Popular cantina closes doors

Andrew Edwards

No more wasting away in Margaritaville?

The Margaritaville Mexican Cantina on West Coast Highway, a

gathering spot for surfers and motorcycle enthusiasts alike, is all

but gone. A large banner, reading “Sale or Lease,” covers the bar’s

roadside sign and owner Jim Bellino said he has no plans to reopen

the bar under that name.

“That will not be happening,” Bellino said.

Bellino declined to comment on whether he plans to sell or lease

the property, though plans may emerge in about two weeks, he said.

And he didn’t answer any other questions.

Margaritaville’s doors shut in mid-January, though at the time,

the closure was not meant to be permanent, former Margaritaville

partner Steve Pickford said. Pickford kept working at the restaurant

after Bellino bought it in August. In January, Margaritaville closed

for renovations, and Pickford said he suspected the cantina would not

reopen.

“It seemed kind of weird. I thought he was going to shut down,” he

said. Pickford, who now works at the nearby Jack Shrimp restaurant,

advised Margaritaville employees to look for new jobs in case the bar

stayed closed.

“I told them, if you can find anything, take it,” Pickford said.

Margaritaville had been a Mariner’s Mile hangout for 15 years

before it closed, Pickford said. Pickford’s memories of the cantina

include golf tournaments, Christmas parties and a tight-knit crew.

“We had families that worked there,” Pickford said. “Brothers and

sisters, and then a few years later, their younger sister comes in.”

The Newport Beach chapter of the Surfrider Foundation held its

meetings at Margaritaville before its closure. One of the last events

at the bar was the group’s “Ride for the Waves” fundraiser, a charity

motorcycle ride that ended with a get-together at the cantina, said

Raymond Halowski, vice-chair of the group’s Newport chapter.

“We went there for a few years and they were very supportive of

us,” Halowski said.

He described Margaritaville as a “surfer’s place” that also drew

the Harley-Davidson crowd on weekends.

“On Sunday afternoons, there were so many bikes you couldn’t park

there,” Halowski said.