Waste away on the Margarita Mile, Dallas' new cocktail crawl

Dallas may not be Margaritaville, but it's close. After all, the frozen margarita machine was invented here.

With so many variations on this classic cocktail, where do you begin? Good news: There's an app for that.

VisitDallas, the local tourism agency formerly known as the Dallas Convention and Visitors Bureau, launched an app Tuesday called Margarita Mile, which acts as a guide to more than a dozen of the city's "best and most brazen margaritas," says a statement.

"Enjoying a great margarita, frozen or on the rocks, is a quintessential part of any Dallas trip," said Frank Librio, VisitDallas' chief marketing officer, "and we wanted to highlight one of the best parts of visiting or living in Dallas."

How it works

First, let's be clear: Though the app is called the Margarita Mile, the restaurants and bars it features span more than a mile. The sprawl is real, y'all, which means you should schedule a safe ride if you plan to hit more than spot.

Once you've downloaded the app, you'll find it's populated with a list of 17 margarita hot spots, from Mariano's Hacienda in Northeast Dallas to Beto and Son in West Dallas, each with a featured libation. Drinkers can use the list simply as a reference, or they can check in their margaritas using geolocation and by answering a simple trivia question.

Checking in margaritas enables you level up your boozehound status from 'Rita Rookie (three margs) to 'Rita Master (14 margs), and win some swag in the process. We recently did a margarita crawl with VisitDallas, so trust us -- you're going to want to spread those drinks out over several trips. There is such a thing as too many margaritas.

Food deals

Perhaps the best feature of the Margarita Mile is the "deals and discounts" section. Several of the restaurants and bars offer freebies or other perks to those who show the app -- and that they've checked in -- to their server.

The El Fenix in downtown, for example, rewards Margarita Mile participants with a free cup of queso plus chips and salsa with the purchase of a marg. Taqueria La Ventana, also in downtown, is offering a free churro with check-in and Cafe Herrera at the Omni Hotel promises half-price appetizers with the purchase of an entree.

The fine print

Many of the restaurants listed on the Margarita Mile may have more than one location, but the app only works at the specific one listed.

And while VisitDallas has a suggested cocktail at each place, you don't have to order it to get the perks or check in. There's no margarita police regulating what you order, as one representative put it.

So go on, do your best Jimmy Buffett and waste away in our local version of Margaritaville.

Need more 'rita recommendations? Here's a list of GuideLive's favorites in Dallas-Fort Worth.