Jimbo’s Place

RIP Jimbo’s. I’ll miss you, just like I miss the Miami of my youth.
It’s funny how things and memories grow in different directions. Things often get uglier with age. They whither and the wilt. They get old, rusty and gray. But I’m sure that my memories of Jimbo’s are better than the reality of what it was. It’s easy to forget and forgive the dirty couches, the shady, smokey people, and even the stench that drifted across from the sewage treatment plant when the wind was right. But my memories of you, Jimbo’s, are clean.
I remember being there once, let’s say it was over 20 years ago. Brett and I were old enough to drive, and we were old enough to appreciate smoked mackerel — pulled out of that rusty refrigerator and wrapped in newspaper. But we had neither the age or the palate for drinking. We’d hang out there from time to time, legs dangling over the edge of the dock, agonizing over some then-​momentous issue like who we’d ask to prom or where we’d go to college. But this time, a couple of salty people docked there invited us on their boat and let us try their boat-​brewed moonshine.
It’s only now that I realize both how dangerous and how cool that was — when the naiveté of us and our city was such that two high school seniors would accept the invitation of two salty sailors, to accept their fellowship and to politely decline their cigarettes — or whatever it was they were smoking. They wished us well, and we went away — back home, and eventually to prom and to College. And it’s only now that I forget how bad that moonshine probably tasted!
Jimbo’s, my memories of you have developed in such a way that I remember the good and the blemishes have faded away. Maybe it’s best that way, but I’ll miss you in any case.

I don’t know how I managed to live almost my entire life in Miami and only make it to Jimbos this weekend. This place is definitely a piece of old Florida, a combination trailer park/​dive bar/​playground/​smoke house… Very hard to describe. Suffice it to say the beers are incredibly cheap and the people pleasant. The patrons vary from young couples to again hippies to homeless boat people — all seem to be welcome here. The smoked fish is pretty darn tasty and the day I went there was roast pork and fresh shrimp.
Jimbos is closing and there is a petition to make the area a historic site. I strongly suggest you get out here and see it for yourself before it is gone. This is an incredibly unique place in Miami and worlds away from South Beach, the Gables or even Coconut Grove!

This place is unusual, unique and all around a good time. Where else can you drink cheap beer in the sunshine, munch on very good smoked mahi-​mahi and fresh conch fritters, get barked at by mangy dogs, see where Flipper was taped and chat it up with some friendly vagrants? Well only at Jimbo’s and that’s why I’ll give this place 5 stars because it was plain old awesome. This was my first visit here and I was told by one of the regulars that it has recently been renovated and is much nicer then it had been for years. Apparently they demolished some buildings, erected some new ones and threw away a lot of trash. I guess that’s good, but I kinda wish I had seen the original.

Overall– Incredible… I want to become a regular at this place
Location– In Virginia Key. turn left after MAST and follow the road all the way down
Price– FREE admission.$ 2.50 beers & $ 12/​pound smoked fish
Details– The photos don’t do this place justice. This is a place you NEED to see with your own eyes. It’s one of the weirdest/​most beautiful places to hang out in Miami. If you haven’t gone, you need to go while you can because this venue can only exist as long as the owner does (and he’s already 84). Once Jimbo is gone, Jimbo’s is gone too. We went out there and drank a few beers and had some smoked Sea Bass (served in a plastic bag with a cardboard box tray). It has Bocee Ball, a bunch of stray dogs and cats, Port-​o-​potties and a whole lotta charm. You can arrive by car or boat (they have a little dock).
Basically, this is one of the most unique places I’ve ever been to. We really felt so comfortable hanging out there and I can’t wait to go back.

I barely even know what to say. The real driving force in getting our group of 4 to venture out here was because we had created a «Dexter tour» of the Miami area. As Dexter fans, we had mapped some spots where the show was filmed — Dexter’s apartment (really some condos called Bay Harbor), the Miami Metro Police station (really some condos called The Venetia), the Seven Seas Motel (where Debra went undercover as a prostitute), and The Fish Shack (really called Jimbo’s Place where Dexter and Debra ate lunch).
We read the reviews for this place in advance, and got what we expected I guess — sort of an eclectic array of visitors, stray animals, random picnic tables and chairs, broken glass, decrepit vehicles, and just a mish mash of stuff that had been trashed over the years. There were a couple of bands set up to play (about 75 feet from each other) but the whole time we were there, they just played recorded rock and roll. I would really liked to have listened to the live music.
None of us were hungry so we ended up just grabbing some beverages. They’ve got coolers in the back and offer some pretty cheap beer, soda, and water. We took a look around, climbed onto an old beat-​up bus, sat and looked at the cats and dogs, and just soaked it all in.
If I had been hungry, I wouldn’t have hesitated to order some food. Places like this tend to serve up good food by hard workers, even if they’re not what you would consider in your head as a probable A+ health rating. At any rate, this place is worth a visit. Don’t show up in your Sunday best. Just throw on your cutoffs, t-​shirt or wife beater tank… but beware of the broken glass and random garbage on the ground here and there.

Look, I’m sure Jimbo is a good guy. I mean nothing personal by this review. But to even call this dust-​bowl, bullet-​riddled trash can dump of a place a «dive bar» truly strains credulity — which is why I will never take «Esquire» magazine’s opinion on anything, as it recently ranked Jimbo’s one of the «best bars in America.» What a joke, but I suppose that’s fitting — the only place in America with more garbage hanging around taking up space than Jimbo’s is the Esquire magazine printing facility.
What is there to do here? Roll around in the powdery dust along with the countless mangy cats and dogs, all of which seem to be in some state of diseased torpor?
Do you want your cheap fizzy yellow beer from out of a cooler that badly? Also, what’s so great about the view? The «view» is that of a stagnant, green-​colored pool of a saltwater lagoon. You’d half-​expect the Watcher in the Water to suddenly emerge, grab you with a tentacle, and drag you in.
Also, while endeavoring to help the homeless may well be a noble pursuit… in my free time, I don’t really feel like drinking beer and eating smoked mystery fish with them while they try to sell me worthless crap I don’t want. But hey, if you want to go drink in the midst of a gallery of vagrants and hobos, go right ahead, but I won’t be joining you. If this place was «a bar,» I’d say there are too many far better bars to bother with it. But it’s not a bar. People think they are getting some authentic taste of Old Miami by coming here, but this is a horrible insult to Old Miami.
It gets one star above the bare minimum simply for being located next to a mountain bike trail, and selling Gatorade and water to thirsty bikers. Otherwise… why would you? Maybe for the festival atmosphere of Jimbo’s birthday celebrations, perhaps — but on an ordinary day, forget it. Again, unless of course you happen to enjoy chilling with drifters and rolling around in the dirt with the dogs.

When on Virginia Key you cut off the main, go through a park, keep to your right in order to avoid the municipal sewage (not pretty) treatment plant, and you will end up at what? Well, the place you end up at is Jimbos, a must visit, a must see and a local institution more worth the visit than any of the fancy tourist attractions of Miami.
It’s sort of a shack or assortment of shacks where you might find a drum containing cold cans of beer for a dollar, on the honor system, or whatever someone might be asking for it on that day along with a hunk or so of smoked marlin. It’s dumpy, dive-​y, sort of a trashy joint; the reputed hang of well knowns (Richard Nixon? B B Robozo? Flipper? Certainly Jimbo himself) or lesser known locals like Flipper’s co-​starring fish.
It’s the legends, some true, some contrived, and the abject dumpyness of the place that makes it a charmer; and it is a charmer. It’s the last stand of Old Florida on the Miami/​Dade coast; the last bastion where the real Floridian hides and hangs; sort of the Alamo of the Floridian way of life. But beware! Some of the toothless old geezers you might meet could actually be the real Jimbo, off spring of a real Cracker, a one time Wrecker, a true life treasure salvor or have actually been a friend of the once famous TV star, Flipper.
Unfortunately, it’s changing and changing rapidly, losing some of its class and charm by reason of greedy land grabbing grubby politicians and city managers attempting to impose their rules and regulations upon the place. Fortunately, through the dedication and tireless efforts of numerous volunteers, a good deal of what was Jimbos continues to be Jimbos.

Holy mother Joy, this is You-​tube heaven! First off its deserted and beat like Katrina & Wilma came together and had babies. There was this hilarious old dude who started performing Rolling Stone «I Can’t Get No Satisfaction.» Yes, i video-​recorded it and it is available upon request ;D. $ 1.00 BEERS??? The crowd is completely mixed with a little bit of everyone to join in for the masquerade. Its a total shit-​show but i freaking loved it and I’m coming back with all my friends.
Bring mosquito spray, sunglasses and keep baby wipes in your car (You’ll understand why) Definitely make it a purpose to come here. You’ll never know a place like this can exist in Miami & its freakin genius!
LONG LIVE JIMBO’S

This place is weird. It is straight out of Bontemps from True Blood. I have no idea how anyone can eat there without fear of having some food poisoning. It just looks like a dirty mess. Dirty dogs, dirty couches and drunk people. No need to explore. Just nasty.

I had heard so many things about the legend that is Jimbo’s that I was curious to check it out on one of my kayaking trips. We finally located it and pulled our kayak ashore, to immediately be assaulted by a man selling stickers. We went to the main «area» which is mostly a collection of shanty looking shacks, ordered some cold beers and grabbed a seat on one of the nearby benches. It was nice just to sit, but the stench of trash was absolutely overwhelming. The place kind of looks like an abandoned junkyard. I mean I knew not to expect much, but I hadn’t expected the complete ramshackle mess of decrepit buildings that it was. Plus, the porta-​potties too were something out of a horror movie… hoardes of flies coming up from the pot. Maybe with live music, or on a different day things might be better, but I’m still pretty skeptical. I know the beer is cheap and it’s considered an institution, but really not worth the stop.

Jimbos is an institution. This I know because it was a place I heard about and visited in my first year moving here to Miami and 14 years later amid much controversy and hoopla, the place is still here, albeit a little less bright and colorful but still exuding the power of hippiness (no, not hipness– PURE hippiness a la Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band and Woodstock).
I’ve been to Jimbo’s on and off over the years but as you gain material things in your life /​/​like kids/​/​the likes of Jimbo’s is suddenly taken offa your socializing route and is replaced by the likes of Chuck E Cheese and Boomers, and I am sure there are some among us that would say that the mentality of the clientele aren’t that far removed from each other.
A couple of years into Unilocal and still with no valid excuse for a recent Jimbo’s fix I scored with a visit from two fucking SUPER elites, my sister Edel N from Dublin, Ireland. and superstar Mick T. from Boston who first introduced me to Unilocal.
We were there for the May 21, 2011 apocalypse. How freakin cool is that???
Still with the going into the shack to get your $ 2 can of beer. Still with the port-​a-​potty bathrooms. Still with the bocce ball. Still with the tourists and their model girfriends coming in and with their four inch high heels and EWWWW faces which make me nearly pee myself laughing //didn’t you Unilocal it first byatch???//
Giggles and schniggles and «Burning Down the House» blasting from the speakers from a random abandoned school bus.
Jimbo’s. You either love it or hate it. You KNOW this is a 100% dive bar /​/​/​LOOOOVE/​/​/​on my list.
Long Live Jimbo’s Place

WOW!
This place is crazy!!! I finally was able to check this place out this weekend. Happened to be Jimbo’s Bday Weekend & i came to do a photo shoot for quince pics. I couldnt even get in bc of how packed it was. We had to park in egypt & then Walk over. There was so many bikers, drunk ppl & music. It was definitely an experience. My client was a lil timid to pose for pics but eventually got over it. I’ve been talking about it all day to my co-​workers telling them they should at least come here once. There were ppl selling food & beer i was not comfortable eating there but looks like everyone didnt care. I didnt get a chance to see Jimbo :(
oh & my shoot was a sucess. The bikers allowed us to pose with the bikes, The jet ski crew also let us use their Jet ski’s & my model posed next to the band while they played live!!!

The last time I had been to Jimbo’s was not a good experience. It was many years ago and someone had suggested we go here for Happy hour after work. I was a young, single, metro douche and was absolutely horrified at this place! No mixed drinks, dilapidated «buildings», no oontz ooontz music, no hoochie mamas to talk to, and all this dirt getting on my slacks! I got the F out of there ASAP and ran to my safe Sobe world so me and my crew could go and gawk at all the silicone in tight dresses while paying $ 12 a drink.
A lot has changed since then, I may still be a metro douche but being married with child makes you much more open minded about going to places other than bars and clubs.
We headed out to Jimbo’s to celebrate his 84^th birthday party and had an incredible time. We saw Jimbo right off the bat and gave him a birthday card and cigar. He enjoyed getting his picture taken with my wife, and was awesome with our daughter — he took the time to draw a picture of himself and give it to her. Besides the obvious debauchery, I can see why so many people come out to pay their tributes to this gentleman. We left him to his cigar and other well wishers so we could enjoy the the scenery.
This was the strangest mix of people I had ever seen. Even stranger was the fact that everyone we saw said hi to us and struck up a conversation.
Next we walked over to the dock, to check out the boats and the view. While standing there we were promptly invited onboard the Okeechobee Queen where we met the captain and «crew» for the day. We were offered drinks within the first 5 seconds of being onboard. Everyone was SO friendly i was in shock. WTF? are we still in Miami??? We hung out for a bit and went to land to check out the band the Loose Cannons.
Thanks to Unilocal advice, we came fully stocked with food, brew, and lawn chairs although there was plenty of food to be had all around. Jimbo eventually came around and started dancing with our daughter which was awesome.
We had one of the greatest days ever celebrating Jimbo’s 84^th. This place really is a hidden gem and although still a dump, it makes people act funny in Miami. It actually makes them NICE… Jimbo is a great dude I hope to celebrate many more birthdays with him in the future.

Cold beer — ALWAYS — $ 2, ’nuff said.
The place is a dive, so don’t head out in heels, but no one will bother you as you enjoy the afternoon sipping on domestics or imports ($ 3) while you and your friends enjoy a friendly round of bocce ball right by the water… very colorful, indeed.

Nothing like it around, not so much a hole in the wall as a hole in the floor.
Awesome, great ambiance, relaxing, smokes and beer, HUGE chunks of smoked fish, fresh off the boats pulling up to the dock. We were even sold Escolar once, and you know what? We didn’t even care. As unpleasant as the mis-​labeled fish was, Jimbos is loved, and I will visit whenever I’m in the area.

I agree with Christy G., most amazing random place ever.
** remember to get parking «validated» and you can get your 5 bucks back!

Super chill, super laid back, and a super fun place to bring a group that wants a unique Miami experience! (Best to arrive via boat so it doesn’t lose all its appeal) Beers are cold and super cheap, they have a fish fry (never tried but heard good things) be sure not to miss Jimbo’s birthday when everything is FREE!!! And they have a ton of food which is soo good, its a guaranteed good time! Otherwise on a regular day it will be slow just super chill definitely a place to check out but make sure to either bring bug spray or move along when the sun starts to go down because the bugs WILL eat you alive out there.

I am so sad that the City of Miami is engaging in its’ typical shady practices and truly beginning to force Jimbo out. (Miami Herald Story Here:
)
I’ve been visiting Jimbo’s since High School. Yeah, it’s dirty, it’s sketchy, it’s old. It’s a SHACK on a cove on Key Biscayne. Flipper was filmed here, as well as more recently Burn Notice, and a gajillion model shoots on the colorful wrecks of schoolbuses, Volkswagens, and shacks on the grounds.
Jimbo’s annual Birthday Bash is an experience every Miamian should have, at least once. Thousands of beer-​swigging, bikini-​and-​cutoff clad locals wandering the piney woods and mangrove with music, alcohol, smokes, and all the Old Miami culture you’d ever need.
Jimbo’s smoked fish is legendary. Salmon, Dolphin, and the iconic Marlin. Yeah, yeah, yeah, the Clean Police aren’t hanging out here. So what? Probably adds to the flavor. Some of my best memories involve grabbing a Baguette, some butter, and a few Heinekens in a can, some of Jimbo’s smoked salmon and marlin, and picnicking along Virginia Key’s nearly-​deserted beaches.
(Also, did Unilocal really just ask me if Jimbo’s has a COAT CHECK???)
Please, Miami, Save Jimbo’s~

In all honesty, I’ve been to Jimbo’s less than a handful of times, but have loved it each time I’ve gone. Yes, its dirty (albeit colorful and cool) and yes, there are some strange/​interesting characters there, but you ALWAYS leave with some hella good stories and a great buzz!
If you’re lucky, you’ll leave with a Jimbo’s dollar from Jamaican Paul too ;)
Last I heard is that the city is trying to do away with Jimbo’s, and if that happens, I will be really upset! :(

I was here for Jimbo’s 82^nd birthday celebration. I mention that because, while I feel I probably did get an idea of what this place really is like, just on a much larger scale, I’m certain I didn’t necessarily get the true «Jimbo’s experience» since there were so many people and so much going on.
The other reviews of Jimbo’s sum up this place well; There are a lot of older abandoned buildings, vehicles and trailers, some of which were once used as movie or TV set pieces and props. It’s got a great view of the lagoon behind it, and you’ll definitely find some «characters» here.
For Jimbo’s 82^nd birthday celebration this place was packed. Luckily we got here earlier in the day before it turned into a madhouse so we could check it out a bit, but as mentioned, the experience was a bit different than what you’d normally find at Jimbo’s on a regular day. They had a beer truck dispensing free draft beers and a beer stand set up where they were selling cans of both domestic and imported beers for around $ 4 a can; bottled water and soft drinks were free. They also had a few band stages set up and live music going for most of the day.
In all, I think if you looked past all the stuff like the beer truck, live music, pony rides and a few other things which were just brought in for that day, you could get a feel for the real essence of the place. On this day there were a good amount of older, salty characters, some of whom were working to direct traffic or hand out beers, a few others had dogs on leashes that looked like they wish someone would euthanize them NOW. There were a few random homeless animals running around and a diverse cross section of humanity to say the least. Lots of bikers and Harley Davidson poster children, but I also saw every kind of vehicle lining the roadway for a mile or more, from Lexus and BMWs to beautifully restored classic cars to beaten up Fords and Chevys and every kind of owner and group of friends to go with those vehicles that one can possibly imagine.
The cool thing was that all of these people who may not necessarily get along or hang out together in another setting somehow come together perfectly at Jimbo’s. Everyone from all walks of life hung out together, drank, rocked and danced together and somehow it all worked.
The only thing I’d do differently if coming again for the day is to pack some food. The only offering they had was the smoked fish that is also part of the culture that is Jimbo’s. As I read elsewhere today on the internet, there are no plates, utensils or napkins; when you order the smoked fish you get an ice cold piece of freshly smoked fish in a clear plastic baggie, and you eat it with your hands. Afterwards there’s nowhere to wipe or clean said hands and since the fish tends to be oily, everything you touch for the remainder of the day will reek of smoked fish as well.