Jimmy Buffett built an entire hospitality empire on one song, and Margaritaville restaurants serve dozens of margaritas. One general manager counted 32 at a single location. The one most people order is the house margarita, the Who’s to Blame.
What Margaritaville Serves
Menu listings describe the Who’s to Blame as the traditional house margarita: Margaritaville Gold tequila, triple sec (one Las Vegas listing specifies Bols) and Margaritaville’s house margarita mix, served frozen or on the rocks. Recent reviews describe it as simple and very tasty, and it shows up in the Margarita Flight at Universal CityWalk alongside Blueberry Pomegranate, Fins to the Left and Last Mango in Paris.
On price, older listings show $8.50 at the original Key West Margaritaville Cafe and $9.25 in Las Vegas. Those are out of date. Current prices vary by location, from airport bars to resorts, so check the menu where you are.
The name is a line from the song. In “Margaritaville,” Buffett’s narrator keeps saying it’s nobody’s fault, until the last verse, when he admits it’s his own.
Why Home Frozen Margaritas Fail
Frozen margaritas are deceptively hard. The two common problems:
- Bland and icy. Too much ice or not enough sugar. Cold dulls your sense of sweetness, so a frozen margarita needs more sugar than one on the rocks.
- Soupy. Not enough ice, or blended too long so the motor heats it.
The ratio here, about 4½ oz of liquid to 1½ cups of ice, blended for 30–40 seconds, gives you a smooth slush that holds a mound.
The House Mix, From Scratch
Margaritaville doesn’t publish its mix, and the bottled Margaritaville mix sold in stores isn’t necessarily the restaurant recipe. We replace it with fresh lime, simple syrup and a splash of orange juice. The orange juice rounds out the lime and adds a softer sweetness, which is how most restaurant house mixes taste. Fresh lime is the biggest improvement you can make.
Frozen vs. Rocks
The Who’s to Blame comes both ways. For the rocks version, shake the same ingredients with ice and strain over fresh ice. Reduce the simple syrup to ¾ oz, since you don’t need extra sugar to fight the cold.
Batching for a Party
Blenders handle two drinks at a time well; more than that and the texture suffers. For a big party, try the freezer method: mix four times the liquids with 6 oz (180 ml) of water, pour into a shallow pan and freeze for 4–6 hours, scraping with a fork every hour. The alcohol keeps it from freezing solid, and you get a scoopable, slush-machine texture with no blender.
The Mocktail Version
The mocktail uses an NA agave spirit, which gives it the vegetal tequila flavor, plus extra orange juice to replace the triple sec. Blend it with the same amount of ice and keep the salt rim. A pinch of salt in the blender helps too, since it makes zero-proof drinks taste fuller.
Serving
Serve with a cheeseburger, which is the obvious choice, or with chips and guacamole, fish tacos or coconut shrimp. Play the song.
Quick Fixes
- Bland? Add ¼ oz more simple syrup and a squeeze of lime. Frozen drinks need both.
- Separating in the glass? That means too much liquid or not enough blending. Blend longer, adding ice a few cubes at a time.
- Too harsh? Switch to a 100% agave reposado.
- Want a flavored version? Add 1 oz mango or strawberry purée to the blender and cut the simple syrup to ½ oz. That’s the idea behind Margaritaville’s fruit margaritas.
Enjoy responsibly — must be 21+.
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