![](\"https:\/\/mms.businesswire.com\/media\/20260508717193\/en\/2800014\/5\/Mariano_Martinez.jpg\")
<\/a><\/a>\nBorn in Dallas in 1944, Martinez and his family were the first Mexican-American family to move into Dallas\u2019 Lakewood when he was five. At 25, he opened Mariano\u2019s Mexican Cuisine after selling everything he owned to obtain a Small Business Administration loan to open. Four days after opening, facing the operational impact of making so many frozen margaritas in blenders, he was inspired at a 7-Eleven after a chance glance at a Slurpee machine.<\/p>
\nWith his father\u2019s margarita recipe and what he had \u201crigged up\u201d, Martinez helped Latin culture explode worldwide in the subsequent years. By the mid-70s, the margarita had replaced the martini as the number one cocktail in America. By the late 70s, salsa had replaced ketchup as the most popular condiment. Today, frozen margarita machines can be found in 47 countries.<\/p>
\nThe increase in demand for the, at the time, largely unknown Mexican spirit tequila, led the tequila producers of Mexico to recognize Martinez for having done more for tequila than any other person in the world. Martinez\u2019s creation is also credited for helping popularize Tex-Mex culture and cuisine, the now staple of American patio-sitting.<\/p>
\n\u201cThe World\u2019s First Frozen Margarita Machine\u201d was added to the halls of the Smithsonian after curator Dr. Rayna Green was told about the origin story while researching an exhibit on Tex-Mex food \u2013 a Texas tall tale that she then painstakingly researched and successfully confirmed.<\/p>
\nToday, Martinez owns and operates five Mexican restaurants<\/a> in North Texas that employ more than 600 people and serve 1.3 million guests per year. Each delivers the same iconic Tex-Mex tradition, lively ambiance, and handcrafted margaritas Mariano started serving over half a century ago serving as testament to Martinez\u2019s legacy.<\/p>