Jupiter's most famous waterfront bar turns 20 in 2023. Here are 5 things to know about it
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JUPITER — Before Alan Jackson’s boss drove him insane and to The Square Grouper to film his “Five O’Clock Somewhere” music video back in 2003, the local favorite was nothing but a beer shack on a slab of dirt next to the Jupiter Inlet and a mobile-home park.
This year, the bar celebrated its 20th birthday. Here are some things you may not know about The Square Grouper.
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Jim Burg, the owner of the iconic watering hole, has a relationship with the country star that predates the bar. And when Jackson came by the plywood shack three months after it opened, he kickstarted two decades of success.
“Guanabanas didn’t exist. It was just woods. … And there was a trailer park to the east of us with about 150 trailers in it and that was it,” Burg said. “Alan just showed up and did an impromptu concert and you couldn’t get a parking spot within 2 miles of the place. … It was crazy, like a rocket went off.”
Alan may have put the bar on the map, but he isn’t the only star that’s been on The Square Grouper’s stage.
Jackson’s love of the bar brought more opportunities cascading down on The Square Grouper. The bar has hosted other country stars and even a Victoria’s Secret photoshoot.
The Jupiter gem has had plenty of country singers follow Jackson’s lead. Joe Nichols and Sugarland have performed there. Other famous patrons include Kid Rock, who owns across the Federal Bridge in Jupiter Inlet Colony, and Kenny Chesney.
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But Burg said the secret to The Square Grouper’s success comes down to his team of bartenders and keeping the property what it was meant to be: a no-fuss bar with a great view of the water.
“Come in and grab a cocktail, sit and watch the water, but we don’t have table service,” Burg said. “You don’t have the pressure of somebody waiting over you. You don’t have the pressure of somebody trying to turn tables. You just come in and enjoy yourself.”
When Jim Burg bought the property, he didn’t even have a plan to put a bar there.
Burg comes from a real-estate development background and originally wanted to put a condo building on the property, which Jupiter didn’t allow.
So he got a license to sell wine and beer — and eventually liquor — from the bait-and-tackle shop that is now The Square Grouper.
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And by the way, a square grouper isn’t a fish.
The name of the bar is actually a nickname that The Coast Guard used for over-boarded bales of contraband marijuana. The term for the washed -p bales was coined in South Florida in the 1970s, when square groupers weren’t a rare find.
Lianna Norman covers northern Palm Beach County for The Palm Beach Post. You can reach her at lnorman@pbpost.com. You can follow her reporting on social media @LiannaNorman on Twitter.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Square Grouper in Jupiter: Facts on tiki bar in Alan Jackson's video
