Hundreds of people filed through the doors of the new Coralville Estela’s Fresh Mex Tuesday afternoon after the restaurant announced a surprise soft opening to celebrate the new location.
On Dec. 1, the restaurant announced it would be closing its doors at its former location just north of the Coral Ridge Mall and moving two miles up the road later that month.
While the grand opening was slated for Wednesday, Dec. 11, following the Dec. 8 closure of the old location, Owner Jerry Vasquez knew his staff could pull the surprise soft opening together by Tuesday. All orders were 50 percent off for any customer attending the soft opening.
Vasquez said the old location was nearing the end of its five-year lease, and felt it was the right time to move especially because they wanted to implement a carryout window.
“This [location] came up, and we just thought it felt like the right move,” Vasquez said. “It’s real busy in this area — a lot of families in this area. The carryout window is definitely one of the deciding factors, and then also just getting closer to North Liberty.”
Josh Wajda, a long-time friend of Vasquez, stopped by the opening to support his friend and local businesses in general. As a resident of North Liberty, he said he appreciated the new location.
“It’s easier to get to,” he said.
Luis Ruiz, also in attendance during the soft opening, is a semi-regular Estela’s patron, eating at one of its locations once every few weeks. As he is only a five-minute drive from the new location, he said he is most excited about the shortened distance and utilizing the carryout window.
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“I think it’s a good thing,” he said. “I always like their food, and then just having it closer, especially to North Liberty — it’s always expanding.”
Vasquez said that, with the move, he was able to hang up more pictures of his late grandmother, Estela, the inspiration for the restaurant. Estela passed away in 1996, but Vasquez and his mother opened Mami’s in Muscatine in 2000 in her honor.
“As we evolved, we kind of changed the name to give it my grandma’s name — Estela,” he said. “But in a way, it was just kind of to honor her. We used a lot of her memories and just kind of kept her memory alive.”
In addition to the location change and carryout window, Vasquez said they are expanding their hours and adding new breakfast menu items. The new location will be open at 7 a.m. every day, two hours earlier than the Iowa City location.
They’ve also expanded their five signature breakfast burrito options. Vasquez said the new menu items will be part of the Iowa City location after it undergoes some renovations later this month or early next month.
“I’m just proud of my team and proud of the other owners,” Vasquez said. “We’re all very excited and happy about our team.”