Tommy’s Margarita Recipe

Though there are countless riffs and variations on the Margarita — and more appear every day — few have reached “modern classic” status quite like the Tommy’s Margarita. Invented by Julio Bermejo in the early 1990s at his family’s restaurant, Tommy’s Mexican in San Francisco, the drink became a turning point in the history of tequila cocktails. The restaurant, opened by Bermejo’s father, Tomas, in 1965, is now considered one of the premier tequila bars in the world.

The Tommy’s Margarita is a simple yet revolutionary build: 100% agave blanco tequila, freshly squeezed lime juice, and agave nectar. It breaks from the traditional Margarita formula by omitting orange liqueur (typically triple sec) as the sweetener. Instead, it uses agave nectar, highlighting the earthy, vegetal notes of high-quality tequila rather than citrus. This allows the spirit to take center stage, rather than be masked by artificially sweetened liqueurs.

Bermejo has long championed better tequila representation in the United States. In a bold move during the 1990s, he overhauled Tommy’s bar program to serve only tequila made from 100% agave, at a time when an estimated 98% of tequila on the U.S. market was mixto, or blended with sugars, neutral spirits, and other additives. When many bars were embracing sugary, fruit-forward cocktails, Bermejo’s minimalist, spirit-forward Margarita created a new template that bartenders around the world would adopt in the decades to come.

Why the Tommy’s Margarita is so iconic

The classic Margarita has been a staple since its creation around the 1940s, with its signature combination of agave, lime, and orange flavors making it one of the world’s most popular examples of the sour style of cocktail. By the late 20th century, however, triple sec and lime juice often dominated the drink, used to mask the harshness of subpar tequilas and push the cocktail’s profile toward fruitiness.

The Tommy’s Margarita flipped the drink’s profile to one in which the components were tailored to work in service of the tequila. Bermejo removed the orange liqueur entirely and introduced agave nectar as a more neutral sweetener. This rebalanced the drink to highlight the tequila itself, which only worked due to Tommy’s Mexican’s dedication to using 100% agave spirits. 

Even those who don’t know the cocktail by name have likely tasted its influence. As Bermejo’s variation spread by word of mouth over the decade since its creation, bartenders across the country took to adding agave nectar to their drinks. The Tommy’s variation soon became many pros' “secret trick” to creating a memorable Margarita.

While most modern agave-based cocktails call for an agave syrup — the nectar diluted with water for easier mixing — the classic Tommy’s Margarita uses pure agave nectar. This requires shaking vigorously and using less sweetener than in a traditional sour. But the payoff is a clean, bright cocktail that puts tequila front and center.