MANCHESTER, Vt.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Singer, songwriter and entrepreneur Jimmy Buffett wrote a song about a drink, Pat McBride and his team turned it into one helluva hospitality destination.
The most visible of all Margaritaville brand extensions has grown to include hotels, restaurants, and casinos throughout the United States and five foreign countries. It’s a powerful and growing worldwide hospitality brand with the destinations designed by The McBride Company, with headquarters in the quaint little town of Manchester Center, Vermont, and the bustling city of Miami, Florida.
Design guru Pat McBride, the company’s CEO and founder, has served a client roster including Disney, Universal Studios, Simon Properties, Hard Rock Café, Discovery Channel and the Smithsonian, among many others.
McBride conducts a quirky and multi-talented orchestra of creative geniuses from all corners of the country, hatching big ideas that provide millions of people innovative entertainment while ensuring for developers, retailers and city centers…astounding success. The award-winning team is changing the experience of shopping, vacationing and dining worldwide.
“We are ultimately in the business of creating unique, entertaining destinations, whether it is a hotel, casino, retail center, museum or attraction. If we don’t provide a dynamic, memorable experience, we haven’t done our job,” says McBride. “By giving our staff the freedom to live and create from wherever they feel most comfortable, we get their best and most inspired work.”
The newest addition to the Margaritaville phenomenon is a lifestyle restaurant at the Island in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee’s newest Entertainment Complex, which opened its doors in June to spectacular customer reaction.
Like all Margaritaville destinations, Pigeon Forge provides an escape into a unique and exciting environment inspired by the songs and lifestyle of famed entertainer Jimmy Buffett. Visiting the restaurant, guests encounter a retail store, tiki bar, outdoor deck with a fire pit, live performance stage and a ‘Five O’clock Somewhere Bar’ dramatically overlooking the Little Pigeon River.
The centerpiece of the venue is the giant steam-gushing Margarita Still, a quirky Margaritaville inspired take on traditional Tennessee whiskey culture. The still is a true audiovisual spectacle: Driven by a Tennessee bluegrass inspired version of the popular song ‘Tequila’, a pressure gauge reaches its maximum limit eliciting bursts of steam and fire, heating the still and sending tequila and mix flowing through copper pipes and into a six foot tall blender creating the ultimate margarita. As the blender fills to the brim, a crescendo is reached. The song ‘Margaritaville’ begins to play as we hear Jimmy Buffett yell: “We’ve made it to Margaritaville!”
Pigeon Forge executives expect the addition of Margaritaville to the dining and attractions at Pigeon Forge will push annual tourism revenues above $1 billion annually.
The company manages to juggle the Margaritaville design and production work with a broad list of additional clients in the restaurant, retail, hospitality and exhibit industries worldwide. Visit the company’s website, www.themcbridecompany.com to learn more.
