Frozen Margarita Turns 50, Invented In Dallas

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(Dallas, TX) — The frozen margarita machine is 50-years-old as of this month, and it started in North Texas.

Dallas restaurateur Mariano Martinez says customers at his original Mariano’s Hacienda location on Greenville Avenue were grumbling about margaritas that weren’t cold enough. He says he got the idea for the frozen margarita machine while watching some kids buy a Slurpee in a 7-Eleven.

Mariano bought a soft-serve ice cream machine, monkeyed with it, and made the first frozen margarita on May 11th, 1971. That original machine is on loan to the Smithsonian in D.C.