Jimmy Buffett Included This Florida Morgue-Turned-Bar In A Hit Song

Jimmy Buffett loved to weave his love of food, drink, and the spots that served them up with good vibes into his songs. Few musicians have made a bigger mark in the food world than Jimmy Buffett, when you think about it — look at his mega-hit "Margaritaville" and the entire chain of restaurants it spawned. Then there's the classic "Cheeseburger in Paradise" song about a real restaurant where Buffett loved the burgers, which again led to the singer launching his own Cheeseburger in Paradise eatery chain (all locations are now sadly closed). Even the most casual fans can hum those tunes, but there's another Buffett banger that should be on your radar, and it includes yet another real destination you can visit.

In 1985, Buffett released an album called "Last Mango in Paris" — yes, a play on the 1972 movie "Last Tango in Paris." The title track opens with the lines, "I went down to Captain Tony's to get out of the heat, then I heard a voice call out to me, 'Son, come have a seat.'" If you'd like to take a seat at Captain Tony's, too, get on a flight to Key West.

Capt. Tony's Saloon is a Key West institution, its building serving many purposes since 1851. It has its own specific history with Jimmy Buffett, too: The star got his start there, playing shows in the 1970s. He likely felt eternally bonded with this bar, then, enough to immortalize it in his music.

Capt. Tony's Saloon started out as an ice house back in 1851 in Key West, and took advantage of its chilled temperatures to also serve as the local morgue. Don't worry, though: If anything "haunts" Tony's, it's a lively history and bopping Buffett tunes. By the end of the 19th century, it was a wireless telegraph station, key during the Spanish-American War. Throughout the 20th century, this building at 428 Greene Street had lives as a cigar factory, an earlier saloon iteration, and several different speakeasies. In 1933 — once the Prohibition was repealed and speakeasies were no longer necessary — it became Sloppy Joe's Bar, named by another iconic Key West denizen, Ernest Hemingway. 

In 1958, a local charter boat captain named Tony Tarracino bought the space and it became the Capt. Tony's Saloon where Buffett would croon and where you can still enjoy a drink today. As a matter of fact, the saloon's own website claims Buffett was paid in tequila all those years ago — is that what led to Jimmy Buffett's famed appreciation of a simple margarita? Or even the singer's preference of just tequila and lime rather than a marg later in life? It's fun to imagine his love of the agave spirit starting right alongside his music career at Capt. Tony's, just like it's fun to imagine even more legendary Key West frequenters who imbibed at 428 Greene Street, from Hemingway to Shel Silverstein, Truman Capote, and Tennessee Williams.