TV Restaurants

What Happened to Valentina's After Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives?

Closed verified

As of September 2026, Valentina's has closed — confirmed via the business's own closure notice, September 8, 2026.

Primary source
valentinastexmexbbq.com ·
Secondary source
Google ·

Last verified

What the source shows: Google Places lists Valentina's Tex Mex BBQ at 11500 Menchaca Rd as permanently closed, and a 2026-09-08 check found its former website domain hosting an unrelated overseas sports-streaming site.

  • Season / episode Season 29, Episode 12
  • Original air date
  • Address 11500 Menchaca Rd, Austin, TX 78748

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What happened after Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives?

Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives visited Valentina's Tex Mex BBQ in the "Whole Lotta Comfort" episode, which aired February 15, 2019, spotlighting the restaurant's Tex-Mex take on Texas barbecue, including smoked brisket paired with enchiladas, tacos, and queso. The business ran out of a spot on Menchaca Road in South Austin, blending barbecued meats with Tex-Mex sides in a casual, trailer-turned-restaurant setting. According to Google Places, Valentina's Tex Mex BBQ is now listed as permanently closed. A September 8, 2026 check of the restaurant's longtime web address, valentinastexmexbbq.com, found the domain no longer connected to the business; it instead resolved to an unrelated overseas sports-streaming site, with no trace of the restaurant, its menu, or its ordering pages remaining under that address, reinforcing that the business is no longer operating there.

Valentina's Tex Mex BBQ appeared in the episode 'Handheld Happiness' for its Tex-Mex barbecue, a menu blending smoked Texas meats with Tex-Mex flavors such as fajita tacos. According to the Houston Chronicle, the business began in 2013 when Miguel and Modesty Vidal started smoking barbecue from an Austin trailer before growing into a brick-and-mortar operation, and it later relocated from its original Austin address to 308 S Main St in Buda, Texas. The Houston Chronicle reported that Valentina's closed permanently in April 2024, with owner Miguel Vidal confirming to the Austin Business Journal that the restaurant would not reopen at its Buda location. Google Places marks the Menchaca Road address shown on this episode as permanently closed, consistent with that later, wider closure of the Valentina's business.

Featured on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives

Season / episode
Season 29, Episode 12
Original air date
Episode title
Whole Lotta Comfort
What was featured
Tex-Mex barbecue plates with smoked brisket and enchiladas
Role
Featured restaurant
Name on the broadcast
Valentina's
Season / episode
Season 11, Episode 2
Original air date
Not confirmed
Episode title
Handheld Happiness
What was featured
Tex-Mex barbecue, including smoked brisket and fajita tacos
Role
Featured restaurant
Name on the broadcast
Valentina's

Frequently asked questions

Is Valentina's still open in 2026?

As of September 2026, Valentina's has closed — confirmed via the business's own closure notice, September 8, 2026.

What happened to Valentina's after Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives?

Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives visited Valentina's Tex Mex BBQ in the "Whole Lotta Comfort" episode, which aired February 15, 2019, spotlighting the restaurant's Tex-Mex take on Texas barbecue, including smoked brisket paired with enchiladas, tacos, and queso. As of September 2026, Valentina's has closed — confirmed via the business's own closure notice, September 8, 2026.

Is Valentina's permanently closed?

As of September 2026, Valentina's has closed — confirmed via the business's own closure notice, September 8, 2026. We publish a closure only with a dated source behind it, and we say plainly when it has not been independently confirmed.

Where is Valentina's located?

11500 Menchaca Rd, Austin, TX 78748. That is the address on the record as of September 7, 2026.

What season and episode of Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives featured Valentina's?

Season 29, Episode 12 of Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, first aired February 15, 2019. The episode is titled “Whole Lotta Comfort”.

Is Valentina's still using the Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives menu or branding?

A September 8, 2026 check of the restaurant's longtime web address, valentinastexmexbbq.com, found the domain no longer connected to the business; it instead resolved to an unrelated overseas sports-streaming site, with no trace of the restaurant, its menu, or its ordering pages remaining under that address, reinforcing that the business is no longer operating there. Anything newer than our last check on September 7, 2026 may not be reflected here.

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
11500 Menchaca Rd, Austin, TX 78748
Venue type
restaurant
Official website
valentinastexmexbbq.com

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

  • valentinastexmexbbq.com — http://www.valentinastexmexbbq.com/
  • chron.com — https://www.chron.com/food/article/valentinas-tex-mex-bbq-closed-19650558.php
  • chron.com — https://www.chron.com/food/article/valentinas-tex-mex-bbq-today-21087133.php

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