EP #135: Tres Lunas - Infused Tequila Bar with Alyssa Rouillier
Feb 05, 2024
Stacey Poehler
Join the culinary adventure as Alyssa Rouillier of Tres Lunas takes us behind the scenes of a family's journey from hospitality to restaurant mastery, blending Mexican vigor with an Asian flair. Alyssa, alongside her mom, sisters, and the culinary whiz Chef Jake Ihara, let us in on their secret recipe for success in the food industry. Get ready to have your taste buds tantalized by their standout dishes like the shrimp quesitos with gachujang aioli and the innovative birria ramen fusion. We traverse the landscape of their challenges and victories, from the misconceptions of restaurant ownership to the unshakeable dedication to creating unforgettable guest experiences. Plus, we discover how Tres Luna's extends their savory hospitality beyond their doors through community involvement, catering, and event coordination.
Sip on this: an episode that's as refreshing as Tres Luna's in-house infused margaritas. As the Rullier family shares their personal interests, from marathon running to diving, we uncork the realities of balancing rigorous restaurant life with vibrant personal pursuits. The family's commitment shines through in every aspect, whether they're concocting a Sunrise skinny margarita or cheering on their children at a soccer game. Their journey is a toast to the hard work and joy found in the restaurant industry. So, if you're in Milton, Georgia, or just searching for a place where love, culture, and taste are served in equal measure, let this episode be your guide to the heart of Tres Luna's.
Join the culinary adventure as Alyssa Rouillier of Tres Lunas takes us behind the scenes of a family's journey from hospitality to restaurant mastery, blending Mexican vigor with an Asian flair. Alyssa, alongside her mom, sisters, and the culinary whiz Chef Jake Ihara, let us in on their secret recipe for success in the food industry. Get ready to have your taste buds tantalized by their standout dishes like the shrimp quesitos with gachujang aioli and the innovative birria ramen fusion. We traverse the landscape of their challenges and victories, from the misconceptions of restaurant ownership to the unshakeable dedication to creating unforgettable guest experiences. Plus, we discover how Tres Luna's extends their savory hospitality beyond their doors through community involvement, catering, and event coordination.
Sip on this: an episode that's as refreshing as Tres Luna's in-house infused margaritas. As the Rullier family shares their personal interests, from marathon running to diving, we uncork the realities of balancing rigorous restaurant life with vibrant personal pursuits. The family's commitment shines through in every aspect, whether they're concocting a Sunrise skinny margarita or cheering on their children at a soccer game. Their journey is a toast to the hard work and joy found in the restaurant industry. So, if you're in Milton, Georgia, or just searching for a place where love, culture, and taste are served in equal measure, let this episode be your guide to the heart of Tres Luna's.
Speaker 1:
This is the Good Neighbor podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Stacey Polar.
Speaker 2:
Hey everybody, we are chatting with Alyssa Rullier. She is one of the owners of Trace Luna's, which is the Infused Tequila Bar. Welcome, Alyssa.
Speaker 3:
Thank you, thank you.
Speaker 2:
Hey, Alyssa, why don't you start off by telling us about your business?
Speaker 3:
Okay, so we are a family-run business. There's my mom, Debbie, my two sisters, Aly and Joy, and myself. Allison's husband his name is Jake Ihara. He is our executive chef. So Jake and myself we head the kitchen, so we're behind all the recipes and all the plating, and Aly and Joy they run the front of the house and hospitality.
Speaker 3:
My mom is kind of a little bit more behind the scenes so she does more paperwork, banking, things of that nature, but she is found on the floor as well During the day. She makes her presence and kind of goes table to table as well with us. So we offer caterings, we coordinate parties and events. We can even decorate for you if that's something you need for one of your private events or one of your caterings. We are family-friendly and we love to be involved in our community. So we are a Mexican restaurant and we also offer infused dishes. So we do like a Mexican, Asian-infused theme as well. So our menu is not a traditional Mexican menu, although we do have some traditional dishes as well. We do offer infused dishes and different kinds of plates as well.
Speaker 3:
So it's not just Mexican. You'll find some really fun plates and some different infused dishes as well.
Speaker 2:
What are you just to tell us a little bit about your journey and how you and your family got into the restaurant business?
Speaker 3:
Okay, so we have all been in the hospitality business for quite some time Our father, who passed in 2016,. He kind of introduced us to the industry. He was a chef as well. So Joy Alley and myself we actually worked here when this restaurant was under a different name so it used to be called Cans and after COVID, cans was sold.
Speaker 3:
So like kind of during the COVID timeframe and during that timeframe Allison and myself we kind of went to other establishments and Joy stayed through all the transitions. So she stayed here through the original owner and then when Cans sold to the second owners, she was still here. So she worked for the new owners under the name Tierra Imar and she's actually been in this restaurant for about 10 years and is very involved with the community, so she knows lots of people in the Milton area. So during that time an offer came our way to take over, so collectively we decided to go for it, given we had a chef who was Allison's husband, jake, a bartender Alley. So yeah, we have many years of hospitality and service experience and tons of passion. So we actually took over this restaurant about two years ago after giving the opportunity.
Speaker 2:
Awesome, awesome. Can you tell us about any myths or misconceptions that folks might have about your restaurant, or maybe just the restaurant industry in general?
Speaker 3:
I think many people think that the service industry is all fun. In fact, it's a very difficult industry. It requires lots of blood, sweat and tears and it requires lots of passion and dedication. I think the entire industry has changed drastically, especially since, like COVID. But we put lots of time and energy into making sure our guests enjoy their experience, and it takes a lot of time, a lot of dedication and a lot of passion.
Speaker 2:
Awesome, awesome. Can you talk about some of your favorite things on the menu, on the food and maybe the beverage menu?
Speaker 3:
Yes, so one of my favorite dishes we have something called shrimp quesitos and they kind of are similar to like a mini shrimp quesadilla and they are served with an infused sauce off to the side. So it's kind of like a pick your sauce kind of thing. My favorite is the gachujang aioli. So I like to pier the shrimp quesitos with the gachujang aioli. You kind of dip them in there and it is phenomenal. Some of the house favorites are like the birria tacos. So we fly through birria tacos here.
Speaker 3:
So that's kind of a different style of taco. They're a little bit more crispy and they come served with a consome off to the side, which is kind of like for lack of better terms like an au jus, to where you just kind of dip your taco in it and it just gives off really immense flavor. You'll have hints of cinnamon in there and some other Mexican spices as well. And we also have that dish which is paired with a ramen. So that's kind of where you can either get them as tacos by themselves, with rice or beans, or you can get them with a cup of ramen. So that's kind of where the Asian infusion thing comes into play and instead of dipping them into the consome. You can actually eat them with your ramen and kind of dip them into a ramen bowl. We also have things like poke bowls and things like that and traditional dishes like enchiladas, so we're kind of all over the board. But yeah, I would definitely say black and shrimp tacos are really good and the shrimp quesitos those are my favorite.
Speaker 2:
And what about the drinks? Which ones are your favorite?
Speaker 3:
So we have really good infused margaritas where we actually infused the tequila in-house with fresh fruit and we turn those into skinny margaritas. I personally really like the Sunrise skinny. It's a pineapple, orange-infused tequila that we use. And I also like our mojitos. So we have like a coconut mojito, we have a strawberry mojito. So if you're into like the coconut thing, especially going into the spring and summer, I feel like those are really good drinks. They're refreshing. We have a really great house margarita. I know some places utilize a sweet and sour mix in their house margaritas. We do not. So everything we make in-house is fresh From our sauces, from our margaritas. It's all made with recipes that we create in-house. So I think a lot of people are shocked to taste our house margaritas, both frozen and on the rocks, because they're really refreshing and they're very fresh tasting.
Speaker 2:
Awesome, awesome. What do you and your family like to do for fun when you're not working?
Speaker 3:
So my mom and Joy, they like to run a lot, they do marathons and things of that nature, so they're really into that genre. Joy, she also does a lot of diving, so in her free time she's at the aquarium doing different dives. She also books trips and dives. She's actually working on a master's in diving and she can actually teach and train others to dive and create some diving classes as well.
Speaker 2:
Awesome, awesome. And what about you? What do you like to do for?
Speaker 3:
fun. So I have three daughters so in my spare time I do a lot of extracurricular activities with them. They are in gymnastics and basketball. So in my free time I spend a lot of time at the gym, traveling and doing things of that nature. Allison she also has a small business, so she creates handmade bracelets. So on the weekends she has different booths that she attends where she sells her bracelets. She also has three children. They're in soccer and gymnastics. So Allie and myself were full-time moms outside of the restaurant. So we are very busy and, you know, just going out having fun when we can, when we have time outside of the restaurant, because most of our time is actually spent here. Got it, got it.
Speaker 2:
Can you talk about maybe some of the obstacles or hardships you guys have had to overcome since opening the business?
Speaker 3:
I think the biggest challenge has been growing our business from scratch. We've had to work extremely hard and ensure we are exceeding our guest expectations and we've had to gain the trust of our patrons as first-time restaurant owners. So in the process we have built everlasting relationships and friendships and people have grown to really enjoy it here. So I think that has been our biggest challenge. This is our first restaurant, although we have lots of experience in hospitality and things of that nature. This is the first you know big project we've taken on, so it has been very challenging, but we've overcome them and I think that we have definitely made a name for ourselves and people can definitely appreciate all the blood, sweat and tears we've put into this restaurant. And you know, on the weekends we are slammed. So that goes to show that we're obviously doing something right and we're really involved in the community too. So I think the community definitely supports us.
Speaker 2:
Awesome, awesome. Anything that you haven't had a chance to share yet about the restaurant that you want our audience to know.
Speaker 3:
I just wish people really understood how hard we all work and the passion behind Trace Luna's. This is our baby and we've literally built it from the ground up organically blood, sweat and tears. So it's kind of something that we've just all done together collectively as our first time, and we're definitely looking forward to the future.
Speaker 2:
Awesome, awesome. And lastly, can you share where folks can find you guys?
Speaker 3:
So you can find us on Instagram at TraceLunas underscore Milton. You can also find us on Facebook as well, and we are located at 12635 Crabapple Road in Milton Georgia.
Speaker 2:
Awesome, well, thanks so much for joining us today, alyssa.
Speaker 3:
Thank you for having me. I really appreciate it.
Speaker 1:
Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor podcast Milton and More. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to GNPMiltoncom or call 470-664-4930.