Back in 1949, Marius and his wife opened a bar in Gustavia that is still a legendary place today. The question is whether they could have chosen a better location, as it is on the corner between the only street leading into the town and the parallel street leading out of it. In other words, anyone who had business in Gustavia had to pass Le Select. Naturally, it quickly became the natural gathering place in Gustavia.
It was (and still is) the perfect place to just sit and relax while the world rushes by. Here you can still eat various types of hamburgers and enjoy a beer or rum punch at a reasonable price.
Even though there are plenty of other bars nearby today, Le Select is always full—all day long and well into the evening. Between November 7 and 9, 1999, Le Select celebrated its 50th anniversary, and it was clear that Marius had made many friends around the world over the years.
The hotels on the island were fully booked several months in advance, and people flocked to the island to celebrate a bar that had been around for 50 years. And there were more celebrities than usual that weekend. Among others, Jimmy Buffet, who was a good friend of Marius, came and gave a tribute concert where he naturally played the signature tune for Le Select – “Cheeseburger in Paradise”.
Even today, there is no visitor to St. Barth who does not sit down for a while at Le Select to watch celebrities and ordinary people pass by. And most people sit there more than once.
