Indian Rocks Beach (IRB) is located on Sand Key, a barrier island between the Gulf of Mexico and the intercoastal canal, and is a short drive from both St. Petersburg and Tampa. Indian Rocks Beach was founded some 100 years ago as a weekend vacation for rich Tampa and inland Florida citizens, and it now has over 4000 people who have managed to preserve the town’s unique culture. The Indian Rocks Beach Restaurants never fail to add to the appeal.
Although Indian Rocks Beach is on the same road as the highly famous and congested St. Pete Beach (south) and Clearwater Beach (north), it is a less-packed, hidden treasure. Thousands of visitors seeking a more laid-back, nostalgic beach holiday visit the dune-lined strip of sugar-white sand, which is filled with modest hotels, rental condominiums, charming cottages, and locally-owned eateries.
Although having a total area of just 1.4 square miles (.5 of which is water), Indian Rocks Beach offers numerous wonderful places to dine that will please everyone in the family. Check out some of our best restaurants in IRB, whether you’re passing through on your route to a bigger town or staying for a relaxed vacation.
Not in the mood to dine out tonight? Click here to have Grubhub deliver right to your door from the greatest restaurants in town.
Visiting other places in Florida? Check out our restaurant guides for the cities listed below:
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Six of the Finest Indian Rocks Beach Restaurants
On the Beach with Guppys
The phone number is 727-593-20321609 Gulf Blvd.
Guppys On The Beach is a relaxed yet sophisticated restaurant with excellent cuisine and service.
We prefer to sit outdoors on the front patio to enjoy the fresh air; there are fans to keep the area cool on hot days and heaters to keep the space warm on cold winter days and nights.
A seafood bowl with shrimp, bay scallops, lobster, branzino, and clams in a tomato saffron broth; bacon-wrapped, char-grilled swordfish; and grouper with a lemon-caper sauce are among Guppy’s numerous fresh seafood choices (piccata).
If you like shrimp, I suggest Guppys Coconut Shrimp with honey orange yuzu marmalade. The shrimp is light, crunchy, and not at bit greasy. I like the fries and sweet potato fries, but you may also get rice or coleslaw as an accompaniment.
Another popular shrimp meal is the creamy Shrimp and Grits, which consists of big shrimp over jalapeo Asiago grits with Andouille sausage.
If you don’t like seafood, Guppys also serves beef (a selection of steaks and pork chops), chicken, and pasta. Gluten-free choices are also available.
Tip: Get there early to take advantage of Guppy’s Early Dinner Specials. Dinner specials are served from 4:00 to 5:15 p.m. and include fresh baked bread, fresh steamed vegetables, Caesar salad, and your choice of coleslaw, brown and wild rice, French fries, or roasted garlic smashed potatoes.
Guppys is no little fish when it comes to beach eating in Indian Rocks Beach. Of of all Indian Rocks Beach Restaurants, this one comes highly recommended.
Gallace Villa
Gulf Blvd. 727-596-0200109 Gulf Blvd.
Villa Gallace, founded by Calabria, Italy native Pompeo Gallace, is a favorite of both residents and tourists. The restaurant, which is semi-formal yet intimate, is located on the river and has both indoor and outdoor dining.
Gallace, which is exclusively open for supper, serves a delicious combination of food from several areas of Italy.
Begin your lunch with an antipasto (bruschetta, calamari friti, gnocchi gorgonzola, and others) or one of their four soups (tortellini en brodo, minestrone, pasta fagioli, or spinach egg drop).
The spaghetti dinners are the menu’s focal point.
Everything from lasagna and baked ziti to spaghetti carbonara and pasta primavera is available.
If you’re feeling brave, try the Linguini alla Pescatore (seafood sautéed in a fiery marinara sauce) or Rigatoni Puttanesca (rigatoni, spicy marinara, fresh tomatoes, anchovies, capers, and kalamata olives).
Villa Gallace provides gluten-free pasta.
There are other chicken dishes available, but the Pollo Saltimbocca is delicious.
Saltimbocca means “jump in the mouth,” and the restaurant’s chicken topped with sage, prosciutto, provolone, and mushrooms in a white wine demi-glace comes close.
Villa Gallace also serves steak and veal (including Veal Saltimbocca).
Of course, seafood is available.
If you prefer seafood, try the Seafood Portabelloclams, shrimp, and scallops sautéed in tomato cream sauce and served over fettuccine.
When fresh fish, such as rainbow trout or halibut, is available, Villa Gallace provides deals (served Francese style with capers in a lemony white wine sauce).
Tip: They have a wonderful assortment of dolci (sweets), but on hot days, try the Tangerine Sorbetto (or nights).
Looking for a fantastic steakhouse in Indian Rocks Beach? How about some excellent seafood in IRB? Visit one of the greatest Indian Rocks Beach Restaurants while at Villa Gallace.
Kooky Coconut Cafe
Gulf Blvd. 727-517-1300760 Gulf Blvd.
Kooky Coconut, located adjacent to the 8th Avenue beach entrance in IRB, serves meals and desserts on the beach. This charming hut provides takeaway, indoor eating, and beach dining. Yep, you read it correctly. They’ve covered beachfront eating.
Everything from hotdogs and burgers to quesadillas and tacos is on the menu.
The Tampa (Mojo-roasted pork, ham, salami, Swiss cheese, onions, and sauce), the Chicken (chicken, Swiss cheese, bacon, tomato, and mayo), the Reuben (corned beef, sauerkraut, Swiss cheese, and reuben sauce), and one of their own custom Island Cubans are the most popular selections (same as the Tampa but with pesto).
Looking for something a little more refreshing?
Every day, they provide more than 25 handcrafted ice cream flavors, as well as vanilla and chocolate soft serve. They often alter their tastes according on the season.
The Peppermint Candy is a Christmas staple, while the Buccaneer Chip (red and white vanilla ice cream blended with chocolate and sprinkled with chocolate chips) pays tribute to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who won the Super Bowl.
Any ice cream may be used in your sundae, banana split, float, or affogato (an Italian sweet, it is traditionally vanilla ice cream covered with a shot of espresso).
As you wait for your lunch, visit Kooky Coconuts, the only shell store on IRB.
This is one of the greatest Indian Rocks Beach Restaurants for that laid-back beach bar vibe.
Bakery Café de Paris
+1 727-593-0272300 Gulf Blvd.
Caf de Paris is the Indian Rocks Beach Restaurants to visit if you want a flavor of France when visiting Indian Rocks Beach. Before relocating to IRB in 2003 to offer a real French bakery to the region, the founders, Xavier and Valerie, established a bakery in Mouleydier, France.
The Caf serves salads, quiches, and sandwiches in addition to a range of excellent pastries. The sandwiches, which are served hot, pressed, or cold, include Le Parisian (ham, butter, gherkins) and Prosciutto di Parma (prosciutto, butter, gherkins, and lettuce). My personal favorite is the Croque Monsieur (ham and Swiss covered with bchamel sauce and toasted in the oven). Croque Madame is made by adding an egg.
I like crepes, and Caf de Paris has both sweet and savory varieties.
The delicious crepes will transport you to Paris, from the famous Crepe Suzette (sugar and Grand Marnier) to the delicate Lemon crepe.
There are a variety of savory buckwheat crepes available, ranging from mushroom and bacon (mushrooms, bacon, provolone, mozzarella, and sun-dried tomato in a bchamel sauce) to goat cheese and honey (goat cheese, honey, oregano, and sun-dried tomato).
The savory crepes are more substantial and come with a choice of oatmeal, salad, or soup.
Since the Caf creates everything fresh every day, the menu changes based on seasonal availability of ingredients. They don’t use any preservatives.
Specialty foods are available in the Caf (birthday cakes, wedding cakes, bche de noel). For further information, please contact them.
Check out this amazing location amid the other Indian Rocks Beach Restaurants for a flavor of Paris in the deep south.
Keegans Seafood Restaurant
Gulf Blvd., 727-596-24771519 Gulf Blvd.
Keegans has been a local and guest favorite in Indian Rocks Beach since 1985.
The Food Network was drawn to this informal eatery’s distinctive cuisine, and Guy Fieri featured Keegans on an edition of Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives.
What were the things that Guy Fieri found unexpected, you may be wondering? Although Keegans serves a blackened grouper sandwich three ways (grilled, fried, or buffalo style), Guy preferred the octopus, the restaurant’s most popular food.
Keegans’ Rob informed me that they serve the octopus three ways: charbroiled, baked, or fried. I’m not a big lover of octopus, but Rob claims that theirs has a meaty texture, a delicate distinct flavor, and is so soft that it virtually melts in your mouth. Man ordered the charbroiled version, so that’s what most folks get.
In addition to the fish options, Keegan’s large menu offers she-crab soup (another favorite that is creamy and full of crab), conch, crab cakes, and peel-and-eat shrimp.
Try the Louisiana Bayou blackened gator tail if you’re feeling daring.
If seafood (or gator) isn’t your thing, Keegans has you covered with chicken (blackened, grilled, or jerk), beef (burgers or steaks), and pig meals (schnitzelor marsala).
Spaghetti recipes with shrimp, clams, or mussels are popular.
Linguini Primavera and black bean burgers are two of Keegan’s vegetarian options.
Keegans is a must-try among the Indian Rocks Beach eateries, with one of the most interesting cuisines.
Italian Deli Ippolitos
727-593-103714100 Walsingham Rd, Largo, Florida 33774
Ippolitos Italian Deli, technically in Largo, is just across the bridge from Indian Rocks Beach and is a terrific spot to pick up food for a day at the beach or a meal at home afterward.
Ippolitos also offers a store with imported Italian products and delicacies, as well as a restaurant serving traditional Italian cuisine.
Cold subs such as the Calabrese (capicola, pepperoni, provolone), Julius Caesar (ham, turkey, Swiss cheese), and Leaning Tower of Pisa are available (turkey, pastry, provolone, or Swiss cheese).
Hot subs include eggplant or chicken parmigiana, meatballs, and sausage with peppers, which are popular in many Italian restaurants.
Ippolitos is one of those Indian Rocks Beach Restaurants that serves everything from stuffed shells and manicotti to chicken marsala and chicken piccata if you want to pick up meals to cook at home or your vacation rental.
Since I am the only eggplant eater in the family, I like being able to purchase delicious eggplant parmigiana from Ippolitos and bring it home to bake and enjoy while my husband enjoys lasagna or a sub.
The sandwiches and dinner servings are both generous and fairly priced. Salads such as lettuce, pasta, potato, and macaroni are also available.
I enjoy that you may get several of Ippolito’s desserts, such as Tiramisu, as a single portion or entire. He also sells a pound of varied cookies.
The almond paste cookies are another childhood favorite of mine.
They’re crispy on the exterior and chewy in the inside, just like my mother and grandma used to make.
Ippolitos also provides catering services. On their website, you may browse the menu and obtain additional information.
All of these Indian Rocks Beach Restaurants have one thing in common: excellent service and a welcoming environment, which I feel is typical of Indian Rocks Beach eateries in general. We keep coming back for more since the food and the people are so amazing.