Sept. 2, 2022

If you’ve been craving Valentino’s for the past seven years, you won’t be much longer.

The Nebraska-based Italian restaurant is returning to Sioux Falls after closing in 2015.

It’s being franchised locally by Jenny Pals, who said her family has been working on franchising the concept for a couple of years.

“It’s been a long time coming,” said Pals, a Sioux Falls native and mother of five.

“We loved it when it was here,” she said. “We used to get lasagna pasta to go for football meals.”

Her daughters’ cheerleading took the family to Nebraska often, where they discovered Valentino’s offered a smaller to-go format that fed them during competitions.

By 2020, she began to think: “Why can’t we have one of these in Sioux Falls?” which led her from a 30-year career in financial services to becoming a restaurant franchisee.

She officially retires Sept. 30, “so this is just perfect timing for me,” she said.

Her first location will be in a retail center near Fareway at 41st Street and Ellis Road.

At 1,800 square feet, the format focuses on carryout service while also offering delivery and catering. The menu still includes several varieties of pizza, lasagna, spaghetti, salad, garlic bread twists and cinnamon breadsticks in addition to local favorites specific to certain locations.

Diners will pick up food to go at the counter and can go through a small salad bar to make to-go salads.

But this is not the classic buffet experience, Pals emphasized.

“I don’t want a sit-down restaurant,” she said. “I don’t want to have to staff that.”

Being near Roosevelt High School also is an advantage during open lunch times, she added.

“I think in that neighborhood setting, it will be super popular,” agreed Kristen Zueger of Lloyd Cos., the commercial real estate broker for the space.

“You can still get a full lasagna to go as well as a slice of pizza at noon.”

Valentino’s will take the north end of the retail center, which is shared with Crown Casino and has one vacant space in between the two. The casino also is planning to expand, Zueger said, and Valentino’s will be a food option for those visiting there.

The restaurant’s corporate team “loved the site and loved everything around there as far as rooftops and the other retail around there,” she said.

It’s also likely not the last location in Sioux Falls for Valentino’s.

“Once this gets up and rolling, we are going to start looking at other locations across Sioux Falls,” Zueger said.

Construction starts next week, and the plan is to open by the end of the year or early next year.

“It all depends on supply chain issues,” Pals said, noting she’s hearing a 12-week estimate on her coolers and pizza oven.

“I could be open before the end of the year, which would be fabulous for holiday time.”