My boyfriend and I went early on a Friday night for dinner. It got crowded quickly so I suggest making a reservation. Due to COVID they added more seats in the parking lot. At first I didn't really want to sit there but I have to say they did a really good job at making it cute and welcoming! The food was SOOOO good! It's a different menu with a variety of dishes inspired by e chefs travels through Europe. Our server Zane was superb! We can't wait to go back!! read more

First time dining at Valentina. Excellent service, Food was exceptional, price is reasonable read more

Tried Valentina this week for the first time. Absolutely delish! The veggie appetizers (roasted carrots, artichoke, heirloom tomatoes) were the star. Interesting and fun wine selection. Service was great - friendly and on it. Wonderful even with COVID restrictions in place! Already made a reservation to come back! read more

Phenomenal restaurant and customer service! Love the ambiance of the restaurant, perfect setup for these COVID times. The food was A+, we had the cauliflower Mac n cheese, pulpos and oysters, all were amazing. Highly recommend the lamb shank or scallop dish. Best part of the experience was Feliciano, our server. One of the best I've ever met. He took such good care of us ladies all night. We'll definitely be back soon! read more

Today is my birthday. Happy birthday to me lol well i tried this restaurant because i read earlier this month that is one of the best restaurants in San Diego. I decided to celebrate my birthday there. Since the moment i walked in i was asked if i had a reservation but i tried to make a reservation one week before the 13th and i was unable to I said no and we were told to sit at the bar area but my sister was coming i had informed them that it was a party of 4 and they were ok with that. Well things seemed weird after she arrived i have never felt discriminated for being a hispanic women in California until today because the way we looked we were not offered to be seated at empty tables like other people who did not have reservations. i would know because i was close enough to the hostess area. we ate at the bar that looked like a "kitchen" dirty dishes near us and we had to constantly let them know that dirty dishes were placed by our food. it was the most horrible feeling i have felt. I literally paid over 200$ to eat in the kitchen definitely do not recommend to go here if they continue to treat people this way. From not being offered a table to all the dirty looks we got while eating. read more

Came in for dinner tonight with my better half. Restraunt was less than half full. I asked about several tables all of which, I was informed, were committed. I was told I could have a small table but we love to eat and order lots of plates so such a small table isn't functional. I probably wouldn't have left a review but the host didn't even try to make us feel invited. Try hiring someone who makes people feel welcome, just my advice. read more

Stunning. This place I a perfect restaurant for a bougie lunch/brunch but is also casual enough to meet people in the middle of a work day. The food tastes so clean and high quality ingredients are definitely used. read more

This place is super cute and intimate. I loved the atmosphere. The service was great as well. The tables run on the small side and they are bolted to the floor so you can move them.Now onto the food. We ordered the asparagus and burrata, meatballs, mussels, and coffee panna cotta. The asparagus dish was good but NOT worth $13, cumulatively we probably got a little less than two spears. The meatballs were delicious, but the bread it came with wasn't what I'd expect from a restaurant like that. It almost seemed like day old store bought french bread. The mussels were tasty but tiny and the bread that came with them was a little better as it was toasted and had a garlic flavor. The coffee panna cotta was a miss, do not get this. Overall it was still a good experience because of the ambiance, service and food. I'm not sure I'd go back because it is pretty pricey for what you get. We didn't order any drinks and our total came out to about $50 w/o tip. read more

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Cute "modern" little restaurant. Has potential to be better. Portions are small considering the food cost. Enjoyed the Paella! The squid, scallops, shrimp, clams, mussels, and rice were cooked perfectly! Mussel appetizer was delicious, we would have enjoyed it more if they gave more than three baguettes to soak up the garlicky white sauce from the mussels. Carbonara could use more flavor - it was just an plain and ordinary dish. Yellow corn soup was interesting - my dinner company didn't care for it. Overall, ambience is nice. Music is good. Menu items were a bit over priced and did not match up with the quality of ingredients used to make some of the dishes. Portions are understandably appropriate for a restaurant that serves up "European" style dishes. In Barcelona, the portions are comparably smaller than American restaurants. Dishes could be taken up a notch by adding more flavor (not salt). We were not completely satisfied with dinner. So glad we shared the dishes and didn't spend more than $114 among the four of us. read more

Good experience overall. We went early and parking was not a problem. Nice ambiance and neighborhood. We had the carrot and the cauliflower as starters. Both tasted good and the portions were generous. Dinner entrees were both good as well. My two complaints were (1) all the dishes were a little too buttery for my taste and (2) while the waitress was very helpful and friendly, was hard to find at the end of the meal. read more

My wife and I had a really nice evening here. We had a 1/2 baguette, Washington oysters, baby beat salad, paella and basque cake. All of it was great and our server was very attentive. read more

What a perfect date night spot! I loved the ambiance and decor in Valentina. The host and servers were awesome, it's apparent that they put a lot of care into the work they do and into the food. Good vibes all around! The mussels and broth were delicious, we could have eaten ten orders of those. Shrimp cocktail was a nice appetizer as well. And the bread was really the star of the show - can't go wrong with a warm, perfect baguette! The halibut was cooked perfectly, the only issue was the scallops. They were incredibly over salted, I couldn't finish them. We didn't send anything back because we were having such a nice time, so I just ended up eating the root vegetables and sauce that the scallops came with, those were very good. Please loosen up on the salt for the scallops, they would have been perfect otherwise! We will definitely be back again, it was a great experience. I'll be dreaming of those mussels in white wine broth until then! read more

We've been wanting to try Valentina since it opened. I had the Salmon which was amazing and served with this cashew pesto sauce over cauliflower and bed of quinoa. Valentina is actually the name is the owners daughter who happened to be at the restaurant that night. : ) We saw her picture on the wall. A perfect date night spot with a good wine selection . I would love to come back and try other dishes. The waiter was attentive and friendly. Had a very nice dinner here with my husband on our date night! read more

Very cute ambiance and nice server, but the food wasn't very impressive. I just felt like the flavors weren't there. We had the calamari, corn soup, shrimp, hamachi crudo (special) and a couple other things. Nothing was bad exactly, but just not great. And super expensive for the portions. The hamachi in particular was flavorless - the sweet potato on it was ok. Ambiance was nice and I would probably give 3 stars if it wasn't so expensive. read more

Ambiance was great, a very cute restaurant with a warm laid back vibe. Food was overall good, wasn't blown away by anything but was decent we had the mussels, chicken (I had to send back because it was not gluten free but does not specify anywhere on menu) and the mushroom lettuce wraps. The three stars is mainly due to the fact that they were not very food allergy friendly at all. I have a gluten allergy and the staff seemed very inexperienced and unsure of what was gluten free and what wasn't. They have a limited menu and there are not many options for gluten free people which I find very surprising for north county in 2019. If they want to be around for 2020 and beyond hopefully they become a little more accommodating to food allergies and gluten free options. read more

What an amazing hidden gem! Their regular menu was enough to lure me in, but their Valentine's Day menu was the icing on the cake. Beyond amazing service (and they were hella busy, considering it's the lovey-most day of the year). I forget her name, but she was very attentive and sweet. We had their prixe fix menu with the wine pairings. Every course was fantastic, but my entree of duck and squash ravioli was my favorite of the night. They were generous on the duck portions, and every bite was more delicious than the last. My husband ordered the New York strip medium rare. Sometimes when one orders a steak as big as a 10 oz, it's easy to miss some areas where the steak isn't as rare/medium as one would have ordered (speaking from experience). Not here! My husband has ZERO complaints! I cannot wait to come back again!!! Thank you for an amazing Valentine's Day dinner! read more

Liked the atmosphere. But like other reviewers mentioned, the booth side of the tables need cushions because they are way too far away from the table (which is bolted to the floor). Service was good. Husband did have to ask for another glass of wine. Wine pours are on the short side. I had sea bass ($30) and is good, not great. Not a ton of flavor but cooked perfectly. Husband had the pork dish and the plate was 85% pork. Suggestion to add black beans or something along with the plantains & tortillas. Tres leches dessert was yummy. Overall, felt it was a bit too expensive. read more

Mediocre. Waitress was very nice. Fries and baguette were good. Everything else was mediocre at best and as a result way overpriced. Will definitely not return. 3 stars is generous. read more

Sadly must update as Mario is not being truthful in his response. I never said anything about a table not being ready. I simply commented as to how off putting it was to have someone so enthusiastically ask about reservations in an empty restaurant. Not once did I complain about the group of women taking selfies, it was part of my observation regarding how empty the place was... it was just my observation that the only other people there were a group of women taking selfies. I do agree that the mussels were removed from out bill, but to say they were re made right away is a bald-faced lie. Nice try though. Next up, no one "ran to the counter" for the check - an excellent example of a bold-faced lie, thanks for hitting both! We had been waiting for over 10 minutes with no food or drinks. We tried to wave someone down a few times before giving up. At no point did I ever say we were having a bad time, we anticipated as a new place there would be some "growing pains." Once we realized how much time had lapsed, I personally WALKED to the counter, waited for Mario to finish talking to his employee before he chose to acknowledge me, then asked (admittedly, impatiently) for the check. I will say this, Mario. I would avoid passive aggressive (not to mention dishonest) commentary to those attempting to leave truthful reviews. You "apologizing" to me for having a bad day after does nothing good unless you are trying to keep out the local patrons. It is inherently obvious that you have no deep understanding of how your actions will impact your business. I'd strongly suggest you look into net promoter scores and the impact they might have on your business instead of recruiting your friends and family to sign up for Yelp and leave one off glowing reviews to keep your business relevant. read more

Our favorite date night restaurant! We especially love the schnitzel but everything is fabulous!

New place, gave it a try... Heirloom tomato appetizer was good but the mussels were lack luster. Special Red Snapper main course was good but forgettable... appetizers came quickly but main course was considerable amount of time. They have any been open a few weeks so I will give them some time and give another shot... they have potential. read more

This place was excellent. If you're up for it, I strongly recommend letting the servers guide your selections - we let our server, Victoria, just select for us and surprise us (with a warning that we didn't want the $150 caviar)... and it couldn't have been better. The food was excellent from top to bottom and the service was very good for an incredibly busy Friday night. read more

Overall very good & gourmet despite kinda casual & now trendy scene. Apps & entrees good & interesting, but many special dishes no longer available by 9pm dinner time...try prepping more !Service by 1 server is best & and worked well. read more

Incredible. Absolutely incredible. The food. The selection. The people. The atmosphere. All of this! This is always our choice for date night. Also, get the ribeye! read more

Pretty bad service. Server was not attentive at all, missing silverware, share plates, asking if we needed condiments, drinks etc. Just overall sloppy. Food honestly made my husband and My stomach hurt the rest of the day for some reason. The fish and chips batter wasn't cooked all the way thru, so soggy and battery instead of crunchy. Disappointing. The sushimi tasted very fishy and slimy which is never good. All in all wouldn't return unfortunately - cute restaurant but doesn't follow thru with service and food which matters most. Bummer! read more

My mother in law and I went here for dinner last night for the first time and had an amazing experience. The atmosphere has a great vibe. Our appetizers, drinks, entrees and dessert were all top notch. Our server Victoria was absolutely fantastic. She was very friendly and attentive. Overall we had a wonderful experience from start to finish and will definitely be back! read more

We were initially a bit disappointed because we asked to sit outside but then found out the outside tables were too small for 4 people. We were able to switch to indoors w better. Our server was very attentive and made excellent recommendations. Our food arrived in a reasonable time And in was AMAZING. I really would not have expected this quality from a small restaurant. The short ribs were especially good. The desert was also amazing (cake and ice cream) read more

Wow. Just wow. My new favorite restaurant! Every dish we had was so delicious! We started with the goat cheese stuffed squash blossoms special which were perfectly done and flavorful. We then had the Ling cod special, and the sea bass, which were perfectly cooked. The spinach, mushrooms and smashed potatoes that came with the Ling Cod were beyond tasty and I enjoyed every bite. My friend completely cleaned her plate and loved the sea bass. We also ordered a side of the carrots which were AMAZING. Huge portion with fennel and jalapeno (not spicy tho, just adding flavor). We ended with the Basque cake which was totally scrumptious. The service was even better than the food! We felt very welcomed, cared for and I can't wait to go back and try more! read more

I was excited to try this cute restaurant and interesting menu, but for us it unfortunately didn't meet expectations. We had the Spanish sashimi, which was mushy and the scallops extremely gritty. This dish mostly went uneaten. Also the seared peppers, filet, and salmon. The steak and fish were cooked perfectly, but quite boring in taste. We also wanted something from the natural wine list without nitrates, and the recommendation ended up having nitrates (we trusted the server and didn't realize until after we'd drunk most of the bottle). Also, the wine tasted like sparkling grape juice - not the restaurant's fault at all but not a good recommendation for red wine lovers. Frankly, the restaurant overall seemed a little "off" for some reason, maybe because it wasn't very busy... I'm not sure. I really want to try some other dishes and want to like this place! And I know liquor licenses are hard to come by, but I'd love it if they had cocktails. So without a full bar, I think they could expand their wine list. read more

Food was great. White sea bass and mussels for appetizer were perfectly prepared. Definitely coming back. Great location

Had a great date night here. The service was great, and we loved the lamb mole and churros!

The food was good. We were out on a mom's night out. One friend had the gnocchi, other friend had salmon, other friend had sashimi and salad, and I had schnitzel...all very good. My only issue was that after enjoying ourselves, we were basically asked to leave after 2.5 hours because of a 2 hr seating limit. What the heck? It's not like it's all you can eat and we were overstaying our eating time! read more

Amazing food, especially the starters and the basque cake. The oysters were fresh and delicious and the chipirones (calamari) were so soft.

We just enjoyed a lovely and delicious meal. My husband assumed Valentina's would be pasta but they only had one pasta dish on the menu. We both ordered seafood. Yum. We will return with friends and family. read more

Great place! Nice atmosphere and nice selection of food! Highly recommend to meme a reservation

Love this restaurant! The food is simple but incredibly delicious. The cozy atmosphere creates a fun and friendly vibe and the owners really care about the customers. The service is spot on. This is our new North County favorite. read more

Great ambiance. Great menu / kind of poor execution. Hoping it's just a new restaurant ironing out the kinks. Steak and frites was ok. Steak was borderline car tire ordered as a medium rare. Chimichuri was amazing. Starters were great. Cod special was delicious but pathetically small. Service OK, server / food runner auctioned off every dish table side and relied on patrons to figure out who ordered what. I would return with hopes that they perfect the imperfections. read more

Cute place with an open air design. We wanted a good steak, so we gave it a try. Best decision! We had the beet salad - yum, then shared the 32 oz Ribeye with mashed potatoes. OMGoodness!! The steak was amazing and more than enough to feed 2 adults ( my guy is 6'4" and enjoys food). The meat was pricey, but divided by 2 made the price reasonable. read more

Let me start by saying this...THE FOOD WAS OUTSTANDING!!!!! Everyone loved their meal. The reason for 3 stars is such. 1. The seating was terribly uncomfortable, very hard and not cozy at all. 2. The wine glasses were a joke, great for water, not for good wine. 3. Additionally, Valentina only serves beer & wine. No mixed drinks. This would be a huge improvement as one of our guests does not drink beer or wine. I'll will be back and bring a seat cushion. :-) read more

Our third time visiting the restaurant. For being brand new the service is exceptional, and the food, was some of the best food hands down in Encinitas. The salmon was incredible, and steak frites with Chimichurri sauce was to die for. I would go back again and again. read more