An Evening in Margaritaville

Recently I was invited to a media dine at Margaritaville in the Flamingo Casino.  Now Brad and I are not Parrotheads (although we do like Jimmy Buffett music) and with the meds we take, we cannot drink alcoholic beverages.  So a restaurant with a theme of “It’s 5 o’clock Somewhere” does not have a special attraction to us.  However, we are always up to try something different – and this occasion was to introduce a new food menu as well as new drink choices.  So, invited to bring two more guests, we rounded up my sister Starr and her mate David to complete our party.

PARTY – that was the key theme of the evening.  I realized it had been a thousand years since I had been at a drinkin’/ partyin’ place.  Singers on stilts, balloon-makers, and a volcano that erupted periodically, shooting a bikini-clad gal down a waterslide into a giant “margarita pool.”  The tropical atmosphere was intoxicating even without a drink in your hand.

However, if you did want a drink, you had a seven-page beverage menu to overwhelm you with choices: two pages for margaritas, 2 pages for boat drinks, a page each for wine and beer.   David and Starr had a hard time making up their minds.   The last page was for Brad and me, a good number of non-alcoholic choices.  Brad enjoyed the house-made strawberry lemonade and I went for a virgin strawberry daiquiri.

Our friendly server started us off with a table full of appetizers, each one better than the next.  We especially liked the grilled shrimp skewers dusted with sugared coconut, pineapple on the side, and the asiago crab dip served with crostini bread.  I spied the pretzel sticks on the menu and immediately ordered them for the table – I’m on a pretzel bread kick these days.  They came nice and warm with 2 dipping sauces, mustard and queso.  For me mustard is the only suitable companion for anything pretzel!

Then our always attentive server told us it was time to order our entrees.  We all groaned, “Do we have to?  We are stuffed from all the great appetizers.”  But we managed to order 4 different meals – so we could sample a bit of each:  grouper, coconut shrimp, buttermilk fried chicken, and fried chicken cobb salad.    And then to top off our misery, we were brought their famous monster dessert, the chocolate hurricane.  It is meant to be shared – thank goodness –  the platter loaded with vanilla bean ice cream served with brownies, Kit Kat and Heath bars, pirouette and mini shortbread cookies, sliced banana, whipped cream and chopped macadamia nuts, swirled tableside with chocolate and caramel sauces.  Isn’t it amazing how you can find a little space in your full tummy for a chocolate treat!

I would like to give a shout-out to one particularly important feature this restaurant offers.  It has both a large gluten-free and a vegetarian menu for those with special dietary requirements.  More restaurants should follow this example.

In conclusion, it was a fun atmosphere, the menu choices were extensive, and the food was great.   I know there is perhaps a tendency to pass over imperfections when you have a complimentary evening  like this one    But no one could find even one thing to complain about except that we were too full to finish everything we were served.