Fans of Jimmy Buffett's 1977 hit and the song that inspired it may have a special reason to celebrate today: National Margarita Day has arrived.
Rojo, the Refinery and Creole Connection are among the many Birmingham restaurants observing National Margarita Day specials, and social media invites.
National Margarita Day dates back to 2008 according to patrontequila.com. "Like most other food holidays, National Margarita Day is an unofficial celebration in that it's not government-sanctioned. Founded by commercial real estate agent Todd McCalla around 2008, the day was created simply to share his love of margaritas, and to promote a more sophisticated appreciation of the beverage," the site notes.
"Every February 22, we come together for National Margarita Day to pay homage to our favorite celebratory cocktail," NationalToday.com says.
NationalToday.com embraces what turns out to be one of many creation myths surrounding the invention of the margarita.
"The margarita -- triple sec, tequila, and lime juice -- was created in 1938 in Mexico and is widely considered the official drink of having fun," according to the website. "It's always 5 o'clock somewhere, and that's never truer than on National Margarita Day. So get out a shaker, pull out your frozen margarita machine, or head to your local watering hole and order a margarita. Up, on ice, or on the rocks, you can't go wrong. Salud!"
A specific version of that story as noted on Wikipedia, involves the drink "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."
Wikipedia notes that story was debunked many years later.
However the creation of the legendary cocktail has a number of origin stories, some of them related to the flower margarita - also known in English as a daisy.
"The Daisy was a common, one-size-fits-all Prohibition-era cocktail combining a base spirit, juice, a sweetener and soda water," according to a 2016 Paste Magazine story. "It's suggested that smugglers running booze over the border with Mexico experimented with a tequila daisy one night, calling it a margarita, which is Spanish for daisy."
Wherever the drink came from, at Rojo, the national celebration means a buck off all margaritas, and $5 off pitchers of the cocktail.
At the Refinery, their classic, spicy and strawberry margaritas are $10 a day.
At CreoleConnection, margaritas are normally $5 at Happy Hour, but $3 today.
The website daysoftheyear.com offers a caveat and a bit of news for those too young to drink.
"A Friendly Note: Do be careful, as Tequila has been known to T'kill'ya if you drink too much (or at least it may make you wish you were dead). So it's best to know where the limits are. The good news is that virgin margarita drinks (with the limey-orangey flavor but without the alcohol) can be consumed with much less risk. This is also an excellent option for those who need to work on National Margarita Day but would still like to celebrate with a lunch-time cocktail (or mock-tail)."