World's Best Beach Bars: Pineapple Willy's in Panama City Beach, Florida.
Chances are, even if you haven't had the opportunity to visit the well-known beach bar, you've likely seen one of the numerous shirts or hats worn by one of the tens of thousands who have been there. And, by the way, if you haven't experienced it firsthand, I sure hope you will on your next trip anywhere near the white sands of PCB. Because when you see it yourself, you'll get it.
Pineapple Willy's started life back in the late 1980s as the Pier 99 Lounge, right next door to what was then the Pier 99 Hotel. Bill Buskell, who was a managing partner of Pier 99 Hotel for several years, wasn't satisfied with the amount of business the lounge was getting, as he saw it as an establishment with a lot more potential than what it was garnering at the time. With determination and a mountain of faith, Buskell purchased the Pier 99 Lounge. He literally started with a small sandwich and salad menu to accompany the numerous beach-themed drinks he was serving.
After being in business for five years, Buskell decided to change the name of his little bar. Going with the namesake of his most popular drink being served, he christened it Pineapple Willy's.
Bill Buskell was fortunate enough to have two sons who actually cared about following in their father's footsteps, and as such would prove to be a huge part of the catalyst that drove him to enable his little beach bar to become what it is known as today. The establishment just seemed to boom, both in terms of recognition and business, year after year. There were times when Buskell laments that his sons and he could hardly believe, much less keep up with, the amount of growth they continued to see from season to season.
After about eleven years of dedicated management and expansive growth, the Buskell three were hit with a hard blow — a hurricane, that is. Something that has become an unhealthy reality for so many Florida Gulf Coast businesses, but also something that has proven the impressive resilience of Buskell and so many business owners like him. After Hurricane Opal left their establishment in shambles in 1995, the father and son trio decided to pull themselves up by their proverbial bootstraps and rebuild their labor of love, making it better than ever.
The beloved Pineapple Willy's shortly reopened in 1996 and has continued to grow ever since. In 2007, Pineapple Willy's opened its venue next door, introduced at opening as "The Pier Bar," then later named "Pineapple Willy's Live." Later in 2019, they changed the name again, to "Willy's Pier Bar," which is used as a waiting area for dining guests to enjoy refreshing appetizers and an ice-cold beverage while listening to some of the best local musicians in the area.
Pineapple Willy's is so much more than a restaurant, or a bar, or even one family's effort to keep a piece of Panama City Beach history alive. It is a standing, working monument to the quintessential American dream, that just happens to be living in reality in one of the most popular Gulf Coast beach towns in the world.
Let's face it, there's something almost magical about the way a simple beginning can turn into a recognized establishment that patrons from around the world are proud to show off on their shirt. Such is definitely the case with the connection people feel after visiting the now iconic Pineapple Willy's in Panama City Beach, Florida.
Story by Will Estell · Originally published in Beach Happy Magazine, Issue 4
