A tropical escape will now be as close as the Jersey Shore when the Margaritaville complex opens its doors May 24, 2013 at Resorts Casino Hotel in Atlantic City. The new addition features a Margaritaville restaurant, LandShark Bar & Grill, Margaritaville themed casino, Five O’clock Somewhere bar, retail store, and coffee shop. Inspired by the lyrics and lifestyle of Jimmy Buffett, Margaritaville will transport guests to the island destination of their memories or dreams. Visitors strolling along the legendary Atlantic City Boardwalk will literally walk through the laid-back, island-inspired, fun Margaritaville experience with the restaurant and casino on the landside of the Boardwalk and LandShark Bar & Grill directly on the beach.

The Margaritaville Restaurant is just over 14,000 sq. ft. and is expected to seat 448 guests. It will feature a stage for nightly live entertainment, a tiki bar and Buffett-inspired accent pieces throughout including a giant blender at the restaurant’s entrance. A seasonal exterior deck on the Boardwalk will allow guests to enjoy alfresco dining or a drink topped off with a gentle ocean breeze. Local residents and visitors looking for a cool, casual place to have a good time as well as devoted Parrot Heads “looking for their lost shaker of salt,” will all find what they are looking for and much more. Directly next door, the Margaritaville Retail Store gives visitors the opportunity to extend their visit by taking the music, fashion, and flavors of Margaritaville home.

Ideally sited on 200 feet of prime beach frontage at the site of the Old Steeplechase Pier, LandShark Bar & Grill will bring its guests to the edge of the Atlantic Ocean. The 8,000 sq. ft. Bar & Grill will seat approximately 370 guests and will be the only year-round full-service bar and restaurant on the sand side of the Boardwalk. Inspired by the great “beach joints” that once dotted the Atlantic Coast, LandShark Bar & Grill will feature retractable walls to provide spectacular views of the ocean and place guests in the center of the action on the beach and Boardwalk. Inside, guests will find daily entertainment in a setting of surfing artifacts to honor the great Atlantic City surfing tradition. Further connecting its guests to the fun on the sand, Resorts Casino Hotel will provide beach chair and umbrella service on the beach adjacent to LandShark Bar & Grill.

Beyond the LandShark Bar & Grill and restaurant, Margaritaville will occupy over 17,400 square feet within the Resorts Casino Hotel complex. In addition to the restaurants there will be a 5 O’Clock Somewhere Bar with eye-catching flair bartenders and cool concoctions, Margaritaville’s first-ever coffee shop, and a casino area that will include 12 Margaritaville-themed table games and 160 slot machines will become new additions to the property.

“It is certainly no surprise to me that a huge flock of Parrotheads reside on the Jersey Shore,” said Jimmy Buffett, “I am very grateful for the years of support from some of our most die-hard fans in the country. Atlantic City is a historic beach town and I am very happy to be a part of helping it find its place again as a beach vacation destination. I’ll see you on the Shore.”

New Margaritaville properties are sprouting up everywhere! Two weeks ago came the announcement of a Margaritaville resort in St. Thomas. The day before that, a Margaritaville restaurant opened in Cincinnati. Another restaurant looks to be in the works in the Pigeon Forge area, and now a Margaritaville Casino and restaurant in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Officials with the River Spirit Casino in Tulsa announced plans to build a 500-room hotel tower Monday, which they claim would bring Tulsa around 800 new permanent jobs and its construction nearly 2,000 more.

The casino’s expansion will feature a 22-story Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville Casino and Restaurant, complete with its own spa, convention and meeting center and a handful of restaurants.

The facility will also hold some 750 electronic gaming devices and 20 table games within its projected 45,000 square feet of new gaming space, according to the casino.

Officials say the groundbreaking will begin in the fall, with plans to open the $250 million-facility by early 2015.

A press conference will be held at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday at the River Spirit Event Center to officially announce the project.

At a press conference in Atlantic City today, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and Jimmy Buffett announced that the Margaritaville brand is coming to the Jersey shore:

Margaritaville is coming to Atlantic City. The Margaritaville project, slated for Resorts, could be open as early as May, 2013. Governor Chris Christie, Senate President Steven Sweeney, Resorts executive Aaron Gomes and Jimmy Buffett were on hand to announce the project.

The Margaritaville complex will feature a casino, a year-round beach bar complex, a restaurant, Five O’ clock Somewhere Bar, retail stores, Landshark Bar and Grill, and the first-ever coffee shop among all of the Margaritaville properties. The Resorts facade will be re-themed with the Margaritaville brand.

More from Galloway Patch:

He said giving Resorts the Margaritaville makeover will be a $35 million project that will created about 250 construction jobs and about 162 permanent jobs for those living in the area. The project is expected to be completed by the spring of 2013.

He said in addition to a casino and restaurant, Margaritaville will offer a year-round beach bar and a coffee shop, among other luxuries.

“We have great things happening in Atlantic City,” said Christie, who referred to the South Inlet Improvement, the Boardwalk Relighting, and the Steel Pier Renovation projects.

The Margaritaville Casino & Restaurant in Biloxi is now open!

Jimmy Buffett christened his first stand-alone casino this afternoon with a special outdoor show that was broadcast live on Radio Margaritaville.

Here’s a look at the set list (hat tip Justin):

1. Stars on the Water
2. It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere
3. License to Chill
4. Pencil Thin Mustache
5. Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes
6. Son of a Son of a Sailor
7. The Pascagoula Run
8. Bama Breeze
9. Volcano
10. Come Monday
11. Margaritaville

Encore:

12. Fins

Check out a couple of interviews that Buffett gave today:

Huffington Post – Jimmy Buffett Talks About New Biloxi Margaritaville And His Hopes For The Gulf Coast
NOLA.com – Jimmy Buffett expands his Margaritaville brand to Biloxi casino

Jimmy Buffett’s latest business venture, the $62 million Margaritaville Casino & Restaurant in Biloxi, opens to the public tonight at 8:00 pm. Buffett will perform a private show before the opening to invited guests, including members of the local parrothead club.

The show will be broadcast live on Radio Margaritaville, beginning at 5:00 CDT.

Located on the eastern tip of Back Bay, from a distance it looks more like a yacht club than your traditional casino.

Inside, there is colorful ambient lighting and tropical décor.

Like other Margaritaville properties such as at the Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas, the entrance features a Margaritaville Restaurant and Volcano Bar, where, four times a day a “Biloxi cutie” is ejected from a smoking “volcano” from which she slides down into a replica blenderful of margaritas.

Dining options also include the Feeding Frenzy buffet featuring Gulf Coast cuisine and indoor and outdoor entertainment centers where visitors may enjoy an array of local, regional and national music acts.

Biloxi’s Margaritaville boasts 18 table games and 820 slots.

Another feature that sets it apart from the typical casino: A 30-foot wall of glass from which one may see the water and the Biloxi Bay bridge from any vantage point within the interior.