Wasted Away In Margaritaville Las Vegas ~ A Fun Themed Restaurant

Margaritaville Restaurant might be a chain restaurant with several national locations, but Margaritaville here in Las Vegas boasts something almost all the others do not have, a casino!

Visitors can take their chances at one of the many slot machine games in the casino and then glide on over to the Five O' Clock Somewhere bar for a freezing cold and refreshing Margarita, or any other tropical themed, umbrella laden drink of their choice. The atmosphere at Margaritaville is a festive, party one that fits in perfectly with the vibe of Las Vegas. Watching the entertaining and talented flair bartenders twirl and toss bottles around as they create drinks is fascinating in itself.

Just walking into the Margaritaville restaurant is an adventure. From the time you enter, you soon realize that this is no ordinary restaurant. A giant water plane hanging in the place is probably your first clue, then you quickly notice a model of a ship's bow with a mermaid on the front of it, a cute local girl sliding down a volcano to take a dip in a Margarita, along with other amazingly creative tropically inspired decorations that are used to design this laid back Caribbean atmosphere.

You feel transported to another far away tropical place, where the only thing you would ever need to worry about is whether the tide is going to reach your chair. If only life were always this easy.

Of course, the musical background of the restaurant adds to the ambiance and is a soundtrack that helps to create a tropical vacation atmosphere. Jimmy Buffett music is played along with other laid back, Caribbean-inspired songs by both pop and country artists. Large screens play music videos that are very entertaining to watch while you eat.

Tables are found in the center of the main floor along with other interesting dining areas that make you feel as if you are having a meal on a boat in the Caribbean somewhere. Friendly and helpful wait staff add to the total experience. We've been to Margaritaville in Las Vegas at least three times and have never received bad service. The staff was always extremely knowledgeable about everything on the menu and was always willing to share helpful advice if you were stuck about what to order.

Margaritaville gets five stars from me for the fantastic service, amazing food that is reasonably priced, and for the fun and festive atmosphere which makes dining here always a pleasure. I might have given them 4 1/2 stars for the very LOUD atmosphere, but that would not have been fair at all to Margaritaville, since almost any restaurant you go to in Las Vegas is loud. That's just part of the Vegas experience, so I definitely had to give them a pass on that.

Drinks are served in amazingly generous portions and so are the entrees. Some drinks we saw were meant to be shared by an entire table of guests, and it was fun to watch people try to drink a huge drink strategically placed in the middle of the table. It added a little extra entertainment to the meal, especially when that huge drink was nearly finished.

Appetizers are generously sized as are all the food portions. Our favorite was the Volcano Nachos, which we were advised was enough to be a meal for two, so we decided it would be our meal the day we were there. This appetizer was a pile of nachos served on a large platter, stacked at least six inches high. Chips are topped with cheese, sour cream, chili, scallions, tomatoes, guacamole and jalapeno's. It is featured on the menu as an appetizer, but really it is more of a meal, and not only for one person. We had skipped lunch on the day we went so we were starving, and between two of us, we still were not able to finish these nachos. They were delicious and very filling.

The entree items are so interesting and everything sounds so delicious, it can be hard to make a decision about what to have. You can choose from any of their signature burgers, complete with a huge onion slice, or choose the delicious sounding barbecue pork sandwich, which is tender, melt in your mouth pulled pork in an interesting guava sauce, which has been topped with crunchy onion rings served on a thick slice of french bread. Creativity and flair are showcased in all the menu choices.

There is a special Carnivorous habits section of the menu for meat lovers, including the interesting surf and turf which is a house sirloin topped with Hawaiian butter that is served along with a one-half order of coconut shrimp. Or diners can try the house sirloin alone or the Teriyaki sirloin.

If chicken is the current craving, choices can be made from Teriyaki style, jerk style or even an interesting calypso chicken pasta dish that looks amazing. This is chicken that has been roasted and marinated before it is tossed with mushrooms, onions, peppers and served along with penne pasta, pulled together with a spicy cream sauce.

Fajita's are also available for lovers of south of the border food in a choice of steak, shrimp or chicken. The meat is cooked with sauteed onions and peppers and served with a definitive south of the border comfort food, rice, along with soft warm tortillas, cheese, sour cream, guacamole, lettuce and salsa made from fire-roasted tomatoes. It's like a cruise to Cozumel on a plate.

One Particular Harbour Menu ~ Now We're Talkin'!

Anyone who knows me knows what a huge fan I am of seafood and it's no secret that shrimp will probably be one of the things I order. Margaritaville's seafood menu is amazing and my goal is to try every item on it at least once. So far, we've tried the coconut shrimp and it was a tempting swirl of tropical island flavors wrapped around my favorite crustacean. Sheer heaven. The orange horseradish marmalade sauce is so wonderfully tingly and delicious, I have tried to duplicate it and haven't come close yet... maybe next time I might have to try offering a bounty for the recipe!

The seafood mac and cheese is probably the next seafaring item I'm going to try at Margaritaville, it sounds like a heavenly blend of lump crab and shrimp mixed with a deliciously creamy Boursin sauce and elbow macaroni, and to top off this dish straight from comfort food heaven, mixed cheeses and toasted buttery bread crumbs. Forget finishing this hub... I'm off to Margaritaville for my next seafood fix!

OK, I guess I'll stay and finish and mention all the other standout selections on the seafaring menu. The catch of the day sounds delicious, and you can order it blackened, grilled or fried along with temptingly tasty island rice and seasonal veggies. Choose from pineapple mango salsa, lemon caper butter or tomato Bruschetta and you've hit the pirates bounty!

The jerk salmon is an interesting slice of premium salmon that has been rubbed with a collection of tasty jerk spices, the combination of which is a secret. When it is served with a jerk barbecue sauce and mango chutney, along with delicious island rice, it provides a tantalizing mix of spice and seafood satisfaction.

Fish and chips is a great choice for lovers of simple and traditional seafood, although from my experiences at Margaritaville, I'm sure it is anything but traditional! The Baja fish tacos are a south of the border kick in the mouth with an amazing Baja cream sauce served on flour tortillas with traditional sides of rice and black beans. Puerto Vallarta, here we come!

There are five bars located within Margaritaville with something for every tropical island taste. The drink menu is one of the most creative, entertaining and original aspects of a visit to Margaritaville. Even though we rarely ever drink, just the names of most of these drinks make us want to try one!

How about a Pink Cadillac Margarita or Stranded On A Sandbar? Or maybe an Incommunicado, which I'm guessing is an apt description of the person drinking it after they've had a few, or a Rum Runner or Island Lime cooler? Refreshing libations and a fun selection keeps patrons in the party mood on their seafaring adventure into the total Margaritaville experience! The 5 O' Clock Somewhere Bar is open 24/7 for fun and a cool refreshing beverage any time of day, or night.

Margaritaville provides the perfect island escape atmosphere for those of us wishing for respite from our 9 to 5 workday lives, or any shift you happen to work. The thought of floating about on a raft in a tropical location practically lulls a person into the perfect tropical paradise experience.

Or imagine yourself spending the day lazing under a fan palm tree as it sways to soft tropical breezes while you're laying on the soft, warm white sand while the gentle waves wash ashore creating a tropical lullaby. However you wish to experience your tropical Margaritaville adventure in Las Vegas, you can surely find the perfect atmosphere here.

Enjoy having your cold taste of tropical heaven in any of the five unique permanent bars here, or have a blast people-watching on any of the decks overlooking the famed Las Vegas strip.

Once you've had your fill of the fantastic appetizer and dinner menu selections, I hope you've left room for a treat from Margaritaville's famous sensuous treats menu! You can do like we did and split something if you feel as if eating an entire treat by yourself may cause an unfortunate clothing rip or some other precarious wardrobe malfunction.

The key lime pie is divine and is served in a way that rivals any chef-inspired restaurant on the Las Vegas strip with a line of reduction sauce around this slice of tropical key lime heaven. Beautifully presented, this is a fantastic sweet ending to a perfect tropical island inspired meal. Other choices are just as tempting like the Chocolate Hurricane, a warm delicious dark chocolate brownie that's been layered with vanilla ice cream served with a chocolate lovers dream of hot fudge, whipped cream and finely chopped macadamia nuts.

Once you finish, you can work off some of the temptations you've given in to by walking along the famed Las Vegas strip! But first, I highly recommend a stroll through the Margaritaville casino where dealers are dressed in perfect Aloha island attire or try your luck on any of the slot machines, this just might be your lucky day!

The gift shop is a boatload of fun to browse in and to choose a souvenir of your trip to Margaritaville, Las Vegas. You'll want to remember the experience in a unique way and you can do that by taking home salt and pepper shakers that show you've found your lost shaker of salt, or choose license plate frames, flip-flops or choose from a fantastic variety of Hawaiian themed shirts, t-shirts, polo's or sweat shirts ~ and yes, it does sometimes get cool enough in Las Vegas for a sweat shirt!

Hope you get to have the Margaritaville Las Vegas experience for yourself on your next trip to Las Vegas. A visit here is like a mini-vacation within a vacation. My advice is to run, don't walk, to Margaritaville, Las Vegas... it's a trip you'll enjoy taking without blowing out your flip-flop on a pop top.