Breaking News: Valencia Luncheria in Norwalk Announces New Concept + Renovations

Valencia Luncheria as you know it is closing.

Maybe that’s a bit dramatic, but it made you sit straight up, didn’t it?

In a social media post on January 7, 2026, Valencia announced that after service on January 18, they’ll be closing for renovations. But those first four words in the caption on their Instagram reel is what you should be focused on…

“BIG CHANGES ARE COMING!”

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Valencia Luncheria (@valencia_luncheria)

First opened in 2003 by founder and chef Michael Young, the 16-seat Valencia saw its share of fanfare, first by locals, then by Guy Fieri’s Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, which put it on the map for not only out-of-towners, but those out of state, too.

In 2012, Valencia’s popularity saw them move into a much bigger space a few doors down.

Fourteen years later, aka, the present, Valencia is set to switch things up with a different vibe, updated interior, and a new menu that will still be Venezuelan-inspired, but one that will feature wood-fired grilling.

But why the changes? According to Young, it’s just that time.

“We were the first Venezuelan restaurant in the state,” he says. “Now there’s a couple Venezuelan places here. We think that they kinda grabbed some of us. When we first opened up where we were, we had no money, so we painted a sign with regular house paint that read: ‘Venezuelan Beach Food.’ If you were at that light and you were that second car, what I loved, and I didn’t do that (sign) on purpose, was I would read people’s mouths saying, ‘What is Venezuelan beach food?’ When I went to Venezuela, you just couldn’t believe these little huts by the beach serving this food that was so fresh.”

Chavez (left), Bryce, and Young are set for this new phase of Valencia Luncheria

While Young, co-owner Luis Chavez, and new executive chef Marv Bryce haven’t fully begun to test out what dishes they will serve, Young hints that much of the menu will be based on wood-fired food that comes off their soon-to-arrive Santa Maria grill.

Don’t freak out. Nostalgia will still have a place in Valencia’s new chapter. The handmade arepas, the empanadas, the green sauce, none of that is leaving!

Bryce—who previously cooked at the one Michelin star Casa Enrique in Queens and ran the Inn at Longshore’s catering—is stoked to get to work on the new menu while preserving Valencia’s past.

“We want to stick with the core items and I respect the brand and legacy, so it will be based in Venezuelan cuisine, but we’re going to bring a modern twist to it using the grill,” Bryce says. “It’s perfect for where my career is going, it fits my style and vibe, and I love the cuisine.”

Through the 18th, Valencia is running an abbreviated menu of all the customer favorites, many of which will still remain when it opens back up. As for that roundabout grand reopening date, think very soon, as in, the first part of February. Your best bet is to tune into their updates on Instagram and Facebook.

As for Young and Chavez, there’s some nostalgia, lots of excitement, and maybe, just maybe they’ll get a tad bit emotional, but they’re ecstatic for you to see what’s coming.

“I don’t want people to think they have to dress up to come in, but it’s gonna have a different feel,” Young says. “Upscale is a scary word. It won’t be stuffy. It’s gonna be a place you don’t want to leave. Good food, good vibes, giving guests what they want. That’s what I think about. I don’t have a number, nothing is calculated, but I gotta think there’s probably 10,000 people that would call themselves a regular. They may not come in once a day, maybe it’s once a week or once a month, but I know them, I know what they want, and that’s kinda cool. We’re ready to give them something new.”

164 Main Street, Norwalk
203.846.8009, valencialuncheria.com