Couple brings ‘antojitos’ to Habersham

By creating a variety of Mexican treats ranging from ice cream, “aguas frescas,” “esquites,” and “fresas con crema,” a young power couple is paving the way as their own bosses and making their dreams come true as they bring these delights to Cornelia.

Luis Antonio Covarrubias, 24, of Habersham County, and his wife Yesenia Covarrubias, 23, of Oaxaca, Mexico, opened Raspas El Tigre on Dec. 20 and have been steadily growing ever since, including a very successful Christmas day where they were experiencing lines of up to an hour.

“People were waiting outside 40 minutes to an hour,” Yesenia said. “They were really patient with us.”

The young couple, who married in July 2021 and are about to celebrate their son’s second birthday, always knew they wanted to be self employed and had even dabbled in desserts and other ventures while working as servers.

Yesenia began selling chocolate dipped strawberries and other goodies through Instagram and Snapchat, building clientele through word of mouth while the family lived in Franklin, North Carolina.

The couple decided to move to Habersham County where Luis grew up as he was doing marketing for different restaurants in Georgia.

The idea for the “antojitos,” Mexican street food, business and namesake “raspas” came to the couple when the craving for “raspados,” Mexican shaved ice, began kicking in last year.

“It was a sunny day and I was like ‘Man, I want a raspado.” We were just talking at Huddle House,” Yesenia said. “I looked it up and called my mom in Mexico to ask how we could do the natural flavors because we didn’t want to use the syrups. We froze some ice in the cooler, ordered a scraper from Amazon and made it, then we started selling it.”

The couple reclaimed the traditional hand scraping technique and began selling it from their cousin’s house in June of last year. Soon they had cars lined up in front of the house trying to buy their raspados.

“It was unique because we made them by hand,” Yesenia said. “We didn’t use a machine and we did Mexican-style. It caught a lot of people’s attention.”

With demand for raspados as well as other antojitos including corn on the cob and cheesecake bites growing, the couple decided to try to expand from selling a few days a week and into their own full-fledged business.

“We started looking into getting space,” Luis said. “We were trying to ask a few people that we knew, there was an ice cream shop in North Carolina that we asked for help like ‘What did y’all do?,’ ‘What permits did y’all need?,’ and that is how we started looking into it.”

Yesenia said “Las Margaritas” restaurant in North Carolina helped point them in the right direction to start the business by sharing with them how they began theirs.

In August, the couple rented out the space at 215 Hodges St No. 108 in Cornelia and are grateful to the landlord who didn’t hold their age against them.

“Ms. Carol was really helpful, other people saw us so young and asked if we had support,” Yesenia said.

“Others asked us for backup money, saying we needed $20,000 to back up the business,” Luis said. “We didn’t have that. We started with $2,000, that is what we started out with.”

Luis said they continued to invest into their business and buy what they needed, including a refrigerator and sinks, as they went through the process of trying to open.

The couple said they ran into a bit of an issue with the City of Cornelia regarding a grease trap but they were able to come to an arrangement after consulting neighboring cities and their requirements.

“We fought to have a little place here,” Yesenia said, adding they eventually reached an agreement with the city on what they needed to operate an ice cream shop.

Opening day on Dec. 20 was steady, Luis Antonio Covarrubias said. After posting online and creating an online presence, word got out and business has been continuing ever since.

An important part of the equation is the need for Hispanic focused businesses in Habersham County.

“There are not really a lot of businesses here in Habersham like us,” Luis said.

For Mexican treats, Yesenia said many people have to drive 30 minutes into Gainesville to get their snacks.

Their products are also a big reason why people want to check them out and keep coming back.

“Anything that we make, I try to make it so it stands out,” Luis said. “Our “agua de pepino,” I didn’t want to just serve it ice and the water and that is it, no, we cut up some cucumbers and put them on top with a stick to make it look different, not just basic.”

With a background as servers and a heavy focus on customer service, Yesenia said a big part of what they do is to try to have patience with customers as they try their products and always greet customers as they walk in.

“Customer service is definitely a big thing,” Luis said. “Sometimes we see them stare at the menu and we know they aren’t sure so we try to step in and help them.”

While their menu is focused on antojitos, the couple said they are getting support from everyone in the county.

“It’s been everybody to be honest,” Luis said.

As business continues to grow, the couple hopes to establish Raspas El Tigre as a staple in Cornelia.

“Business has been really good, a lot busiers than we expected, especially because in winter. I didn’t really think people would want ice cream or raspados,” Luis said. “But they really have supported us a lot.”

The couple has already gotten an offer from an outlet in Commerce who said they would love to have them when they are ready to expand. While that is a hope for the future, Luis Antonio Covarrubias said their first priority is Cornelia.

“We are definitely thinking of expanding but we want to get this one right,” Luis said. “We want to get all of our processes right and our theme, this isn’t going to be our theme but we haven’t been able to get to the point yet where we can paint it.”

Luis Antonio Covarrubias said he hopes to be able to bring in street art and murals into the store to brighten up the walls and create the feel that he and his wife are going for.

As a team, the Covarrubias family hopes to take their business further, together, which they said has been their favorite part of this journey.

“We’ve always said we wanted to do something and we’ve had each other’s support,” Yesenia said. “We do it, somehow or another, we are not afraid, somehow we will make it through. We support each other.”