Estela’s Fresh Mex: burritos, with a side of podcasts and basketball

Anyone who’s been a Hawkeye for the last eight years is no doubt familiar with Estela’s Fresh Mex, a fast-casual Iowa City Mexican restaurant that features six different varieties of house salsas, homemade tortillas and marinades, and freshly grilled chicken, beef, or pork. Customers can get their Estela’s Fresh Mex fix at 184 East Burlington St. in Iowa City and 1810 N. Coral St. in Coralville – at least until the end of August, when they shutter the Coral Street location and move to 3254 Crosspark Road. The new location will have the same menu with the addition of churros – a pastry made of unsweetened dough that is piped into hot oil, then rolled in cinnamon-laced sugar. “They’re not standard churros,” said Tyler Tiecke, co-owner. “You get different toppings – ice creams, fruits, nuts, syrups – all the above.” The Crosspark Road location will also feature a carry-out drive-thru window, something the other Estela locations don’t have. Customers can call in their order and pick it up from the window, cutting down on wait times. “We'll have two full service lines in this location,” said Jerry Vasquez, co-owner. Lines can be an issue with Estela’s; their promotional Burritos After Class, each Friday from 2-5 p.m., draws a line of college students down the street. During that time period, a burrito order with a half serving of chips and queso is a mere $6; a difficult deal to pass up when you’re a college student in an age of inflation.

A catering business in Muscatine

The restaurant got its start two decades ago in Muscatine, when co-owner Elsa de la Paz began a catering business called Mami’s Authentic, named for her mother, Estela, who died in 1993. Ms. de la Paz said she missed people asking her about her mother.

“She was just a wonderful, loving person,” said Ms. de la Paz, of her mother. “She had the best hugs. And of course, the best meals. She always made fresh homemade tortillas for us, and just all sorts of dishes and recipes that she shared with us.” When Ms. de la Paz realized her food was a hit, she began looking into opening a brick-and-mortar store and enlisted the help of her son, Mr. Vasquez, then an Iowa State student majoring in business management. The two opened a storefront at 221 S. Gilbert St. in Iowa City in 2011. Around the same time, Mr. Vasquez and his business partner, Aaron Castle, began creating and marketing their own brand of salsa bearing the restaurant’s name. “We were in about 30 Hy-Vees at the time,” Mr. Vasquez said. When Mr. Castle left to pursue other projects, Mr. Vasquez enlisted Mr. Tiecke to help with the new business venture. The two had known each other since high school but didn’t reconnect until they bumped into each other in Iowa City, where Mr. Tiecke attended University of Iowa as a finance and marketing major. It was Mr. Tiecke’s work ethic that made him stand out as a potential business partner, said Mr. Vasquez. “I knew in high school he had his own lawn care business,” he said. “So I knew a high school kid that was able to organize a lawn care business had an entrepreneurial spirit. I knew he worked for…lots of different places downtown. I just would see him outwork everybody. And so I knew that was somebody that I (would) want to partner with.” The entrepreneurial spirit runs in Mr. Tiecke’s family, he said, and they encouraged him to go for it. “At first, it was a resume booster to me,” said Mr. Tiecke, never expecting to land where he is now. “I (received) full support from my parents, there's no sense [in] not trying it. I didn't know my future. But almost every single person in my family at one point or currently is an entrepreneur.” For five years, Mr. Tiecke operated a Mami’s Authentic in a food court in Boulder, Colorado, with Mr. Vasquez splitting his time between the two stores. Catering to the college crowd, the Colorado location delivered food as late as 3 a.m. “There [were] very few, maybe like 15, companies in the town delivering when we started, and when we left, I think there was 100,” said Mr. Vasquez. Back in Iowa City, the opportunity to move to a different store front with more space spurred the duo to leave Colorado and focus on a rebrand. “Our Mami’s in Iowa City was 550 square feet, (compared) to the (new) 2,000 square foot restaurant. And our rent was quadrupling, so we were going to need to put all our efforts into that,” said Mr. Vasquez. “And that's when our lease (was) coming up in Boulder…so we decided to reconvene, restrategize. We were going to offer fresh pressed tortillas and a lot more breakfast options.” With the move from Gilbert Street to Burlington Street, the trio decided to rebrand as Estela’s Fresh Mex, keeping homage to Ms. de la Paz’s mother. In 2019, they opened a second location in Coralville.

A new way of marketing

What do college athletes, a podcast, and a burrito restaurant have in common? At first glance, not a whole lot. A quick look at Estela’s social media pages will reveal college students mugging for the camera over a batch of burritos and nachos, with a few familiar faces standing out – members of the University of Iowa women’s basketball team.

It’s part of a new marketing strategy thanks to the NCAA’s Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) policy enacted in 2021. Under the policy, college athletes reserve the right to profit from their name, image and likeness, something that was previously restricted by the NCAA. “(Iowa) doesn’t have a professional sports team,” said Mr. Vasquez. “So (a UI student athlete’s) name, image and likeness does carry a lot of weight. And then really, the most important thing was that these were actual customers of ours. We'd see them come in all the time. I think our style of food and our recipe really complement their lifestyle really well – it's a healthier, quick option. And so it was just kind of a perfect match.” “I think what they like about partnering with us is, we let them have their own personality and let them do podcasts,” he continued. “You know, they have a lot of say with commercials that we do. So it gives them the freedom and gives them something different to do.” In addition to their advertising with UI athletes, Estela’s has made the foray into the podcast world with Taco-Bout Network, a podcast that started three years ago with hosts Connor and Patrick McCaffrey, UI basketball players and the sons of coach Fran McCaffrey. The podcast features a variety of UI athletes talking about a range of topics with different hosts. “We built a studio just for that podcast inside our office, (and) bought all the equipment,” said Mr. Vasquez. “Luckily, (the McCaffreys) had a previous podcast and we kind of were able to use their following to go with it. And now we've got one with Jada Gyamfi, one of the women's basketball players.” “We've changed up how we've done it over the years,” added Mr. Tiecke, referring to their marketing technique with student athletes. “We want to find ways to get these kids money…having podcasts with sponsorships, doing other deals that you can actually find ways to get that money in (their) pocket and then brand with us. We aren't doing that for any sort of monetary gain, it’s just branding. We try to cut the best deals for them so they actually make some money, and we just cover our costs.” The podcast with student athletes has paid off, said Mr. Vasquez. People who attend the basketball games have started associating the restaurant with the players and are willing to give them a try. “It gets them in the door for the first time, and then it's up to us to bring them back. And I think we do a good job of that,” he said.

Surviving COVID-19 and evolving with the times

The restaurant industry is notorious for its turnover rate, but Estela’s Fresh Mex has not only survived, but thrived – even through the COVID-19 pandemic. Mr. Vasquez attributes their success to the care they have for their employees and their ability to strategize during the pandemic. Currently, the restaurant has about 30 employees. “I think (the pandemic) actually benefited us,” said Mr. Vasquez. “We grew, we learned, we got better in a different sense. (COVID-19) improved a lot of different things – our online presence, our mobile ordering, everything kind of got elevated. Obviously, we did take a financial hit and had to work like crazy again, but it all kind of made sense.” “Kindness and care for others always comes first,” said Mr. Tiecke. “When you treat your employees right and you have a good product, it starts to make sense.”

Estela’s legacy

Ms. de la Paz says if Estela were here today, she’d be proud of how far they’ve come. “I would tell my Mom that Jerry deserves so much credit,” she wrote the CBJ. “In 2010 we were going to close. This was due to the downturn in 2008. We were really struggling to get ahead, but before we made the decision, my husband and I asked Jerry if he would like to take it over. He thought about it for a while (a few hours) then he said yes…his decisions have always been based on how we can continue to grow without sacrificing [the] quality of our food and continue to provide work for our staff.” And if Estela were here ordering from the menu, her favorite item would be the shredded chicken, said Ms. de la Paz. “And the homemade tortillas,” she added. “My mom was big on making homemade tortillas.” Mr. Vasquez says they’re hoping there will be as little overlap as possible between the time they close the Coral Street location and open the Crosspark location. “We're excited to be in this North Liberty, Coralville area. I just hope people would give us a try. Try our drive thru service where you order online, and we'll be ready when you come.” Will there be more Estela’s in the future? Maybe, said Mr. Tiecke. “I think definitely the goal is to expand either to Cedar Rapids, the Quad Cities, or Des Moines would be the next move, maybe in a year,” he said, and after they get the logistics of the new location figured out, “we'll feel comfortable and ready to make that next step.”