ObservanceMonday, February 22, 2027
National Margarita Day
- Date
- Recurs
- Every year on February 22
- Category
- Beer
National Margarita Day falls on February 22 and lives almost entirely in bars and restaurants, in specials priced to the date and frozen-machine promotions. Britannica dates the observance itself to 2008 but names no founder. The drink behind it has an origin even less settled: at least seven people have been credited with inventing the margarita, and the evidence decisively favors none of them.
History
The observance is recent and thinly documented. Britannica states that margarita fans began celebrating National Margarita Day in 2008, observed annually on February 22. It names no founder, and no organization publishes a sourceable account of having started it. Several aggregator sites name a specific person and year; none cites anything, so this page does not repeat them. What is well recorded is what the day actually looks like — restaurant and tequila-brand specials, frequently priced at $2.22.
The drink's own history is a genuine muddle, and the honest summary is that nobody knows who invented it. Britannica puts the likely origin in the 1930s or 1940s and describes the invention claims as disputed. The claimants include David Daniel "Danny" Negrete, said to have made it in 1936 at the Hotel Garci Crespo in Tehuacán for a girlfriend named Margarita; Carlos "Danny" Herrera of Rancho La Gloria near Tijuana, who said he made it in the late 1940s for the actress Marjorie King and adapted her name; Don Carlos Orozco, who claimed 1941 at Hussong's Cantina in Ensenada; Francisco "Pancho" Morales, said to have produced it by accident in Ciudad Juárez in 1942 while attempting a magnolia; the Texas socialite Margaret Sames, credited with a 1948 party in Acapulco; Johnny Durlesser in Los Angeles, around 1936–37; and Doña Bertha of Taxco, in 1930. It may not have been invented at a single moment at all: the margarita closely resembles the daisy, a sour-family cocktail that eventually took tequila, and the picador — tequila, Cointreau and citrus — published in 1937 in William J. Tarling's Café Royal Cocktail Book.
The rise is traceable even where the invention is not. The Smithsonian places the drink's first mixing in bars along the California–Mexico border in the 1940s, and it was popularized in southern California before spreading. Young's Market Company put it into José Cuervo advertising in 1945, and Esquire named it Drink of the Month in December 1953. By the 1970s it had passed the martini as the most popular American cocktail.
The frozen version has the clearest paper trail here, because the machine ended up in a museum. On May 11, 1971, the Dallas restaurateur Mariano Martinez — whose bartenders could not keep up with demand and whose blenders produced a different drink every time — adapted a soft-serve ice cream machine, with help from a chemist friend named John Hogan and using his father's recipe. He had taken the idea from a 7-Eleven Slurpee machine. The Smithsonian's National Museum of American History acquired that original machine in 2005.
Timeline
- 1930–1948 — The window in which the margarita is variously claimed to have been invented, by at least seven different people in Mexico and the United States. Britannica describes the claims as disputed and the origin as uncertain.
- 1937 — The picador — tequila, Cointreau and citrus, closely related to the margarita — is published in William J. Tarling's Café Royal Cocktail Book.
- 1945 — Young's Market Company advertises José Cuervo using the margarita, with the line "Margarita: it's more than a girl's name."
- December 1953 — Esquire names the margarita its Drink of the Month, giving a recipe of tequila, Triple Sec and lime or lemon juice, salt on the rim.
- May 11, 1971 — Mariano Martinez puts the first frozen margarita machine into service in Dallas, adapted from a soft-serve ice cream machine.
- 2008 — National Margarita Day begins to be observed, on February 22. The Smithsonian had acquired the Martinez machine three years earlier, in 2005.
How to observe
Order one made with fresh lime juice, and ask what is in it. The drink is three ingredients, and the distance between a good one and a bad one is almost entirely the lime and the proportions — not the price of the tequila.
For the frozen one with its history attached, the National Museum of American History's online exhibition carries the Martinez machine's object record and the Tex-Mex story it belongs to.
The bar specials are real and cluster on the date itself, often priced at $2.22. A virgin margarita is a documented variation rather than an improvisation, so it is a reasonable thing to order by name.
Frequently asked questions
When is National Margarita Day?
February 22, every year. The date does not move.
Who invented the margarita?
No one knows. Britannica dates the drink to the 1930s or 1940s, calls the origin uncertain, and lists at least seven disputed claimants across Mexico and the United States, named in the history section above. It may also have evolved out of the daisy or the picador rather than being invented at a single moment.
Who started National Margarita Day?
Britannica says margarita fans began celebrating it in 2008 and gives no founder. Named founders circulate online without sources, so this page does not repeat them.
Where is the first frozen margarita machine?
In the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History, which acquired it in 2005. Mariano Martinez built it in Dallas in 1971 out of a soft-serve ice cream machine, after seeing a 7-Eleven Slurpee machine.
Is there a version without alcohol?
Yes, and it has a name. Britannica describes the virgin margarita, which replaces the tequila and orange liqueur with club soda and lemons or limes.
When is National Margarita Day?
| Year | Date | Day |
|---|---|---|
| 2027 | February 22 | Monday |
| 2028 | February 22 | Tuesday |
| 2029 | February 22 | Thursday |
| 2030 | February 22 | Friday |
| 2031 | February 22 | Saturday |
Sources
- Encyclopædia Britannica, Margarita — https://www.britannica.com/topic/margarita-cocktail → ingredients and the salt rim; origin dated to the 1930s or '40s with the invention claims described as disputed; the Negrete, Herrera, Orozco, Morales, Sames, Durlesser and Doña Bertha accounts; the daisy and the picador (Tarling, Café Royal Cocktail Book, 1937); southern California as the first point of popularization; Young's Market Company's 1945 José Cuervo advertising and its tagline; Esquire's December 1953 Drink of the Month and its recipe; the margarita passing the martini by the 1970s; National Margarita Day beginning in 2008 and observed on February 22; the virgin margarita.
- Smithsonian National Museum of American History, press release: National Museum of American History Acquires Frozen Margarita Machine (September 27, 2005) — https://americanhistory.si.edu/press/releases/national-museum-american-history-acquires-frozen-margarita-machine → the machine invented May 11, 1971 by Dallas restaurateur Mariano Martinez; the 2005 acquisition and the Tupperware and Krispy Kreme comparison; blenders' inconsistency under high demand.
- Smithsonian National Museum of American History, Frozen Margaritas! (Resetting the Table / Mexican Food Revolution online exhibition) — https://americanhistory.si.edu/explore/exhibitions/food/online/resetting-table/mexican-food-revolution/frozen-margaritas → the drink first mixed in bars along the California–Mexico border in the 1940s; frozen versions popular in the 1950s; the margarita surpassing the martini by the 1970s; the 7-Eleven Slurpee machine, in use since 1965, as the specific inspiration; chemist John Hogan's help and Martinez's father's recipe.
- TODAY (NBC News), National Margarita Day deals — https://www.today.com/food/drinks/national-margarita-day-deals-2025-rcna192074 → the February 22 date and the day's character as restaurant and tequila-brand specials, including $2.22 pricing.
Source conflict, disclosed rather than averaged: the museum's press release says only that Martinez was inspired by "a frozen drink machine he saw at a local convenience store," while the museum's own exhibition page identifies it as a 7-Eleven Slurpee machine and adds John Hogan and the father's recipe. The page follows the exhibition page — the more specific statement, from the same institution — rather than splitting the difference. The press release also notes that frozen margaritas existed from the invention of the blender in the 1930s; the exhibition dates their popularity to the 1950s. Those are not in conflict, and the page states existence and popularity separately.
Not claimed for want of a source: any named founder for this observance. nationalmargaritaday.com was examined and is a tequila-brand promotional page with no founding account, so it is not cited.
Rejected as sources: nationaltoday, nationaldaycalendar, checkiday, timeanddate, and content-farm and AI-generated pages.
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