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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! :(
To call Jimbo's a "Dive Bar" is an understatement. Do not let that deter you, it has a very unique charm that is understated and hard to find in the Magic City. They have cheap cold beer, and views of the water on Virginia Key. Do not let the girl at the guard gate talk you into paying $5 just say I'm going to Jimbo's and drive through.
Once there, grab a cold one from the shack, and if they are cooking fish grab some of that too. They have an awesome boccie ball court, and Jamaican Paul is sure to entertain you. Don't buy his "jimbo dollars" they are worthless. But do grab a Coozie from inside the beer shack!
This is great place to take friends who appreciate awesomeness! I talk all my southern friends who like to drink beer here when they come to visit!
I was here for Jimbo's 82nd 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 82nd 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.
I feel safe here - no big brother looking over my shoulder and full of derelicts with longer rapsheets and more legal problems than teeth. My guess is that if you round up some of these characters, dog the bounty hunter would make his quarterly quota.
maybe a good idea for a reality show, meanwhile, their peaceful coexistence in this mangrove oasis works, sort of.
And I get to have my cheap beer and pee in the great wild open space.
The universe is good to me and Jimbo's is always there to embrace my need for proximity to higher members of the food chain.
It's the end of the world as we know it... no wait it's what's at the end of the odd rainbow no no maybe it's where the sidewalk really ends and falls over into the bay or maybe it's where the wild n crazy things are no no no it's Jimbos.
Drive to Virgina Key and make a bunch of turns and end up in this place where smoked fish and bacci are the specialty. Cold beer comes from a cooler and people come here to get away from all civilization as we know it. There are old trailers and cars and roosters and cats and its dirty and grimy and perhaps even slimy. Nonetheless, it has a charm all its own.
This place proves reality can be stranger than fiction.
Hmm, glad a few other yelpers have reviewed Jimbo's first. I've been there...twice actually, and still wasn't sure exactly what this place was. The first time I went was to scout it as a location for a photo shoot (my client's request) and I thought that it must have been some property reserved for the purpose of giving homeless people a place to live... or something..
I went on a weekday afternoon and it just so happened that there was a film crew there when I was scouting and the mosquitos were REALLY thick. After walking around a bit, I just sat and observed the place for a while. Friendly dogs, indifferent cats and "colorful" residents, and a few diverse visitors. I can't say that the Jimbo's people were particularly friendly, but considering I found this place to be kind of intimidating... maybe it was the bunch of drunk/drugged out, toothless, filthy, stinky been-living-in-the-woods-too-long, otherwise scary people that were dominating this place? Common sense tells you it isn't cool to be here (but alas, on my second visit, folks were arriving by every means to have the Jimbo's experience).
Myself, not really interested in mingling with the drunk scary resident people, I went over to chat with the film crew that was setting up. While I was talking with them, this addict stumbles over and starts helping herself to the film crew's snacks...I chuckled, but they didn't think it was so funny and they chased her off. She then sauntered over to flirt with a couple guys that arrived by bicycle and they promptly left...lol Later, I noticed she was stumbling into the woods with an equally drunk/high and filthy guy. I don't remember seeing them come back out...hmmm
Now, if I had read the other yelp reviews before going to Jimbo's, I would have known what this place was and I would have had a completely different experience. I would have known that it is so much more than a run down fishing village for weathered methed out hippies and homeless people and I would have felt much more comfortable going in to the "main" shack and checking it out! Go ahead, laugh at me, but I thought this was their home and was feeling a bit uneasy about having a photo shoot here!
On my second visit (photo shoot), there were a lot more people there. Yuppies or every ilk were the dominant species as the parking areas were stuffed to capacity with cool Hummers, Lexus and whatnot. The second most prevalent group arrived as waves of bicylists stopping in. After that were a few people arriving by boat. And of course, the same bunch of funky locals and friendly animals that were there on my first visit.
Having said all that, this place is a visual candy land for photographers and film makers. Turns out, the shacks were built by a film crew a long time ago and along with the odd abandoned bus, car, boat, (body?), they have all been slowly rotting ever since. I had a fantastic time with my clients here and would come back here in a heartbeat to do more.
The best tips I can give to other yelpers is to bring bug repellant, an open mind, a friendly attitude and NO expectations for sanitary code enforcement. ;-)
Jimbo's is a hidden hillbilly oasis for degenerates and fallen angels of all shapes and sizes. Their bocce ball court is fit for the USA barroom national championships--or more likely, the Hialeah Bocce Open.
Beers are cheap and the nightly barrel fire is perfect for warming chilly beach-goers after a day of toasting in the sun. The scenic harbor is literally straight from a movie--just don't ask where the water comes from.
The only thing keeping me from giving this diamond dive five stars is the occasional annoyance of chatty/scary/knife-wielding regulars. Or perhaps that's part of its charm...
Toothless old men, dirt floors, portapoopers and beer in a cooler. This dive of all dives is like finding a junk yard full of broken cars and glass everywhere with a cooler full of ice cold beer in the middle.
Jimbo's is a must see in my book.
When the apocalypse comes and we're all maurading Mad Max-style, Jimbo's will be where it's at.
I love the dilapidated shacks, heaps of weather-worn relics and layers of grime. Cold beer in a can and a motley, gnarled clientele - what more could you ask for at the end of the world?
Go the Jimbo's if you want to...
- catch a deadly disease
- see the definition of apocalypse
- dump a dead body
I gave Jimbo's three stars because it is the average of the one and five stars that I was trying to give it.
First a little history, Jimbo's has been used as a location for over fourty years. The Flipper tv show was shot there and I also believe some of the Gentle Ben tv show was shot there. There were many other movies including a bunch of Miami Vice stuff shot there. I have seen a 50's motel building appear over night (a movie set) then dissappear the next week. I was there one Saturday morning at about 8:00 am and there was a porn shoot going on in one of the shacks and the toothless residents couldn't care less.
I would give it one star because it is an incredible dump. You just dont want to drink the beers, even though they come in sealed cans because everything is so disgusting.
If you can get beyond the disgusting surroundings (and the strange group of "locals"), their smoked fish is the best. It is the only place that you can get smoked marlin. Crumble some of the smoked marlin on a salad with arugula and crubbled gorgonzola cheese and I am in heaven.
Go, get your smoked fish and leave, before you catch something.
what they serve..
beer in cans and smoked fish
pros.
last bit of old miami thats left. its a bar. a rough looking bar. its not a place to bring kids so you dont have to worry about bratty kids annoying you. they have filmed porn there so thats the type of place this is. the people here can look scary but for the most part they are nice folks. you can arrive by boat. they have a bocci ball court and you can play on it. old man jimbo has got to be the friendliest guy on the planet. enjoy this place before some developer builds another much needed (NOT) condo on the land when jimbo leaves us for good!
cons.
nearby sewage plant cant be ripe on the wrong days. guy at virginia key entrance doesn't seem to like his job and it will reflect in the way he treats people at times.
tip.
tell the guy at the gate (the one that's usually not a happy camper) that you are going to jimbos and you don't pay entrance fee to the key.
my brain runneth over with things to say about jimbos, but i made a promise to finish this review today, so i must collect my thoughts...
abandoned(?) trailers and school busses, hillbillys with more arrests than teeth, stray cats, dogs and chickens, and cheap ass beer out of a cooler!? why jimbo, you make a white trash girl from michigan feel right at home! the only thing keeping jimbo's from seeming exactly like one of my parent's friend's parties are the palm trees; the REAL palm trees. (plastic ones don't count, gloria!)
i also have to love a place that is located steps away from sewage plant road. at first i found the smell was keeping me from fully enjoying my smoked fish until i realized it was just part of jimbo's ambiance.
i know the next time i'm in miami i will be back to jimbo's. we missed out on the bocce the first time around.
Five stars fo' sho!!!!!
Jimbo's is, by far, my favorite spot in Miami. Nothing pretentious or 'on purpose' at this spot. It's a bit hidden but worth figuring out how to get there. Yuo go into Key Biscayne and then a left on Virginia Key. You can always ask the guard at the entrance.
The place is awesome! You go inside grab your beers, pay a few bucks and walk out to find a spot. I love that it's right on the water... You get to play with the dogs, smoke your cigs in peace and last time I went there there was a bluee grass band playing in one of the abandoned houses.
Jimbo, the 80 something year old owner, is always around telling some story. It's beautiful.
Jimbo's gives "dive" a whole new meaning.
Just a good ole Florida dive. There is nothing more I can say that has not been said in the other reviews. Just check it out some weekend and you will not believe you are in Miami!
This is the dive of all dives. You can call a place a dive and the place could be just plain. This place ain't plain, it's down, n dirty, and salty! It's kind of a speakeasy on the water. From what I understand, Jimbo opened the place up like 40+ years ago w/out a liquor license and the local authorities let him stay in business until he dies. So when Jimbo goes, it all goes. Be sure to check it out before you miss out on a gem. Good luck finding it and expect to get some dirt on you.
Jimbo's is an awesome place to kick back and get your drink on. Ice cold beer fresh smoked fish and no one to bother you. The locals are very friendly but not to the snobby south beach crowd if you expect to be laying out next to a star like SB you r in the wrong place don't come we don't want you here. This is for locals to bring their tourist friends and snap some pics. I have been going to Jimbo's since I was a kid as my uncle built the water plant out there in the mid 70's I even got to see the filming of the Giant Crab which is where Jimbo's is built from so yes lot's of good memories. Especially on his Birthday so if you have never been there go check it out and watch the documantary on him made by a local student they love to play it. Now for the idiot the called Bachii ball a game with a wooden ball get out of South Beach and enjoy the rest of Florida idiots like you are what give us South Florida people a bad name AH
Jimbo's is definitely not the place you wanna hang out at all the time however its the place you want to make sure you visit before Jimbo is gone. Don't call yourself a Miamian if you havent been there. A true Miami Dive...When I first visited I was in high school and that was pre-Miami Vice.. It's a hangout, you drink beer and eat smoked fish. You sit, you chill, you say Hello to Jimbo. You'll probably encounter a model shoot of some sort.
omg so awesome! a DEFINITE spot to hit up to escape miami without driving more than 10 minutes away! right next to a lagoon (where manatees supposedly frequent), order a pound or so of smoked random-fish-of-the-day, grab a beer, maybe play a round of bocce ball, and chill. on the night we went, there were some live bands playing so it was a great atmosphere and friendly crowd.
definitely not the cleanest spot (please pee before hitting this place up and don't dress up here) - it has a lot of character and definitely a new experience.
Smoked fish (delicious), cold beer (refreshing) broken down schoolbuses, and a general menagerie of animals wandering around.....there is NOTHING like Jimbo's.....you can drink smoke hang out on the pier hang out at a broken down picnic table.....and buy jimbo's stickers....they have a few claims to fame including a number of music videos/movies/and tv shows that have filmed scenes there....a little difficult to find the first time...but once you've been there you'll never forget how to get back to Jimbo's....great place to relax and get a drink after a long day at the beach
This is basically Miami after the Apocalypse. I'm not kidding. Jimbo's is what can only be described as a big dilapidated shack out on Key Biscayne. There's an old guy manning the door (Jimbo?) you walk past him and there's some tables, chairs,garbage cans full of ice and beer. You grab a beer give the man a buck and walk around outside and explore what can only be described as a sort of junk yard in the everglades. There's weird stuff every where, junked cars, fire pits. Little houses that I believe where originally part of the set of the 70's tv show flipper. No, I'm not fucking kidding. I did my research. Any way, you have to see it to believe it. It's a trip. It's generally safe but I have seen some strange characters here.Last time there, I was getting serious stink eye from this big southern dude with a crew cut and questionable tatt's. Worth checking out if only for the fact it's so freakin weird.
Key Biscayne, FL
Category: Restaurants
Miami, FL
Category: Restaurants
Key Biscayne, FL
Category: Restaurants
Miami, FL
Category: Desserts
Miami Beach, FL
Category: Sports Bars
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