gc
12 October 2003, 10:44 PM
Kirk Dooley: A Dallas legend has served its last margarita
12:02 AM CDT on Sunday, October 12, 2003
By KIRK DOOLEY - DMN
http://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/viewpoints/stories/101203dnedidooley.ab28e.html
Years ago, when the Tom Landry era came to a close in Dallas, the public's shock registered on the Richter scale. I felt as if someone had clobbered me with a right hook. Then, when Blackie Sherrod wrote his final Sunday column for The Dallas Morning News, a left hook left me stammering. And now, I have been knocked out cold by the third worst moment in modern Dallas history.
Mariano's Restaurant on Greenville Avenue has served its last margarita.
Oh, but I can smile about it now, because I drank it.
After 32 years, five months and four days, Mariano's in the Old Town Village shut down last weekend. Business was good, as it had been for more than three decades, but the landlord wanted a "big box" national tenant, so a pet store is scheduled to be built on the site.
Mariano's was more than just another place to eat Mexican food. It was as close to a Tex-Mex legend as we have had in Dallas. The restaurant revolutionized the Mexican food industry when Mariano Martinez created the frozen margarita machine in the early 1970s.
If he somehow had gotten a patent on his tequila-laced frozen concoction, he would be a billionaire today. From coast to coast and around the world, the frozen margarita has changed the face of Mexican food, revolutionized the casual drinking environment and inspired more headaches than the American telemarketing industry.
Today, tens of thousands of margarita machines are pouring out the frozen concoction that Mr. Martinez created, Jimmy Buffett popularized and millions of people have enjoyed. In 1984, Mr. Martinez received an award from the Tequila Producers of Mexico congratulating him for single-handedly doing more for the tequila industry than anyone else in the world.
And it all began with one restaurant in Dallas!
The original machine, which has been on display at Mariano's Restaurant, now will be donated to the Smithsonian.
And don't feel sorry for Mr. Martinez. His Arlington Mariano's will remain open. And the Old Town Mariano's will reopen as La Hacienda Ranch on Preston Road near Campbell Road. It will be Mr. Martinez's fourth La Hacienda Ranch location in the Dallas area. Those businesses are booming, as their margaritas are flowing.
But there I sat last weekend in the Old Town Mariano's, sad about drinking the last margarita ever served in that historic restaurant. It was part wake and part funeral. The door was being locked as a buddy and I finished our margaritas with a toast.
The only people in the room were members of the staff, enjoying a bittersweet moment because the next day none of them would work there anymore. They all were offered jobs with Mr. Martinez's other restaurants, and most have taken him up on that, but they felt the same way I did: Why can't this go on forever?
Several years ago, my wife, Charlotte, and I wandered into Adair's in Deep Ellum about midnight, hoping to score a huge Adair's cheeseburger. Our pal R.L. Adair told us that the grill had been shut down for the night. But he saw the pathetic yearning in our eyes and fired up the grill for two more cheeseburgers.
Later that night, he shut down the establishment, went home and fell asleep. Early the next morning, his wife, Lois, found him dead of a heart attack.
Charlotte and I had eaten the last two cheeseburgers R.L. Adair ever cooked.
I wish R.L. still were around. A legendary Adair's burger sure would have gone good with the last margarita at Mariano's.
Kirk Dooley is a Dallas writer. His latest book, Tex-Mex, will be published in 2004.
12:02 AM CDT on Sunday, October 12, 2003
By KIRK DOOLEY - DMN
http://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/viewpoints/stories/101203dnedidooley.ab28e.html
Years ago, when the Tom Landry era came to a close in Dallas, the public's shock registered on the Richter scale. I felt as if someone had clobbered me with a right hook. Then, when Blackie Sherrod wrote his final Sunday column for The Dallas Morning News, a left hook left me stammering. And now, I have been knocked out cold by the third worst moment in modern Dallas history.
Mariano's Restaurant on Greenville Avenue has served its last margarita.
Oh, but I can smile about it now, because I drank it.
After 32 years, five months and four days, Mariano's in the Old Town Village shut down last weekend. Business was good, as it had been for more than three decades, but the landlord wanted a "big box" national tenant, so a pet store is scheduled to be built on the site.
Mariano's was more than just another place to eat Mexican food. It was as close to a Tex-Mex legend as we have had in Dallas. The restaurant revolutionized the Mexican food industry when Mariano Martinez created the frozen margarita machine in the early 1970s.
If he somehow had gotten a patent on his tequila-laced frozen concoction, he would be a billionaire today. From coast to coast and around the world, the frozen margarita has changed the face of Mexican food, revolutionized the casual drinking environment and inspired more headaches than the American telemarketing industry.
Today, tens of thousands of margarita machines are pouring out the frozen concoction that Mr. Martinez created, Jimmy Buffett popularized and millions of people have enjoyed. In 1984, Mr. Martinez received an award from the Tequila Producers of Mexico congratulating him for single-handedly doing more for the tequila industry than anyone else in the world.
And it all began with one restaurant in Dallas!
The original machine, which has been on display at Mariano's Restaurant, now will be donated to the Smithsonian.
And don't feel sorry for Mr. Martinez. His Arlington Mariano's will remain open. And the Old Town Mariano's will reopen as La Hacienda Ranch on Preston Road near Campbell Road. It will be Mr. Martinez's fourth La Hacienda Ranch location in the Dallas area. Those businesses are booming, as their margaritas are flowing.
But there I sat last weekend in the Old Town Mariano's, sad about drinking the last margarita ever served in that historic restaurant. It was part wake and part funeral. The door was being locked as a buddy and I finished our margaritas with a toast.
The only people in the room were members of the staff, enjoying a bittersweet moment because the next day none of them would work there anymore. They all were offered jobs with Mr. Martinez's other restaurants, and most have taken him up on that, but they felt the same way I did: Why can't this go on forever?
Several years ago, my wife, Charlotte, and I wandered into Adair's in Deep Ellum about midnight, hoping to score a huge Adair's cheeseburger. Our pal R.L. Adair told us that the grill had been shut down for the night. But he saw the pathetic yearning in our eyes and fired up the grill for two more cheeseburgers.
Later that night, he shut down the establishment, went home and fell asleep. Early the next morning, his wife, Lois, found him dead of a heart attack.
Charlotte and I had eaten the last two cheeseburgers R.L. Adair ever cooked.
I wish R.L. still were around. A legendary Adair's burger sure would have gone good with the last margarita at Mariano's.
Kirk Dooley is a Dallas writer. His latest book, Tex-Mex, will be published in 2004.