What Happened to Valentino After Best Thing I Ever Ate? (Santa Monica, CA)

Current status

Closed verified

As of September 2026, Valentino has closed — confirmed via laweekly.com, December 2018.

Primary source
laweekly.com ·
Secondary source
Yelp ·

Last verified

What the source shows: LA Weekly documents Piero Selvaggio closing Valentino at the end of 2018, and current Yelp and Gayot listings still mark the Pico Boulevard location as closed.

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What happened after Best Thing I Ever Ate?

Valentino was an upscale Italian restaurant in Santa Monica opened by restaurateur Piero Selvaggio, who ran the dining room for 47 years. Located at 3115 Pico Boulevard, the restaurant earned James Beard Foundation awards for both its wine program and its service, and its cellar was considered one of the most extensive Italian wine collections in the country. According to LA Weekly, Selvaggio closed Valentino at the end of 2018, ending its run as one of Los Angeles's most decorated Italian dining rooms. We the Italians reported that Selvaggio planned to open a new restaurant in Newport Beach after Valentino's closure. Gayot's restaurant guide now lists the Pico Boulevard location as closed. A Yelp listing for the address, updated 2026-09, likewise marks the restaurant as closed, while preserving reviews and photos from its decades of operation. No current website or active reservation platform for the Pico Boulevard address was found.

Featured on Best Thing I Ever Ate

Season / episode
Season 4, Episode 9
Original air date
Not confirmed
Episode title
Crazy Good
What was featured
Valentino's upscale Italian cuisine and award-winning wine program
Role
Featured restaurant
Name on the broadcast
Valentino

Frequently asked questions

Is Valentino still open in 2026?

As of September 2026, Valentino has closed — confirmed via laweekly.com, December 2018.

What happened to Valentino after Best Thing I Ever Ate?

Valentino was an upscale Italian restaurant in Santa Monica opened by restaurateur Piero Selvaggio, who ran the dining room for 47 years. As of September 2026, Valentino has closed — confirmed via laweekly.com, December 2018.

Is Valentino permanently closed?

As of September 2026, Valentino has closed — confirmed via laweekly.com, December 2018. We publish a closure only with a dated source behind it, and we say plainly when it has not been independently confirmed.

Where is Valentino located?

3115 Pico Boulevard, Santa Monica, CA 90405. That is the address on the record as of September 7, 2026.

What season and episode of Best Thing I Ever Ate featured Valentino?

Season 4, Episode 9 of Best Thing I Ever Ate. The episode is titled “Crazy Good”.

What do reviews say since Best Thing I Ever Ate?

A Yelp listing for the address, updated 2026-09, likewise marks the restaurant as closed, while preserving reviews and photos from its decades of operation. We summarise what dated sources report; we do not publish our own rating.

Every status on this site carries a confidence label and a date, and names the source it rests on. Read the Editorial & Corrections Policy for what each label means and how quickly we act on corrections. The questions above are generated from this record's own published fields — we never publish a question we cannot answer from the data.

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Visit info

Address
3115 Pico Boulevard, Santa Monica, CA 90405
Venue type
restaurant
Official website
None found

Businesses change fast. Always confirm directly with the restaurant — call ahead, or check its own current website or social media — before making plans around anything on this page.

Sources

  • laweekly.com — https://www.laweekly.com/farewell-valentino-piero-selvaggio-says-ciao-to-santa-monica/
  • Yelp — https://www.yelp.com/biz/valentino-santa-monica
  • wetheitalians.com — https://www.wetheitalians.com/news/piero-selvaggio-closing-valentino-and-opening-restaurant-newport-beach
  • Wikipedia — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valentino_(restaurant)

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