Applebee’s launched its $1 margarita in October 2017 and called it the Dollarita. The chain had run drink promotions before, but a one-dollar cocktail — served to dine-in guests, good for the whole month — was something else, and it kicked off Applebee’s long-running $1 Drink of the Month program. Lines formed. Social media noticed. The promotion came back, went away and came back again, most recently in July 2026.
What Applebee’s Actually Makes
The Dollarita is a house margarita built on speed and cost, not craft. Applebee’s hasn’t published an official spec, but press statements describe the recipe as roughly 1¼ oz tequila mixed with a proprietary concentrate at the restaurant. A viral employee video from October 2017 showed a batch version — equal parts tequila and concentrate, cut with three parts water — but Applebee’s said the poster hadn’t followed the right preparation, which it described as one part tequila to three parts margarita mix. The result in the glass is a serviceable, lightly sweet, lime-forward drink in a small rocks glass. At a dollar, nothing competes.
When the Dollarita is off-menu — which is most of the time — you’re left making it at home.
Why Copycats Miss
Most Dollarita copycat recipes make the same mistake: they go too fancy. They add agave syrup, premium tequila, Cointreau and call it a day. That’s a normal margarita. The Dollarita is intentionally simpler — its appeal is the price point and the fact that it tastes exactly like what you expect a chain margarita to taste like.
The bigger issue is that most home recipes use bottled margarita mix to stay “authentic,” and that mix is the worst part of the restaurant version. Citric acid and corn syrup can’t replicate the oils in a fresh lime. The better move is to use fresh lime juice and accept that your version will taste better than the original.
The Technique
This is a shaken drink. Applebee’s uses a speed-pouring system at scale; you get a shaker. That single upgrade — shaking instead of stirring the concentrate — makes the home version considerably better. Ice chips aerate the drink, a little dilution softens the edges and the chilling is even.
Shake hard for 10 seconds, not the quick four-count you see in casual home videos. The lime juice needs to integrate fully. Strain over fresh ice — not the ice you shook with, which is now smaller and will water the drink down faster.
Batching for a Crowd
The Dollarita’s greatest virtue is how well it batches. For eight drinks: 12 oz blanco tequila, 4 oz triple sec, 6 oz fresh lime juice, 4 oz simple syrup and 6 oz cold water (the water replaces ice dilution from shaking). Stir together, refrigerate and serve over ice as needed. The batch keeps for a day without the lime losing its edge.
If you want to go bigger — say, a 30-person party — squeeze the lime juice the morning of and keep it refrigerated. Don’t batch more than 24 hours ahead; the citrus starts to turn.
The Mocktail Version
The challenge with a NA margarita is that lime juice alone tastes thin without alcohol to carry it. An NA agave spirit solves the body problem, and a small pour of orange syrup — or fresh OJ — adds the sweet-citrus layer that triple sec provides. A splash of sparkling water at the end gives the drink some lift. It’s a genuinely good mocktail, not a compromise.
Enjoy responsibly — must be 21+.
See all Applebee’s copycat drinks →
