Remembering ‘Pool Bar Jim’s’ Jim Lisenby: Hilton Head’s beloved bartender and friend to all
Beloved Hilton Head local, Jim Lisenby, known for crafting the island’s best frozen drinks and beach cocktails and was never without a bright smile, a bushy white mustache and a colorful Hawaiian shirt, died at the age of 76 early Saturday morning.
For decades, the namesake behind Pool Bar Jim’s has served joy to locals and visitors in the form of a Pain Killer, Lava Flow or Mudslide.
Jim started as a bartender on the island in 1979 at Sea Pines Beach Club. Later, he opened Pool Bar Jim’s at the Marriott Grande Ocean Resort. The establishment eventually moved to the Sea Crest Resort in 2016. He also owned his own nightclub called Jim’s Paradise and wrote a book with more than 1,000 drink recipes, including classic bar favorites and original mixes like the Daufuskie Freeze (a rum-strawberry-coconut-orange drink).
But even more than his dedication to creating the perfect version of any bar-goers drink of choice, Pool Bar Jim never knew a stranger and was widely-treasured by community members, whether they lived near or far.
Memories shared on social media from locals, vacationers and other food and beverage business owners revealed just that.
A mother commented about Jim surprising her children with a cup of cool whip and cherries just to make them feel special. He had done the same for her when she was a child. A husband shared that he met his wife for the first time at PBJ’s. A wife wrote that she and her husband first met Jim on her honeymoon in 1978.
Some posted photos of drinks they were enjoying in honor of the island’s bartending legend. Many shared photos they had taken with Jim throughout the years. But all shared appreciation for Jim’s unique kindness that remained constant even on the bar’s busiest days.
Andrew Carmines, owner of Hudson’s Seafood, first met Jim when he moved back to Hilton Head in 2006. They would support each other’s establishments: Carmines would go and visit the bar when it was at the Marriott, and Jim and his lifelong partner, Sue Zook, would come into Hudson’s on rainy summer days to enjoy a meal.
That was how they first got to know each other, but Jim’s leadership and dedication to his craft has stuck with Carmines for the long haul.
Jim’s obsession with quality resonated with Carmines. He recalled Jim and Sue showing up hours before the bar opened to peel fresh bananas and take the stems off fresh strawberries instead of buying a bag of frozen fruit. He prioritized doing things the right way, Carmines said.
“I think he recognized that you have to set yourself apart, and in order to do so, sometimes it takes a little bit more time, energy and effort, and he did that successfully by by not taking shortcuts,” Carmines said.
Jim was an old school operator with the bartender’s gift of remembering people, even Carmines’ father-in-law who only stopped through town once a year, he said.
Beth Alice Doudoukjian met Jim when she moved to the island in 2007. She was Jim’s liquor representative, so his bar became one of her favorite places to spend time on the weekends. She, along with several other friends who knew and loved Jim, went to the bar on Monday to drink frozen drinks in his honor.
“He was always excited about life in general,” Doudoukjian said. “It always seemed like it was a good day with him.”
When asked what makes a good bartender in a 2020 interview with Punch, an online publication dedicated to drinking culture, Jim responded, “Most anybody can bartend. But I can’t teach people how to treat people, how to appreciate the business they give.”
This story was originally published February 25, 2025 at 11:17 AM.
