The Sandbar is somewhat of a shrine to Jimmy Buffett and his lifestyle. Our jukebox has all of his songs, and we have a rather large framed poster of him with a spotlight on it. So, unsurprisingly, we also love Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville.
Sandbar crew has visited a couple of the locations. Our first experience with Margaritaville, was ironically, not part of Jimmy Buffett’s chain at the time. When Dave and I went on our honeymoon to Jamaica, we were surprised to see a place called "Margueritaville" near our resort in Montego Bay. When we traveled to Negril for the day, there was another one. And finally, in the Montego Bay airport, was a third location. We later found out that Mr. Buffett was apparently unhappy with the idea of someone else trying to capitalize on his chain and was in the process of buying the Jamaican copycats.
Margaritaville New Orleans was our next stop. Located on Decatur Street in the French Quarter, it was a research dinner during our trip to the Big Easy. We tried the food, checked out the upstairs "Tire Swing Bar," and shopped in the store. We especially loved the stairs painted with the words to "Margaritaville," the song.
Margaritaville Las Vegas was everything you would expect in a city known for it’s over the top shows. It’s part of the Flamingo, on a corner of the Strip. At intervals throughout the day and night, the staff of the restaurant gathered in the center of the room for their own Vegas show. They sang and danced. They encouraged audience participation. They even had a guy on stilts. But the best part was the giant volcano and blender at the bar. A girl popped out of the volcano and slid down the side of it into the blender. It was amazingly funny.
Eventually we’ll visit the rest of the Margaritavilles. If they’re anything like the ones we’ve seen, we know we’ll love it. That would be a fun Sandbar field trip- traveling the country to check out all of Jimmy Buffett’s restaurants. Surely that’s tax deductible???