DESTIN — A Coyote Ugly Saloon is set to open on Destin Harbor.
“We finalized the lease two days ago,” owner Joanna Olsen said last week.
Coyote Ugly, which is slated to open in the former Shed BBQ & Blues Joint building, is an “interactive bar” that features women bartenders that serve up drinks and perform a variety of choreographed bar-top dances.
The building has been vacant since The Shed closed late last year. Olsen also owns the Coyote Ugly Saloons in Panama City Beach and Tampa, the only locations in Florida.
“A lot of what’s already here fits us and our style,” she said. “It’s a great location.”
Olsen also said her Coyote Ugly at HarborWalk Village would be joined by another new restaurant, Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville, which will open in the former home of the Lucky Snapper.
Rumors have swirled for months that the island-themed restaurant would be coming to Destin, joining Buffett’s beach hotel in Pensacola and Margaritaville restaurant at Pier Park in Panama City Beach.
Messages left for Legendary Inc. President and CEO Peter Bos were not returned by press time. Jamie Hall, HarborWalk Village’s director of marketing, said she could not confirm or deny the Margaritaville rumors.
“There are a lot of new and exciting developments coming in the spring and summer,” she said.
Olsen said last year that there were no plans for a Coyote Ugly Saloon in Destin, but times change. That decision was based on a stipulation that there must be a 75-mile radius between bar locations.
When The Shed location became available, Olsen said they worked the numbers and determined that the saloon in Panama City Beach measured 76 miles.
Olsen said they are starting some interior demolition at the Destin site. Given the style of the previous tenants, she said a major renovation isn’t necessary.
Coyote Ugly is expected to open by mid-April.
“I can’t wait,” Olsen said. “We know that this market can do just as well, if not better, than our saloon in Panama City.”
Destin Log Staff Writer Matt Algarin can be reached at 850-654-8446 or malgarin@thedestinlog.com. Follow him on Twitter @DestinLogMatt.
