Valencia Pizza & Pasta

Jesse:

Mary:

This outside of this place is kinda faded. It has that look of invisibility that old restaurants get when they have been in the neighborhood for a long time and newer, trendier places have been built around it. The inside is more visually lively and includes a strange mix of old furniture and a Denny’s kinda menu on a white board. We originally said we would pass up pizza parlors because Jesse and I would find little to eat there; but this place had a menu more like a diner in spite of it’s name. In fact, I had a lot of possibilites—and I chose short ribs. I was looking forward to its melt-in-the-mouth tenderness. The ribs were disappointing, stringy and needing a lot of chewing. I kept looking at the other options that I had passed up for ribs, sorry for my choice.

The disappointment was made keener by the fact that I like the place. I appreciate the old feeling. I like the sense of a family operation and the aura of history that this place exuded. That aura accumulates in the walls; it can’t be built into a new place. I wanted to like the food. The staff (probably not quite the right term: mother and daughter or niece?) was welcoming, friendly and efficient. I watched several families with elementary school-age kids eating together, and reckoned that it was a good place to come to when mom or dad didn’t want to cook. It had that neighborhood status and the owners knew a lot of their customers by name. I can dis the ribs, but I can’t dis the place.

Shirley:

I was really looking forward to trying out this restaurant. I have often walked past but never tried it. It has a "not open" vibe that I just assumed was real. In fact, it is open most of the day; breakfast, lunch and dinner.

The place has multiple personalities. The exterior is "new, sweet, clean" with an interior that looks more like it has been kicked around by someone wearing combat boots. The menu that was handed to me read as simple diner food with a shallow overlay of Italian-American, but if you add the specials posted on the wall, it is a very complicated mixture of European cuisines, including a large range of seafood and speciality items.  All and all, it is a very courageous menu, not just for their chef, but for storage considerations as well.

I chose the Spaghetti With Meat Balls and tomato sauce from the table menu. It is my standard of comparison for any place that serves it. If you have ever eaten a really good meatball in marinara sauce on perfectly cooked pasta, then you know what life is for. There used to be a resataurant in New Jersey, call Bonvini's that actually had grandma Bonvini sitting at one of the red checkered cloth covered tables, shaping meatballs by hand, piling them up on a tray. I would watch as each layer built a taller and taller pyramid. Her son would carry the heavy tray to the kithchen where a miracle of flavors would be born.

Did the Valencia Pizza & Pasta live up to this idealized standard? Of course not. The marinara sauce was pretty good and the pasta was okay but the meatballs were a sad representation of the good stuff. They were spongey from some sort of filler and fairly bland. Texture is very important in a meatball and a too-high ratio of grain to meat completely ruins the chew quality. The plate included some excellently sauteed vegetables and okay dressed salad. Garlic bread was placed on the table as soon as we sat down. There was plenty of food. Mounds of medium cuisine.

Would I go there again? I think it would have been a great place to take my kids when they were young. I could have filled them up on okay stuff without a huge bill at the end of the meal except I raised them to appreciate good food and although they would have eaten everything put in fron of them, they would have had something to criticize for every bite. In fact, the powdery, industrial parmesian in the shaker jar on the table would have been immediately spotted and the comments would begin.

The folks were really friendly and helpful, It had the distinct feel of a relaxed family-run, down home restaurant, not the over-slick places popping up all over Valencia. No need to wax and buff anything, a good place for large portions at the end of your pay period.

Jesse:

overall rating: low prices for mundane food and ambiance

     The menu and ambiance of this place really reminded me of a midwestern town diner. The type of place where you could still order a blue plate special.  

     The ambiance was, well uh, not really to be found. There’s just one big dining area with 5 tables and an open kitchen in the rear. They probably bought the furniture from a used restaurant supply house and it hasn’t changed since they opened in 1995. 

     Not a lot of thought went into decorating. It’s more of a mish-mash with a huge odd flower painting on the main wall.

     The menu though, is extensive! You can order prawns, ahi tuna, meatballs, crab cakes, ravioli, salmon steak, pork chops, chicken, pot roast, lamb shank, catfish, meatloaf, calamari, and fried chicken. And they’re open for breakfast. wow.  

     The waitstaff is friendly and warmly welcomes your arrival. 

      I ordered a New York Steak with mushrooms and grilled onions. With a choice of soup, green salad, fries, mashed potatoes and pasta. Due to my food allergies, I had fries, mashed potatoes, a green salad and broccoli.  All for $17.95

     The steak and broccoli were cooked very well. A nice medium rare as ordered for the steak and the broccoli was pleasantly crisp. Mashed potatoes were a bit lumpy but good.

     I probably wouldn’t eat here again. There are just too many restaurants nearby that have outstanding food. Valencia Pizza has low prices but I would rather pay a little more and receive much better tasting food. And there are great cheap places around too. Granted, they’re starting to die out, but for now, I can do better with my food dollars.

      I did love their bathroom. It is a classic San Francisco  restroom setup. You go through the kitchen, through the back kitchen, down a very steep, short flight of stairs, to a TINY bathroom. Tall people beware. You might not fit. There’s not even enough room for a sink. For that, you go back outside, up the stairs and into the back kitchen to use their sink and towels. But it works and you have a tiny S.F. adventure.

Bon Appetite!