The VIP Mexican Restaurant & Lounge

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The VIP Mexican Restaurant & Lounge THE VIP Our History

The VIP has been in existence since the 1970's and although easy to miss, it is a landmark in Treasure Island. Why? There is no escaping it!
(6783)

The current owners Christine and her son Nick, have had the restaurant since 1994. The VIP has gone through many renovations and small changes in the past 25 years, but one thing remains the same: Great Food, Great Service, Great Times. The VIP you see now hardly resembles the place you may have seen 20-25 years ago. The VIP is different for many people. Some simply pass through to watch the ball game while drinking some cold beers. Others bring their families by for a great tasting meal at an affordable price. Whereas our back patio once was simply a parking lot, now it is a completely renovated patio seating area with music, TV, misting fans, and tropical decor. At the VIP, we continue to evolve, and continue to strive to offer our customers the very best experience in Mexican/American Cuisine. Our Cuisine
We have a very unique array of items on our menu. We offer some real authentic Mexican dishes, some Tex-Mex style dishes, and traditional American favorites. We approach all of these areas of cuisine with the same focus on producing the most flavorful recipes. There are traditional Mexican dishes such as enchiladas, tamales, and chile rellenos. Then there are Mexican-themed dishes with a twist of outside influence such as the Mexican Pizza, Mexican Rolls, and our Famous Wet Burrito. In our kitchen, we utilize many traditional Mexican ingredients such as Chile Guajillo, fresh cilantro, and Chipotle. We prep everything from our sauces, to our tortilla chips, to our meats fresh every day. We do not give complimentary Chips & Salsa with every meal. Because we make a freshly made pico de gallo stlye salsa with freshly cut and fried tortilla chips, not a jarred picante sauce with bagged, overly salted chips. We do not salt our chips after frying them. We leave that for you to do if you prefer salt on your chips, but frankly, we feel that they taste best as-is. Also, we feel that after you taste our salsa, you will agree that it was worth the $2.95. Another extremely popular item we make is our Salsa Verde, or better known to gringos as, Green Sauce. This is one of the two sauce that we offer to each table to add to your dishes for added flavor. The Green Sauce is a tomatillo/jalapeno-based salsa that packs some heat and great taste. With most items, we offer our traditional 3 meat choices: Ground Beef, Shredded Beef, and Shredded Chicken. We also offer Grilled Skirt Steak, Shrimp, or Mahi to substitute into your burritos, tacos, etc. Aside from our Latin-influenced fare, we make a damn good burger. Our gigantic VIP burger (weighing in at 16oz. before grilling) is becoming revered as the best in town. We offer daily specials ranging from home-made soups to traditional Mexican dishes not featured on our menu. Our Atmosphere

If you have never been to the VIP, you are definitely in for a new dining experience. We have two entrances to access the restaurant; a front door leading straight inside, and a rear entrance located past the patio area. By entering through the back entrance, you pass through the kitchen on your way into the restaurant. Yes, you pass through the kitchen! Once you are in the restaurant you will realize that we are not a big place. There is a long bar that seats up to 18 people and some small and medium sized tables. Most large parties simply must sit in the patio area where our tables seat up to 12 people each. We have a first come, first serve system, and although you may seat yourselves we encourage you to let us to help seat you. When we are full to capacity (we frequently are) we ask that you write your name or ask to have your name written on our dry erase wait list board. Because we are such a small establishment, our servers are our bartenders and our bartenders are our servers. Our staff all work together to service the entire restaurant, bar, and patio area. So, you may have several different people visit your table during the course of your meal. At the VIP, we have a casual, laid-back atmosphere. We have 5 flat screen TV's in the restaurant, a fantastic jukebox, and a grabby claw machine. We have Togo Menus available for you in case you'd like to order out. Please allow additional time for larger Pick-Up orders and advance notice on these orders is always appreciated. We also have recently created a Catering Menu for large parties/functions. We do not take reservations, but will occasionally allow for the outside patio benches to be set aside for larger parties. Our staff works very hard to make sure everybody gets excellent service. But remember, even though you get your food fast, this is not fast food!

Come in and enjoy the Ray's game with Lex and Bex. They will be making up these delicious shots every time the Rays scor...
10/15/2026

Come in and enjoy the Ray's game with Lex and Bex. They will be making up these delicious shots every time the Rays score a run! We will have the game on all the TVs so no matter where you sit, you'll have a great view. Come support your favorite bartenders and baseball team.

Big shout out to Nikki and Brandon for naming their new pup “Paco the Taco” in honor of the VIP. His first stop ever aft...
10/10/2026

Big shout out to Nikki and Brandon for naming their new pup “Paco the Taco” in honor of the VIP. His first stop ever after leaving his mom at 8 weeks and 1 day. Thats dedication!

Come on down this afternoon and have some fun with these three blonds, Bex Lex, and Dee. It's a rarity to not only have ...
10/10/2026

Come on down this afternoon and have some fun with these three blonds, Bex Lex, and Dee. It's a rarity to not only have these lovely ladies all working together on a weekend, but also to have a weekend food special! Today we are running our Shrimp Cocktail, it's 5 Jumbo Shrimp served on a glass filled with our fresh house made cocktail salsa, topped with fresh avocados and served with chips. We of course have our Daily drink specials and delicious food as well so hope to see you soon!!

10/07/2026
This is much better content to view. Future VIP stuff muffin Robbie!!
10/06/2026

This is much better content to view. Future VIP stuff muffin Robbie!!

10/06/2026

Just a heads up guys.
We have to clear up something. Although, many people probably scoop this publication up off the driveway and toss into the garbage, some people still read it. Including me. I like it. Formerly known as “Seminole Beacon”, but now, “Seminole & beaches beacon” or something like that. There is a lot of good content on what’s going on in the area. But, there was a recent article regarding a Crabby Bills owned establishment called Monstah Lobstah, formerly known as JD’s. They announced plans for a new development but also addressed the fact that because that restaurant was closing very abruptly without much notice, that patrons may have some outstanding gift cards to the establishment that have not been redeemed. In the article it was noted that some the Crabby Bills Family restaurants will still honor those gift cards. For some reason, it was printed that my establishment, the VIP, was included in that list of places that would do honor these gift cards. I caught wind of this through a friend in passing while dining at another restaurant and was informed. From there we reached out to the publication and the author of the article. We were unable to speak to anybody representing them or receive any response. But, it seems they posted a correction since the original printing and online posting. Being the recipient of untrue rumors is not new to us, but when it is being published by an accredited source, it definitely makes our lives a little More…. Unnecessarily …. Annoying….. Regardless, we will assume that there are some individuals that have not seen the redaction/correction to the story. We have already encountered a few. We understand that the VIP in IRB is close in proximity to this “Monstah Lobstah” establishment. There are quite a few other establishments that are close. But they choose us! Anyway, long story short, we only accept gift cards from VIP, at……. VIP! IRB or TI, doesn’t matter which location.

Big Shout Out to Jerry Mullins and his company Mullins Concrete Pumping.  Jerry is one of our many VIP Faithful.  He is ...
10/05/2026

Big Shout Out to Jerry Mullins and his company Mullins Concrete Pumping. Jerry is one of our many VIP Faithful. He is a constant supporter and an extremely generous contributor to all of our charitable ventures. This year, once again, he went above and beyond as always and was a BIG ENCHILADA Sponsor for our 12th Annual VIP Golf Tournament, benefiting Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital Foundation. This year we were able to raise $22,000.00 in proceeds to be donated to families in need. He obviously played a big part in that. His contributions to this restaurant and our staff go far beyond just this golf tournament, and we would like to say THANK YOU!

We are proud to announce that our annual VIP Golf Tournament benefiting Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital Foundation...
10/05/2026

We are proud to announce that our annual VIP Golf Tournament benefiting Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital Foundation was another great event and success! We were able to raise at this point, at least $22,000 to be donated directly to families in need of assistance from All Children's. Still have a couple of silent auction items we are waiting on , which could put us over $23k. Regardless, we are absolutely ecstatic with the turnout and the event as a whole. It is so fulfilling to know that these funds will help children who's families cannot otherwise afford to pay for such a wide variety of costs that are incurred in the process of being faced with medical emergencies and whatnot. The amount of generosity being displayed is amazing. Stay tuned for some separate shout outs to the sponsors who played a part in contributing to this big amount, as not everybody who got involved could actually be there to play. And, stay tuned to many more great photos from the event!

Come on down this afternoon as there will be football on all day!! We also have our new margarita you can enjoy while wa...
10/04/2026

Come on down this afternoon as there will be football on all day!! We also have our new margarita you can enjoy while watching the Bucs at 1pm (sound on during the game). It was formerly the Mayfield Marg but has recently been rebranded as the "FIRE THE CANNONS" and it will pack a punch!! Created by Dee who will be working along with Morgan and Sarah behind the bar. It is a skinny silver tequila with mango flavoring and a splash of grenadine, served with an Orange Slice and cherries with your very own flag & swords. Lets hope this lucky charm gives the Bucs their first win (along with our new QB). And as always we have our regular drink specials and delicious food to enjoy including our NEW cilantro rice you can sub instead of our traditional mexican rice, as well as our soup of the day "Chicken Enchilada".

Address

10625 Gulf Boulevard
Treasure Island, FL
33706

Opening Hours

Monday 11am - 10pm
Tuesday 11am - 10pm
Wednesday 11am - 10pm
Thursday 11am - 10pm
Friday 11am - 10pm
Saturday 11am - 10pm
Sunday 11am - 10pm

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