VIP Restaurant

Mendocino Avenue, Santa Rosa
March 1, 2006

Annette and I ate at VIP a few times last year, and never went away unsatisfied. Today's lunch was par for the course. VIP serves both American and Mexican food. As I'm partial to Mexican food, that's all I've ever had there. Since they've never disappointed me, I don't even think of ordering anything else. Next time, I'll go out of my way to try some American food there.

It's always been my contention that every sit down restaurant should put something to eat on the table as soon as a customer is seated. Be it bread sticks, bisquits, or tortilla chips, there should be something to take the edge off your hunger. VIP gives you a good basket of tortilla chips and a salsa that is NOT for people who think Ranch Dressing is spicy.

Tortilla Chip report: They were a little thick, and a little salty, but overall, they were good. They're better than Costco chips, but not the best.

I spent $10.25 on the Alhambres with a Diet Coke. Alhambres (for those of you who have never had it) is fried marinated skirt steak strips with bacon, bell peppers and onions. It's served with corn or flour tortillas, with rice, refried beans, guacamole and sour cream. The food was well worth the price. It was quite tasty and I'm still full a good four hours after eating.

Sodas are $1.50, or $1.99 with refills. Quite sensible in my opinion. I usually get refills, and Annette usually doesn't drink enough to get a refill. It seems reasonable that we shouldn't pay the same for drinks. The drink I had today was large enough that I didn't need a refill, even with the salty chips.

My opinion on VIP is that you should definitely give the place a try.