Opening a Bar/ Restaurant

Dear Chock,

I have a suggestion. Take whatever $$$ you are planning to use for this venture outside in your yard, put it in a big pile, pour on some lighter fluid and set a match to it. The go into your house and pour a beer and congradulate yourself on dodging a BULLET!

Ok, maybe more helpful is advising you to read previous postings from a woman named Mikki. She and her husband bought Full Moon Beach Bar here on St. Croix. It is a cautionary tale. Or read "Don't Stop the Carnival", an oldie but a goodie.

Your other smart move is to travel down here and stay for 3 or 4 weeks while you get the lay of the land. Talk to realtors, hang out in the kind of bar you are interested in, speak to the patrons and the owners.

There are several such bars for sale on STX. It would be easier to buy an existing business that to start your own.

Good luck.

and there is usually a pretty good reason WHY it is for sale.

Most of the beach bars are for sale. And what you are buying is the business not the land or building. Beachfront property is extremely expensive, even on stx, even if its not in a nice area. Live here for a year and work as a bartender or waiter and find out what it's really like. We do not have good tourism, locals tend to eat at home, workers are unrealiable in the restaurant business, food costs are high and unrealiable, people will not travel from one side of the island to the other unless they are working, so you have to be centrally located, etc etc, You need to get the lay of the land and you can not do that from stateside. Just living here is usually a HUGE adjustment from stateside.

Many people have this fantasy but trust me its not a good one in reality at least not on stx.

But what Terry said is dead on. Its a nightmare running a restaurant here and I wouldn't wish it on anyone. So unless you are very wealthy and have plenty to burn do your research, you don't have to take anyone's word for it.

The laws in stx will not allow you to build a restaurant/bar beachfront anymore. If you want an oceanfront bar you will have to buy an existing one.

Thank you all, for all the info, I like to hear the bad as well as good right up front.

Tried to look up Mikki's postings, only found one, it did not say much any way you can put me in touch with Her.

Once upon a time, I owned a local's bar and restaurant in a resort location. Divorce and bankruptcy were the result. whenever I see a for sale sign on a beachfront restaurant, I try to control myself. Oh No%

The Full Moon Bar at Cane Bay is undergoing a price reduction from $295K to $199K. The seller has been called up by the Marine Corps to serve two years of active duty instead of the reserve duty he was already under. He seems highly motivated to get the business sold fast even at the greatly reduced price. He's not around to run the place and his previous manager is now at another business and not available to him.

Beach Bars in the islands do tend to change hands frequently. Most often this is due largely to inexperience on the part of new owners who had no idea what they were getting into. The ones that make $$ and stay in the same hands for years seem to be with owners who had prior experience in the industry and came expecting to work hard... and didn't think it would just be all fun and drinks in the sun with friends.

It IS still possible to open new beach bar restaurant locations on STX, but there is very little land zoned right to allow this. Most such new businesses in the future will be built as part of a condo complex or resort as new properties are developed in the R-3 zones.

Thanks for all the info.