Big Bamboo History
the Original
Before it was a bar people talked about, Big Bamboo Lounge was just a place Bruce Muir opened.
Bruce had already lived a full life by then. He grew up in Michigan, went to good schools, and flew fighter planes in World War II. He piloted an F4U Corsair in the South Pacific—an airplane the Japanese called Whispering Death. He survived that, came home, ran his family’s business for a while, then eventually headed south.
Florida didn’t hand him instant success. A few ideas didn’t work out. Then he bought an old doctor’s house and turned it into a small bar and package store. No big plan. No branding exercise. Just a bar.
The Big Bamboo Lounge
The Boo became what it was because people kept showing up and leaving pieces of themselves behind.
Construction workers, locals, regulars, Disney cast members, animators. Business cards. Hats. Shirts. Drawings. Foreign money. Notes. If someone left it, Bruce found a place for it. When the walls filled up, the ceiling got its turn.
Beer was cheap. Cocktails were served in mason jars. Napkins were toilet paper—three sheets at a time. Credit cards weren’t welcome. Food barely existed unless someone ordered a pizza delivered.
The overall theme was Tiki. It’s sub theme was pre-WWII Hawaiian bar/military outpost. It was always December 1942…before the Pearl Harbor attack. The Christmas tree was always up, Big Band Music was the only music you could hear. No TVs. Just people living in the moment.
The Boo wasn’t trying to be cool. That’s why it was. An Orlando Sentinel writer once called it “an American treasure,” not because it was perfect, but because it was real.
Bruce passed away in 1999. The Boo eventually closed. But it’s legend lived on and inspired Big Bamboo Bayside, and perhaps soon, a rebirth. Details to come.
