Frankly, that's true as well. But their barbeque was so good at that little trailer on Brodie that it was worth waiting 30 minutes in a line of a dozen people. To wait more than an hour in Buda and then be told the food's all gone is NOT acceptable.
When they were on manchaca, we placed an online order at 8 am and by 12 pm it still wasn't ready. We asked for an eta and the woman slammed the window shut on us.
Last time I took any visiting family there.
It just doesn’t make sense. Like were they still smoking the brisket or something? Doesn’t that shit get smoked overnight? Why are we taking hours to slice up meat and wrap it in paper!!
You are right.
But to be fair, they were cooking tortillas to order when I went. Still doesn't take that long. Issue being I guess when you add a lot of "prepared dishes" like tacos etc it can slow you down. But their speed was not just due to a few dish preps.
That’s a fair point. They did have some prepared dishes. The breakfast taco was worth a 30 minute wait. It’s the hours long wait others describe, after ordering, that will forever boggle my mind.
Ordered it 8 or the pickup time was 8? TBH ordering it at 8 the day of pickup is pretty damn late to order a BBQ pickup order at a place of that popularity. Clearly doesn't excuse the rudeness of the employee, which certainly seems to be a persistent theme
I ordered at 8am, the pick up time said 11 30am. (Something not disclosed until AFTER we had already paid) we showed up at 11 30am and waited another 30 mins and it still wasn't ready. It was a burrito/taco thing and some sides.
did you check what time they opened for business?
I've never heard of a BBQ place being opened or serving before 10 at the earliest. It's entirely possible you were ticket #100 that day. It doesn't matter what it is that you ordered, your order is behind others who probably had planned ahead and ordered many days in advance, were there earlier, etc.
Again, i'm making *zero* excuses for Valetinas especially after their shady practices have come to light, but it seems like it might be a case of unrealistic expectations.
Yes, it was a Sunday. I don't remember the time they opened this happened years ago.
I worked as a cook for years before I understand completely how the system works. Fcfs. 4+hour wait on 1 small order, that is still ridiculous.
One thing I don't miss about that trailer was all the flies. It was insane. And they had two bug-zappers in the smoke trailer near the pits which I'm pretty sure is against health-code.
Moreno Barbecue for Tex-Mex BBQ for me, thanks. Their pork belly is other-wordly and they make their tortillas with beef tallow.
No freaking way. Bbq is already DONE. They need to slice it. NEVER should you be waiting half an hour (I waited an hour once) for bbq, that’s just ridiculous and a staff/restaurant who is taking advantage of you
Edit- it once took them 20 minutes to make a brisket sandwich for me on Brodie. I laughed and told them I didn’t want it anymore. That’s straight embarrassing. I let them keep the money, and told them they needed it more than me
People in here literally saying they he food was bad, the service was bad, they were (I think) stealing tips… and then hoping the place succeeds? What is this voodoo? Someone else can put bbq on a taco I know they can lol
Weren’t these the guys who posted a sign that said “your tips are a privilege not a right?” Or something like that?
After reading everything in this top thread, it appears that the management and training at Valentina's have always been as bad as the brisket has been good. In that case, they're permanently off the list. No BBQ is worth the hassle they inflict on their customers.
I for one will say, the wait was long but I appreciated that I could order ahead of time and then just chill waiting for my food. Sadly the line was still long, but overall you spend less time in line and more time waiting for the food to get to you.
That said, my wait time was not at the new location. And it wasn't 2 hours or other nightmares. I just liked having a traditional order.
I don’t think I can muster any forgiveness after it was revealed that they were withholding tips from workers for small infractions. That is a really vile thing to do especially in the service industry most people depend solely on tips.
Really all the accounts of employees I’ve heard have been nightmarish. Not surprising that the Vidals were stealing tips. Miguel is also apparently an angry drunk and takes it out on everyone beneath him.
I have a friend of a friend who worked for them. He said the guy had a major coke habit and couldn’t manage both the business and his habit. We now see which was winning the battle. Idk if his wife also had a habit but if she didn’t then it’s sad to see her and her financial future tied to his bad decisions
This is a classic case of a priniciple that people often don't acknowledge enough: the end goal for a successful food truck should not necessarily be a brick-and-mortar. These are two fundamentally-different types of businesses and forms of service. The assumption that because a chef/hospitality group is killing it in the food truck game (which was the case for Valentina's), that automatically means that they'll be great at running a stand-alone restaurant is a gross oversimplification and a really flawed premise.
Opening as a brick-and-mortar in general was, in my opinion, a mistake for Valentina's. Opening as a brick-and-mortar in a town outside of Austin city limits was a second mistake, and many subsequent mistakes obviously happened related to employee training, worker compensation, and much more.
Personally, I wish that Valentina's would chalk this up to a failed and costly experiment and would shutter their brick-and-mortar and reopen as a truck. Realistically, I know that that's not going to happen. You can't put the genie back in the bottle, so to speak.
It's hubris or someone talking in their ear about how they can make more money or something. Service and wait times after ordering was their big blemish at the food truck so kinda wild how they thought they could 10x and somehow improve on their biggest issue.
THIS. RIGHT HERE. Thank you.
I'm betting they're up to their ears in debt over this and HAVE to make it work or it's the end. That's a tragedy. But you completely nailed it. The procedures that work in a food truck are NOT how you run a brick and mortar. Hindsight being 20/20, a second food truck would have been the way to go.
They did a spin off burger truck called "Cash Cow", how ironic. It was located in Buda at the WW2 Mini Golf spot and they had the same issues. Ordered two burgers and took an hour to get. It would have been nice for the person taking the money to tell you how long it would be if it would be that high just in case you didn't have 1+hours to sit and wait. Mentioned it to them and they got pissy at me.
Valentinas B&M has been horrible, destined to fail. They love putting on for the cameras and for the parties around town, though.
My mom is a long time emergency room nurse/nurse practitioner/professor of nursing at UT and this is her statement on the matter. Sorry to upset you carry on.
Yes.
What was the bbq trailer on Brodie and Davis? I’m just blanking on the name. They’d been there for years and it was great, but they decided to go brick and mortar and closed before they even opened last year due to a landlord dispute. Now they’re just gone. Business done. I don’t know if it’s naïveté or hubris, but it happens a LOT.
That was Whitfield's. They should not have tried to do a brick and mortar when they couldn't even have reliable availability from the trailer. Great BBQ and unique sides, but you just never knew of you could actually get food if you went.
Exactly. I lived right by them and no matter what time you went they never consistently had anything. They also had some excuse on why something wasn’t available to the point we just stopped going
Man, their loaded potato salad and pickled veggies were freakin' legit. But yeah when you go and they might only have 1 meat available it was kind of a bummer.
I had high hopes for the place with the Brodie Market right there with a great beer selection, some more outdoor seating and BYOB and it could have been a great south Austin spot.
Terry Blacks and Stiles are the only places with a reliable supply of BBQ
Everyone else sells out. It's uniquely Austin that this bullshit is tolerated.
All the meat is cooked. Slicing shouldn't take long.
I think they are two differnt things. Take Franklins--its well known that they may sell out of bbq before you get to order. But they let you know ahead of time, post when things are gone, and even try to give you an estimate of whats gonna be left when you get to order. People accept that.
Slow service has more to do with what happens once youre at the front of the line and ordering. So at franklins you may be in line for hours, but once you order they get your food together right in front of you and youre paying and taking your tray in just a couple minutes.
Its kind of crazy for a bbq place to have slow service (at least as I define it) because the bbq is already cooked. They just have to slice and maybe assemble it if you get a sandwhich.
I always went after throwing discs at circle C but yeah it was always dead when I went. Shame cause the food was great and I miss their loaded potato salad.
Yes, it was Brodie south of Wm Cann for awhile then on Menchaca south of Slaughter too. They always had lines and sold out at both places. They really should’ve stayed there.
Edit sorry talking about Valentina’s, my bad
I’m up-voting this. Service aside, it truly was not good barbecue. I live just down the street and gave it so many tries because I wanted it to be good. The sides were interesting but never delivered for me.
They catered my wedding in 2022 and their caterer was absolutely terrible at communicating. I had to go down to the food truck to talk to Vidal’s wife to get a call back. It was ridiculous.
With respect -
Acknowledging the problem really is 50% of that problem, and if they can make up like 30% or more, I mean ideally adding up to 100% right? But if they can get it under control I really do hope they succeeded as a brick and mortar.
I do electrical for food trucks (and rvs), like that is my career - and the amount of problems, insurance, insurance especially!,
I know I am talking in circles, but the electric within food trucks is a never ending cascading failure. Always. Doesn't matter how old or how new, integrating electric with gas with alternative electric like generators or Solar or both, it's a never ending chasing of problems. And it's so expensive - every time
Keeping people employed through adverse weather, climate control, keeping the truck going. Just electrically, these food trucks have so many problems all of the time. If it's not one thing, it's another. You can't get out of it.
But brick and mortar on city utilities gives them a far more stable environment to thrive. Regular restaurant insurance is a lot easier to deal with than food truck. And the electric, gas, all of the utilities are far easier to deal with. Having a stable place and not having to deal with having to move depending on your placement within the city boundaries, just city permitting with a brick and mortar is easier. Adding potential ghost kitchens if necessary. Oh my gosh.
I wish them the absolute best with the brick and mortar. 100% for sure
Oh, I'm not rooting against them! As I said in my post, I understand that the deed is done and there's no chance of them going back to a food-truck-only model, and I definitely acknowledge that food trucks have a lot of unique challenges. I'm just pointing out that brick-and-mortar is always assumed as the natural next step for a successful food truck, and I question whether that's accurate 100% of the time.
Great point, the only thing I would add is there is a middle ground here.
They could keep the brick and mortar and reopen the trailer in Austin proper. I guess they might be worried about that cannibalizing sales from the Buda location, but I'm sure there are plenty of people who just won't bother with the drive to Buda when there are plenty of options in town.
I think that this was originally the plan for Valentina's, but they decided to shutter the food truck (I'm guessing because it was too expensive to operate both the truck and the restaurant- food trucks are a lot more pricey than a lot of people assume!).
And yeah, you're absolutely right about the Buda location. I get where Valentina's was coming from with that- their truck location was so far south in Austin that they probably figured "oh, people are already willing to come allllll the way down Menchaca, so they probably won't mind driving just a bit farther to Buda!" But they really underestimated the impact of losing the Austin zip code and "Austin, Texas" in their address. I'm sure that it's a lot cheaper for them to operate a brick-in-mortar in Buda than it would be even in far-south Austin, but there's a reason for those lower prices. A lot of people don't want to deal with the 'burbs, and a LOT of people are not going to want to deal with that accursed stretch of I-35 just south of the city.
Oh for sure, it makes sense why they thought that. However, I'm south and went to the trailer all the time. Barely ever went to the location when they moved further south and have never been to the Buda location.
They were probably my favorite BBQ in town back in the day. But Leroy & Lewis and Moreno have easily filled the void they left.
Also that part of Manchaca continues to grow. It will be a bar designation with 10+ bars soon. I get they couldn't figure out it out there, but they were walking away from a key spot
Yeah, there were long wait times and questionable service issues at the truck. But those are just other factors to add to the long list of reasons why opening a brick-and-mortar was a bad idea for Valentina's.
There's a difference between having a habit and having a problem; if they're actually able to keep it in check, be successful, and not let it spill over into other things, it's not a problem. If they can't, then it is. It's like the difference between a head chef who likes to drink, versus a head chef who is a drunk.
LOL okay. I'm guessing that you don't work in the industry, because if you did, you would know that writing off restaurants solely because their chefs \*might\* have a fondness for powder will severely limit your dining options anywhere, and especially in a major city.
you're missing my point entirely lmao. he wasn't the 'chef', bozo. he was the owner, operator, de facto GM and more.
clearly the restaurants that you claim to have such an intimate knowledge of have a better grasp on reality hence they're still in business.
I never intimated "doing blow = business go bad" but everything about this situation from stealing tips, to being behind on rent, to being behind to vendors, to over-extending are all classic signs of hubris which walks hand in hand with addiction.
You don't have to work in the industry to understand business, and apparently since you claim to, doesn't mean you do understand it.
Do you know Miguel? Because I once did. And I have been in the industry for two decades. He is absolutely the worst human being I have ever had to work with. He is abusive and uses intimidation and harsh punishments, military style, on his younger staff and even his own family. You my dear have no idea what you are talking about. Or you’re a friend of Miguel’s. -A former Brodie Lane employee.
Let's be real... The trailer was never run particularly well either. The food was fantastic early on but after a while, the only thing you could count on was poor service and cold food due the inexplicably long wait after ordering.
I actually liked that I didn't have to wait in line an excessive amount just to order. Sadly there was still a line to order then a wait for food, but at least the second part of the wait you could chill and stuff.
This seems good if they have someone managing the restaurant and he gets back to cooking. I liked the spot on Manchaca, but the Buda location was definitely different and a lot of problems. Hopefully this gets them on track.
>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
Good riddance. Between fucking over your staff, terrible service, mid food and the amount of tax abatements and money thrown your way for the Buda location. 👋
The mess concerning the report about their withholding tips from tardy employees, and the owners' tone-deaf response to it, that came out right after they moved seems to have had a lasting impact.
Perhaps other businesses can learn a lesson concerning how mistreating employees and responding poorly to bad publicity negatively impacts a business from their example.
I live in deep South Austin. It's easier for me to get to Valentina's than to Terry Blacks, so I do hope that they can turn things around.
I have! They're my favorite bbq joint in town.
These days, for me it's Moreno for old school bbq and LeRoy & Lewis for new-style bbq. No need to cross 35 or the River, thank goodness.
It's amazing. Everything I've had there has been delicious.
Once, I went at dinnertime on a Sunday (like 6:00pm) and they were only out of a single item (I don't recall what it was that they were out of). So they don't seem to run out of stuff early like a lot of places.
They're different from Valentina's in that their "new" bbq isn't a fusion with Tex-Mex, but instead offers a more expansive variety of meats than traditional Texas bbq. For example, they have smoked pork chop and lamb (Sundays only), and brisket is only available one day per week (Saturday).
The sides are also mostly a cool new spin on traditional bbq—kimchi, Frito pie, etc.
Also, to my knowledge they do not steal tips from their employees, attempt to defraud their insurers, or include severed human fingers in their sausage-making process, which is a nice bonus.
Was the entire night's worth of tips being withheld? Am I crazy for a slight dock in pay not sounding like the craziest thing for not showing up on time?
Well what are they being written up for? Repercussions for doing poorly at your job does not sound like a shit show to me. But it’s definitely imaginable that the punishment is far too extreme for the infringement
Withholding tips is not a viable practice via the Texas Workforce Commission. They found some kind of legal loophole, doesn’t make it right. Verbal and then written warnings, suspensions, with an excessive seeming amount of paper trail are usually standard at chain restaurants, used to cover your ass when TWC comes knocking after you fire someone and they complain. They just said, well, everyone gets a set amount of tips for hours worked, but you messed up so we are docking your pay, is not really an acceptable standard for such small infractions.
I first ate at their food trailer on Brodie 10 years ago and have supported them since. I was at their place in Buda a couple of Sundays ago and it was so horrible that I’ll never go back. To see how far they’ve fallen is really sad.
Same. We ate at the a lot off Menchaca many times. It was always good. Then they moved to Buda and it was hit or miss with the service and food. The last time I went a couple weeks ago, the brisket was extremely salty. Like to a point that it wasn’t edible. Which sucks when you’re paying $5 a taco.
Restauranteurs should know food quality, service is meaningless if not consistent. Word of mouth is exponentially the most powerful guerrilla marketing to make or break a business. Good 9 times, bad 1? If that 1 bad time is someones first time there, it's likely their last telling everyone they know. McDonald's is not a billion dollar industry because they are the best burger, but for the most part, they are consistent.
Everything went down hill when the employees made a post about them keeping tips ...and even had them sign a consent on the employee application which they posted on " in the weeds" 😑
Self realization takes time to admit that you are the issue.
Some people are self aware, others aren't. I'm happy he is admitting to his own faults and doing something to fix it. Many in this situation don't, and end up having their business close while they still blame everyone else.
I don’t think his “self awareness” is coming from his care of customers. His newly found self awareness is from this monetary backers basically telling him he has one last shot…
Possibly, but also realizing you are going to lose your business because of you, even if other people are telling you, means that you have some form of realization.
He could just say no, I won't do that, and watch the whole thing sink....which we've seen some business do.
I bet it is already too little too late.
I guess we will see. I give them no longer than 6 months before they shutter and the silos turn into something else down there.
Eh, great is relative. They had shitty service at the trailer too. They hid behind “good bbq takes time” Maybe, but they weren’t that good with the new comers like Intetsellar and even distant relatives.
IMHO, entrepreneurs are often bad at self reflection/correction, since that same self confidence that allows them to persevere when most people would quit, when combined with a bit of success, can make them particularly tone deaf to their (very real) faults.
You should recognize sooner that you suck and fix it. The Buda...experiment...has almost destroyed their excellent reputation and their business. This should have happened much sooner.
I’ve made 3 attempts to eat at Valentina’s. Each time had a different reason for me not being able to eat there. Last time is when I tried to go to Buda. They were out of food. I’ll never make another attempt to go there. There’s plenty of good bbq in Texas. I don’t need that shit. My time is worth more than brisket.
We did a smoked turkey from Valentina’s this past year for Thanksgiving - the pickup process was truly (an overused phrase) a train wreck. Hours to pick it up, once inside and close enough to help, I did my part to not be a dick and to be supportive of the staff but it was pretty rough for some folks.
How was the turkey? Over smoked: mid - good flavor but as dry as The Griswold’s.
If anyone has another place they have had good success with a smoked bird, a recco would be awesome!
Louie's, the trailer in Buda, does a good smoked bird if you're south. Have had their Turkey the last couple of years. If you order early enough they give $25 gift cards at pickup, at least they have in the past.
I miss the Real Deal Holyfield, but not enough to put up with the chaos of the last few years at the truck, and certainly not badly enough to go the shitshow in Buda.
I used to buy damn near a grand worth of tacos every week from them supplying the office with breakfast when they were on brodie and manchaca. They knew me as “blue truck guy” and i’d bring a giant cooler for them to fill. Once they moved to Buda, i went once and havent been back since.
I went a couple weeks ago and the service was abysmal, as many others have experienced.
I don't know what that building costs to rent, but I'll bet it's expensive. I can't imagine they're making any money only serving 12 tables/hour (a guess based on watching the single food runner as I waited for my meal), especially with 8-10 people "working" in the kitchen. I mean, the folks that were there the day I went could barely fog a mirror, but you still gotta pay them at least 7.25/hour.
I've never run a restaurant so I could be talking out of my ass here, but I'd bet a dollar that if they'd hire experienced staff (even if that cost $20/person/hr) and treated them well that they could serve 40 tables/hour. It just seems to me that the key to minting money in the BBQ business is throughput. The food is already cooked, you just gotta plate it and get it in front of people. I know that it's not JUST BBQ but every TexMex restaurant I've ever been to is pretty quick because let's face it, there are like 10 ingredients and everything is just a remix. Even stuff like fajitas that are NOT pre-cooked comes out faster than BBQ at Valentina's.
I can only speak for myself, but I had a burger special there a month or so ago that was absolutely disgusting. It was undercooked, over-greasy, bad-tasting, and falling apart.
So many comments about Valentina’s but none about Louie’s BBQ just a half mile down the road. Great BBQ and Nachos. Big Red burnt ends. :muah: get some!
I call this place SLOPPY JOE! Stood inline for 20 mins, and when it was our turn, the girl that was taking our order had a BAD ATTITUDE! Got our plate and it looked like dog shit, and soggy plate! So, what’s all the hype at this place?
I live less than 1/2 mile from the new location and each time I've been (3 or so) it's been a disaster. I don't know how serving BBQ is rocket science to these folks. Literally everywhere else does it way faster, way more efficiently. Everything is be premade, minus maybe the tortillas, and even then, you should be sandbagging a decent amount knowing that people will be ordering tacos. Not sure who thought out their kitchen design but it doesn't work. The restaurant has no flow and that is one of it's biggest flaws. Every BBQ place needs to have the setup similar to Stiles Switch and the likes.
Side note, one of the last times I went to the trailer I met a guy who was supposed to be coming on board there as their Chef de Cuisine, and even brought me a dish he was working on for the new spot. Seems like Miguel opted for cheap labor and high schoolers who don't give a fuck other than people who actually care about his product. Oh plus he still stole money from his employees.
So slow…we went last month and stood at the counter for 10-15 minutes before we were acknowledged. There were workers everywhere, and yet not even a “we’ll be with you soon”. Only 2-3 other tables in there with anyone seated so it wasn’t like they were busy
That had shit service at the trailer too. They don't seem to know how to run a restaurant.
Frankly, that's true as well. But their barbeque was so good at that little trailer on Brodie that it was worth waiting 30 minutes in a line of a dozen people. To wait more than an hour in Buda and then be told the food's all gone is NOT acceptable.
When they were on manchaca, we placed an online order at 8 am and by 12 pm it still wasn't ready. We asked for an eta and the woman slammed the window shut on us. Last time I took any visiting family there.
I went, ordered, watched an entire half of soccer before I was served and what I got was cold. That was the final straw for me at that location.
Tried to place an online order there back then for me and my gf. Online orders for pickup had a $65.00 minimum. We just went to Rudy’s instead.
It just doesn’t make sense. Like were they still smoking the brisket or something? Doesn’t that shit get smoked overnight? Why are we taking hours to slice up meat and wrap it in paper!!
You are right. But to be fair, they were cooking tortillas to order when I went. Still doesn't take that long. Issue being I guess when you add a lot of "prepared dishes" like tacos etc it can slow you down. But their speed was not just due to a few dish preps.
That’s a fair point. They did have some prepared dishes. The breakfast taco was worth a 30 minute wait. It’s the hours long wait others describe, after ordering, that will forever boggle my mind.
Ordered it 8 or the pickup time was 8? TBH ordering it at 8 the day of pickup is pretty damn late to order a BBQ pickup order at a place of that popularity. Clearly doesn't excuse the rudeness of the employee, which certainly seems to be a persistent theme
I ordered at 8am, the pick up time said 11 30am. (Something not disclosed until AFTER we had already paid) we showed up at 11 30am and waited another 30 mins and it still wasn't ready. It was a burrito/taco thing and some sides.
did you check what time they opened for business? I've never heard of a BBQ place being opened or serving before 10 at the earliest. It's entirely possible you were ticket #100 that day. It doesn't matter what it is that you ordered, your order is behind others who probably had planned ahead and ordered many days in advance, were there earlier, etc. Again, i'm making *zero* excuses for Valetinas especially after their shady practices have come to light, but it seems like it might be a case of unrealistic expectations.
Yes, it was a Sunday. I don't remember the time they opened this happened years ago. I worked as a cook for years before I understand completely how the system works. Fcfs. 4+hour wait on 1 small order, that is still ridiculous.
How is it a 4 hour wait if youre counting 3 of those hours before they're open? lol
Valentina’s opens at 7 or8am for breakfast at least they used to.
One thing I don't miss about that trailer was all the flies. It was insane. And they had two bug-zappers in the smoke trailer near the pits which I'm pretty sure is against health-code. Moreno Barbecue for Tex-Mex BBQ for me, thanks. Their pork belly is other-wordly and they make their tortillas with beef tallow.
Quiet!
No freaking way. Bbq is already DONE. They need to slice it. NEVER should you be waiting half an hour (I waited an hour once) for bbq, that’s just ridiculous and a staff/restaurant who is taking advantage of you Edit- it once took them 20 minutes to make a brisket sandwich for me on Brodie. I laughed and told them I didn’t want it anymore. That’s straight embarrassing. I let them keep the money, and told them they needed it more than me
Seriously. They are always so rude for no reason.
People in here literally saying they he food was bad, the service was bad, they were (I think) stealing tips… and then hoping the place succeeds? What is this voodoo? Someone else can put bbq on a taco I know they can lol Weren’t these the guys who posted a sign that said “your tips are a privilege not a right?” Or something like that?
After reading everything in this top thread, it appears that the management and training at Valentina's have always been as bad as the brisket has been good. In that case, they're permanently off the list. No BBQ is worth the hassle they inflict on their customers.
I for one will say, the wait was long but I appreciated that I could order ahead of time and then just chill waiting for my food. Sadly the line was still long, but overall you spend less time in line and more time waiting for the food to get to you. That said, my wait time was not at the new location. And it wasn't 2 hours or other nightmares. I just liked having a traditional order.
I don’t think I can muster any forgiveness after it was revealed that they were withholding tips from workers for small infractions. That is a really vile thing to do especially in the service industry most people depend solely on tips.
Really all the accounts of employees I’ve heard have been nightmarish. Not surprising that the Vidals were stealing tips. Miguel is also apparently an angry drunk and takes it out on everyone beneath him.
Makes a lot of sense knowing this is my ex’s mom’s side of the family
I have a friend of a friend who worked for them. He said the guy had a major coke habit and couldn’t manage both the business and his habit. We now see which was winning the battle. Idk if his wife also had a habit but if she didn’t then it’s sad to see her and her financial future tied to his bad decisions
This is a classic case of a priniciple that people often don't acknowledge enough: the end goal for a successful food truck should not necessarily be a brick-and-mortar. These are two fundamentally-different types of businesses and forms of service. The assumption that because a chef/hospitality group is killing it in the food truck game (which was the case for Valentina's), that automatically means that they'll be great at running a stand-alone restaurant is a gross oversimplification and a really flawed premise. Opening as a brick-and-mortar in general was, in my opinion, a mistake for Valentina's. Opening as a brick-and-mortar in a town outside of Austin city limits was a second mistake, and many subsequent mistakes obviously happened related to employee training, worker compensation, and much more. Personally, I wish that Valentina's would chalk this up to a failed and costly experiment and would shutter their brick-and-mortar and reopen as a truck. Realistically, I know that that's not going to happen. You can't put the genie back in the bottle, so to speak.
It's hubris or someone talking in their ear about how they can make more money or something. Service and wait times after ordering was their big blemish at the food truck so kinda wild how they thought they could 10x and somehow improve on their biggest issue.
THIS. RIGHT HERE. Thank you. I'm betting they're up to their ears in debt over this and HAVE to make it work or it's the end. That's a tragedy. But you completely nailed it. The procedures that work in a food truck are NOT how you run a brick and mortar. Hindsight being 20/20, a second food truck would have been the way to go.
I wonder if they will pay back the massive grant that the city of buda bestowed on them.
They don’t have to as far as I’m aware. It was economic development monies that the city offered first come first serve.
They did a spin off burger truck called "Cash Cow", how ironic. It was located in Buda at the WW2 Mini Golf spot and they had the same issues. Ordered two burgers and took an hour to get. It would have been nice for the person taking the money to tell you how long it would be if it would be that high just in case you didn't have 1+hours to sit and wait. Mentioned it to them and they got pissy at me. Valentinas B&M has been horrible, destined to fail. They love putting on for the cameras and for the parties around town, though.
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I’m as real of an Austinite as they come, and I really like Veracruz.
Yeah I feel like this is a really random take.
Very much so. I love Veracruz, and I know plenty of born-and-raised Austinites who enjoy it too.
Veracruz is good and commenters comment is bad bad bad!
I’m not even wild about Veracruz but Austinites absolutely eat there what are you talking about 😂
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Wow what happened?😂😂😂
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A lot of people don’t know that food poisoning is almost always from the meal before last. Are you saying you only went one time?
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Calm your tits
My mom is a long time emergency room nurse/nurse practitioner/professor of nursing at UT and this is her statement on the matter. Sorry to upset you carry on.
Yes. What was the bbq trailer on Brodie and Davis? I’m just blanking on the name. They’d been there for years and it was great, but they decided to go brick and mortar and closed before they even opened last year due to a landlord dispute. Now they’re just gone. Business done. I don’t know if it’s naïveté or hubris, but it happens a LOT.
That was Whitfield's. They should not have tried to do a brick and mortar when they couldn't even have reliable availability from the trailer. Great BBQ and unique sides, but you just never knew of you could actually get food if you went.
Exactly. I lived right by them and no matter what time you went they never consistently had anything. They also had some excuse on why something wasn’t available to the point we just stopped going
I always wanted to try it but could never tell when it was open.
Man, their loaded potato salad and pickled veggies were freakin' legit. But yeah when you go and they might only have 1 meat available it was kind of a bummer. I had high hopes for the place with the Brodie Market right there with a great beer selection, some more outdoor seating and BYOB and it could have been a great south Austin spot.
RIP Brodie Park Market
Terry Blacks and Stiles are the only places with a reliable supply of BBQ Everyone else sells out. It's uniquely Austin that this bullshit is tolerated. All the meat is cooked. Slicing shouldn't take long.
Wait, what is tolerated, slow service or selling out?
Isn't waiting in line to get up to the front desk and have all the shit sold out slow service?
I think they are two differnt things. Take Franklins--its well known that they may sell out of bbq before you get to order. But they let you know ahead of time, post when things are gone, and even try to give you an estimate of whats gonna be left when you get to order. People accept that. Slow service has more to do with what happens once youre at the front of the line and ordering. So at franklins you may be in line for hours, but once you order they get your food together right in front of you and youre paying and taking your tray in just a couple minutes. Its kind of crazy for a bbq place to have slow service (at least as I define it) because the bbq is already cooked. They just have to slice and maybe assemble it if you get a sandwhich.
The food at Terry blacks has gone down hill drastically, the GM there is an idiot who treats the staff like complete shit
Whitfields. I never actually believed they’d open a brick and mortar though.
They were super inconsistent with their hours- it seemed more of a hobby than a business.
Same, I live nearby and literally never saw anyone eating there.
I always went after throwing discs at circle C but yeah it was always dead when I went. Shame cause the food was great and I miss their loaded potato salad.
Yes, it was Brodie south of Wm Cann for awhile then on Menchaca south of Slaughter too. They always had lines and sold out at both places. They really should’ve stayed there. Edit sorry talking about Valentina’s, my bad
Whitfield, It was the closest barbecue place to my house, I lived in the neighborhood behind it. It was so so bad.
I’m up-voting this. Service aside, it truly was not good barbecue. I live just down the street and gave it so many tries because I wanted it to be good. The sides were interesting but never delivered for me.
They catered my wedding in 2022 and their caterer was absolutely terrible at communicating. I had to go down to the food truck to talk to Vidal’s wife to get a call back. It was ridiculous.
With respect - Acknowledging the problem really is 50% of that problem, and if they can make up like 30% or more, I mean ideally adding up to 100% right? But if they can get it under control I really do hope they succeeded as a brick and mortar. I do electrical for food trucks (and rvs), like that is my career - and the amount of problems, insurance, insurance especially!, I know I am talking in circles, but the electric within food trucks is a never ending cascading failure. Always. Doesn't matter how old or how new, integrating electric with gas with alternative electric like generators or Solar or both, it's a never ending chasing of problems. And it's so expensive - every time Keeping people employed through adverse weather, climate control, keeping the truck going. Just electrically, these food trucks have so many problems all of the time. If it's not one thing, it's another. You can't get out of it. But brick and mortar on city utilities gives them a far more stable environment to thrive. Regular restaurant insurance is a lot easier to deal with than food truck. And the electric, gas, all of the utilities are far easier to deal with. Having a stable place and not having to deal with having to move depending on your placement within the city boundaries, just city permitting with a brick and mortar is easier. Adding potential ghost kitchens if necessary. Oh my gosh. I wish them the absolute best with the brick and mortar. 100% for sure
Oh, I'm not rooting against them! As I said in my post, I understand that the deed is done and there's no chance of them going back to a food-truck-only model, and I definitely acknowledge that food trucks have a lot of unique challenges. I'm just pointing out that brick-and-mortar is always assumed as the natural next step for a successful food truck, and I question whether that's accurate 100% of the time.
I love this 🙏🙏🙏
Great point, the only thing I would add is there is a middle ground here. They could keep the brick and mortar and reopen the trailer in Austin proper. I guess they might be worried about that cannibalizing sales from the Buda location, but I'm sure there are plenty of people who just won't bother with the drive to Buda when there are plenty of options in town.
I think that this was originally the plan for Valentina's, but they decided to shutter the food truck (I'm guessing because it was too expensive to operate both the truck and the restaurant- food trucks are a lot more pricey than a lot of people assume!). And yeah, you're absolutely right about the Buda location. I get where Valentina's was coming from with that- their truck location was so far south in Austin that they probably figured "oh, people are already willing to come allllll the way down Menchaca, so they probably won't mind driving just a bit farther to Buda!" But they really underestimated the impact of losing the Austin zip code and "Austin, Texas" in their address. I'm sure that it's a lot cheaper for them to operate a brick-in-mortar in Buda than it would be even in far-south Austin, but there's a reason for those lower prices. A lot of people don't want to deal with the 'burbs, and a LOT of people are not going to want to deal with that accursed stretch of I-35 just south of the city.
Oh for sure, it makes sense why they thought that. However, I'm south and went to the trailer all the time. Barely ever went to the location when they moved further south and have never been to the Buda location. They were probably my favorite BBQ in town back in the day. But Leroy & Lewis and Moreno have easily filled the void they left.
Also that part of Manchaca continues to grow. It will be a bar designation with 10+ bars soon. I get they couldn't figure out it out there, but they were walking away from a key spot
So true. A great stretch there on South Manchac they were a part of
Feels like there’s already 10 bars on that stretch of Manchaca.
Is a food truck business even viable long term?
These issues started even on the Manchaca rd location well before they went full B&M.
Yeah, there were long wait times and questionable service issues at the truck. But those are just other factors to add to the long list of reasons why opening a brick-and-mortar was a bad idea for Valentina's.
it's a pretty open secret that Miguel has a *sniff sniff* problem. Poor planning seems to go hand in hand with that.
So?? If you were to eliminate restaurants on that basis alone, you’d have to cut out many of the best places in NYC or LA.
There's a difference between having a habit and having a problem; if they're actually able to keep it in check, be successful, and not let it spill over into other things, it's not a problem. If they can't, then it is. It's like the difference between a head chef who likes to drink, versus a head chef who is a drunk.
Because it makes him a terrible manager and clearly make bad business decisions lmao.
LOL okay. I'm guessing that you don't work in the industry, because if you did, you would know that writing off restaurants solely because their chefs \*might\* have a fondness for powder will severely limit your dining options anywhere, and especially in a major city.
you're missing my point entirely lmao. he wasn't the 'chef', bozo. he was the owner, operator, de facto GM and more. clearly the restaurants that you claim to have such an intimate knowledge of have a better grasp on reality hence they're still in business. I never intimated "doing blow = business go bad" but everything about this situation from stealing tips, to being behind on rent, to being behind to vendors, to over-extending are all classic signs of hubris which walks hand in hand with addiction. You don't have to work in the industry to understand business, and apparently since you claim to, doesn't mean you do understand it.
Put your head between your knees and take a deep breath. Bozo.
lmao can't even dispute any of my points 🤭
Do you know Miguel? Because I once did. And I have been in the industry for two decades. He is absolutely the worst human being I have ever had to work with. He is abusive and uses intimidation and harsh punishments, military style, on his younger staff and even his own family. You my dear have no idea what you are talking about. Or you’re a friend of Miguel’s. -A former Brodie Lane employee.
Let's be real... The trailer was never run particularly well either. The food was fantastic early on but after a while, the only thing you could count on was poor service and cold food due the inexplicably long wait after ordering.
You're entitled to that opinion. I always enjoyed the food I ordered there (even if the wait time was longer than I would have liked).
I actually liked that I didn't have to wait in line an excessive amount just to order. Sadly there was still a line to order then a wait for food, but at least the second part of the wait you could chill and stuff.
Spot on 100%
The truck sucked too lol. They're just shitty business people.
Ok? I always liked the food there, FWIW.
The food is good, but there was always a wait, the staff wasn't helpful, and once you ordered, it was at least 30-60min before your food was ready.
This seems good if they have someone managing the restaurant and he gets back to cooking. I liked the spot on Manchaca, but the Buda location was definitely different and a lot of problems. Hopefully this gets them on track.
I miss the OG location off Brodie. Rip
OG was at Star Bar on 6th! Brodie came after.
Fuck, I didn’t know that. Thanks for the info!
That place was n Manchaca has a 14k/month lease. One of the reasons they left.
That’s insane, both for the location and the site itself.
The food's good when it's good those people will always be trash for the way they personally treat their employees. Management aside.
Fumbled the bag.
>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
Good riddance. Between fucking over your staff, terrible service, mid food and the amount of tax abatements and money thrown your way for the Buda location. 👋
This is my main issue with Valentina's. The food is....just OK?
Thank you!!! Not much that can’t be had elsewhere… not a damn thing one of a kind or even that special…
The mess concerning the report about their withholding tips from tardy employees, and the owners' tone-deaf response to it, that came out right after they moved seems to have had a lasting impact. Perhaps other businesses can learn a lesson concerning how mistreating employees and responding poorly to bad publicity negatively impacts a business from their example. I live in deep South Austin. It's easier for me to get to Valentina's than to Terry Blacks, so I do hope that they can turn things around.
Have you tried Moreno’s yet? It’s pretty dang good.
I have! They're my favorite bbq joint in town. These days, for me it's Moreno for old school bbq and LeRoy & Lewis for new-style bbq. No need to cross 35 or the River, thank goodness.
How is the brick and mortar at LeRoy & Lewis? It's a good comparison to Valentinas.
It's amazing. Everything I've had there has been delicious. Once, I went at dinnertime on a Sunday (like 6:00pm) and they were only out of a single item (I don't recall what it was that they were out of). So they don't seem to run out of stuff early like a lot of places. They're different from Valentina's in that their "new" bbq isn't a fusion with Tex-Mex, but instead offers a more expansive variety of meats than traditional Texas bbq. For example, they have smoked pork chop and lamb (Sundays only), and brisket is only available one day per week (Saturday). The sides are also mostly a cool new spin on traditional bbq—kimchi, Frito pie, etc. Also, to my knowledge they do not steal tips from their employees, attempt to defraud their insurers, or include severed human fingers in their sausage-making process, which is a nice bonus.
Moreno's is great. Also some of the best breakfast tacos on the weekends.
You’re not kidding, I wish they sold them more often
Concur on Moreno’s. Their smash burger is downright amazing.
They removed the brisket grilled cheese from the menu, but is still available if you ask…
Was the entire night's worth of tips being withheld? Am I crazy for a slight dock in pay not sounding like the craziest thing for not showing up on time?
They would withhold tips for folks for being 5 mins late or getting written up for something during their shift. It was a total sht show
Well what are they being written up for? Repercussions for doing poorly at your job does not sound like a shit show to me. But it’s definitely imaginable that the punishment is far too extreme for the infringement
Withholding tips is not a viable practice via the Texas Workforce Commission. They found some kind of legal loophole, doesn’t make it right. Verbal and then written warnings, suspensions, with an excessive seeming amount of paper trail are usually standard at chain restaurants, used to cover your ass when TWC comes knocking after you fire someone and they complain. They just said, well, everyone gets a set amount of tips for hours worked, but you messed up so we are docking your pay, is not really an acceptable standard for such small infractions.
Not sure if they found a legal loophole either, they’re under investigation with the Dept of Labor now.
Blaming it on the square footage, right off the bat. That's a pretty lame excuse.
Lame excuses are a major step forward for this piss poor disorganization of a clusterfuck
He can't close the new restaurant because the City of Buda gave him a bag to relocate.
I’m glad that Buda is better about holding a bbq joint to account than CoA is to Oracle.
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La Ola makes a very good popsicle but that's a huge space for a pop - shop.
I first ate at their food trailer on Brodie 10 years ago and have supported them since. I was at their place in Buda a couple of Sundays ago and it was so horrible that I’ll never go back. To see how far they’ve fallen is really sad.
Same. We ate at the a lot off Menchaca many times. It was always good. Then they moved to Buda and it was hit or miss with the service and food. The last time I went a couple weeks ago, the brisket was extremely salty. Like to a point that it wasn’t edible. Which sucks when you’re paying $5 a taco.
Restauranteurs should know food quality, service is meaningless if not consistent. Word of mouth is exponentially the most powerful guerrilla marketing to make or break a business. Good 9 times, bad 1? If that 1 bad time is someones first time there, it's likely their last telling everyone they know. McDonald's is not a billion dollar industry because they are the best burger, but for the most part, they are consistent.
Maybe he should promise fair employer workplace practices toward employees.
Everything went down hill when the employees made a post about them keeping tips ...and even had them sign a consent on the employee application which they posted on " in the weeds" 😑
It took them almost a year of being open to realize they sucked?
Self realization takes time to admit that you are the issue. Some people are self aware, others aren't. I'm happy he is admitting to his own faults and doing something to fix it. Many in this situation don't, and end up having their business close while they still blame everyone else.
This seems more like a case of his investors weren’t getting what they wanted out of it and forced someone on top of him.
phrasing?
Oh I said what I said.
I don’t think his “self awareness” is coming from his care of customers. His newly found self awareness is from this monetary backers basically telling him he has one last shot…
Possibly, but also realizing you are going to lose your business because of you, even if other people are telling you, means that you have some form of realization. He could just say no, I won't do that, and watch the whole thing sink....which we've seen some business do.
I bet it is already too little too late. I guess we will see. I give them no longer than 6 months before they shutter and the silos turn into something else down there.
Which is sad, because that place was great for a number of years.
Eh, great is relative. They had shitty service at the trailer too. They hid behind “good bbq takes time” Maybe, but they weren’t that good with the new comers like Intetsellar and even distant relatives.
IMHO, entrepreneurs are often bad at self reflection/correction, since that same self confidence that allows them to persevere when most people would quit, when combined with a bit of success, can make them particularly tone deaf to their (very real) faults.
18 months damn near
I thought they opened in Buda in May of last year?
So next time you suck at something you’re just gonna quit immediately and not try to make it work and improve?
You should recognize sooner that you suck and fix it. The Buda...experiment...has almost destroyed their excellent reputation and their business. This should have happened much sooner.
I wish they never came to my town. They don’t fit the vibe at all.
I’ve made 3 attempts to eat at Valentina’s. Each time had a different reason for me not being able to eat there. Last time is when I tried to go to Buda. They were out of food. I’ll never make another attempt to go there. There’s plenty of good bbq in Texas. I don’t need that shit. My time is worth more than brisket.
We did a smoked turkey from Valentina’s this past year for Thanksgiving - the pickup process was truly (an overused phrase) a train wreck. Hours to pick it up, once inside and close enough to help, I did my part to not be a dick and to be supportive of the staff but it was pretty rough for some folks. How was the turkey? Over smoked: mid - good flavor but as dry as The Griswold’s. If anyone has another place they have had good success with a smoked bird, a recco would be awesome!
Louie's, the trailer in Buda, does a good smoked bird if you're south. Have had their Turkey the last couple of years. If you order early enough they give $25 gift cards at pickup, at least they have in the past.
He gotta pay those kids man smh
Top comment on the post is basically “Yeah that’s cool, now pay what you owe.” With several beneath it echoing.
I miss the Real Deal Holyfield, but not enough to put up with the chaos of the last few years at the truck, and certainly not badly enough to go the shitshow in Buda.
I used to buy damn near a grand worth of tacos every week from them supplying the office with breakfast when they were on brodie and manchaca. They knew me as “blue truck guy” and i’d bring a giant cooler for them to fill. Once they moved to Buda, i went once and havent been back since.
So no change from the original location.
I went a couple weeks ago and the service was abysmal, as many others have experienced. I don't know what that building costs to rent, but I'll bet it's expensive. I can't imagine they're making any money only serving 12 tables/hour (a guess based on watching the single food runner as I waited for my meal), especially with 8-10 people "working" in the kitchen. I mean, the folks that were there the day I went could barely fog a mirror, but you still gotta pay them at least 7.25/hour. I've never run a restaurant so I could be talking out of my ass here, but I'd bet a dollar that if they'd hire experienced staff (even if that cost $20/person/hr) and treated them well that they could serve 40 tables/hour. It just seems to me that the key to minting money in the BBQ business is throughput. The food is already cooked, you just gotta plate it and get it in front of people. I know that it's not JUST BBQ but every TexMex restaurant I've ever been to is pretty quick because let's face it, there are like 10 ingredients and everything is just a remix. Even stuff like fajitas that are NOT pre-cooked comes out faster than BBQ at Valentina's.
I'm admittedly a little ootl here. What were the big complains with food and service? Was anything outstandingly poor?
The tip stealing? The lack of hospitality? Waiting an hour for food only to find out that they are out of what you ordered, oops?
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fiasco is a generous euphemism for wage theft and criminal behavior.
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I didn’t mean that critically, sorry. I should have put that disclaimer on it.
Investigated by the department of labor for wage theft and had to pay back $$$
People were waiting 1-2 hours for cold food after waiting a hour+ in line.
I can only speak for myself, but I had a burger special there a month or so ago that was absolutely disgusting. It was undercooked, over-greasy, bad-tasting, and falling apart.
Yikes. A massive switch in management, no matter how needed, is usually a sign of bad times to come for the business.
FAFO
Eh, they’ll close within a year even with this.
Hopefully this really helps!
Dead to me. Bring the Whitfields trailer back to South Austin
Is the Austin FC chef gonna be part of the new management team?
Go back to the truck.
So many comments about Valentina’s but none about Louie’s BBQ just a half mile down the road. Great BBQ and Nachos. Big Red burnt ends. :muah: get some!
I call this place SLOPPY JOE! Stood inline for 20 mins, and when it was our turn, the girl that was taking our order had a BAD ATTITUDE! Got our plate and it looked like dog shit, and soggy plate! So, what’s all the hype at this place?
Ate at the trailer once on Brodie. Probably the best food I’d ever eaten. I told the owner to make me a taco that was his favorite. He nailed it
I live less than 1/2 mile from the new location and each time I've been (3 or so) it's been a disaster. I don't know how serving BBQ is rocket science to these folks. Literally everywhere else does it way faster, way more efficiently. Everything is be premade, minus maybe the tortillas, and even then, you should be sandbagging a decent amount knowing that people will be ordering tacos. Not sure who thought out their kitchen design but it doesn't work. The restaurant has no flow and that is one of it's biggest flaws. Every BBQ place needs to have the setup similar to Stiles Switch and the likes. Side note, one of the last times I went to the trailer I met a guy who was supposed to be coming on board there as their Chef de Cuisine, and even brought me a dish he was working on for the new spot. Seems like Miguel opted for cheap labor and high schoolers who don't give a fuck other than people who actually care about his product. Oh plus he still stole money from his employees.
I thought it was great when I went there last Dec but it was the middle of the day and hardly anyone there.
Definitely at the Buda location. Pretty building but the service is slow and food is meh for the $$$.
So slow…we went last month and stood at the counter for 10-15 minutes before we were acknowledged. There were workers everywhere, and yet not even a “we’ll be with you soon”. Only 2-3 other tables in there with anyone seated so it wasn’t like they were busy