What Happened to Valentino After Best Thing I Ever Ate? (Santa Monica, CA)
Best Thing I Ever Ate, Season 4 Santa Monica, California Closed 2018
Current status
As of October 2026, Valentino has closed — confirmed via laweekly.com, December 2018.
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. How we decide a status →
- Episode Season 4, Episode 9
- Address 3115 Pico Boulevard, Santa Monica, CA 90405
- Website No current website found
- Show map
© OpenStreetMap contributors © CARTO
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.
The episode
Also in Season 4
Season 4: 60 of 102 still open · 3 renamed, moved or under new owners
- Closed
-
Ep 9Di Fara Pizza
Open -
Ep 9Fentons Creamery
Open -
Ep 9Jar
Open -
Ep 9Locanda Verde
Open -
Ep 9Marin Joe's
Closed -
Ep 9Sweet Surrender
Open - Closed
Nearest open restaurants
-
Food Paradise
Open -
Food Paradise
Open -
Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives
Open -
Best Thing I Ever Ate
Open -
Food Paradise
Open -
La Serenata (La Serenata de Garibaldi)
Gordon Ramsay's 24 Hours to Hell and Back
Open
Before you go: 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 we checked
- 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)
We work hard to keep every status accurate and dated, but restaurants change fast and our sources aren't perfect. If something here is wrong — a status, a name, an address, anything — tell us what you're seeing and where you saw it, and we'll check it.
Record btiea-0359 · checked by Cal Marchetti.