New El Azul Mexican Market in North Liberty offers Latin American goods to a growing city

Queso fresco, oregano and marinated meat sit inside one shopper’s basket at El Azul Mexican Market. Later, another shopper buys limes and tortillas.

The two shoppers stopped on a recent Wednesday at the grocery store that opened just over one month ago at 415 Community Drive in North Liberty, one of the fastest-growing cities in Iowa.

Owners Sara Puffer and Edgar Reynoso Ayala, two longtime Iowa City area community members and North Liberty residents since 2019, transformed the 4,562 square-foot former Family Video into a market selling Latin American goods, freshly baked Mexican sweet bread — or pan dulce — hot foods and much more.

They saw an opportunity to meet their own needs by opening up a store.

That meant opening a grocery store with daily hours, unlike the nearby Fareway that closes on Sundays, and offering a wider selection of Mexican and Latin American goods that chains such as Walmart doesn’t always carry. A Mexican grocery store in North Liberty also meant that Puffer and Reynoso Ayala didn’t have to travel to Cedar Rapids to find the ingredients they needed.

By opening a store in their community, they’d also get to serve others who found themselves in similar positions.

Opening up a market didn’t feel too unfamiliar to Reynoso Ayala, whose father owns a storefront in Pénjamo, a city in Guanajuato, Mexico.

“They bring fresh tortillas every day. Fresh baked breads… then you have all kinds of different products to sell to the people who need it in the neighborhood,” Puffer recalled of her visit there.

Reynoso Ayala’s father’s influence extends to the name of the market itself.

El Azul Mexican Market is named after the agave plants that grew in abundance in Reynoso Ayala’s father’s hometown in Mexico. From far away, the blue-hued plants look like the ocean, Reynoso Ayala said.

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Homemade guacamole, pan dulce and more at El Azul Mexican Market

Already, the market has amassed a following for its pan dulce, made by Lara’s Bakery in Marshalltown.

Puffer said that she posts about when they have fresh pan dulce back in the store on Facebook. Not long after, they’re nearly out.

They sold out on the traditional bread — Rosca de Reyes — they offered earlier this month that’s eaten as part of Día de Los Reyes, or the celebration of the Three Wise Men, from the Bible.

El Azul Mexican Market serves tamales on Saturdays; the soup menudo on Sundays; tinga, or shredded chicken prepared with chipotle peppers; guacamole; green salsa made in house; and more.

The market also sells some items shoppers may need for convenience, including milk, eggs or dishwashing soap.

Puffer and Reynoso Ayala are listening to what customers ask for and try to provide it, if not now, then certainly later.

“As we're settling in, we want to make sure what we provide is the best quality and the best flavor,” Puffer said. “So, we don't want to rush ourselves to just get product out.”

Upon request, the market also offers document translation and notarization services.

Puffer, a University of Iowa graduate who works in immigration law, is fluent in Spanish and wanted to assist shoppers who may need these services.

Ándale Cantina opens up across the way

Ándale Cantina Bar & Grill sits less than half a mile across Highway 965 from El Azul Mexican Market. Emilio Estrada, owner of the Ándale Ándale located in the Coral Ridge Mall’s food court, opened the sit-down restaurant in mid-November.

He managed the El Dorado restaurant in the Iowa City Marketplace for years until its closure. In 2016, Estrada opened Ándale Ándale in the Coralville mall.

He and his wife worked long hours serving soft tacos, rice, beans and more to shoppers in a fast-causal setting before they were able to hire help.

Estrada and his family live in North Liberty, and the desire to open a restaurant close to home and serve their community was realized late last year.

Inside, the restaurant with its colorful décor and papel picado hung across its ceilings serves both locals and fans who’ve followed Estrada since his days running a restaurant in Iowa City.

He envisions the North Liberty restaurant as a future local favorite where customers can relax. Rather than start heavily promoting the restaurant and attracting more customers than they can handle, Estrada is focused on top-notch food and service for the people who stop in.

“We’re feeling very happy when some people living on the other side of the town (are) traveling 20 minutes, 30 minutes to come here to visit us and try us,” he said.

Nick Bergus, North Liberty communications director, told the Iowa City Press-Citizen that as the city’s population continues to grow, they expect for its racial and ethnic minority populations to increase.

North Liberty’s population grew from 13,374 to 20,479, according to Census Bureau data. Of its current population, 5.6% identify as Hispanic or Latino, 5.1% as Black or African American, 4.4% Asian, and 7.7% identified as two or more races.

Business growth, including the upcoming University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics facility off Forevergreen Road and the mixed-development that includes a bowling alley along Penn Street, continues for North Liberty.

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Bergus said North Liberty’s draw for businesses includes its space to build new properties and its more affluent population, who can afford different services such as going out to eat.

“I also think that we're seeing that increased diversity here in town and I think some of that is some of that is natural. That's where there's going to be growth, but also, I think we've seen as a city, we've committed to additional inclusion initiatives,” Bergus said, referring to the city’s outreach and equity coordinator and conversations happening at city council.

Those efforts, he said, will continue to “support a diverse population base.”

El Azul Mexican Market isn’t exclusively for Hispanic or Latino shoppers.

It’s for everyone.

Reynoso Ayala’s loved ones in Mexico were excited to hear that he opened up a market in Iowa.

“Everybody's so proud about this name and the business too,” he said.

Paris Barraza covers entertainment, lifestyle and arts at the Iowa City Press-Citizen. Reach her at PBarraza@press-citizen.com or 319-519-9731. Follow her on Twitter @ParisBarraza.

This article originally appeared on Iowa City Press-Citizen: North Liberty residents open new Mexican grocery store, welcomes all