Mariano's Hacienda

It was 1971, and Mariano Martinez had just opened his first restaurant. It was an instant sensation – unfortunately! “We couldn't make our margaritas fast enough,” remembers Mariano, “And our bartenders? They were just trying to keep those blenders going and the customers from doing the same!”

After many sleepless nights, Mariano stopped for coffee in his neighborhood 7-11. As he watched a Slurpee machine go round and round, his own wheels started turning. An old soft-serve ice cream machine, his father’s secret recipe and a whole lot of tinkering (and taste-testing!) later, the first Frozen Margarita Machine was born in Dallas, Texas.

The rest, of course, is history – literally. Mariano’s original frozen margarita machine was INDUCTED INTO THE SMITHSONIAN’S NATIONAL MUSEUM OF AMERICAN HISTORY IN WASHINGTON, D.C. IN OCTOBER 2005.