Big announcement from Valentina’s

[sarredon]

Some big news from Valentina’s today. As seen on the recent Texas meat up, they’ve had significant quality issues since moving to a new brick and mortar location. As such, they are temporarily shutting down to try and right the ship. As someone who has been to both locations, the new one is no where near the same quality as the food truck. The food truck put out amazing bbq. It was smoked on an offset with mesquite, which set it apart from the myriad of other places in Austin. At their best, the food is outstanding, and I wish them nothing but future success. Hopefully they can get things back on track and return to their former glory.


Here’s the post.


Loyal customers,

When we started Valentina’s in 2013, our focus was two things: food + family. We wanted to make Tex Mex BBQ that would bring families together, while representing Tejano culture - the biggest inspiration for Valentina’s. That has never changed, even when we grew from a food truck to a brick-and-mortar.

We’ve been at this for a long time, and we work really hard, but this last year has been harder than ever. Small business owners know that it’s never easy. For us, scaling our business from 600 sq. ft. to 6,000 sq. ft. has proven more than we can manage, and we recognize and admit to the many issues and challenges Valentina’s has had since we’ve moved. We can no longer continue to give our loyal customers sub par customer service and food.

Starting on April 25th, Valentina’s will be under new management. We’ll be closed from today until May 8th as we make this transition. Don’t worry, you’ll still see us around smoking briskets in the silo, or coming up with a new drink for the menu, and we are going to come back stronger and better than ever.

We want to thank you for your loyalty. If you have come by over the last year and didn’t have a great experience, we hope that you give us another chance. We KNOW we can do much better going forward. We’re excited for this new chapter, where we get back to the heart of Valentina’s - food + family, hecho con amor.

Thank you all so much for continuing to support our family business. We couldn’t have made it this far without y’all.

Miguel & Modesty Vidal Vidal

[texastweeter]

Lol, Amanda just yelled "Panhead John done broke their hearts and put them outta business!"

[Panhead John]

😂😂😂

[sarredon]

Haha. I need to be in attendance for the ful meat up next time it comes up.

Speaking of which, anyone interested in the Texas Monthly BBQ Fest in Lockhart? I went last year and it was spectacular!

[sarredon]

TX Monthly BBQ Fest is Nov 2-3 if anyone is interested

[Sid P]

While I wish them well, I won’t ever be back. If they mailed me a check for the $32 I wasted on that lunch, maybe I’d think about it.

Nah, life is too short.

[sarredon]

I’m sure you’re not the only one who thinks that way. Restaurants are a tough business, and bbq on that scale is probably as tough as it gets. Having an off day is not unusual but forgivable. However, they’ve had more than just a few. They have a lot to do to win back fans.

[Mosca]

My thought exactly when I read it. I want my $30 back.

[Panhead John]

I wish them nothing but the best. I have more to add tomorrow. Michelin and James Beard people, please stay tuned…🙄

[Troutman]

Was I nominated.....YES !!!

[Finster]

I wish them nothing but the best. I have more to add tomorrow. Michelin and James Beard people, please stay tuned…🙄

lol

[Troutman]

We were all shocked (me especially because I recommended the Meatup Group try the place out) in the poor quality of Valentina's. I was a big fan of the food truck and do understand that ramping up to a full service restaurant is not easy to do. I think Leroy and Lewis are probably still experiencing growth pains as well but seem to be doing fine.

I wish Miguel and his family all the luck in the world. I still consider the Real Deal Holyfield Breakfast Taco the gold standard for the ideal breakfast taco !!!

And thanks for posting sarredon, I was trying to get some back channel info on this. And oh by the way, we missed seeing you at the Meatup. Next time come by and say hi, love to meet you

[sarredon]

I figured there would be some good dialogue about this announcement. And I am absolutely going to be at the next meatup!

[Panhead John]

I for one, will not be jumping on the “forgiveness/best wishes” bandwagon any time soon. I’ll also admit I know nothing about running a restaurant except, I do know it’s extremely difficult and requires a lot of blood, sweat and tears…..and long hours of work. Having said that, here’s why…

After this was posted by sarredon I did a little digging around on Valentina’s Facebook page. I’ll start out by saying I don’t believe every comment/review I see online, but, where there’s smoke, there’s usually fire. I read a lot of comments and complaints that mirrored our experience at the restaurant. This has been going on for MONTHS AND MONTHS! This wasn’t just an occasional occurrence but it seems to have been going on with an alarming frequency for quite a while. Their temporary closing and new management seems to be too little too late, IMO. On their Facebook page were a few comments about their employees not getting paid for weeks! A cardinal sin if you ask me, your employees are the backbone of any company and should be treated as such. One of the commenters was a parent of one of the employees who said “our son hasn’t been paid for several weeks.” I’m only reporting what was said by someone on their Facebook page, I have no proof of this. But……while we were dining there we found out that the people running the place were not even employees of Valentina’s! When I went to the register to request a refund for my ..not delivered side order, the guy cutting the meat came up to apologize for everything and explained that he was a “restaurant consultant” and that this was their first day at the place. There were only 4 people that I could see working there! He explained to me that each of the people working there had never worked there before, they worked at different restaurants!

Uncle Bob , wife Lee and myself had a long conversation about the situation on our way back to the hotel. Why were there no regular employees of the place working? We could only guess. 🧐 When I went to the register to request a refund for my side order, the cashier told me that my entire meal was going to be comped. I thanked him and explained I wasn’t requesting the whole meal comped, just the side order that wasn’t delivered. He then said, “that’s ok, we’re going to comp the whole meal.” I thanked him again and went back to my table. As per my American Express app today, that hasn’t been done. They told texastweeter they were going to comp his and Amanda’s meal also. Adam told me that they did wind up reversing his charge that same day. Oh well, no big deal to me, just thought I’d mention it. EDIT: Just checked my receipt and they did remove the unserved side order charge.

On 2 occasions while there I asked if I could speak to the owner. One time I was told he was in the back and that he’d check for me. Never saw him or her. I went back a little later and asked a different guy if I could please speak to the owner. He said…”he just stepped out a few minutes ago.” After seeing pictures of the owners today on their Facebook page, I can say for a fact I never saw either of them during the entire hour and a half of us being in the restaurant. All I can say is that if I was a business owner and had a big dumpster fire going, I’d be doing my best to be up front and center helping out and making apologies. Didn’t happen.

Sorry for the long ramble here, but I just wanted to express my opinion and expand on my experience. These problems have been going on for far too long for me to give them a second chance. The owners should have made these corrections a long time ago. In closing, one of their biggest misdeeds to me was the condition of their restrooms. When Purc ‘s daughter in law Leslie came back to the table and told me how dirty the ladies room was and that the trash can was overflowing, I couldn’t believe it! I later went to the men’s room to see what kind of shape it was in. As mentioned before, there was NO toilet paper or paper towels at all! There was no hand dryer either, so the lack of paper towels was kind of a big deal, but not as unforgivable as NO toilet paper! To me, the condition of a business’ restrooms are a direct reflection of other areas of the business. Our experience at Terry Black’s was polar opposite of this place! The owners of Valentina’s should work there for a while and see how to properly run a BBQ joint.

[Panhead John]

https://www.kxan.com/news/local/hays/valentinas-tex-mex-bbq-receives-backlash-over-tip-policy/

[Mosca]

Lol, PJ did you notice at the end they nailed Black’s Original last year, the other place that was a disappointment?

[Panhead John]

Sure did Tom! 😂 Just wanted to say for anyone not familiar, there’s a Black’s BBQ and a Terry Black’s BBQ. Several of us went to Terry Black’s while we were there. It DID NOT disappoint and was not the restaurant referred to in the video.

[captainlee]

The owner should of had his butt in there long ago to straighten things out. You have a building and lots of overhead to be concerned about. Seems like the owner was very lackadaisical. It will be difficult if not impossible to recover.

[Panhead John]

Just my opinion here but, I wonder if he was resting on his laurels of the food truck days….when it was all glory.

[captainlee]

Yep, you go from a food truck with a couple of people Woking to a full blown operation. The overhead is a killer and you have to manage that. Totally different than a trailer. If he wasn't paying employees, then suppliers must of been without receivables too. Maybe along with other withholdings. Maybe he couldn't get product delivered to him. Who knows, it's a mess. Just because your a great chef doesn't mean you're a good businessperson.

[Mosca]

I think they already had money problems and the tip scandal sunk them, made it impossible to recover.

[Texas Larry]

This is very good news. Wishing them well. Hoping to visit my formerly favorite place when reopened.

[Greygoose]

It can be a long road to shine up a tarnished reputation,,,
nothing goes the same as when the boss is around,,,
U can’t be absent,,,

[Oak Smoke]

To be honest and give my perspective Arby’s would have been better. Of course no one knew that ahead of time.

[texastweeter]

Hey the arbys bacon turkey ranch wrap is GREAT!

[Smoker_Boy]

I have seen too many Restaurant: Impossible and Bar Rescue shows that all share the same thing:
Owners who have no clue what they're doing.
Or, owners that just want to get drunk.

[Oak Smoke]

Too many new business owners don’t see themselves as part of the team. They want to be the boss who has the privilege of being there when they see fit. If you don’t roll up your sleeves and get in there with the rest of the crew, especially as much work as bbq is, you aren’t going to get anywhere. In the business I’ve owned I put in more hours a week than any of my employees.

[Mosca]

I watch old BRs in the morning while eating breakfast. Almost 100% of them can be fixed by cutting employee theft and drinking, stopping giving away free drinks, and cleaning the place up. Maybe 15-20% is training to mix drinks and fixing the food.

[Smoker_Boy]

Mosca - This all goes back to poor management.
Especially the cleaning part.
I can't believe how these places pass Health Dept. inspections.
In Ohio, the inspections are not announced beforehand.

[TxF]

The 2 things I noticed were that’s a pretty expensive looking space to sell breakfast tacos and craft BBQ. I saw somewhere that the signature breakfast taco was $10 + protein, that’s not going to be on my regular morning rotation as I prepare to commute to Austin.

That’s the 2nd issue, I think they moved to far south and during the week there aren’t enough people around that need Craft BBQ for lunch and you learn pretty quickly that with few exceptions it’s no good by the time it gets to dinner.

[Panhead John]

Terry Black’s was such an enjoyable experience! It had that BBQ atmosphere, indoor/outdoor seating, friendly & smiling employees not afraid to chat you up if you wanted, quick and efficient service…..and great food! I can say without a doubt, it was one of my top overall BBQ visits anywhere. It wasn’t the best BBQ I’ve had but it was plenty good enough!

[Troutman]

Well, if you had gone up in Austin, like I suggested you do instead of running around caves, you would’ve had more of those experiences. Just saying.

[TxF]

Every place Julia and I went they moved the line along so that there was always spaces to sit. Barb’s was the best at it, we never thought we would get a place to sit.

[Mosca]

Just announced, In addition to being closed for new management, Valentina’s is being sold. No word on who’s buying it, though.

[Mosca]

And don’t underestimate the effect of the tip scandal. In an area like that, it appears to have been devastating.

https://austin.eater.com/2024/4/26/24140760/valentinas-tex-mex-bbq-sale-new-owners-temporarily-closed-buda-texas-barbecue-restaurant

[Panhead John]

That’s great news! Hopefully the new owners can turn it around.

[barelfly]

I follow them on Instagram and boy did people get all over them for the tip scandal. Comments galore!

[TxF]

I won’t link to the article from the Austin Business Journal because it’s behind a paywall. Apparently Valentina’s is about $2.5 million dollars in debt since they started the brick and mortar location. $2 million is to an Austin group who owns and lends to restaurants. Apparently they lent them that much money because the food trucks (looks like there were more than just the BBQ one) grossed $4.5 million year before last and they expected for them to double that in Buda. The thing they didn’t know is Valentina’s wasn’t very good at paying all their obligations and doing book keeping.

So the new management is coming from the biggest stake holder and they are sending their restaurant people to salvage things so they can get paid something. Sounds like they are going change up the menu a little and add a dinner service. Sisnce they have places all over the country I’m guessing they will come up with something that works there if BBQ doesn’t work out, the lease is 10 years long.

[sarredon]

This is crazy behavior by the owners. I wonder if the investment company had any idea about the extent of their financial shadiness. Every new piece of information reveals more ugliness.