A longtime fixture at Flamingo Las Vegas, Margaritaville restaurant, is set to close this summer.
Margaritaville opened at Flamingo in 2003.
For two decades, Margaritaville has been a triumph of vibe and Jimmy Buffett’s brand over, you know, quality and value. Over time, Margaritaville has wasted away, and now Las Vegas will do what it does best, make something new.
Jimmy Buffett, a national treasure, passed away on September 1, 2023 at age 76, reportedly never having found his lost shaker of salt.
The impending closure of Margaritaville is unrelated to the death of Jimmy Buffett, however. It’s a lease thing.
The closure of Margaritaville follows the recent trend (at least at Caesars Entertainment) of casinos bringing restaurants in-house, rather than leasing space to third parties.
That’s why Caesars has so many deals with celebrity chefs. The venues are operated by Caesars Entertainment’s Food & Beverage team, and the chef gets a few percentage points (typically 5% of gross) to help with marketing, but otherwise Caesars keeps the lion’s share of the revenue.
In any other town, Margaritaville would be considered hugely successful, but for comparison purposes, Hell’s Kitchen (just across the street from Flamingo) makes about eight times the revenue as Margaritaville. Time to go.
Margaritaville’s footprint is a massive 32,000 square feet.
We warned you Margaritaville could close. Our sources are always right, eventually.
Intriguing: Source says ending Margaritaville licensing deal at Flamingo (cost is reportedly $750,000/year) has been discussed for some time and could be on the table again due to current challenges and recent merger. One to watch. https://t.co/IIDGy79foK
— Vital Vegas (@VitalVegas) December 22, 2020
A lot changed at Margaritaville over the years. There used to be a whole thing where a woman in a bikini went down a waterslide into a giant blender and she was reeled out with a fishing hook.
Over time, Margaritaville sort of just gave up.
The Margaritaville Casino opened at Flamingo in Oct. 2011, but never caught on, and closed in 2018.
Man about town @JamesInLasVegas snagged these pics of further removal of Margaritaville Casino signage at Flamingo. pic.twitter.com/sAYF8dLr0z
— Vital Vegas (@VitalVegas) July 11, 2018
Also closed a few years back was the 5 O’Clock Somewhere Bar, which later became Bird Bar. Bird Bar has closed to make way for a new Gordon Ramsay Burger.
One of our fondest Margaritaville memories (beyond wearing a balloon hat) was when the restaurant broke the world record for the World’s Largest Margarita. (We worked in social marketing at Caesars Entertainment at the time.)
The Lucky Rita was made with 2,125 gallons of tequila, 708 gallons of triple sec, 5,667 gallons of Margaritaville Margarita Mix and 22,304 limes.
There was a lot of hoopla, including authentic Polynesian hula dancers trained in the ancient art of photo ops.
That was one big-ass margarita.
Our other fondest memory involved a bunch of SI models signing autographs at Margaritaville in 2010 and we got to meet Cintia Dicker.
Hat tip to Las Vegas Locally for sharing the Margaritaville closure rumor. We confirmed it with the company, although, no official announcement has been made yet. Employees have shared in social media that they’ve been notified of the closure. Locally says the restaurant will close after May, but we haven’t been given specifics of a timeline.
Despite its slow decline, Margaritaville is beloved by many Las Vegas visitors. At one point, it was named the best restaurant on the Las Vegas Strip. We are not making this up.
There’s a lot going on at Flamingo. Beyond Gordon Ramsay’s new restaurant, there’s a Vanderpump lounge under construction in the former poker room space. Also in the works, presumably, is a Cuban restaurant, Havana 1957.
When we hear what’s next for the Margaritaville, you’ll be the first to know. Unless that jerk Las Vegas Locally scoops us again. (He’s actually cool, so the competition is friendly.) We vote Italian, but we always vote Italian.
Insert closing sentence referencing coconut bikini tops or lyrics from a Jimmy Buffett song here.
