Pineville brothers who know Mexican food to open La Luna Mexican Grille
If anyone knows Mexican food and what people in Alexandria and Pineville like, it’s Omar Ayala and Johnathan Ayala of Pineville. The brothers are preparing to open up La Luna Mexican Grille, 2624 Old Marksville Hwy, in the building that used to be a former Mexican restaurant, El Parian Mexican Grille.
Their family has operated Mexican restaurants and it's something to which they are accustomed and they know best, said Omar.
Since 2005 their father Omar Ayala has operated Los Portales Mexican Restaurant, 3628 Monroe Highway Suite 148, in Pineville. And he’s 100 percent behind them opening their own restaurant because he thinks it will be good for them.
“We worked under my dad for years and years and years,” said Omar. “So we kind of get how the ropes go and he's led us, I think, in my opinion, he's led us in the right direction to to operate a restaurant.”
Omar and Johnathan are graduates of Pineville High School and hold degrees in business from LSUA. Omar graduated from PHS in 2016 and from LSUA in 2020. Johnathan graduated from PHS in 2017 and from LSUA in 2021.
Their father also operated a restaurant in Georgia called La Luna so they decided to reuse that name.
How is their restaurant going to differ from other Mexican restaurants around town?
“So other restaurants in town have a Tex-Mex kind of style. We're gonna incorporate Tex-Mex and authentic food,” said Omar. “Dorado tacos are very popular around town. We’re going to do a lot of dorado menu items for the restaurant so it’s going to be like dorado tacos, or quesadillas, tortas.”
They just applied for a liquor license so yes, they’ll be serving alcohol.
Omar said Margaritas will be served along with some traditional Mexican drinks.
“Like Menchiladas. That’s a nice Mexican drink. I like how other restaurants do the Corona Margarita where they have the Corona bottle inside of it,” he said.
Besides good food, Omar said the other thing they want their restaurant to be known for is good customer service because that's a really important part of business. He wants their restaurant to be known for being really good at listening to their customers.
“Things aren’t always perfect. There are complaints. I want it to be handled in the way possible,” said Omar. “And usually, I would probably be the one doing it because I love customer service. If people have something to complain about or if there’s something wrong, I think I can handle the situation really well and make it better.”
The reason they chose the building was because it was available and the location appeals to both Deville and Pineville, he said.
Currently they are remodeling the old restaurant so it can have a light, airy and inviting feel. They’ve already painted the inside and plan to change the decor and install new, nicer materials such as a quartz bar top.
Omar said their father told them that once they decided to paint the inside, they needed to go all out and change everything, said Omar.
“We love the setup of the restaurant,” said Omar. “We’re changing the bar to make it look like an actual bar because the last time it was wooden.”
The Ayala brothers plan for La Luna Mexican Grille to be open in April.
This article originally appeared on Alexandria Town Talk: Pineville brothers who know Mexican food to open La Luna Mexican Grille
