Located in Western Hill is the long-standing family owned and operated storefront Valentino’s. Formerly an Avondale, the new and improved store has had an amazing transformation that includes some of the best home cooked meals you can get.
The Mucciarelli family purchased Connie’s variety in 1968 and successfully ran the business for over 40 years as an independent business and Avondale Food Store. In recent years, the Avondale storefront has been operated corporately. The corporate entity cut ties from the Western Hill location and the Mucciarellis saw an opportunity to bring back the family business with a new spin.
Antonietta had always wanted a place of her own and with decades of cooking experience this was the perfect opportunity. Inside, Valentino’s has seen an amazing transformation from a standard Avondale to a modern space with hot foods, frozen meals, and on-the-go items like coffee, snacks, and cold drinks.
One of my favorite things about Valentino’s is that it’s family owned and operated. In the kitchen you can find Antonietta prepping and cooking a variety of things like lasagna, gnocchi, pasta sauce, and much more. Marco, Claudio, Pina, Claudia, and their children are often working various areas of the store happily greeting and helping customers throughout the day. Truly a family business.
The hot table section has daily features, with sides, for around $10. The frozen foods section has fresh home-made pasta, gnocchi, sausages, lasagna trays, and tomato sauce. I took some pasta and sauce home to make dinner the next day and it was phenomenal.
To put it shortly the food is amazing. Fresh, flavorful, and created by someone with years of experience is what you want in a home cooked meal. If it’s your first time I would get the lasagna or an Italian assorted sandwich. Be sure to grab some pasta sauce on your way out too!
Although Valentino Mucciarelli passed in 2008, his name and family business will continue to be a staple in the Western Hill community, serving the area with delicious food from familiar faces.
