Flood recovery aid helped immigrant realize restaurant dream

The June 2008 flood in Cedar Rapids washed away quite a few dreams.

It also helped some dreams become possible.

Christian Barrios is one of the few whose dream got a boost from the flood. He opened La Cantina, a new Mexican restaurant at 102 2nd St. SE, last month after a decade of working in Mexican restaurants in Cedar Rapids.

Christian worked full-time at his brother's Hacienda Las Glorias restaurant on Mount Vernon Road, waking up early each morning to renovate space for the new downtown restaurant with help from brothers Ariel and Giovani.

It came down to a lot of 75-hour work weeks, but the finished product made it worthwhile.

“I'm really tired but really happy,” said Christian, 29.

Christian moved from Mexico City in 2001 to work with Edgar in Cedar Rapids. It wasn't much like his home, and that was fine.

“It's really safe, really nice,” Christian said.

Jessica Barrios, his wife, said Christian had been interested in opening a Mexican restaurant downtown for quite some time. He admired the renovation of the historic Ely Building by the owners of Zins. When the JumpStart program offered rental assistance to businesses opening in the flood-affected area, opening a restaurant downtown became more feasible.

La Cantina fills 4,000 square feet of former ground floor office space in the former Berthel Fisher & Co. building owned by Steve Emerson. The restaurant seats about 126, and a new outdoor seating area will be added next year along the Second Street side of the building.

The renovations exposed ornate iron columns in the building, which contrast with the contemporary industrial look of the renovations. The idea, Jessica said, was to create a space that could have the feel of a night club in the evenings but serve well as a restaurant during the day.

Emerson, an architect, was pleased.

“It looks like a great little restaurant,” he said,. “It was hard to see that when it was just an old office.”

The three story building that houses La Cantina opened in 1883 as the Golden Eagle store. A distinctive cupola on the corner of the building was later removed, and the exterior covered with metal siding.

Frank Pfaff and his family bought the building in 1985, restoring musch of the exterior to its original appearance appearance and renaming it Pfaff Place.

Berthel Fisher & Co. bought the building in 1990, but has since move to a new headquarters on the Highway 100 Marion bypass.

Emerson acquired the building last summer from Jeffrey Peterson of Malibu, Calif.

Christian developed the the menu to appeal to a broad audience. Realizing that many lunch groups have someone that doesn't prefer Mexican food, he included American favorites such as wraps and half-pound Angus burgers, and some seafood-based dishes.

Christian said American tastes in Mexican foods have broadened in the last decade since he moved to the United States. Americans become more adventurous in ordering Mexican foods, moving beyond traditional favorites such as burritos and enchiladas to try new dishes such as mole' and seviche.

One of La Cantina's big concerns was whether there would be enough evening traffic to stay open, Jessica said. So far, the evening business has been good, helped along by live music Wednesday and Saturday evenings.

Christian says he'd consider opening another restaurant someday if La Cantina is successful but doesn't want to branch out too much because he wants to be on-premises at his restuarant most of the time.