14 May 2021 | parkcitiespeople.com
Business
‘THE MOST IMITATED RESTAURANT IN AMERICA’
Mariano’s Hacienda celebrates 50th anniversary of frozen margarita machine By Kirk Dooley
Special Contributor
I
f there were ever a perfect time to celebrate with a frozen margarita, May 11 would be the day. On that Taco Tuesday, Mariano Martinez will celebrate the 50th anniversary of his invention of the frozen margarita machine, which revolutionized the American restaurant industry. The original Mariano’s Hacienda location – also 50 years old in May – was on Greenville Avenue, just a stone’s throw from the Park Cities.
Our frozen margarita machine was duplicated throughout the nation, and it ushered in the National Drink of Baby Boomers. Mariano Martinez It featured a cantina bar section packed with Village Apartment swinging singles, SMU students, flight attendants, Dallas Cowboys, and local media personalities. As restaurant chains like Chili’s, Applebee’s, and Steak & Ale followed suit and rolled out frozen
LEFT: In this 1991 photo, Mariano Martinez shows off the frozen margarita machine at Mariano’s Hacienda. (PHOTO: COURTESY MARIANO’S HACIENDA) RIGHT, FROM LEFT: Mariano and Wanda Martinez with the original frozen margarita machine. (PHOTO: COURTESY THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION)
margarita machines to thirsty Americans in all 50 states, the tequila-based concoction became the national drink of choice. Suddenly all restaurants and mom-and-pop cafes could serve tasty, consistent frozen margaritas for a reasonable price without hiring a bartender. For many smaller restaurants, the margarita was the difference between breaking even and making a profit. After 35 good years in the Old Town Village on Greenville Avenue, Mariano’s moved to a larger location at 6300 Skillman Street at Larmada Street 15 years ago, and business never skipped a beat. “We changed a lot of things,”
Martinez said. “Our frozen margarita machine was duplicated throughout the nation, and it ushered in the National Drink of Baby Boomers. Mariano’s became the most imitated restaurant in America. The original margarita machine is now on permanent display at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C. That invention changed our nation’s culture forever.” Seventeen years ago, Martinez and his wife, Wanda, moved from their large East Dallas compound near White Rock Lake to a larger home in the heart of Highland Park. After six years of searching,
they found a 1914 home designed by Lang and Witchell, a prominent architectural firm in Dallas from 1905 to 1942. The firm created masterpieces such as Highland Park’s Town Hall and the State Fair Music Hall. The Highland Park home was built while SMU was being constructed, and it used the same bricks as SMU. Since 1914 the Martinezes are the second family to live there. Jessie Lee Johnson’s family, including son Searcy, were the original owners. “We loved living in East Dallas, but we made the move in order to have the emergency services that the Town of Highland Park is known for,” Martinez said. “As we
get older, a quick paramedic response time becomes more and more important to us. Our bedroom is upstairs, so we also added an elevator.” For Mariano and Wanda Martinez to take a moment to celebrate the golden anniversary of their restaurant and the invention of the frozen margarita machine will keep them busy for a while. But they need to conserve their energy because, in a few months, they will celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary – most likely with a couple of margaritas and a well-deserved toast to half a century of health, happiness, and blue agave.
Come Together With a ‘Mixtape’ App
Pair of SMU business school graduates channel music nostalgia of the ’80s and ’90s By Josh Hickman
Special Contributor Matt Sidhom mused recently over coffee about the present social woes and an idea for connecting with music, personalized giving, and nostalgia. “People were so apart, and social media seemed in some ways to be breaking them apart even further,” he said. “People seemed to be pushing people apart except those who agree with you.” Music has always revealed to us how much more alike we are than different. Many of us older folks remember making mixtapes and CDs in the ’80s and ’90s for our friends or that special someone we were wooing. They were often very personal gifts with notes and even photos or drawings added. Sidhom smiled as he recalled making his
future wife mix CDs and writing notes about each song. As the world began to digitize and become more online, she asked him how she could hang onto these precious mementos. “I give her credit,” he said, laughing. “It was sort of her idea.” Eight years in the making, the new Super Awesome Mix app grew from an inspired idea and was launched this spring by two recent SMU business school graduates. Sidhom and his business partner, Samer Abousalbi, were occupied with other projects initially but brought the concept to fruition after noticing the isolation and pain the COVID-19 pandemic and recent political strife thrust upon people. “This seemed to be a way of pulling people together that was sort of agnostic — Democrat or Republican,” Matt said. “You can, of course, make playlists on Spotify or other online ser-
Music is such a powerful connection. Matt Sidhom
Find The Super Awesome Mix app on the Apple app store, at superawesomemix.com, or through social media @superawesomemix. (PHOTOS: COURTESY MATT SIDHOM)
vices, but it was adding that personal touch to bring people together — remembering that concert we went to or that road trip we went on.” The more they talked to people in different places (Samron relocated to New York), the
more their confidence in the idea grew. “Music is such a powerful connection,” Sidhom stressed. “We added a feature where you could add your own voice to each track. Maybe a loved one passed away, and you now have their music and what they thought about it.” The audience isn’t just nostalgic Gen-Xers; a younger generation embraces the music and style of the mixtape era, often passed down by their parents. “A friend of mine told me she was just telling her 14-year-old son about making mixtapes by recording radio broadcasts. That oral history gets handed down,” Sidhom added with a chuckle. And on the graphics side, he said, “We will soon make it a marketplace for visual artists who can make a little money that way.” The app is free, but adding a personal voice intro costs 99 cents. People can add illustrations, either from a set provided by the app or ones supplied by the user. What does the future hold for this nostalgic idea? Matt beamed, “We’re really excited about the response we’ve gotten so far.”
