Cheeseburger in Paradise was a casual dining restaurant chain in the United States but is now a single restaurant in Secaucus, New Jersey. The first restaurant opened on August 19, 2002, in the Southport area of Indianapolis, Indiana. It is a theme restaurant named for the song "Cheeseburger in Paradise" by American pop music singerJimmy Buffett. The chain was a partnership of Buffett's company, the Orlando, Florida-based Margaritaville Holdings LLC, and OSI Restaurant Partners, with Buffett licensing the name and Outback Steakhouse operating the franchising of restaurants. It is currently a subsidiary of Luby's. In September 2009, Cheeseburger in Paradise was sold to Paradise Restaurant Group, LLC. Jimmy Buffett was only a Royalty Partner receiving 2% of profits until selling Paradise Restaurant Group the rights to the song "Cheeseburger in Paradise". In December 2012, Luby's purchased Paradise Restaurant Group for $11 million, thereby acquiring all of the restaurants and ending Jimmy Buffett's association with the chain. At the time of the sale, the company had 23 locations in 14 states. In August 2018, all restaurants except for the Omaha, Nebraska, and Secaucus, New Jersey, locations were closed, including the original restaurant in Indianapolis. The Omaha location closed in early October 2018. The only remaining Cheeseburger in Paradise location left open is in Secaucus.
Closings
After acquisition by Luby's, a number of the chain's locations were closed. In August 2014, Luby's announced to management and employees that half of the chain's remaining restaurants would close, either immediately or in the following few weeks. Affected restaurants included those Fort Myers, Florida; Fishers, Indiana; Terre Haute, Indiana; Evansville, Indiana; Kansas City, Kansas; Middleton, Wisconsin; Sterling Heights, Michigan; and Pasadena, Maryland. Many of these locations were to be rebranded Fuddruckers Deluxe Bar and Grill, another concept owned by Luby's and a full-service version of their Fuddrucker's chain. Ultimately not all of them were, including the one in Fishers, Indiana and California, Maryland. As of August 21, 2018, only the Omaha, NE, and Secaucus, NJ, locations remained open. As of September 28, 2018, the Secaucus, NJ restaurant is the only one still open.
A chain named Cheeseburger Restaurants based in Portola, California has one of their restaurants located in oceanfront Lahaina, Hawaii also named "Cheeseburger in Paradise". This chain, which began in 1989, has no relation to Jimmy Buffett's business. Buffett sued the owners in 1997. After a four-year legal battle, a settlement was reached that allowed Laren Gartner and Edna Bayliff to keep the name at their existing restaurants in Lahaina and Waikiki but prevented them from using it at any additional locations.
