Mamacita Taco Pub moving to new location

CEDAR RAPIDS — The former home of Vernon Bar and Grill didn’t stay vacant for long before another growing restaurant decided to snatch up the space.

Mamacita Taco Pub, which first opened at 834 First Ave. NE in March, will be moving to the larger location at 3025 Mount Vernon Rd. SE less than a year after opening. In August, Vernon Bar and Grill left that Mount Vernon Road location to move up the street with a new menu after 14 years in business.

Mamacita’s First Avenue location closed Nov. 26, according to a social media post. Owners Haile Duncan and Ozzie Aguirre expect to open their new location by Christmas, where they’ll have more space, booth seating, a bigger menu and a new bar.

Earlier this year, the Mexican restaurant opened in the former Moose McDuffy’s space after the owners opened La Casita, a Mexican breakfast cafe, right next door in the space previously home to Riley’s Cafe. Mamacita offers a large menu of appetizers and specialty tacos, quesadillas, burritos and other Mexican favorites like torta sandwiches, sopes and pollo con arroz (chicken with rice.)

The restaurateurs, who also run Mas Margaritas, have been making a lot of moves in 2022. In September, Haile Duncan was named winner of the Emerging Leader award by the Iowa Restaurant Association — the only Corridor winner named in this year’s round of awards from the industry association.

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