A number of new developments are in the works for several locations in local restauranteur Jade Luter’s network, including flipping the names and concepts for two existing locations and the construction of two new restaurants on the east side of Marion.
First off, Ms. Luter has rebranded Pregame Brew and Chew, at 3025 Mount Vernon Road SE, to a new restaurant concept – Casa De Ojos Locos, which officially opened under its new identity Oct. 8.
True to its new name, Casa de Ojos Locos will feature Mexican specialties, but Ms. Luter said the restaurant will offer many of the popular Pregame menu options, including the deli sandwiches inspired by the Corn ‘n’ Fork deli.
“They (customers) just want tacos back,” Ms. Luter said, referring to the Mamacita’s Taco Bar that was replaced by Pregame in August 2024. “So they’re going to get the best of both worlds over at Mount Vernon Road. They’re going to get a mixture. They’ll still have all their TVs and some of the decor, and then they will have the option of Mexican as well.”
In a related move, the Mas Margaritas restaurant at 588 Boyson Road NE is being rebranded as Pregame Brew and Chew, moving that concept across town. The new Pregame location also opened Oct. 8.
The Mas Margaritas name is being retired, Ms. Luter said.
And that’s not the end of the changes for Ms. Luter. Construction is already under way on two new restaurants at East Town Crossing in Marion, just east of Daisy’s Garage.
One will be a second location for Casa De Ojos Locos – at 6,800 square feet, “it will be the largest restaurant I have,” Ms. Luter said.
Next door will be a 1,500-square-foot Cruz’s Cafe Encore, a second location for Cruz’s Cafe, which first opened at 568 Boyson Road NE as a breakfast and lunch spot in 2021.
The two Marion restaurants will share a central kitchen, Ms. Luter said.
And when Cruz’s Cafe Encore closes at 2 p.m. daily, the space will be available as a rental space for private events or business functions.
Thus, Cruz’s Cafe Encore is “like what happens after the main event,” she said.
Ms. Luter said she may take possession of the two restaurants by late December, and hopes to be open a few months thereafter.
Some may question offering more Mexican restaurants in an area that seems to have a multitude of such options, but there’s a good reason, Ms. Luter said.
“I had originally bought Mas Margaritas, and I realize now why there’s so many Mexican restaurants,” she said. “It’s just because people love chips, salsa and margaritas, no matter what.”
East Town Crossing is becoming a restaurant hub, including one of the two Daisy’s Garage locations owned by Ms. Luter. And she expects that growth to continue, based on the development of the Dows Farm project on Mount Vernon Road and the popularity of the Prospect Meadows sports complex in Marion, just a few miles to the north.
“Marion has been very good to us,” she said. “We can’t thank them enough.”
Since opening her first restaurant, Daisy’s Garage in Cedar Rapids, in 2017, Ms. Luter has been on a rapid growth trajectory, with a half dozen restaurants open or in development. And truth be told, she said she thought she was finished with new projects.
“I named my LLC Mas Margaritas El Ultimo, which means ‘the last one’ in Spanish,” she said. “And then everyone was teasing me, saying ‘did you put LOL after that?” I was llike, ‘No, I’m done. This is it.’ But I’m not, obviously.”
