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One of our two political parties is a cult whose leader admires Vladimir Putin.

Rupert, come get your orange boy, you petrified old dinosaur turd.

Nothing worth doing is easy.

Wow, you are pre-disappointed. How surprising.

One lie, alone, tears the fabric of reality.

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

So very ready.

… gradually, and then suddenly.

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We are builders in a constant struggle with destroyers. keep building.

You cannot love your country only when you win.

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Celebrate the fucking wins.

I swear, each month of 2025 will have its own history degree.

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Fight for a just cause, love your fellow man, live a good life.

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She burned that motherfucker down, and I am so here for it. Thank you, Caroline Kennedy.

Teach a man to fish, and he’ll sit in a boat all day drinking beer.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Mad Dog Margaritas

Mad Dog Margaritas

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Mad Dog Margarita

Since it is St. Patrick’s Day, I was listening to a mix of Irish music, and one of them was “Dublin Blues” by Guy Clark.  The song mentions Mad Dog Margaritas, and I googled it, boy did I learn a lot.

First, the recipe:  “[T]wo parts Monte Alban Mezcal, one part Triple Sec, one part fresh lime juice, shaken vigorously with ice and served on the rocks.” (Monte Alban is a low-end Mezcal with a worm in it.  I do like Mezcal, but I’d recommend Del Maguey Vida or, if you can find it and afford it, one of the Bozal varieties.)

Second, the restaurant:

The Chili Parlor first opened that door to the public in 1976. (As a side note, chili was named the official state dish of Texas just a year later.) Among the establishment’s early patrons was a loose-knit assemblage of fun-loving rabble-rousers known as the Mad Dogs, a group founded by legendary Texas Monthly writer Gary Cartwright and his equally legendary wordsmithing compadre Edwin “Bud” Shrake. Circling around the Mad Dog nucleus of Cartwright and Shrake was a constellation of other Lone Star luminaries (as well as out-of-state friends and associates) that included writers, politicians, artists, actors, rascals, and musicians. Larry L. King, Dan Jenkins, Willie Morris, Billy Lee Brammer, George Plimpton, David and Ann Richards (yes, the same Ann Richards who went on to become Texas’s second female governor), Susan and Jerry Jeff Walker, Willie Nelson, and one Guy Clark were all members in good standing.

Individually, the Mad Dogs were mostly creative, productive, and important members of society. As a unit they were less so. Though their proposed plans were big—multiple attempts to buy a town, the production of thirty-minute pornographic movies with socially redeeming value, an all-night general store, the launch of “the world’s first literate and non-hysterical underground newspaper”—these schemes went almost wholly unfulfilled.

Now you know.  Happy St. Patrick’s Day to those who celebrate.

Reader Interactions

70Comments

  2. 2.

    rikyrah

    The Chicago River is green..

     

    and, everyone is Irish for this weekend. :)

    I did order a corned beef and some red potatoes, that I will cook once I get off work today.

  3. 3.

    TBone

    Love this although we don’t drink anymore the story is marvelous!  In Galveston, my local friends made a thing called Yucka.  Not yucca.  A large, glass orange juice bottle frozen icy.  A bottle of the best tequila (Gallardo when we could afford it but usually something not Cuervo).  Fresh limes squeezed in.  Shake up and pass around.  Must be drunk before iced bottle melts!

    PSA Young Cassidy is on TCM at 3pm EST.

    en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Young_Cassidy

    The pen is mightier than the sword:

    During the making of the film, a behind-the-scenes documentary, Sean O’Casey: The Spirit of Ireland, was filmed looking at the making of Young Cassidy. Narrated by Herschel Bernardi, the film intersperses footage from Young Cassidy with footage of the actors preparing for their roles.

  6. 6.

    MagdaInBlack

    That Guy Clark song is up top of my list of favorite Guy Clark. Followed closely by “Magdalene” and “L.A. Freeway.”

    Thank you for that video

  10. 10.

    WaterGirl

    Wow, first time I have seen a recipe that specified a super-low-end product!  Though I guess they are proud of that, so it makes sense after all.

    @raven: Did you see the lovely follow-story for y9ou in a comment from laura yesterday?

  12. 12.

    WaterGirl

    @raven: Wondering if holidays that are all about drinking alcohol are annoying after you have quit drinking?

    St. Patrick’s Day, New Year’s Eve, etc.

    I wonder if it’s anything like seeing the billboard that said “Everybody has a dad!” for Father’s Day, the first year my Dad was gone.

    No, everybody doesn’t have a dad.  And everybody doesn’t want to promote drunken madness.

    Anything like that, or am I totally off the mark?

  14. 14.

    Anoniminous

    Texans don’t know how to make chili. They make a Tex-Mex mess because they don’t know how to cook it.  Real chili is a stew, not a pile of glop, made using the Three Sisters: corn, beans, and squash.  Meats such as turkey, rabbit, antelope, deer, elk, or buffalo can be added but are not necessary.  The corn should be blue corn.

  15. 15.

    TBone

    @WaterGirl: it doesn’t bother me at all.  In fact, I cherish memories of yore, even the sad ones.  I’m prolly not representative of most former drinkers, tho.  Once, out with mom & dad on a double date for New Year’s Eve (dad, the former cop, was driving) on the way home he stopped the car, got out, and pissed on someone’s front lawn.  WAY out of character!  He got back in the car and said “I left them a note.” Didn’t know the old man had it in him till that night!  Well, I did, but not to THAT extent!

  17. 17.

    TBone

    @Anoniminous: I took vigorous exception to mesquite barbecue, which tasted like kerosene to my sensitive 😂 Yankee palate.  Also, they served what we East Coasters consider horse corn.  At the table!  With butter! Blech!

  18. 18.

    RevRick

    Fun factoid about St. Patrick. Originally, he was associated with the color blue! In a 13th century illumination he was portrayed wearing a blue coat. In addition, King Henry VIII portrayed Ireland with blue insignia. It wasn’t until the Irish revolt of 1798, that green became associated with St. Patrick and Ireland.

  20. 20.

    Anoniminous

    @Anoniminous:

    And the bean(s) should be native such as Bolita, Anasazi, Mawiwjwa, etc.  If you really have to and want to be boring you can use Pinto beans.

  21. 21.

    Anoniminous

    @TBone:

    Texas was settled by Southerners meaning their ancestral cuisine was British meaning boiled mutton and small ale served in a jack: cylindrical drinking vessel water proofed inside and out with beeswax, pitch, or boiled tree sap.  So a hunk of charred cow is right up their alley.

  22. 22.

    Steve in the ATL

    Loved Guy Clark and Jerry Jeff Walker.  Knew Willie Morris, who did a book with my uncle. Bet that was an awesome crowd, until they got too deep into the cheap tequila!

  24. 24.

    WaterGirl

    @MomSense: It will happen.

    Are you mostly in the house you are selling?  Or staying with one of your sons?

    Your new place is not at all close to where you have been living, right?  Apologies if i have that wrong!

  25. 25.

    trollhattan

    Should anybody place a bowl of chili in front of me, I will thank them and eat it.

    Okay, any chili described as “vegan” might trigger a quiz beforehand. See also, gluten-free. Maybe that’s not even in play.

    Do recall an interview with a chili cookoff pro who admitted show chili was made to win contests and chili that includes beans is what he actually serves and eats.

    Is carne adovada considered chili? Because a dish of that in Santa Fe is one of the best things I’ve eaten.

  26. 26.

    Kelly

    These lines from Guy Clark’s “Cold Dog Soup” kinda sums up the the precarious life of a song writer and most of the people in the arts.

    “Ain’t no money in poetry / That’s what sets the poet free / I’ve had all the freedom I can stand. “

  29. 29.

    Brea Plum

    Long time Austinite here, and one who lived within a five minute walk of the Texas Chili Parlor for 4 years (for 2 years I could see it out my window).  Critical fact – the Mad Dog Margarita didn’t exist before Guy Clark wrote the song.  But so many people tried to order one when they went into the Texas Chili Parlor after the song became popular, the Parlor had to make one up.

  31. 31.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    Open thread? I’m doing my last Goodreads Contest book reviews this evening. Books by Prince Harry, Henry Winkler, and David Grann, who wrote Killers of the Flower Moon, only this one is about a shipwreck. I’ll be sorry when I don’t have these to do anymore

  35. 35.

    Kelly

    The documentary “Heartworn Highways” is a fascinating look into Guy Clark’s crowd when they were young. I don’t know where you can stream the whole film but many clips are on Youtube.

  37. 37.

    MomSense

    @Steve in the ATL:

    I was working in Portland until November but I am there all the time to see my kids.  Yesterday we sat outside at a brewery having a beer and knitting.
    If you want a good lunch place – Market Street Eats.  It’s only open weekdays until 2 or so.  It’s on Market Street and so good.  The best place for bagels, bread, sandwiches, etc is Scratch in South Portland.  It’s very close to Willard Beach.  You have to check it out.

  41. 41.

    Balconesfault

    Eileen and I generally go to Texas Chili Parlor for a good bowl of Chili (no beans!) to celebrate Texas Independence Day.

  46. 46.

    TBone

    @TBone:

    en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas_Germans

    The only unbroken treaty

    en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meusebach%E2%80%93Comanche_Treaty

    Also interesting:

    Black Texans interacted much easier with Texas Germans than with white Anglo-Texans; Black Freedom colonies shared economic ties with Texas German communities, and maintained cordial relationships.

    After the Civil War, reports indicate Black Texas German communities in every county of the German belt, also known as the Texas German Country, running from Houston to the Hills Region.

    For Black Texans, speaking Texas German was a means of social mimicry and protection.

  48. 48.

    Central Planning

    We are having corned beef and cabbage for dinner tonight. Drinks will be margaritas because they are green. Probably the only green we will see besides the cabbage.

  53. 53.

    WaterGirl

    @Nelle: IF she’s already gone from this thread, Dorothy will tell us in the Medium Cool thread about it.

    Once you’re settled in now that you’re back, get in touch and we’ll pick up where we left off on WWII?

  54. 54.

    Salty Sam .

    @TBone: Texas German Country…

    My granddad had a farm in the heart of that area, just outside of Round Top.  Our nearest neighbors were the Wagner family (pronounced “Vahg-nah” ).  My first crush was the youngest daughter, my age- Tilde.  I loved listening to her talk, she had a thick German accent-  her grandfather, the patriarch of the family, was second generation Texan, but still spoke no English.  Amazing people.

  55. 55.

    trollhattan

    @TBone: IIUC the German influences include Mexican lagers and the accordion and tuba presence and polka-style rhythms in mariachi and other cross-border music. Hoodathunk?

  56. 56.

    TBone

    @Salty Sam .: A really good-natured people!  One wanted to marry me but I still had a wandering bone back then and knew I didn’t want to settle in Texas or on the Gulf Coast permanently.  Of course, I met some dyed-in-the-wool rotten S.O.B.s there too, but far many more genuinely nice people.

  57. 57.

    TBone

    @trollhattan: yup!  Blowing horns all over the place 😁 and lots of German food & beverage influence.  One of my favorite things was kolaches – a little Mexican bakery makes little sausages with the best, tender, fluffy rolls wrapped around them for breakfast.  Like pigs in a blanket but much better! Also, boudin is really good.

  58. 58.

    Salty Sam .

    @trollhattan: IIUC the German influences include Mexican lagers and the accordion and tuba presence and polka-style rhythms in mariachi and other cross-border music. Hoodathunk?

    You understand correctly.  Heh, I just had this conversation with my son-in-law a few days ago- we were on a road trip from the coast back to Austin, had Mexican music on the radio, and he (he’s from upstate NY) asked “I wonder how and when the accordion and polka beat found its way into Mexican music?”  I answered almost exactly as you posted above.

  59. 59.

    Jeffro

    @trollhattan:Is carne adovada considered chili? Because a dish of that in Santa Fe is one of the best things I’ve eaten.

    I just Googled that – mmmmmmmmm! – and now I have a new life goal.  Thanks!

  61. 61.

    Layer8Problem

    @Dorothy A. Winsor:  It sure was horrifying.  Unequipped people out of their element in a devastatingly bleak part of the world.  And Grann actually visited the island!  I won’t be building a vacation home there.

  64. 64.

    BellyCat

    @WaterGirl: I wonder if it’s anything like seeing the billboard that said “Everybody has a dad!” for Father’s Day, the first year my Dad was gone.

    I hear you. My dad died when I was eleven. Annual trauma on Father’s Day plus all the other “Have your Dad take you to X event” in school while growing up.

    Assumptions suck…

  66. 66.

    cain

    Zacatecas has the best mezcal .. it’s nearly indistinguishable from tequila and way way cheaper.

    I’m curious to try this. I’m making a Brazilian chicken dish that has two shots of Brazilian liquor  and limes,

  67. 67.

    Kosh III

    I am sorta-kinda Irish. My last name is Irish and I can verifiably trace my ancestor to Cork County 1600 and Baltimore 1682.
    But lots and lots of mixing. The other side of the family is Scotch-Irish and showed up in East Tennessee in late colonial or early post-colonial period. Verifiable to 1820.

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