Valentino's Restaurant - Paramount

The atmosphere is fine, not very high end but not a pub. Service is good, the server didn't stand out in anyway but I was part of a large group of 12/13 so it can be a lot for a server. I had calamari to start, and it was excellent, super tender and the batter was light and crisp. The mussels in beer sauce, which were a tad overcooked, the mussels were quite small, and the sauce was extremely salty, normally I drink up all the broth/sauce from mussels and I couldn't with these. I also had a gluten free pizza, traditional, with garlic. I've had worse gluten free crusts, and I've had better. The toppings were more like a delivery pizza place than what I'd expect from a traditional Italian restaurant. I ordered a bourbon old fashioned, and I don't think they knew how to make it because I just got a rocks glass of bourbon, ice and an orange peel lol. I was looking at the other things the rest of the group were getting, I wasn't super impressed, the carbonara looked too thick and chunky, the garden salads were heavy on iceberg and light on every thing else. I just think with the prices it should have been a little better. I've gone to east side Mario's and had equal/better for less.

Try the gluten free pizza with pesto. It is beyond delicious.