Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Hospitality, Restaurant, Retail, Hotel, Casino (former) |
| Founded | 1984 |
| Founder | Jimmy Buffett (brand inspiration) |
| Headquarters | United States , United States |
Area served | United States, Canada, Mexico, Caribbean, Australia |
| Products | Restaurants, retail outlets, hotels, casinos (former), vacation clubs, retirement communities, cruises |
| Owner | Margaritaville Holdings LLC (a branch of Cheeseburger Holding Company, LLC) |
| Website | www |
Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville is a hospitality enterprise based in the United States that operates and franchises a relaxed American dining restaurant chain, themed hotels, and retail outlets inspired by the artist Jimmy Buffett.
The brand is under the ownership of Margaritaville Holdings LLC, a branch of Cheeseburger Holding Company, LLC. Its presence extends across the U.S., Canada, Mexico, six Caribbean islands, and since 2012, Sydney, Australia. Certain sites, including those in the Caribbean, Australia, and Mexico, function as franchises. In 2014, a company from Brazil purchased 12 Margaritaville restaurants along with rights to expand within the U.S. market.
History
The origins of Margaritaville trace back to 1984 with JB's Margaritaville nightclub in Gulf Shores, Alabama, which was owned by a friend of Buffett. On January 3, 1985, Buffett opened the inaugural Margaritaville retail outlet in Key West, Florida—a souvenir shop co-owned with Sunshine Smith—that transitioned into a dining establishment by 1986. In 2002, Buffett collaborated with Outback Steakhouse to launch the first Cheeseburger in Paradise restaurant located in Southport, Indiana.
In 2006, Margaritaville restaurants stopped sourcing seafood from Canada as a stance against Canadian seal hunting policies.
Harrah's Entertainment (now Caesars Entertainment) announced plans in 2007 for a $700 million Margaritaville Casino Resort in Biloxi, Mississippi. However, construction was suspended in 2008 due to the economic downturn in the U.S. A redesigned casino project was proposed in 2011 but never materialized; the casino eventually opened in May 2012 but closed by September 2014. Subsequently, a new Margaritaville resort without casino facilities was established on Highway 90 at the former location of Grand Casino.
Since 2018, Margaritaville has been a lead sponsor of the Minto U.S. Open Pickleball Championships held in Naples, Florida—currently recognized as the largest annual pickleball event worldwide with attendance exceeding 50,000 as of 2024.
Margaritaville
Key Margaritaville venues are situated in prominent U.S. metropolitan areas and international tourist destinations such as Atlanta, Georgia, Boston, Massachusetts, Chicago, Illinois (Navy Pier), Miami, Florida, and entertainment centers including Nashville, Tennessee and Las Vegas, Nevada (previously). Globally, operations extend to vacation hotspots like Cozumel, Mexico, Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands, Montego Bay, alongside several spots in Jamaica. Additional important locations feature Universal City, California (Universal CityWalk Hollywood), Orlando, Florida (Universal CityWalk Orlando), and the Caribbean's Paradise Island, Bahamas. This broad international presence aligns with the company’s strategy to focus on high-traffic tourist and leisure markets.
Landshark Bar & Grill
Complementing Margaritaville’s offerings is the Landshark Bar & Grill chain which serves key leisure destinations across the U.S., including Atlantic City, New Jersey, Daytona Beach, Florida, and Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Its international expansion includes sites like Harvest Caye, Belize, and Pereybere in Mauritius. This brand extension strengthens the company’s position within casual dining sectors located in popular tourist regions.
Air Margaritaville
Airport Lounge Dining
Air Margaritaville has expanded its presence into prominent international airports such as Detroit Metropolitan Airport, Cancún International Airport, São Paulo/Guarulhos International Airport, and Miami International Airport, among others throughout the Americas. These airport lounge venues broaden the company’s portfolio by catering to frequent flyers and enhancing its footprint in key global travel centers.
Retail Locations
As of February 2020, retail outlets within the United States can be found in cities including Key West, New Orleans, Orlando, Las Vegas, Myrtle Beach, Glendale, Panama City Beach, Mohegan Sun, Honolulu, Pensacola Beach, Nashville, and Chicago. The latest retail concept, the Landshark Surfshack Retail Shop, debuted in 2011 at the Myrtle Beach SkyWheel. Internationally, stores are located in Cancun and Cozumel (Mexico); Niagara Falls, Ontario (Canada); and various Caribbean destinations such as Montego Bay (which hosts two Air Margaritaville shops at Sangster International Airport), Negril, Ocho Rios in Jamaica; Grand Turk in Turks and Caicos; and George Town in the Cayman Islands.
Vacation Clubs
Margaritaville manages vacation club properties situated in St. Thomas, Virgin Islands, as well as Rio Grande, Puerto Rico.
Hotels
The Margaritaville Beach Hotel opened on June 28, 2010, on Pensacola Beach where a former Holiday Inn was destroyed by Hurricane Ivan. This beachfront property offers 162 rooms with views of both the gulf and bay. Plans for future additions include a neighboring Margaritaville Cafe and a bayside waterpark.
Additional hotel developments are underway, including a site in Myrtle Beach. The 349-room Margaritaville Hollywood Beach Resort launched in 2015 in Hollywood, Florida.
In early 2016, Margaritaville Resort Biloxi commenced operations in South Mississippi on the former Casino Magic location that was devastated by Hurricane Katrina. This resort provides 271 rooms along with extensive amenities such as a large arcade, lazy river, swimming pools, water slides, and swim-up bars.
Other properties include Margaritaville Island Hotel (2015) and Island Inn (2017) located in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee; Margaritaville Resort Gatlinburg (2018); and Margaritaville Lake Resort at the Ozarks (2019), which offers bars, dining options, water-based activities, golf facilities, an indoor waterpark, and horseback riding.
In late 2020, the brand’s first West Coast property opened as Margaritaville Resort Palm Springs in California, followed shortly by another resort in South Lake Tahoe.
The Margaritaville Resort Times Square began operations in spring 2021 as the northernmost location featuring five restaurants and New York City's only outdoor pool open year-round.
In April 2023, Newport, Kentucky approved development plans for a new Margaritaville Resort comprising 264 rooms, three dining venues, and a rooftop pool with an anticipated opening date set for 2026. June 2023 saw new openings in South Padre Island, Texas along with the debut of the brand’s first adults-only all-inclusive resort in Riviera Maya.
Casinos
In 2011, the Las Vegas Margaritaville at Flamingo Las Vegas expanded to incorporate a Margaritaville-branded casino that operated until 2018. The restaurant ceased operations on May 30, 2024.
On June 22, 2011, Paradise Casino LLC revealed plans for a $170 million Margaritaville Resort Casino located in Bossier City, Louisiana. This resort includes an 18-story hotel tower with 400 rooms, a 1,000-seat entertainment venue complete with a VIP balcony, and an outdoor tropical-themed area visible from the Louisiana Boardwalk.
In March 2013, the Muscogee (Creek) Nation collaborated to rebrand its River Spirit Casino in Tulsa, Oklahoma as a Margaritaville Casino. The $250 million renovation project featured the addition of a 22-story luxury tower containing 500 rooms to complement the existing casino complex.
Latitude Margaritaville Daytona Beach
Latitude Margaritaville represents a $1 billion retirement community situated in Daytona Beach, Florida. This development is a collaborative effort between Minto Communities and Buffett's Margaritaville Holdings. Positioned near the intersection of LPGA Boulevard and Interstate-95, the initial phase features 400 residences, with expansion potential reaching up to 6,900 homes. By early 2018, approximately 250 lots had been sold, with prices ranging from the low $200,000s to the mid $300,000s. The neighborhood offers amenities including a pet grooming salon, grocery market, and exclusive beach access.
After establishing the Daytona location, two further communities were unveiled: Latitude Margaritaville Hilton Head in South Carolina and Latitude Margaritaville Watersound in Florida. The Hilton Head site boasts a variety of home styles and facilities such as a resort-inspired swimming pool, fitness amenities, social gathering spaces, arts programming, dining options themed around Margaritaville concepts, tennis and pickleball courts, along with a 290,000-square-foot retail complex. Its first phase includes 203 home plots with an ultimate goal exceeding 3,000 residences. The third community, Latitude Margaritaville Watersound, commenced construction in 2019.
Cruises
On December 8, 2021, Margaritaville entered the cruise market through a strategic alliance with Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line. This brand was transformed into Margaritaville at Sea; its only vessel, formerly named Grand Classica, was rechristened Margaritaville at Sea Paradise following an extensive multimillion-dollar refurbishment completed in 2022. The ship’s interior design now embodies the Margaritaville aesthetic and offers three-day/two-night voyages departing from Port of Palm Beach to Grand Bahama Island.
In popular culture
The 2015 movie Jurassic World features Margaritaville as an on-site restaurant within its fictional theme park setting, including a cameo appearance by founder Jimmy Buffett.
In 2023, YouTube personalities Eddy Burback and Ted Nivison chronicled their visits to every Margaritaville location throughout the United States and Canada, showcasing the brand’s widespread national footprint and popularity.
See also
- Cheeseburger in Paradise, a former themed dining chain
- "Margaritaville", the iconic song inspiring the brand
- "Margaritaville", an episode of South Park centered on the Margaritaville margarita machine