Margarita on the rocks. (Photo by Jon Sullivan)

The margarita (Spanish for "daisy"), the most well-known tequila-based cocktail, does not have a definitive origin. It may have evolved from the "tequila daisy," a cocktail made with tequila, lime juice and grenadine served over shaved ice and topped with club soda. The "tequila daisy" is referenced in print as early as 1936, when an ad in the Syracuse Herald called it "Syracuse's Newest and Refreshing Drink."

The first documented reference of the margarita is from Esquire Magazine, the drink of the month from December 1953. A recipe for the drink is preceeded by: "She’s from Mexico, Senores, and her name is the Margarita Cocktail — and she is lovely to look at, exciting and provocative."

Many have laid claim to inventing the margarita, and here are some of the more popular stories about her creation (in chronological order):

1930s - Agua Caliente Racetrack in Tijuana and Bertita's bar in Tasca, Mexico both claim to have invented the drink during this time.

1935 - "Willie," the bartender at Las Dos Republicas in Matamoros, Mexico created the drink for Marguerite Hemery, a friend of the restaurant's owner. When she tasted it, she said, "That's really wonderful! What's it called?" Willie asked her what her name was and after she told him,  he replied, "this drink then will be called 'Marguerita'."

1936 - Danny Negrete at the bar of the Hotel Garci-Crespo in Puebla, Mexico. Danny served the drink as a wedding present to Margarita, his brother David's fiance, the day before their wedding. (Some versions of the story say that Margarita was Danny's girlfriend.)

1936-37 - Johnny Durlesser, head barman at McHenry’s Tail o’ the Cock Restaurant. Durlesser tells The Van Nuys News in January 1955 that he invented the margarita in 1937. The August/September 1966 issue of Bon Appetit also credits Durlesser with inventing the drink, but "in 1936 when...[Durlesser] was asked to duplicate a drink a lady customer had once tasted in Mexico. He put together a drink which pleased the lady, whose name was Margaret, and today his 'duplication' is well known as the Margarita cocktail." The magazine also reports that Durlesser entered the drink "in a national competition of original drinks and it won third place." The claim has not been corraborated. 

1940s - Enrique Bastate Gutierrez claimed to have invented the margarita in honor of Rita Hayworth, whose real name was Margarita Carmen Cansino. Prior to her film career, Cansino worked as part of a dance act with her father at The Foreign Club in Tijuana, as well as the Agua Caliente Racetrack.

1942, July 4th - Francisco "Pancho" Morales at Tommy's Place in Juarez, Mexico. A woman requested a Magnolia, but the bartender, Pancho, did not know the recipe - only that it contained Cointreau. (A magnolia is made with brandy, Cointreau, and an egg yolk - topped with Champagne.) He quickly improvised, and the result was the margarita.

1947-48 - Carlos "Danny" Herrera, owner of Rancho La Gloria, on the road between Rosarito Beach and Tijuana, Mexico. (The Complete Book of Spirits dates this as 1938, but an article from the Copley News Service quotes Herrera with "1947 or 1948.") A showgirl named Marjorie King stopped in the bar, and she claimed to be allergic to all forms of booze, except tequila, which she needed mixed. He experimented and invented the margarita, naming it in her honor.

1947 - Al Hernandez and Morris Locke, La Plaza Restaurant in La Jolla, California. Calling California Home by Heather Waite attributes bartender Al Hernandez and La Plaza owner Morris Locke as the inventors of the margarita; however, according to an article in the San Diego Union-Tribune, Hernandez invented the drink after Locke had tasted something similar at Rancho La Gloria. Hernandez then experimented and came up with his own version. (Herrara's used lemon juice, Hernandez and Locke used lime juice.)

December 1948 - Margaret Sames, a rich, young Texas socialite at her home in Acapulco. At a Christmas party she was hosting, Sames responded to a challenge to make a new cocktail that could be easily downed. The party's guests included Nick Hilton, founder of the Hilton hotel chain, as well as Joseph Drown, owner of the Hotel Bel-Air in Los Angeles, and Shelton McHenry, the owner of the popular Studio City nightspot Tail o' the Cock. The drink was popularized by being served at all these locations.

The "mystery" of the inventor of the margarita is covered in depth in The Great Margarita Book by Al Lucero. The book complicates the mystery further, citing an article that quotes Carlos "Danny" Herrera claiming to be friends with the Mexican bartender at the Tail o' the Cock restaurant. Lucero also cites an article from a beverage trade magazine that says Jose Cuervo distributor Vern Underwood asked McHenry why the restaurant was ordering so many cases of Cuervo, and, after learning of the drink subsequently used the tagline "Margarita is more than just a girl's name" to promote Cuervo tequila.