Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville

Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville

Original Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville in Key West FL
Industry	Restaurant
Founded	1977
Founder	Jimmy Buffett
Headquarters	United States
Owner	Margaritaville Holdings LLC
Website	margaritaville.com/restaurants.html

Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville is the name of a United States-based casual dining American restaurant chain and a chain of stores selling Jimmy Buffett-themed merchandise. It is owned by Buffett's Margaritaville Holdings LLC (a subsidiary of Cheeseburger Holding Company, LLC) and named after his hit song "Margaritaville". Some locations are franchise owned, such as the Caribbean, Australian, and Mexican locations. There are locations in tourist destinations in the United States, Canada, and Mexico, six island locations throughout the Caribbean as well as a newly opened site in Sydney, Australia since September 2012. In 2014 a Brazilian company bought 12 Margaritaville Restaurants and the rights to expand the company in the U.S.^[1]

Locations

Restaurants

Margaritaville Myrtle Beach SC

Margaritaville Nashville TN

As of February 2015, current restaurant locations are in:

• Key West, FL on Duval Street (opened 1985)
• New Orleans, LA in the French Quarter, (1992)
• Montego Bay and Negril on the island of Jamaica (both opened 1996)
• Orlando, FL outside the main gate of Universal's Islands of Adventure (1999)
• Cancun, Mexico at the Flamingo Mall (2002)
• Ocho Rios, Jamaica at Island Village (2002)
• Las Vegas at the Flamingo Hotel (2003)
• Myrtle Beach, SC at the Heroes Harbour section of Broadway at the Beach (2004)
• Grand Turk at the Carnival Cruise Center, in the Turks and Caicos Islands (2006)
• George Town, Grand Cayman in the Cayman Islands (2006)
• Cozumel (pictured to the left) on the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico, (2007)
• Panama City Beach, FL at Pier Park, opened (2006)
• Uncasville, CT at Mohegan Sun casino (2008)
• "Jimmy Buffett's Restaurant & Bar", Honolulu, HI at the Waikiki Beachcomber Hotel (2009)
• Niagara Falls Ontario, Canada (2011)
• "Frank and Lola Love Pensacola Cafe" and the "Landshark Landing Pavilion," Pensacola Beach, FL at the Margaritaville Beach Hotel, (2011)
• Downtown Nashville, TN (pictured to the right) (2010)^[2]
• Chicago, IL at Navy Pier (2011)
• Biloxi, MS (2012)
• Sydney (2012)
• Cincinnati, OH at the Horseshoe Casino Cincinnati (2013)^[3][4]
• Falmouth, Jamaica (2013)
• Atlantic City, New Jersey (2013)
• Syracuse, NY Located inside Syracuse's mall, Destiny USA (2015)^[5]
• Nassau, Bahamas located on Paradise Island (2015)
• Pigeon Forge, TN located at The Island (2015)
• Universal City, CA located in Universal CityWalk (opening in 2016 in former Jillian's location)
• Bloomington, MN located inside Mall of America (opening in 2016)

There are also Air Margaritaville locations located in the airports at Montego Bay, San Juan, PR, Cancun Mexico, and Panama City.

Norwegian Cruise Line's Norwegian Escape cruise ship features the first Margaritaville at sea.

Upcoming Margaritaville locations include Surfer's Paradise and Bossier City, LA. A Cleveland, Ohio location was announced May 5, 2016 to open later this year.

The website maintains a fictional Isla Nublar location page as a tie-in for the film Jurassic World^[6]

Landshark Bar & Grill Myrtle Beach

Atlantic City and Myrtle Beach have Buffett's newest concept, the "Landshark Bar & Grille", located at the Myrtle Beach SkyWheel attraction, at Plyler Park, which opened May 2011 (pictured to the right).^[7]

Retail outlets

Dockside at Margaritaville in Cozumel at sunset

As of June 20, 2011, United States retail store locations are in Key West, FL, New Orleans, LA, Charleston, SC, Orlando, FL, Las Vegas, Myrtle Beach, Glendale, Panama City Beach, FL, Mohegan Sun, Honolulu, HI, Pensacola Beach, Nashville, TN and Chicago, IL. The newest concept, a "Landshark Surfshack Retail Shop" opened May 17, 2011 at the Myrtle Beach SkyWheel attraction. Mexico's retail locations are in Cancun and Cozumel. Canada's retail location is in Niagara Falls, Ontario. Caribbean retail locations in the British West Indies are in Montego Bay (including two "Air Margaritaville" locations at Sangster International Airport), Negril and Ocho Rios on the island of Jamaica; Grand Turk in the Turks and Caicos Islands; and George Town, Grand Cayman in the Cayman Islands.^{[8][9][10][11]}

Hotels

Margaritaville Beach Hotel on Pensacola Beach, FL

On June 28, 2010, the Margaritaville Beach Hotel (pictured to the right) opened on Pensacola Beach. The former site of a Holiday Inn, destroyed by Hurricane Ivan on September 16, 2004,^[12] Margaritaville Hotel sits on over 800 feet of gulf-front property. An additional 800 feet overlooks the bay. The beachfront hotel features 'barefoot elegance' with 162 guest rooms, including 24 Corner King Executive rooms with wrap-around balconies.^[13]

Future phased-plans include an adjacent free-standing Margaritaville Cafe restaurant and a bayside waterpark.^[14]

Plans for a second and third Margaritaville Beach Hotel were announced in 2010. The second, still in the planning stages, would be located in Myrtle Beach, SC,^[15] with a third, a $131-million, 350-room resort, hoping to break ground by the end of 2011 and be open by late 2013, in Hollywood, FL.^[16]

Casinos

Margaritaville Resort Casino in Bossier City, Louisiana

The Las Vegas Margaritaville at the Flamingo has expanded to include its very own 15,000-square-foot Margaritaville-branded casino. The casino was scheduled to open October 1, 2011.^[17]

On January 12, 2011, it was announced that Buffett's MVB Holdings company is working with Coast casino veteran Tom Brosig and other investors to build the casual three-story, 68,000-square-foot, $48 million "Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville Casino and Restaurant" resort on the back bay at the old East Harrison County Industrial Park on 5th Street in Biloxi, MS. The developers will build the casino resort in phases, starting with a small casino, a restaurant, events center and marina.^[18][19]

Developers said it should open in April or May 2012.^[20]

On June 22, 2011, Paradise Casino LLC unveiled plans for a Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville Casino and Hotel to be built east of Shreveport, LA in neighboring Bossier City. The complex, a $170 million, 400-room resort, would include an 18-story hotel tower, 1,000-seat entertainment complex with a VIP balcony and an outdoor tropical area visible to the north from the Louisiana Boardwalk.^[21][22]

In March 2013, the Muscogee (Creek) Nation announced that its River Spirit Casino on the Arkansas River in Tulsa would become a Margaritaville Casino as part of a $250 million project that would also add a 22-story, 500-room luxury tower to the existing facility.^[23]

History

The Pirate welcomes visitors at the Entrance of the Cayman Islands restaurant.

In 1985, Buffett opened his first successful "Margaritaville" retail store in Key West, Florida, following a failed Margaritaville in Gulf Shores, Alabama.^[24] In 2002, he expanded his business ventures by partnering with Outback Steakhouse to develop the first Cheeseburger in Paradise Restaurant in Southport Indianapolis.

In late 2006, Jimmy Buffett announced on the website that the Margaritaville Cafes will no longer purchase or serve Canadian seafood products.^[25]

On May 15, 2007, Harrah's Entertainment, now Caesars Entertainment Corp. announced plans to build the $700 million Margaritaville Casino Resort in Biloxi, Mississippi on the site of the former Grand Casino Biloxi and Casino Magic Biloxi properties.^[26] Due to the U.S. recession, however, construction of the casino ceased on June 10, 2008.^[27]

On January 12, 2011, following the announcement of the new partnership between MVB Holdings and the Brosig, Sekul and Sims families, for the differently planned Biloxi, MS casino, John Payne, Caesars Entertainment Corp. central division president, stated, "We are disappointed that our project with Margaritaville will not proceed."^[28]

Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville is featured in the 2015 film Jurassic World as one of the restaurants in the fictional theme park, with Buffett himself making a cameo appearance as one of the guests running away from the Pteranodon attack.^[29]

See also

• Cheeseburger in Paradise (restaurant)

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville.

• Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville Cafes
• Jimmy Buffett's Business Empire
• Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville Beach Hotel