Restaurant review - New face with old favorites rises from Valino's ashes

Schreiner's interior surprises a woman who has not been to Valino's for years.

"Boy, it's fancy," she says, raising an eyebrow at honey-gold, drop lamps lending mandarin walls the Midas touch.

She plops down in a royal-blue booth, dark wood trim, and contemplates fried chicken.

Stylish as it emerged from the ashes of Valino's, Schreiner's retains the humble heart of its former ugly duckling self.

Valino's was old and worn when a 2008 fire claimed the Carolina Beach Road fixture, but as far as regulars were concerned, the restaurant's friendly air and no-fuss diner menu smoothed its wrinkles.

Unwilling to abandon these loyalists, or the nearby Sunset Park neighborhood where many of them live, owners Donna and David Schreiner rebuilt quickly after the fire.

The couple bumped up the decor and dropped the Valino's name inherited when they bought the restaurant in 2002.

Two-egg breakfast specials; lip-slicking patty melts; and a please-everyone dinner list are still trademarks, as is a creamy seafood chowder, thick and chunky with potatoes, crab and clams.

New shrimp and grits don't sport jumbo things just plucked from the water, but the small to medium shrimp sauteed with onions, tomatoes and bell peppers, are tender and plentiful atop fluffy white grits.

No, the cheddar on top is not too much.

Batter-fried, quarter-inch-thick pork chops covering half their dinner plate may be dry, but tenderloin medallions are perfectly cooked medium-rare. Smoky white lima beans with pork and sharp, soft, macaroni and cheese are side dish, comfort food hits.

Fresh-fried potato chips and Buffalo wings, barely sauced recently, work with homemade Ranch dressing.

Pie crusts were doughy one night, but the chocolate cake's sugary fudge frosting and dark, dense layers relieve longings for Mom's kitchen - and perhaps her singing.

An attached karaoke lounge cranks up Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights.

Lone diners, however, needn't move barside for company. Servers are happy to chat, and it's not unusual for customers to lean over and say hello.