Sad news to report, as one of our favorite places to eat in Vegas is going away. Margaritaville is closing it’s doors after more than two decades of welcoming guests… and we’re sad. Not as sad as when we lost Jimmy last September, but still sad.
Margaritaville takes up a huge amount of space in Flamingo at over 32,000 square feet, and the announcement of the closure seems to follow the recent trend in casinos opting to manage theses restaurants internally instead of leasing space to other companies. And Margaritaville is closing even though it has been relatively successful. Just not successful enough by Vegas standards.
This mindset seems to be growing with Caesars properties, amid their numerous partnerships with celebrity chefs. Those agreements usually pay those chefs a small percentage of revenue in exchange for their marketing support. But the overwhelming majority of the revenue remains with the managing company, which in this case is Caesars.
While the fact that Margaritaville is closing just six months after the death of Mr. Buffet is interesting, Caesars has given no indication that this closing has anything to do with his passing. Still, it does seem to be more than a coincidence… but perhaps we’re reading too much into this. There may be a woman to blame… or it could be their own damn fault. Margaritaville opened in 2003.