Just had an amazing lunch at Valentinas!The service was great and the restaurant was very clean. We live in south Florida so it’s hard find good Mexican food. The owners are so kind and you can tell they love what they do and they love people. Can’t wait to come back when we visit again!!

BLUF: Good-to-great service might overcome sub-par food, but good-to-great food does not overcome sub-par service. Based on my dining experience, Valentina’s was an example of the latter.

Having a yen for some authentic Mexican cuisine, I did some research online and noted that Valentina’s had racked up an impressive number of positive reviews. Since I was running some errands in the vicinity, I decided to stop by for an early dinner. I had my choice of seats, and the waitress promptly brought chips and salsa. My drink and meal orders (shrimp fajitas) were taken a few minutes later–so far, so good.

My meal arrived (sizzling on a cast-iron serving pan!) after 10-15 minutes, and it was delicious. The waitress stopped by a few minutes after serving the food to ensure that all was well. The portions, as noted by other reviewers, were generous. By the time I had finished eating, there was still a third to a half of the original meal remaining, and I looked forward to taking home the leftovers.

At this point, the waitress was assisting another patron with paying a bill and seating another party of two (these individuals and I were the only patrons in the restaurant). The waitress took the other party’s drink and meal orders; I expected a follow-up with me to see if I wanted the extra food boxed and to get the check. Nope! The order was delivered to the kitchen and drinks to the other party. At this point, the waitress went back to the kitchen.

And I waited. . .and waited. . .and waited. I would have asked another member of the staff for assistance, except that for at least 10 minutes, no staff entered the dining area! Finally, the waitress served the other party their meals and checked in with me. I had wanted a to-go container, but elected not to do so for fear of having to wait another extended period. I waited between 15 and 20 minutes after finishing my meal before I could inform the waitress that I was finished. If I had sufficient cash to pay for the meal, I would have left the requisite amount on the table and left.

The only reason I tipped was to ensure that the back-of-house staff was recognized for their efforts.

I eaten in at least a thousand dining establishments across the US and around the world, some with questionable sanitation practices and others where I did not want to know what kind of meat was being served. Despite these issues, I would rank these businesses above Valentina’s simply because the proprietors and front-of-house staff had a service-oriented attitude.

I’ll let this review, my wallet, and my feet do the talking and won’t return to Valentina’s. I know this likely won’t affect the restaurant’s future performance or patronage, and that this review is an outlier when compared to the others. However, I simply can’t provide a positive (or even mediocre) recommendation, in writing or by word of mouth, for an establishment that made me feel as if I were being held hostage.