MARGARITA MACHINE INVENTOR KENNY BERNSTEIN $165,000 PEN

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ARIANO MARTINEZ always knew he was bound for orders. In the meantime, he saved his money and bought his success; it just took him a few years to figure out where first set of wheels – an All-State 175cc motorcycle from Sears. to find it. Just one year later, he was driving that motorcycle from his “I always knew that I wanted to be somebody, no home in East Dallas to driver’s education classes at Greenhill matter what I did,” says Martinez. “I tried a lot of Academy in Addison. At the time, driver’s education was � things because I didn’t know what I wanted to do.” something new; the course he enrolled in was a test program. �Ironically, his success came when he returned to something that he had When he learned that there was a one-year waiting list, 13- tried hard to escape. Growing up in East Dallas, his father managed an El year-old Martinez, who was too young for the program, placed Chico restaurant and young Mariano started bussing tables by the age of 9. his name on the list and then called regularly to see if his When he discovered that the change left on the tables belonged to the waiters, position had changed. not to the busboy, he quickly set his sights on waiting tables. But it would be “The lady who answered the phone got to know me, another three years before his father finally let him begin taking customers’ so she called me one day and said they’d had a last-minute

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14 TEXAS DRIVER MAGAZINE TEXAS DRIVER MAGAZINE 15 When Martinez became The Nightcaps’ Then they told Martinez that they “ The Dallas Morning News a nd Dallas “I bought a soft-serve ice crea m machine bass player, he found instant success and earned about $15 a night, which was Times Herald bot h ra n [t he photo], a nd a nd souped it up, ju st like you wou ld a was getting paid for one night’s work what standard pay. At the time, Martinez people went craz y. I star ted getting al l c a r,” Mar tine z says. “I kept experimenting his father earned in an entire week. was earning $200 a night with The kind s of invitations, like f rom t he Mex ic a n a nd ta sting, a nd once we got it right, we “At the time, I had aspirations of Nightcaps. C onsu late, t he Dal la s C owboys w ives, Ta ste put it in t he restaura nt.” becoming the next Trini Lopez,” he says, “It scared me. I saw my future, of Dal la s, t he Ju nior L ea g ue – e veryone To c al l t he first f rozen margarita referencing the Dallas singer who found and I didn’t like it. I realized that I wanted t he ba nd ito to come to t heir machine a n overnight success is a n instant success in 1963 with his smash hit, didn’t have what it takes to make it pa r ties.” u nderstatement. Imitators r u shed to “If I Had a Hammer.” Martinez knew big in the music business, and I could The restaura nt was a n immediate success, fol low while patrons r u shed to Mariano’s Lopez and was close friends with Trini’s end up being a $15-a-night chain a nd Mar tine z , who by t hen had traded in his for refi l ls. In October of 2005, t he younger brother, Jesse. Being so close to smoking alcoholic sideman.” fla shy Wi ldc at for a Che vy station wagon, Smit hsonian Americ a n History Mu seu m a dream that had come true for Trini Around the same time, he had met kne w he needed a c a r t hat wou ld help d raw added t he original machine, which had cancellation. She asked if I could be there made Martinez more confident about his own future. He Lee Trevino, a rising golf star who at tention to t he restaura nt. He bought his been retired a nd replaced by updated the next day, and I was.” dropped out of high school and worked full-time, putting worked at a golf course Martinez first col lectible c a r, a white 1954 Mercedes models, to it s col lection. He wasn’t yet old enough to qualify for in several hours a week at his parent’s restaurant and then frequented. He briefly switched his Ben z 220A Cabriolet conver tible. The combination of upsc ale Mex ic a n a driver’s license, but the driver’s ed classes playing in The Nightcaps on the weekends. attention to golf. “It was per fect for f u nctions, becau se food a nd f rozen margarita s was a profitable were so new that he “slipped under the “When I joined The Nightcaps, we were more popular “I wanted to be Lee,” he says. e veryone noticed t hat c a r,” he says. “I wanted one; today Mar tine z ow ns two Mariano’s radar” and was able to take his driving locally than Trini,” he says. “I was making really good “Then I watched and saw how good to get a va nity plate w it h t he restaura nt’s loc ations a nd four L a Hacienda Ra nch test. In 1958, at the age of 14, he got his money.” he played, and I knew I didn’t have na me, but it was too long.” restaura nt s. Those restaura nt s have paved dad to sign the paperwork for his first car The new lifestyle, of course, did not fit with his somber what it takes. I wanted to be a singer Instead, a f riend made a customized t he way for him to indu lge his pa ssion for – a brand new bright red Triumph TR3. tan Bel-Air. He sold the Chevrolet and bought a brand- like Trini Lopez or a golfer like Lee a irbr u shed license plate t hat he substituted for c a rs. “I lived in that car,” he recalls fondly. “I new Buick Wildcat, which is best remembered as Buick’s Trevino, but unfortunately, I played t hen-Nor t h Texa s State University. t he f ront plate. It was a n effective marketing After add ing a bra nd-ne w 1973 couldn’t even tell you how many miles I first performance car. The emerald green convertible After one semester, he enrol led in t he tool, since t he c a r was valet-pa rked in a prominent spot Mercedes 450 SLC to his stable, he turned put on it. I wanted a Corvette, but I needed turned heads everywhere Martinez went, and today he inaug ural cla ss of t he ne w El Centro e verywhere he went. his at tention to cla ssic c a rs, includ ing a something I could afford payments on.” chuckles as he recalls the luxury sports coupe. It’s hard C ol lege, where he ea rned a two-yea r 1947 Chrysler Tow n a nd C ou ntry Woody, Martinez gravitated toward older to say whether the car or the musician first caught the bu siness degree a nd went back to t he a 1948 Ja g ua r w it h P10 0 headlight s a nd, friends, and by the age of 16, he was eye of a young girl named Wanda Wade, whom he began t hing he kne w best – t he restaura nt later, a Mercedes 280 conver tible. already beginning to think like an dating. Wanda has been married to Mariano for 32 years indu stry. “Eventual ly, t he upkeep a nd t he time entrepreneur. Realizing that the Triumph now, and those who knew the couple back then still talk I was spend ing on my c a rs was ju st too was too flashy for a serious businessman, about his Wildcat. RAISING A GLASS TO SUCCESS much, so I had to s w itch to ju st t he ne w he sold it and bought a much more sedate “We have some friends who were Wanda’s neighbors In t he ea rly ‘ 70s, t he restaura nt c a rs,” he says. “Since t hen, I’ve had a ton tan Chevrolet Bel Air. The brand-new when we were dating, and they still talk about that bright bu siness was completely d i fferent of Mercedes, a nd Wa nda d rives t he E55 car was his attempt to be taken seriously, green car coming down the street to pick her up,” he says. t ha n it is today. AMG.” but when he joined a rock ‘n’ roll band “They joke about how it always looked like it had just “You d id n’t have celebrity chefs ; it But he strayed f rom t hat loyalty recent ly, a couple of years later, the Bel Air was been washed, which is how I’ve always kept my cars.” was very blue col lar,” Mar tine z says. buy ing a 2005 Bent ley GT. quickly retired. Martinez figured his path was set; he’d be a successful “I was try ing to t hink of what I cou ld “When I read t here was a two-yea r musician and now he had the beautiful girl as well. do d i fferent ly.” waiting list, I had to have one,” he says. CARS AND GUITARS However, those plans came screeching to a halt one night In 1971, w it h $50 0 a nd a Mariano a nd Wa nda have a second In the early 1960s, one of the hottest tickets between sets. During his break, he approached the bar to SBA loa n, he opened Mariano’s Mariano’s Restaura nt a nd Ca ntina was a success beyond home in Pebble Beach, where a Porsche in Dallas was The Nightcaps, a local band get a drink and, finding it too crowded, wandered into an Restaura nt a nd Ca ntina, t he most his w i ldest d rea ms, but his biggest accomplishment 911 wait s in t he ga rage. that meshed blues, rockabilly and rock adjacent lounge, where a jazz trio was playing. expensive Mex ic a n restaura nt in was yet to come. Like e very ot her Mex ic a n restaura nt, “ The weat her t here is so nice, a nd we go ‘n’ roll into a seamless crowd-pleasing “I was about 20, and they were a lot older,” he recalls. t he Sout hwest. The restaura nt took Mariano’s was chal lenged by a way to make consistent ly to Ca rmel a lot,” he says. “ The first t hing I package. The group’s only album, “Wine, “They were pretty good. So I sat and talked with them golf like Trini L opez a nd sang like a u nique approach, offering live good f rozen margarita s. They weren’t very time-efficient, do when we get t here is fire up t he Porsche Wine, Wine” was recorded in 1961 and when they went on break. They were all chain smoking L ee Tre vino.” enter ta inment a nd a f u l l ba r. Unable a s t hey had to be made-to-order in a blender or else t hey a nd head to t he Monterey Peninsu la found huge regional success, selling more and drinking scotch straight up; they were wearing these The wake-up c al l sent Mar tine z to afford adver tising, he t hre w a press wou ld lose t heir consistency. C ou ntry Club.” than 10,000 copies and yielding a couple tuxedos that looked like they had been worn and dry back to t he books, a nd at t he a ge of pa r ty a nd, for his promotional photo, During a stop at 7-Ele ven one day, t he Slurpee machine Where, presu mably, he enjoys a f rozen of hit singles. cleaned too many times.” 21 he ea rned his high school general rented a “ ba nd ito” out fit. c aught his eye a nd a light bu lb went on in Mar tine z’s margarita. equ ivalency degree a nd enrol led at head.

Above: Mariano Martinez p ours a drink f rom his invention, the f rozen margarita machine, circa 1971. Above : Mariano Martinez ’s success now includes t wo Mariano’s rest aurants and four L a Hacienda Ranch Locations. T he original machine now is in the Smithsonian. Photo courtes y of the Smithsonian Institution.

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