I've dined here a handful of times since moving back to the area a couple of years ago and I've always considered the food good. Valntino's is one of the things I love most about Nebraska. I've always found, the however few, interactions I've had with staff to be quite pleasant. Then, a couple of months back for the football season opener, I ordered pick-up for one pizza, only for the second time, but six (6) hours in advance. I show up, on time, with my two-year-old and six-month pregnant wife waiting in the car as we were out running errands. The lady working the front, although quite pleasant, was having a visibly rough day, and certainly noted as much. The lady bringing out pizzas to the warmer, however, was *extremely* rude. One person was waiting in front of me. As the worker brought out a pizza and refused to make eye contact with anyone, the lady waiting asked if the pizza was hers, as did I after she was told no. After the front worker was able to end her phone conversation and help people in line, the same person in front of me found out that it was, in fact, her pizza that was initially brought out. I waited an additional thirty minutes, after three other orders had came out to the warmer, only one of which was picked up fifteen minutes into my wait. I then received a, "Thanks for being patient, even though you weren't patient, you can pick out a two-liter pop." Geee ... thanks. I understand that the circumstances of the day would make it a busy one, but that's also why I ordered six hours in advance. I was not very appreciative of the back-handed compliment I received and have not returned to dine-in or order-out since, and frankly, I don't know if I ever will. read more

The food was completely awful all fresh from the freezer to the frying pan not authentic Italian by any means not worth the money. The cashier was very uninterested and lacked any energy whatsoever. This restaurant buffet was the most disappointing I've ever experienced. read more

I agree with Annette S. "worst Valentino's buffet ever." Widows and entry doors need cleaned. Service is awful.

Worst Valentino's buffet ever. I come for the salad bar, breadsticks, soup, and chicken buffet. Everything was so DRY and looked so unappealing. Salad bar is hard to screw up, so ate that. Soup looked disgusting. Butterfly shrimp was nothing but dry coating, couldn't find the shrimp when I bit into it. Couldn't take a breadstick because they were so hard. Chicken was so dry, I had to take a drink with every bite. I am used to valentinos, being pretty full of people no matter what time or day you go. There was very few people there at all. For $17.95 this was not worth it! They should have paid me to eat here. I definitely won't be back. read more

My husband ranted and raved about this place in Omaha, NE. They no longer serve just pizza, you have a buffet-style eatery. Five out of the six adults that were with us was extremely DISAPPOINTED! Right down to your pizza Will not return to Valentino's in Omaha, NE. He was born and raised in Holdrege, NE. Lawrie K read more

If I could give a negative review I would. We were in town for tournaments and decided to get take out. We ordered the family meal plus an extra pizza. Was told it would be done and delivered within 45 min. Two hours later it finally arrived. When we opened the one pizza box we had an extra topping of a bug. We also ordered spaghetti and was given lasagna in which after my second bite I discovered a hair. Called and told them about the situation and said they would replace the pizza and also replace the lasagna with the spaghetti we ordered. After another long wait our pizza came and again spaghetti was replaced with another pasta dish. They had a huge order before us and ran out of spaghetti which is understandable but why not let us know that before we even placed the order. Definitely do not recommend and will never order from here again. read more

Valentino's - Pizza with bug topping - Pizza Near Me - Kearney, Nebraska

Valentino's we grew up on in Nebraska. It was good 30 and 60 years ago. But boy has it failed to innovate and flavorate. The past two orders of hamburger and pepperoni pizzas were the worst in the market. Completely no flavor and the pizza cuts fell apart when trying to pick them up. Almost everywhere else has better pizza. No wonder you don't see these locations much anymore. RIP old recipe. read more

The chicken and fish was not crispy. Nothing had any flavor except the mashed potatos and salad bar. Hadn't been here in years and wished we hadn't gone here today. Will never return as it was a total waste of money. read more

Worst food ever. I cottage cheese was okay, but I'm pretty sure you just pour that out of a container. Everything else was awful.

4 of us stopped in at 7:30 on Tuesday evening. Shrimp was cold and mushy, 1/2 the pizza varieties were out, meat sauce was empty, chicken tenders were dry and more like chicken jerky, I watched a fresh pizza sitting on the conveyor long enough that another one came along and pushed it off onto the floor....so much for a fresh hot pizza. This place used to be real good, but last night it was simply awful. My brother who lives in Kearney says it was this way 6 months ago when he last visited it, so there must be systemic problems. Sad. read more

We had not been here for lunch testing. I had stopped in earlier this morning for look-see. So we did the lunch buffet about noon time. Was ok. We do not plan doing further testing. read more

As I sit at a booth in this restaurant right now, the floor is filthy, I have seen 3 staff, my tummy is still hungry but I refuse to eat anymore. The best thing out my meal was the soft drink. It used to be a prize to come here as child, but not anymore. We had to carry our forks with us back and forth because they had no clean ones other than the ones we got in the beginning and we were scared to set them on the table. I couldn't submit my review with 0 stars... so it has one. What a shit show. read more

Valentino's - tables and chairs in a restaurant - Pizza Near Me - Kearney, Nebraska

Every time we make it back to our hometown, we look forward to having pizza from Valentino's. It is fantastic EVERY TIME. When we place our phone order, we always receive friendly service. Their time estimation for pick up is always spot on and quick. Our pickup is always efficient - the host manages dine in patrons as well as pick up orders with proficiency. Overall, we look forward to one of our favorite nostalgic comfort foods when we make it back to Kearney. True story: when our plane landed, the passengers in the row ahead of us were eager to dine at Valentino's and share a taste of Midwest comfort food with their friends visiting the heartland. They had two stops: Valentinos and Runza. My only regret is that I didn't bring back a pizza in my carry-on when I flew back home. read more

Ordered two pizzas, with much difficult I might add(long hold time, employee seemed to have a hard time comprehending the order no matter how simply I stated, or restated, it) and an hour later only one pizza showed up. Called them back and almost an hour later the other pizza showed up. They made no mention of us needing cash when they arrived and when they came to the door needed cash, of which we had none. Only cards. They left with the second pizza and our party of 8 people went hungry. This is the second time they have shorted me on an order and both times made no effort to make things right. I do not recommend this business. read more

Seriously gone downhill. Selection, quality, taste all marginal at best. Will not be back.

It doesn't have alot of choices slow business food was cold hair in the food the cheese tasted fake but the meatballs where good

Totally not worth it went to eat some supper one night and there was hardly any food and it was cold the mashed potatoes and the gravy had hard chunks in it my daughter said the cheese tasted funny the ice cream taste like bubblegum like they didn't get the machine cleaned out good enough a bunch of the desserts were hard as rocks my daughter really wanted pizza and they didn't have anything the whole time we were there read more

Two types of indigenous food that Cornhuskers go absolutely apeshit over are Runzas and Valentino's pizza. Kansas Citians have their BBQ, Iowans have loose-meat sandwiches. Colorado, Wyoming, Kansas and South Dakota have nothing remarkable, so I suppose it does count for something. I was stuck by the Hilltop Mall in Kearney and was starving. I'd had hamburguesas for lunch in GI so I didn't want to go back to Culver's, the Sax Pizza in the mall looked lame, but I thought I would give Val's Grande Buffet another try as pizza seemed the thing to do. Pretty friendly all-girl staff who come pick up yer dirty plates, and they were attentive when I asked for fresh coffee to be put in the crazy air-pump things (although really, ya coulda told me there was another beverage station, No?). In anycase, that's a side issue. The pizza is as good as you remember IF you get it hot outta their pizza kitchen. And stick to the basics (hamburg, pepperoni). Nothing worse than a cheeseburger-green pepper pizza sitting out under a gawdamn heat lamp for an hour. Some lasagna and italian sausages were ok, the salad bar not bad. Since it is a buffet it has all sorts of weirdass options like tacos and mashed potatoes and chicken nuggets for all those geniuses who go to a pizza joint and don't want pizza. Dessert included a sort of wacky apple-pie pizza which was pretty good, but the "ice cream" was just lazy-assed cheap ice milk and sucked. read more

The food was terrible, 5 out of our party of 7 became sick as a result of this substandard buffet. The lettuce on the salad bar was brown and wilted terribly, none of the cold salads or food was remotely cold, and the hot foods tasted like they were from yesterday's offering. I can't imagine the Kearney health inspectors allowing this place to run in this condition much longer. read more

I was almost convinced to give a pass from the bad reviews. Not as bad as I feared. The pizza: I did not like the crust, no chew to it. Soft. Other than that, standard buffet fare. Nothing spectacular but will fill your gut. read more

We showed up with 18 people after govong them 30 minutes advanced notice, they had a room set for us and were very attentive. The food was what you expect from an Italian buffet, nothing to write home about but it tastes pretty decent. read more

I remember the original Valentino's in Lincoln. This franchisee could learn a lot from the original. Pizza Hut would be a better choice and I don't like Pizza Hut. Salad bar was DIRTY, stuff slopped from one container to another. Staff was friendly but if you are looking for Authentic Pizza you'll enjoy stopping at a C Store and getting a cardboard one before you spend the money here. read more

My family and I have gone to Valentino's twice in the last month. We should not have returned after the first time, but we thought we might have gone on a bad day so we would give it another chance. We were there the first time around 5:30 pm and the second time at about 12:30. The pizza was either soggy, or tough from sitting out way too long. As a matter of fact, nearly everything seemed like it had been sitting out for a day or so. My daughter told me that her smiley fries tasted old and she gets better ones in her school lunch, which is not saying much. We will not be returning. read more

I was traveling for the past week from Iowa to Colorado and back with 21 hungry Boy Scouts. We tried a different buffet on the 9th of June because we were happy with the another locations buffet in the past , this time we weren't happy with the experience so we decided to try out Valentino's on our way back. Sure wish we would have chosen Valentino's on the way out as well as back, the food was good, staff was friendly and the restaurant was clean. I've spent many years working in food service and most of those in Italian Restaurants, needless to say I'm picky about my Italian and for me this one top notch for a buffet, I especially liked the Sicilian Sauce and the Sausage and Peppers with tomatoes. For a buffet pizza it has to be one of the best I've eaten in quite some time. read more

Generally, the buffet is pretty substandard, but I like the lasagna, fried shrimp, and sicilians sauce, so I keep coming. Today was the WORST service I have ever experienced BY FAR! I walked in to no one at the register. I waited about 10 minutes, even stepped out into the main walkway a couple times to see if anyone would make the effort to help me. An employee in the pizza area made eye contact, as did a woman in the back area cleaning tables. After that approximately 10 minute wait, a pizza delivery guy came in, even came up to the register I was standing at, but punched something in on the register and then walked away. He looked back at me two more times going between the kitchen and the register....still no one helped me, spoke to me, or made a comment to any other employee that someone was waiting. Right after the delivery guy came in, so did another couple. Told them I'd been waiting about 10 minutes already, with no acknowledgement. Together the three of us waited about 5 more minutes for an Asian guys (assuming the manager on duty) to come to the register. He acted like it was no big deal. Told him I'd been waiting about 10-15 minutes and what did he do?....He freaking ARGUED WITH ME! "No, I was just up here 5 minutes ago". Umm, no, I'd definitely been there well beyond five minutes. Do discount, no nothing. All I got was grief and charged full price. This was a pathetic way to treat a customer who was clearly willing to pay your already pretty outrageous prices for sub par service, cleanliness, and food quality. Not sure I'll ever be back on my own accord. read more

We were very disappointed in the food. We arrived right at 5:00 pm, and the pizzas should have been fresh out of the ovens; however, they were barely warm and they were crusty and hard rather than hot and melty......the salads were not very fresh.....the cinnamon dessert pizza was as hard as a rock....it seems like it might have been leftovers from lunch.....not sure that we will eat there again....we wasted good money and ate very little.....You should be able to expect hot, fresh food--especially pizza--that is Valentino's signature--their delicious pizza....nothing in comparison to Lincoln's Valentino's.....please get it together!!!!! read more

Plates were dirty and had caked on food. The buffet leaves something to be desired. The pizza quality has definitely gone down in quality. The place was busy after church and the staff could not keep up with restocking the buffet. Go elsewhere, I beg of you, Go ELSEWHERE. read more