The First Frozen Margarita Machine Was Made In Dallas, Texas

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• The Margarita is a Texas favorite
• The frozen Margarita machine helped make a consistent product
• Frozen Margaritas rule Tex-Mex restaurants

Next time you order a frozen margarita at your favorite Mexican food restaurant, you have one man to thank for that icy, citrus, tastebud explosion. According to Visit Dallas, in 1971 Mariano Martinez created the first frozen margarita machine.

Frozen Margaritas had been around for at least 20 years at that point. Bartenders made them one at a time with a blender.

Martinez owned Mariano's Hacienda restaurant in East Dallas. His patrons loved most of the frozen margaritas that they ordered, but they were inconsistent.

Some were too runny and others too frozen, as each bartender made them slightly different. They also had a hard time keeping up with all of the orders.

Mariano Gets Inspiration At The Slurpee Machine

On a trip to 7-Eleven to grab a cup of coffee, he was struck with inspiration in the form of a Slurpee machine in the convenience store chain. If he could just get a machine like that to make his frozen margaritas, it would solve all of his problems.

After some trial and error, he finally found an ice cream machine that he was able to modify for his purposes, and he had the perfect frozen margaritas on tap for his patrons.

That same machine is now in the Smithsonian National Museum of American History. A similar machine can still be found at Mariano's Hacienda, and you can still go there and try the frozen margarita that started it all.