Jimmy Buffett welcomes Hollywood to Margaritaville

March 31, 2017, 8:19 AM · Universal Studios Hollywood's CityWalk officially opened its new Margaritaville restaurant last night with a private concert by the Mayor of Margaritaville, the original Parrothead, and the best eighth-grade marine biology teacher in the state of Florida, the one and only Jimmy Buffett, joined on stage, as always, by his Coral Reefer Band.

We were invited to the limited-access event, which also welcomed some of Jimmy's biggest fans from around Southern California. As invited media, we were allowed to upload only one minute of the music, so we picked the best minute — the opening verse to, what else? "Margaritaville"

Buffett and his band played a 50-minute set, starting with "The Tiki Bar is Open" and wrapping with a cover of Van Morrison's "Brown Eyed Girl." In between, Buffett played many of his enduring hits, including "Cheeseburger in Paradise," "Fins," and appropriately for the restaurant chain's first California location, "Come Monday."

Margaritaville features those beloved cheeseburgers, as well as a variety of tropical and island-inspired fare, including jambalaya, ahi poke nachos, fried "Lava Lava" shrimp, and Key Lime pie cheesecake, which servers brought around for fans to sample before the show.

Of course, the big attraction is the margaritas, and servers were passing out five varieties for guests to try.

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We'll be back later for a proper review. In the meantime, Margaritaville is open daily at CityWalk Hollywood, joining its older sibling at Universal Orlando's CityWalk.

Replies (1)

March 31, 2017 at 9:56 AM · I can sing the whole Margaritaville song

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