Valentine’s Bakery & Kitchen

Had an amazing Ham and Asadero Torta. Holy crap. Great prices and delicious food. I’d definitely recommend visiting.

This place is just okay I think. I came here in the late morning recently to give it a try. Their menu looked intriguing and I was excited to try some items on it. I ordered the portobello mushroom breakfast burrito. I was impressed that they offered such a thing but to be honest I didn’t find it to be particularly good and I feel that it had too much salt (and this is coming from a complete salt addict btw). Ordering was also tricky because the female cashier did not speak a lick of English. There was a guy there who may have been an owner or manager. He was in deep conversation with someone else at the counter but he eventually helped with translation so that my order was put in right. I also ordered a donut and I was not terribly impressed with it — it tasted quite dry to me. They were out of tamales which was unfortunate. It seems like a bit of a Bowie Baker wannabe and probably not as good in the baked goods department from what I can gather. Perhaps I came at an off time for this place and should give it another go in the future.

Ok so i loooooove this places burritos and bread but the service is always terrible. I will call to place an order and wait like 10 min. Before they ever answer. Only 1 person on staff during your breakfast hour is asking to destroy a business. I used to go daily bit i have since stopped. Maybe ill go by sometime to see if its changed but i really lost faith in ordering here.

Love, love this place true mexican bread and food!!! Great please to have milanesa tortas and a great concha after words!!!

Love this place. Their breakfast burritos (and now the fat pig torta) are the bomb. I got off night shift and was craving both breakfast food and and a torta. So i got their machaca burrito (perfect size, delicious blend of meat and egg, and fresh tortilla). For the torta, I ended up getting the fat pig. It took a little while to cook (so much damn meat, and honestly they probably were taken back by someone ordering the fat pig at 830 in the morning). I got the food to go (ask for their salsas… both red and verde are terrific). I had heard alot about the fat pig and boy did it live up to expectations. Perfectly thick and crispy bacon, well-​proportioned amount of bread, with deliciously seasoned meat. This thing was a beast. And it was amazing.
Im not a pastry guy but their pastries looked fantastic. The only drawback was the lady who took my order didnt speak english and I had difficulty conveying and understanding what she was asking me. But we got it done and delicious food was prepared and devoured. I’m sad to hear that this store will be moving again.

Not your traditional Mexican taco, and not the cheapest, but definitely worth it! I love the modern décor and how the food was presented. Most importantly each order of taco came with two tacos filled with deliciously flavored meat. Yes filled. The only cons for this place is that there’s no ac inside, so it gets hot.

Love the food here!!! Clean and very tasty !!! The milanesa sandwich is so good !!! Definitely a must have. Their is so good as well.

It is with great disappointment that I must downgrade my original rating for Valentine’s from five to two stars. Unfortunately, the restaurant has, since our first visit, struggled with one of the cardinal features of competent cuisine: consistency. Over the course of several of our subsequent dinners at Valentine’s, the kitchen mishandled key ingredients (by, for instance, overcooking fish or over-​salting meat) and/​or completely omitted key ingredients from their usually pitch-​perfect recipes (namely, the avocado purée from the ceviche).
Most tragically, however, Valentine’s has inexplicably opted to remove their fish and shrimp tacos, two of their strongest dishes (when prepared appropriately), from their menu. Also, we noticed a decline in the quality of service. Indeed, our server (during our last three visits) had trouble reconciling her sulky demeanour with her customer-​service responsibilities. This failure on her part had the unfortunate consequence of imposing a drab atmosphere onto our dining experience, an atmosphere which evoked a loss of passion on Valentine’s part. In fact, we have gotten the sense (one we hope is mistaken) that the restaurant is no longer committed to its craft, preferring instead to mechanically output food without attention to detail.
We sincerely hope that Valentine’s finds it within itself to rekindle its former glory by a) encouraging the different chefs that helm the kitchen throughout the day to attentively follow the strong recipes outlined by the original menu creator, b) reinstating strong dishes into its menu, and c) infusing a certain brightness and lightness of spirit into its service.

This is an amazing place to eat. It’s right in front of my workplace so I eat there regularly. I have tried basically everything on the menu, from burritos to hamburgers. Doughnuts and pastries are really good too.

This place is AMAZING. Good needs a little more salt but put the salsa on anything and it is delicious!!!

Really upped their game from what it was before. Great food. From the doughnuts to the tacos. Great service. Good price. I recommend the chihuahua hot dog. I’m fuckin hooked on that shit.

So much potential that is currently wasted. In 2011 when y’all opened up next to Hope & Anchor you guys were the best restaraunt in town. 2011 was a year when dozens of restaurants opened up on the Westside, Crave, Ripe, Tom’s, and the list goes on. Being open selling the kind of amazing food, a bit on the indulgent side, next to a bar, and being open till ~3 in the morning… GENIUS.
Then y’all left me, and went downtown, where I never go. The one time I did go down there to find y’all you were closed, s’okay not your fault.
Was very excited when I found out that the restaurant had moved again into the space with other talented brother who bakes, up on N. Mesa. I’ve been there twice to experience the old flavor of tuetano, burritos, amaing hot dogs, tacos, and the FAT PIG!!! Valentine’s kitchen and bakery folks, has a great menu! The food was good, where as before there seemed to be a lot of excitement about receiving something amazing, I go in to find one person trying to do everything. She was great not to rush the preparing of my meal, but people had to wait while this was being done. Meanwhile the tables are dirty, and there are green chiles, that should not be on the counter close to where customers eat. Put those chiles some where where they won’t spoil, especially if you’re going to use them in my chile relleno burrito.
C’mon guys, I’m cheering for you! I wanted to get behind the cash register and help take people’s orders, or grap a wet towel and clean up the tables and counters. Anyway, I will be back in a couple of weeks. Stay open, realize how awesome y’all are… think about opening late again for party goers coming out of Pop’s and Erin’s and other places Thursday through Saturday. Just a thought. Be well, hope to change my review soon.

This is hard to rate for a couple of reasons.
One, this isn’t only the bakery, the kitchen from the old Valentine’s Kitchen has been incorporated in here.
And two, because it has changed so much for good and bad, but we love it so much we don’t want to see it close again. For now, I’m rounding my 3 ½ star rating down to a 3, Valentine’s holds a special place in my heart.
What was once a 5 star hole in the wall, moved to a big space restaurant downtown to what now occupies a small corner in a bakery. Valentine’s Kitchen was located next to Hope & Anchor and it was one of the best Mexican fast food eateries I have ever tried. We even hosted our Engagement Dinner party there. Yes, our Engagement Dinner was hosted there. In retrospect, it was a bit uncomfortable and maybe somewhat weird, but my husband and I used to practically LIVE in Valentine’s because we would go so much. The owners knew us and even prepared special dishes for our party.
The menu ranged from tacos, tortas, burritos, a burger, a hot dog, fries, flan, bone marrow, and fresh aguas frescas. It was cheap, it was convenient. They only accepted cash, smart. The place was über small, but it worked, because the location was awesome.
Then, they got shoved out of that location. By then, it had grown popular, so the owners opted to move to a bigger, fancier, posh looking location downtown by Union Plaza. They opened February 14, cute right? So of course we were there when they opened. The menu was revamped a bit, they eliminated some of the burritos (to my dismay) and added some salads and other appetizers. They also added cocktails, which was great. We would still see the owners, a great young couple, and they even gifted us some of their restaurant t-​shirts (yes, we were there that often).
The prices went up, which is reasonable, and they still maintained their hours of operation… kinda. They were closed some days on and off, I’m sure for remodeling or tweaking. However, I guess they were kinda hidden from people, or some just completely forgot it existed, and parking wasn’t too great, and maybe people just didn’t want to take the «long» ride to downtown. I can honestly say we didn’t go as often, it was just more out of the way.
So then, I think after maybe a little over a year it closed. We were upset, our go-​to restaurant, our kitchen away from home, closed. By that time, Valentine’s Bakery was open, by Fountain in front of Nona’s Pizzeria. My husband then texted the owner and asked about the restaurant, and to our surprise, he said they would open up within the bakery. The bakery already offered burritos, but they would expand to their full menu.
They began with tortas and their burritos, which we delighted in, because they are delicious. We saw the owners again, and felt like home. Pretty soon, they put their old menu up with some additions, and BAM we were back there. BUT… there’s always a but… it’s not the same. I mean don’t get me wrong, the food is delicious, but there are a few things I hope will go back to the way they were. Since the kitchen is inside a bakery, the building is pretty hot and your clothes take on a full blown food odor. Then, their hours aren’t consistent at all. We’ve gone in at 6:30 pm, and we’ve been told the kitchen is closed. Not by the owners, we haven’t seen them in there in forever, but rather by employees. Either because they ran out of food, or were too lazy to turn the grill on and cook us some food. Also, they’re usually out of menu items. There’s been a couple of times when I want a bean burrito, and they’re out of beans, or tortillas altogether. They didn’t have the chicken to make the chicken sandwich, and unfortunately the meat for the sirloin tacos is cut into giant un-​chewable pieces. Lastly, since it’s a bakery, and the building is too hot, they keep the door open, so you’re constantly trying to swat flies away. It’s crazy annoying.
This place is still delicious. Even though the owners aren’t there, they’ve trained the staff pretty well to prepare the same dishes. The sirloin and milanesa tortas are great, the brisket tacos are amazing as well as the fries… the fries are a must. The seating is communal seating, long tables, with various chairs; and of course you have the wonderful bread they serve as dessert.
I hope these are just beginner tweaks and everything will work out perfectly. The food is already great so all that is needed is just some consistency. Try it out, you’ll love it.

They have really good mexican food! Their shrimp ceviche, bone marrow and tripitas are awesome!

Very interesting and, in a way, artistic bread making. Go early in the AM to witness. I woke up this morning with a crazy craving for some pan dulce! I’m not sure why but an empanada was screaming for me to wake up and I listened!
I didn’t think they would be open (7:30am) but sure enough, open and actually a couple of customers already inside. Their selection of sweet bread is excellent and they got all varieties, from the classic aforementioned empanada de piña to the American «Homer Simpson» doughnut. I got my usual… ummm…well I’ll call it a strawberry delight but not sure of the name. It was as delicious and fluffy as any I’ve had. A roll of cake dough, slathered with a swirl of strawberry, topped with coconut! Add a coffee to go along with that and you’ve got one satisfied belly!
The empanadas were great and it’s a good one to get because you can always judge a panadería or bakery by the classics. Perfectly balanced between crispy, flaky bread and creamy, googey pineapple jelly in the middle. Let’s just say I’m glad I got two! haha
The great hidden gem to this location is actually their HUGE brick oven that they bake all their bread in! When I got there, they were removing all of their bolillos for the day and it was quite mesmorizing watching the guy. Basically he was working a 25′ bread paddle board to gracefully remove about 10 bolillos at a time from the oven! If there was ever a Unilocal video, this would be one… as soon as I figure out how to upload it I will, hahaha.
With that huge oven I’m thinking, «Yelp event! Lets learn how to make some dessert!» Who do we get a hole of to make this happen…

How is it that I haven’t written a review of this place?
Okay, I am Mexican and I love eating beans with bolillo for breakfast! I come here many mornings just for the bolillo. (3 for a dollar)
The sweet breads is sooooooo good! I usually get the Mexican sweet bread I’m familiar with but one day I decided to get one that was cone shaped with granulated sugar on top (I don’t know the name) and to my surprise there was cajeta inside!!! O my goodness it was heaven in my mouth. I can compare cajeta with caramel if you don’t know what I’m talking about but better and creamier!
Ever since that magical day I haven’t been scared to yet any of their delicious breads.
So I took 1 star off because like I mention before I usually come in the mornings and the bread is not warm out the oven. The bread is delicious regardless but think of how immaculate it would be if it was melt in your mouth warm.
Also, you need a minimum purchase of $ 5 to charge on your debit/​credit card. Come on it’s 2014! This is almost as bad as only accepting cash.
This bakery is the closets to my house and thank goodness it is because it’s delicious.

This place is located where the International Bakery and Deli was. The staff is friendly and helpful. I tried a barbacoa burrito with onion and cilantro two tiems — ohhh yeash. Gonna be hard to pass by this place without getting one every time.
The pastries I’ve tried were all light and flakey and tasted good, but my favorite will be one that looks like a bear claw but is the size of a small child’s head. Seriously.
It didn’t make it to the house. (@.@)
They have other burritos and tortas and all manner of lunch and bakery goodies.
I like how the prep area is open and you can watch them work on the breads and pastries.
They have several little tables for two and a side bar with four stools to perch on next to a cooler stocked with cold drinks and milk.
They are open 6:30 to 8:30 7 days a week, so I have no excuse not to go.
Welcome to my ‘hood, new business!

I have come to this place a few times mostly on saturdays for the menudo. It is typically hit or miss as if a different person makes it every week. Sometimes is really good. Other times it’s not so good. The bread is good most of the time. The big turn off for me is that often the guy handling the money will also handle your food. Pay close attention and you will notice it as well.