Blue Agave Mexican Restaurant opening soon in Coralville’s Iowa River Landing

Jan. 17, 2023 5:45 am

The space formerly occupied by La Vecina in Coralville, seen here in June 2019, will soon be home to Blue Agave, a new upscale Mexican concept. The new restaurant will open soon at Iowa River Landing. (The Gazette)

CORALVILLE — A new Mexican restaurant soon will be opening in Coralville’s Iowa River Landing District.

Coralville City Council approved a new 10-year lease for Blue Agave Mexican Restaurant during the council’s Jan. 10 meeting, pending a Feb. 14 public hearing. The new restaurant, owned by Jose Martinez and Hadanely Solorio-Martinez, also will have two five-year lease renewal options.

The ground-level space at 211 E. Ninth St., Suite 135, previously was home to La Vecina Restaurante, a modern upscale Mexican restaurant.

An opening date for the new restaurant has not yet been announced and was not articulated in a lease agreement with the city, although the agreement stipulates that the new tenant must open the restaurant by May 1.

A sample menu submitted to the Coralville City Council contains a variety of specialties from street food like elote corn and tacos to more traditional specialties like fajitas and carne asada. Diners may be able to order from a number of warm bowl and salad selections, as well.

The menu is virtually identical to the menu of a restaurant by the same name in the Des Moines metro. Blue Agave in Waukee is an upscale Mexican concept that also offers a full menu of craft cocktails, specialty margaritas, and flights of tequila and margaritas.

Entree listings detail elevated ingredients for many dishes, with a price range of $13 to $25.

Former tenant La Vecina opened in June 2019. Its exact closing date is unclear, but the restaurant stopped posting on social media in November 2021.

Comments: (319) 398-8340; elijah.decious@thegazette.com