Val’s Famous Pizza & Grinders

Excellent pizza! The best we have found in the area. Friendly attentive service. Great salads and very good spaghetti and meatballs. Very consistent quality!

Haven’t been here in years but tried it by chance today. So glad I did! I haven’t paid so little for a kids meal in a long time and they got A LOT of food! The stuffed hot beef sandwich is HUGE and delicious! It’s not common in 2016 to find this great of a value when dining out! Our server, Eli, was great as well! Friendly and right on top of everything we needed! HIGHLY RECOMMEND!

The beer selection is ok. If you walk in there, do look up. The ceiling is disgusting! Makes you wonder how much mold is in the walls you are breathing in. Last time we got food it was horrible. The appetizers were floating in grease. I usually get the simply ham and cheese. It’s normally good. But this time is was the size of a dollar folded in half. Highly disappointed.

Read the other reviews about the slow service before going, and assumed wrongly that at 2pm. would I wouldn’t have a problem. Everything was great at the beginning until a few more people came in. It seems like they just can’t handle more than a few people. Hard working but a bad system.

This is a must go for me EVERY time I visit the family in Chesterton. I can’t go a visit without getting a «Bomb». I also find the service to be friendly and timely. The prices are also very reasonable, especially being from Illinois.

Bad service! Not so much ! Sorry! The food was ok had Chkn broc pizza soooo… When I go out for dinner, or any other meal, I expect at least good service! Brought our food out and never seen her again! A tip? Find another line of work

I got my hopes up on this place. Ordered food there for pickup. Walked in through the bar area because there was no clear sign separating the bar side from the restaurant side. There was a pickup door next to the pickup area but from the outside you can’t even see the door. I waited a little longer than told just for one sandwich to be made. I felt like I got stares on the way in and out. My food wasn’t as appetizing as I pictured, and I couldn’t even finish it. Maybe I should give this place another chance? But not anytime soon.

Bartender knew NOTHING about beer. However, someone there knows about beer as the selection of drafts, bottles, and cans was pretty damn good! We enjoyed everything we tried.
Our Italian Beef sandwich was GREAT. We got the large size, with cheese, and split it between the 2 of us. It was really great, although the juice was not quite as spicy as I enjoy. Beef was thinly sliced and tender, but was soft but slightly crisp on the outside, plenty of cheese. We’ll definitely be back!
There’s free popcorn too.
The interior is extremely dated. If you’re into the «dive» feel you’ll love this place. It was clean though. And other than having zero knowledge regarding beer, the bartender was nice enough (20-​something blond woman).

I wanted on update my rating as because I did rave about the good food and my experiences since the bad one has been all fine so in all fairness here are your stars!

Get 4 stars for the food but a 2 for cleanliness… Val’s could be a really nice little place if they would just clean the place up a little… severely needs a paint job, wobbly tables and just need an overall makeover. I got the pepperoni pizza bread when I went there and I have to say it was pretty darn good! The soft pretzel sticks were nothing special but still really liked them… I have passed it several times and would like to stop back in but then I remember all the water stains on the ceiling and remember why I don’t go back in… take the time Val’s and clean the place up… then I will stop back in!

Pizza was ok… lot better in the area to choose from. Greasy is one word to decribe the food from appetizers to pizza. If u do take any of my advice — DO NOT EAT INSIDE, had to shower after I left, dirty!!!

So I have been to Val’s a few times, and I really adore them. The times that I have gone have been a low key crowd and the wait staff is very attentive. I adore The Bomb but their other stuffed sandwiches such as the Lemon Chicken and Brocollie are to die for! Also their desserts are awesome too.

I have ordered delivery and thought the pizza was decent, but the second time I chose carry out and realized just how filthy the place was. The people are not friendly and cleanliness is definitely not a priority. I will never eat at this place again because I simply don’t trust that I won’t get sick.

Caesar salad was a a disgrace… waitress couldn’t answer if the meatballs were homemade or frozen or if the mushrooms were fresh or canned… come on this is basic km knowledge fir someplace that is «famous». She had little to no personality. After waiting and hour and 45 min for the main dish… yuck! So turned off that we will never return when we have been coming for years… and for those of you wondering, the meatballs are frozen and rubbery. Tried to complain were told well its homecoming, sorry.

Ok, so I wrote a review earlier on this place. I really wanted to give them a chance so I ordered out. Could not have been more happy with the service and the food. I did get a response from the restaurant on the situation with their wait staff. From their understanding it has been resolved. So hopefully the next time we try dine in it will be all good. For now I will order again, takeout!

They opened at noon on Sunday and we were one of the first people there. My first thought walking in the door was, ‘what is that smell?!?’ It smelled a little musty or like and old person house or a damp basement or a combination of the three. It didn’t take long for me to not notice it once were were in the dining room.
I would classify this place as a dive bar. The cleanliness and upkeep is a little lacking. Not that the tables were dirty but that the carpet needed to be replaced, the tables and chairs have seen better days and they needed to do a deep cleaning badly; ceilings, walls, touch up on the paint, you get the picture.
Our waitress was great and very attentive. She did a real smart up-​sell on me from a small stuffed sandwich to a half stuffed sandwich (same thing basically) with a salad and the beverage I already ordered. I went with the veggie stuffed sandwich; mushrooms, onions, green peppers, black AND green olives, tomatoes, and cheese all baked inside a pizza-​like dough and then glazed with garlic butter. It was super good, but I would have preferred a little less butter. That thing was so buttered up it could have slipped right out of my hands onto the floor. I ended up wrapping the bottom end in a napkin which helped soak up the unnecessary butter excess and kept me from burn my fingers on it’s toasty hotness.
The hubby had a pizza, all to himself, but I didn’t have room to try any of it. It did smell really good tho. He enjoyed it but said it was a little greasy.
If you can get beyond the atmosphere or lack thereof, the food was pretty okay.

Best wings in town, pizza is on the average side… Nice people, just not that inviting place. Better than zings though. But a family tradition for my family

They have really good service. Pizza is so so. I find myself eating more of the appetizer than the pizza. The place is a little run down and could definitely use a deep cleaning. Which is dissapointing because it’s so close to home. In the mean time i will eat at another pizza place. Uncleanliness is a major turn off!

We ate at Val’s while visiting Indiana Dunes. They were the only pizza place we could find open on the 4^th of July. It was absolutely the worst pizza ever. It was barely a step up from frozen pizza. The crust was dry, hard, and flavorless. We tried some brownie bites, which turned out to be frozen brownies that they put in the deep frier. The deep frying thing was a turn off, plus the brownies were flavorless. Fortunately, I ‘m not a local so I won’t ever have the opportunity to go back – thank God!

I’ve been here a few times and I usually get the grinder
with pepperoni. It’s like a stuffed pizza… delish.
Good prices, friendly waitstaff, kind of rustic décor and
lots of parking. Definitely worth a try.