perfect. We had the sashimi, bread, oysters, corn soup, steak frites, and would recommend them all! If you're looking for a place a little European and a little different this is your spot. Super cute for date night but lots of big groups here too. read more

The cauliflower raclette starter, lamb shank entree and creme brûlée' for dessert were all delicious albeit sort of small portions for sharing. Excellent service and atmosphere! read more

Valentina - Creme brûlée - Seafood Near Me - Encinitas, California

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First time at Valentina! The octopus appetizer was cooked to perfection Very difficult to cook this right. Highly recommended. The Spanish sashimi was simple but flavorful. The steak tartare with the side sauces and pickled veggies were great! All the main dishes we tried were delicious. Try the Arroz negro! read more

Food was great. Service was great minus the occasional upsell. Can't stand the random assessed fees like the 3.3% service charge....why do that when your prices are already above market? read more

Defiantly will be back. Guys at this place are so friendly and attentive. Food is uncompromisingly delirious. We ate oysters, tartar and steak with two extra sides. Tartar was my favorite part, made from good meat and well-balanced. Price was more then reasonable, even cheap read more

Best dining experience and quality of food I have had eatting out in a while. The staff were helpful and accommodating. The food had a variety of flavors, high quality ingredients, and perfect portion sizes. Each dish was well thought through. Would recommend and go back again! Here is a picture of the Scallops (main dish) read more

Valentina - Scallops - Seafood Near Me - Encinitas, California

Nice atmosphere, however, very loud with the 101 outside and the train. Real trendy decor though. Food was good, but small servings for the price. Had several tapas and the steak & frites for 4 of us. The most disappointing aspect of the dinner was the wine selection and the very short pour....not many options for wine by the glass. Very unhappy with the very short pour. We actually said something to the waiter and all he did was ask if we wanted to order another glass. No effort to make it right or make us feel like we got what we were paying for. It felt like it was about a 4 oz. pour, maybe 5. Maybe charge a little more and pour a decent glass of wine. Also, prices seemed a little high for the 5% surcharge on top. read more