At Los Amigos Tequila Bar & Grill, owner Ana Olson and her staff provide a welcoming environment to the Muskegon community, serving others with a purpose.
“We understand the reason we are here is because of the community that walks through our doors,” says Olson, who moved to Muskegon in 2006 to help manage the Mexican restaurant, eventually taking over ownership with her brother in 2015. She explains that, because of the patrons who support them, their purpose is to give back.
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Los Amigos besides offering a variety of delicious Mexican dishes, is known for offering the largest selection of tequila in West Michigan.
Creating spaces to make everyone feel welcome
Born and raised in Mexico, Olson shares that it was hard at first to find people like her, from her culture and with a similar background, and places to frequent that represented her culture in Muskegon. She adds that being in the restaurant business also made things more difficult when meeting people because she was always working.
Grand Rapids, according to Olson, was the starting point for her to make connections with her culture in Michigan because the city offered the spaces to network. She connected with the West Michigan Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and attended the Latino events the bigger city offered. She then started to bring those ideas and the network of people to her own community in Muskegon to start creating those spaces to gather.
Olson is active in her community, assisting with organizing events — such as the annual Muskegon County Latino Festival and the West Michigan Latino Network. Although she serves individually, her business also plays a big part and has become a welcoming space that further brings people together.
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Los Amigos in Muskegon offers more than 248 tequilas.
Bringing people together with tequila
Los Amigos, 1848 E. Sherman Blvd., Suite M, Muskegon, besides offering a variety of delicious Mexican dishes, is known for offering the largest selection of tequila in West Michigan, with more than 248 tequilas.
Olsen says tequila, made from agave plants, was as common to her as water while she was growing up. Agave plants were abundant where she lived in Mexico, and she understands the distilled beverage’s 300-year history and how it’s made.
When she came to the United States, Olson learned that many people had misconceptions and fears about drinking tequila. She said those fears mostly were based on drinking the wrong kinds of tequila and drinking too much of it. Now, Olson offers monthly classes to educate others about tequila.
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At Los Amigos Tequila Bar & Grill, owner Ana Olson and her staff provide a welcoming environment to the Muskegon community, serving others with a purpose.
Olson describes the classes, which initially began before the COVID-19 pandemic, as more like a party for participants. “The tequila class is to educate and have fun in the process. I hold it near and dear to my heart,” she says.
The classes offer a selection of 50 tequilas for participants to learn about, sampling some with a meal that is included with the $55 per-person cost, which also includes a T-shirt. Olson also offers private space classes, requiring a minimum of eight people.
Olson has been in talks with retailers in hopes of creating a tequila brand, which she describes as a process because of the required steps to get the brand recognized and registered in Mexico first before bringing it to the U.S. She also has other products in the works, including hot sauces and seasonings, and is in the early stages of opening another restaurant location in North Muskegon.
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At Los Amigos Tequila Bar & Grill, owner Ana Olson and her staff provide a welcoming environment to the Muskegon community, serving others with a purpose.
The life of an entrepreneur building bridges
Olson, the married mother of two children, says that her work also entails engineering her next moves and how to grow. “I do understand how hard it can be to stay motivated because not everything you touch succeeds and flourishes,” she says, “but you have to keep going and reinvent yourself.”
Surrounding herself with positive people who uplift her as well as speak the truth to her about her endeavors — even if that means starting over on a project or pulling away from it to improve it — is also key advice from Olson. “You might fail 100 times, but it might be that one time when you win,” she says, adding, “failing is learning.”
Olson is also passionate about catering to minority women and establishing ways to create wealth and legacy in the long run, adding that being a person already in business can still be hard for her.
“I am a person who understands how a business runs, but I have been through so many hurdles because of culture and lack of education,” Olson explains, emphasizing the importance of understanding how to manage money, manage time, negotiate contracts — even finding money and resources for business growth.
That understanding led Olson to create a fund within Michigan Women Forward that caters to minority women in Muskegon who have been in business for at least five years. The first round, which awarded $5,000 to recipients, took place last year.
“I want to help other people be in business and create a legacy of wealth and keep their families going with a sense of purpose,” she says.
To learn more or sign up for Olson’s classes, visit the website:
www.losamigosmuskegon.com.