Hussong's, however, has enjoyed widespread popularity as the home of the original margarita. Cesena was a ranch operator by trade, and it is disputed whether she was the daughter of a German ambassador as the story claims. Bartender Don Carlos Orozco reputedly named a new drink after Mexican-German patron Margarita Henkel Cesena, a frequent customer to the cantina. Hussong's Cantina also claims to have been the site of the margarita's creation in Ensenada, Baja California, in 1941. Īccording to Jose Cuervo, the cocktail was invented in 1938 by a bartender in honor of Mexican showgirl Rita de la Rosa. The story was debunked in 1992 by the San Diego Reader. This story was related by Herrera and also by bartender Albert Hernandez, acknowledged for popularizing a margarita in San Diego after 1947, at the La Plaza restaurant in La Jolla. One of the earliest stories is of the margarita being invented in 1938 by Carlos 'Danny' Herrera at his restaurant Rancho La Gloria, halfway between Tijuana and Rosarito, Baja California, created for customer and former Ziegfeld dancer Marjorie King, who was allergic to many spirits, but not to tequila.

The Cafe Royal Cocktail Book, published in the UK in 1937, contains a recipe for a Picador using the same concentrations of tequila, triple sec, and lime juice as a margarita. A sidecar and gin daisy are other related drinks.) There is an account from 1936 of Iowa newspaper editor James Graham finding such a cocktail in Tijuana, years before any of the other margarita 'creation myths'. (Daisies are a family of cocktails that include a base spirit, liqueur, and citrus. According to cocktail historian David Wondrich, the margarita is related to the brandy daisy ( margarita is Spanish for 'daisy'), remade with tequila instead of brandy.

The history of the margarita is one of folklore due to its numerous origin stories.

Margarita bottle drinks