The Original Valentino Italian Restaurant — Restaurant in Surfside Beach

My husband and I had our first meal at Valentino’s last night. We read some excellent reviews, and were excited to give it a go. The restaurant is in a strip mall, with ample parking. Inside, it’s old school and a bit tired. But they had ample space between tables, which made us feel comfortable given COVID, and their staff is wonderful! Mary Ellen greeted us at the door. She was polite, friendly, and very helpful. Our waiter was Chris, who was knowledgeable, efficient, and very pleasant. (We were able to see and hear other waitstaff, who all seem to be terrific.) Chris took our drink orders. When they arrived, they were correct, and well-prepared.

Garlic knots and bread were brought to the table. They were both a highlight of our meal. Really good! It wasn’t easy not ordering more!!

The menu is traditional Italian. My husband and I shared the mozzarella and tomatoes as an appetizer. When it first came out, the tomatoes weren’t great, but the owner came by, saw the problem and immediately replaced the order. For entrees, my husband ordered the veal cutlet Parmesan, and I had the veal Sorrentino. Entrées come with either a small salad or soup. I had the house salad, and my husband had the chicken soup. The salad was a salad. It was fresh and fine. My husband said the soup was good, and was perfect on the cold evening.

The veal Sorrentino, in my opinion should have been more tender, and the sauce was a bit bland, with too much of it on the plate. Instead of having the dish over pasta, I asked for it with a side of sautéed broccoli rabe. Great move on my part… It was quite delicious!

My husband said his veal Parmesan, with a side of rigatoni was pretty good, but said it would have been better with fresh mozzarella cheese instead of what appeared to be sliced cheese. Also of note is the grated cheese was not fresh grated Parmesan Reggiano. Instead, it appeared to be the kind you’d purchase in the grocery aisles. (We passed on using grated cheese!)

This restaurant reminded us of a true “neighborhood restaurant”, with a lot of regulars. They had a steady stream of customers, and it was lively. We were told that on Friday and Saturday evenings there’s usually a singer, but that he wasn’t feeling well the evening we were there. Something to look forward to?

Given the great staff, and the owner’s careful eye making sure everyone was enjoying themselves, overall, we enjoyed our evening. One meal doesn’t allow a full assessment. We’ll certainly give them another try, hopefully when the...

I'm baffled how this got 4.6 stars. This might be the worst Italian food we've ever had.

Entrees are served w soup or salad. (Asked what the soup was, and she said pasta fagioli. When I arrived to get the food, the sign said they had clam chowder 🤔). We chose caesar salads, which we didn't eat. The dressing didn't taste homemade, had no kick (meaning no anchovies, meaning it's not real caesar dressing), and is extremely thick/creamy. Plus, the salad had dry grated parmesan on it, like the kind made by Kraft. How an Italian restaurant doesn't include shaved (or at least freshly grated) parmesan on their salad is beyond me.

I got the manicotti, and I sh1t you not, the entire dish was only slightly bigger than the diameter of a cereal bowl. The individual manicotti were approximately 4-5 inches long and 1.5 inches wide, which is about the size of half of my cell phone, and they only include 2 of them. The serving is what you'd expect for a lunch portion for half the price. The noodles were overcooked and mushy, not al dente. And the tomato sauce was thin and minimally seasoned, definitely not a sauce you'd expect from an Italian restaurant or one that you'd enjoy tasting all on its own.

He got the penne ala vodka, which was so bland that he didn't even want to eat it. So, after 2-3 bites, we switched so he could have my manicotti. He was right. That vodka sauce tastes 1) like there's no vodka component and 2) has absolutely no seasoning in it. It was really astonishing how absent the flavor was, like you'd have to try to make something that plain. At least the penne was cooked al dente. But we threw most of that out.

They don't give you the "famous" garlic knots for to-go orders, I guess, which was a bummer. The bread they did include was dry. We threw that out, too, and I'm saying that bread has to be really bad for me to not eat it.

I really can't adequately describe how disappointing...

We have a second home in Surfside so we are there a lot. We were down last weekend, party of 4 ladies. I have heard good and bad reviews on Valentino’s but one person in our party wanted to try it. A local had told her it was the “best Italian” around. I always go to Malibu’s, which is great, but Valentino’s came highly recommended so we gave it a go. We had reservations for 7:30 on a Friday night. Parking was a breeze. The restaurant is in a strip mall and appears dumpy from outside but the inside is fine, not fancy but fine. There is live music and a couple of elderly couples were dancing. Not my type of music but ok, that didn’t bother me. Waitress came immediately and took our drink order, brought us garlic knots that were delicious. She finally brought the drinks and some bread. We ordered Calamari, which was delicious. It came and we ordered another round of drinks. It took at least 30 minutes for the drinks to come and for her to take our dinner order. We all 4 ordered different things and I had spaghetti and meatballs. Chef Boy R Dee makes better spaghetti. I couldn’t eat it. The sauce had NO flavor, tasted like tomato juice. The meatballs were frozen like the kind you buy at Costco. My friends food was tolerable but not good. I was sooo disappointed. The spaghetti and meatballs was cheap, $15. Maybe I should have ordered one of the $23 specials, I don’t know. The service was horrible and there were very few people in there. The dining experience was 3 and 1/2 hours. Ridiculous. I will never go back. Neither will my 3 friends. And if you are wondering, our group age was 34 yrs to 62 yrs. not...