Valentina’s Mexican Grill
351 River StreetIt should be illegal how much I love tacos. There are only a couple foods that I could eat every day and be really happy. Burgers, pizza, wings, and tacos.
I found a place that I loved when I worked in Grand Rapids regularly. I’ve never been able to find a place that I truly loved and was easy to get in and get out of it. There are some really good taco places in town that I visit semi-regularly (Los Brothers comes to mind right away), but I’m always on the look out for more.
I don’t spend a lot of time in Comstock Township but I stop at the Speedway on the corner of River and King Highway every time I do.
One of those trips was on my way to Battle Creek and I decided at the last minute to take the highway instead of M-96. I still made my Speedway stop and as I crossed the river heading back towards I-94, I noticed a Mexican place tucked in to a little building right across from Merrill Park.
Valentina’s Mexican Grill has been in this spot on River Street for almost two years now. The small orange building used to be Riverview Cafe. Surprisingly, I never made it in to that restaurant so I don’t know how much it has changed.
The one thing I assume is left over from the diner days is a small lunch counter just as you walk in the door. It’s an L-shape with padded stools all around it. The counter is topped with blue and yellow tiles and a design that looks right at home in a Mexican restaurant.
The dining room is tightly packed in to the remaining space. There is a combination of tables and booths. The backs of both the booths and the chairs look like they’ve been recently reupholstered with bright patterns. The typical Mexican restaurant theme and color palate are carried throughout.
I walked in a little after 7:00 on a Monday night and took a seat at the lunch counter. The waitress asked if I was placing an order for “here or to-go.” I said to-go and asked for a menu. I assumed I knew what I wanted but just wanted to look it over….just in case.
As I figured, I ordered five steak tacos, Mexican style, on corn tortillas. It cost me a little over $11 and took just under ten minutes for my order to be boxed up.
I waited until I got back to the office to attempt to eat the tacos. On my first trip, I actually forgot to take pictures of the tacos. They were so good and I was so hungry, I went back a second time a few days later to get more so I’d have pictures for this post.
The tacos start with a double layer of soft, warm corn tortillas. Each of the pairs is filled with a large serving of tender seasoned steak. The meat was so soft I think you could eat it without teeth.
Mexican style means the tacos are topped with cilantro and diced onion. I also asked for mild sauce to go on top. I used to always order tacos without the onion but I’ve learned recently this may be the one food that I actually like onions on. The flavor usually blends with the mild/hot sauce I put on them and there’s already crunch from the cilantro so the onions don’t actually bother me for once.
I have a pretty high bar when it comes to tacos….and I really liked Valentina’s. It didn’t bother me at all that I had to go back for another round just so I could get the pictures. It’s a full service restaurant but I was able to stop in twice…once during a fairly busy Friday lunch hour..and get in and with delicious Mexican food in less than ten minutes.
SW Michigan Dining 