Jimmy Buffett's Restaurant Empire

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed)
Jan 25th 2009 at 2:02PM

In my list of celebrity restaurateurs I've neglected to cover one of the biggest. Singer Jimmy Buffett has a whole chain of Cheeseburger in Paradise restaurants and Margaritaville cafes in a variety of places including New Orleans, Las Vegas and several Florida resort towns.

His newest venture is his first Hawaiian restaurant. Jimmy Buffett's at the Beachcomber, in Waikiki on the island of Oahu is located in the newly-rejuvenated OHANA Waikiki Beachcomber hotel. The restaurant is part of the $21 million renovation at the OHANA Waikiki Beachcomber, The restaurant includes an open-air lanai for sipping cocktails and fresh seafood, steaks, burgers and chef's specialties are served in the place where the Don Ho Theater once was. There is also a stage for live music. The restaurant will open on February 2nd.

A recent article reported that Buffett's empire brings in a whopping $40 million a year. The income comes from the restaurants, his concert tours, a beer line made by made by Anheuser-Busch, a tequila made by Seagram, branded clothing, drink blenders and more.

Buffet's biggest deal may be ahead of him, he has a deal with Harrah's Entertainment to create a $700 million Margaritaville Casino & Resort in Biloxi, Mississippi.

Gallery: Celebrity Restaurants