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Mariano’s Hacienda celebrates 50th anniversary of frozen margarita machine
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By Kirk Dooley
Special Contributor
If 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.
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
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
Matt Sidhom mused recently over coffee could hang onto these precious mementos. about the present social woes and an idea for “I give her credit,” he said, laughing. “It was connecting with music, personalized giving, sort of her idea.” and nostalgia. Eight years in the making, the new Super
“People were so apart, and social media Awesome Mix app grew from an inspired idea seemed in some ways to be breaking them and was launched this spring by two recent apart even further,” he said. “People seemed SMU business school graduates. to be pushing people apart except those who Sidhom and his business partner, Samer agree with you.” Abousalbi, were oc-
Music has al- Music cupied with other ways revealed to us how much more is such a projects initially but brought the conalike we are than powerful cept to fruition afdifferent. Many of us older folks reconnection. ter noticing the isolation and pain the member making Matt Sidhom COVID-19 panmixtapes and CDs demic and recent in the ’80s and ’90s for our friends or that spe- political strife thrust upon people. cial someone we were wooing. “This seemed to be a way of pulling people
They were often very personal gifts with together that was sort of agnostic — Democrat notes and even photos or drawings added. or Republican,” Matt said. “You can, of course,
Sidhom smiled as he recalled making his make playlists on Spotify or other online ser-
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.”
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16 May 2021 | parkcitiespeople.com Shop May Be Closed, But Not Forgotten Wicker Basket couple still fills orders for flowers, other plants
By Evelyn Wolff
People Newspapers
On a Friday in March, Floyd and Johnetta Burke were making sure Presbyterians, Methodists, and Catholics would have palm branches for Palm Sunday services – just as they have done for many years.
The Burkes closed their retail shop, The Wicker Basket, in 2019, but devoted patrons still call for poinsettias at Christmas, altar flowers for funerals, and unique blooming gifts.
Longtime residents will remember the little shop on Eastern Avenue, which Julie Weissert founded in 1981.
Floyd and Johnetta were looking for a business they could do together and had bids on three: the Jack in the Box on Lovers Lane, The Wicker Basket, and another florist.
After all three proposals were accepted one afternoon, they weighed their options and went with The Wicker Basket.
“I was inspired by Miss Cane’s in Bossier City, Louisiana,” Johnetta said. “It was an antique shop that had been a florist, and I thought I could use antique and vintage containers to create beautiful arrangements.”
Johnetta is not one to throw something broken away. She loves old things and loves repurposing them. Over the years, she has filled garden trugs, watering cans, and bird feeders with violets, begonias, Gerber daisies, and greenery.
Floyd and Johnetta met at SMU in 1964.
Floyd had been recruited from his high school in Amarillo to play running back for the Mustangs and was studying business. He took a ceramics class, and just across the hall, hometown girl Johnetta Alexander was taking Intro to Drawing. THEN AND NOW: Floyd and Johnetta Burke at SMU, where they met in 1964 (PHOTO: LAUGHEAD PHOTOGRAPHERS) and on their front porch recently. (PHOTO: EVELYN WOLFF) Though The Wicker Basket storefront (as seen in a 1981 photo) has closed, the Burkes still provide altar flowers and other arrangements, and Johnetta repairs and refashions jewelry. (PHOTOS: COURTESY THE BURKES)
“Floyd was fast, but I was faster and chased him down,” she said. “We married in April of 1968 and graduated together that May.”
The newlyweds lived in an apartment on Dickens and then managed two apartment complexes before purchasing a home on Southwestern Boulevard in 1971. The two-bedroom, two-bath house was bursting at the seams as they welcomed their first two sons, Andrew and Spencer. Johnetta was expecting their third son, Nathan, when they underwent a massive remodel and added a second story.
“There were 44 children under six who lived on that block of Southwestern,” Floyd said. “Almost all of them played on very successful boys and girls soccer teams. Everything the kids were involved in, one of us attended.”
Today the Burkes live in a jewel box of a house on Southern Avenue in West Highland Park – the same neighborhood where Johnetta grew up. With cans of “oops” paint, Johnetta painted Wedgwood blue and geranium pink rooms to showcase the antiques they have collected over the past 53 years. Johnetta’s motto: “I know I can make this something beautiful.”
“I love it when people bring me their containers for me to fill with cut flowers or plants,” she said. “Sneak one of your favorite vases or containers out of the house, and let me create a beautiful arrangement for any special occasion.”
BLOOM COUNTING
Call 469-583-1532 to order custom arrangements for pick up or delivery from The Wicker Basket.
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