Valentino's Office — Restaurant in Lincoln

Valentino's Buffet is an institution in Lincoln. You go, you eat way too much food that you didn't even know you wanted, and you leave somehow happy and miserable at the same time.

Valentino's buffet has a little bit of everything, even ranging far outside the traditional pizza/pasta/salad realm of what other Valentino's locations have. For example, you can get fried chicken and corn, you can get wings and mashed potatoes, there's a taco station, the kids buffet has french toast sticks at all hours, etc.

None of those things are as good as the pizza or pasta (or the cinnamon twists which are the best thing in the place), but they're all decent if you're just looking to switch it up on your second or third plate. They also vary the pizza options beyond to the normal varieties, like a cheeseburger pizza or the blazin' bacon pizza if you're wanting to spice it up.

Really the biggest detriment is that the place hasn't really changed in 15 years. I still remember when they remodeled it and it felt impressive and different. Now, some of those same flourishes (themed dining rooms, hallway made to look like an italian street, etc) just kind of come off as cheesy. On top of that, it's always a mess of kids (and also mindless adults) running around paying zero attention to their surroundings. The last time I was there, I almost had a plate knocked out of my hands about three different times.

Basically what I'm saying is that if you haven't been and you're on the fence, it's worth going. The price for all you can eat is a good value, the pizza and pasta are solid, and you can find something for everyone. If you can remember to leave room for desert and keep your head on a swivel, you'll be...

First time to the Valentinos buffet. I've also been to the other locations without a buffet.

Food is pretty simple. Nothing to write home about. Buffet has lots of choices and it's kind of expensive at $14 but again it's an all you can eat buffet. Drinks at $2.50 also adds to the cost.

My favorite food was the bacon cheeseburger pizza. It even had pickles on it! Lol.

They do have the cool foundation drink machine that let's you put flavors in your pop or soda. I personally like the vanilla root beer.

I found the service to be lacking. Hostess said go to the second room when she could have said go to the "Roma" room which is clearly labeled.

No one helped us get kids high chairs.

Busser did clear our table as we got more food which was nice.

Overall average experience. If you want to eat a ton of food then go for it. Otherwise you can get higher quality food and service at practically any other restaurant for...

Basic: We were seated quickly, even with a heavy customer load. and they had plenty of food available with a wide variety of choices. Detailed: I was completely impressed that there were very few if any items that ran out even with a completely full house. The variety was startling, I never realized that they would have home cooking like shepherd's pie, turkey and roast beef, let alone a taco bar, tamales and enchiladas and a host of other Mexican / MexAmerican fare. Then of course there is a pretty great salad bar, a wide variety of breads, pastas, pizzas (including a order a custom-made Pizza option for those picky eaters like myself). There was a nice selection of Italian standards such as lasagna and manicotti as well as various other fun dishes that I haven't had since I went to a "real Italian restaurant" :-) Final thought: I picked up the buffet reward card, because I intend...