I came in to Valentino?s for lunch wanting to see the new location. I have dined at Valentino?s before at the old location for dinner and have had excellent experiences, but I have never dined for lunch. I have an uncommon food allergy and I alerted the waitress (young with very long blond hair) about it. She addressed it appropriately by notifying the kitchen. Points of service and standards were weak but acceptable, (i.e. serving from the left taking from the right). I asked about some of the oyster appetizers on the dinner menu but she said they were not available for LUNCH TIME, ?just because they?re on the half shell?, which did not make much sense to me. So, I ordered the Shrimp and Grits. I assumed the waitress would have known that I wanted to order from the list of lunch entrees since it was around 11:55am- 12:00pm when I arrived. The dish was pretty good. It was very rich and cheesy but the richness became overwhelming about half way through. When the check came, I noticed that the waitress had charged me for the dinner entree ($20.95), not the lunch entree ($12.95). I asked her about it and SHE SAID IT WAS MY FAULT FOR NOT SPECIFYING THAT I WANTED THE LUNCH ENTREE and had received more food, although she seemed unsure of the difference between the two entree sizes when I asked her. I expressed to her that I assumed because it was around noon that I wanted the lunch entree. No manager was notified of my dissatisfaction. I will NOT be back for lunch but may try dinner since it was insisted I pay the dinner price.
Pros: interesting menu worth trying
Cons: bad service can make any food, no matter how good, taste bad!
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