Valerie's Downtown — Restaurant in Saginaw

This is a mixed bag. I went here on a suggestion. Walking in was awkward with the seating set up. And then the table where you pay is hidden in the dark around the corner. Followed by there being a random wall at the end where the kitchen is. Just gave off a weird vibe. And then a group of seemingly regulars held the door open for over 5 minutes in the middle of winter as they chatted with themselves. For some reason. And no employee said anything as the people are the tables near the door were complaining, myself included.

Service was a little slower than what would seem usual due to being lunch and only a single server being available. The food was really good, I will applaud that. However, the price for a burger and "accompanied" fries is a bit much.

Lastly, I find it incredibly unhealthy and disgusting to have a dog freely roaming the dining area. It is against health code violations without a doubt. And then for it to go table to table for an hour literally BEGGING for food, just ruins the entire experience as it is annoying and gross.

I wanted to like it, but definitely won't be returning with a dog wandering around asking for my expensive...

I wanted to give this place a try due to all the great reviews. Not sure where they came from but the food and service were awful. We tried a little bit of everything the nachos, tacos, rice, beans and burgers. Everything we got was horrendous! The rice and beans had a horrible flavor to them I couldn’t even manage to eat those as well as the tacos the meat was so dry and tasteless! The nachos were okay but again the meat was very dry and flavorless. The burger I thought would be good since it’s not that hard to cook a burger but again terrible I don’t know what seasonings were in it but it was some of the worse flavors I have ever tasted. Our server was not tentative to our needs and forgot our drinks twice as well as our silverware! It’s a shame nothing was good here it’s in a great spot downtown but the business is lacking in any...

We just happened to be driving by on our way to lunch at Panera...saw Valerie's and turned around! Soooo glad we did!

My husband had a giant salad with bacon, ranch and all the fixings, and I had the most delicious burger you could tell was hand-formed and made to order... not flash-frozen and heated up.

Tara took such good care of us, and Juliana, the owner, came and sat and talked with us. It was really like going over to my sister's house and having her put together a delicious homemade lunch for us.

We will definitely be regulars supporting this adorable and homey small business every time we're in Saginaw, and look forward to more visits with our new buddy 'Cado, too!

Thank you for wonderful food and a warm welcome...we will be back for the chocolate peanut...