The world’s first frozen margarita machine was invented in Dallas 1971 by restaurateur Mariano Martinez. However the word “innovation” seems more appropriate than “invention” considering Mariano simply used a soft serve ice cream machine for his new creation.
In 1971, young Mariano Martinez started serving margaritas in his new restaurant, Mariano’s Mexican Cuisine. His customers created a high demand for the newly popular frozen drink. With their blenders hard-pressed to produce a consistent mix for the drink they made from Mariano’s father’s recipe, his bartenders were in rebellion. Then came inspiration for the beleaguered boss in the form of a Slurpee machine at a 7-Eleven, a machine invented in Dallas in 1960 to make carbonated beverages slushy enough to drink through a straw. But the 7-Eleven Corporation wouldn’t sell him a Slurpee machine.
He and a friend, a chemist named John Hogan tinkered with the recipe (hint: the secret is in the amount of sugar) and adapted a soft serve ice cream machine to make margarita slush, and word of mouth signaled a hit for his fledgling business. The machine was such a success that, according to Martinez, “it brought bars in Tex-Mex restaurants front and center. People came to Mariano’s for that frozen margarita out of the machine.”
Mariano couldn’t patent something already patented, so many versions of the frozen margarita machine subsequently came into the market. His machine, however, made Mariano’s restaurant a success, leading to other restaurants.