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Jimmy Buffett's at the Beachcomber

Who at this bar ordered boat drinks?

For those with a schoolboy heart who enjoy ordering boat drinks and believe that Margaritaville is a state of mind rather than an actual place, there is Jimmy Buffett's at the Beachcomber, Buffett's bar in Waikiki Beach.

Within sight of a real volcano – Diamond Head – it's where Parrotheads know they will go when their internal volcano blows while in Honolulu. So how is the place?

PubClub.com gives it a Two Fins Up.

It is similar, in many ways, to the Margaritaville Cafe locations in Las Vegas and Orlando, but with a distinctive Hawaiian touch. Just for starters, there's a pool. And a surf museum. A large lanai with tables which take in those tropical trade winds that our forefathers harnessed before us.

The large video wall dominates the view inside the restaurant.

Inside, the lava flows – but it's not soft and hot – on the floor and on top of the bar and booths have the decor of a Pipeline-sized wave crashing down from the top. The entire back wall is comprised of two giants screens showing videos of Hawaii that are so crisp one at first may think it's a live feed from the beach.

There is music from local musicians strumming their six strings to tourists covered with oil nightly from 6:30-9:30 by the pool and then inside on the stage to closing time. It must be noted that use of the pool – which is hardly anything like one would find in Vegas, mind you – is restricted to hotel guests. It's even blocked off by ropes when the bands play. So for patrons looking to duplicate the scene at Buffett's Miami Marine Stadium show by having boat drinks in the water, well, there's no swimming in this roped-off pool.

Patrons are not allowed to take drinks out into the hotel lobby, either, eliminating the possibility of posing for pics in the big chairs at the entrance with a frozen concoction.

There's live local music on the stage each evening.

There's a Cheesecake Factory-sized menu for margaritas and boat drinks (The Perfect Margarita should be for seasoned drinkers only) and veterans of Margaritavilles will recognize the food items. The crab appetizer, pulled pork sandwich and triple-decker turkey club (get the onion rings) are among the standouts. The cheeseburger? Well, it's in paradise, of course, and it's quite juicy and tasty. True cheeseburger aficionados will note the bun is tad too thick and masks some of the burger's flavor, but it's a heck of a lot better than what the owner finds on the menu at a Holiday Inn. Again, opt for the onion rings.

The staff is overwhelmingly courteous and makes everyone feel like a king (or queen) in somewhere hot. Downstairs, there's a souvenir store with all kinds of Buffett items.

Inside, the bartenders entertain in a tropical setting.

The only Hawai'i mistaka here is the fact that the TVs inside are small and somewhat difficult to see even from the bar and during band breaks neither Buffett videos or even Buffett songs are played.

Those videos, especially the ones showing the tailgating at concerts, are a true attraction of any Buffett-owned establishment. As any Parrothead will gladly explain, it's not Buffett himself that's so entertaining, it's the other Parrotheads. Their creativity and craziness in pre-concert parking lots across America is what makes Jimmy Buffett concerts The World's Greatest Single-Day Party. Watching them in Buffett's bar with Buffett music can be as intoxicating to the soul as The Perfect Margaritas are to the mind and body.

Here, the best time and place to watch those videos is daytime on the lanai where plasma screens can be seen from even the back of the patio.

Jimmy Buffett's at the Beachcomber is located on the second floor of the Beachcomber hotel on Kalakaua Ave., Waikiki's main road heading in the direction of Diamond Head. It's across from the Apple store and the Royal Hawaiian Center's main area.

Where the fun here all ends, one cannot fathom, our friends. As a result, Parrotheads will be tempted to toss out their anchor at Buffett's Beachcomber.

– Surf Museum Photos – 

Surf boards are up at the adjacent Surf Museum.

Adjacent to the restaurant is a small piece of preserved Hawaiian history, the Surf Museum.

It has boards on display with plaques describing their significance. A mural against one wall shows what it must have been like to surf here in the '60s.

The museum also salutes Hawaiian music with separate displays of guitars and ukuleles.

The Surf Museum is not huge, about the size of a large hotel room in Waikiki. The amount of time one spends here varies according to one's level of interest in the subject matter. For many, it's a brief diversion before or after the restaurant.

On the other hand, it does have a bar and looks over the small pool. For some, this could certainly be their own little Margaritaville.

Yes, there's a bar in the Surf Museum.

Buffett Show at the Waikiki Shell