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Xolo brings popular Mexican food to North Liberty
Cedar Rapids restaurateurs expand to Johnson County, with plans for more

May. 28, 2025 6:00 am, Updated: May. 29, 2025 10:12 am
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NORTH LIBERTY — A small group of restaurateurs is expanding rapidly on the heels of successful openings in Cedar Rapids and Vinton.
Xolo (pronounced like “show low,”) opened May 13, introducing their most popular concept to Johnson County with a familiar menu and a new twist on interior design.
Their fourth restaurant opening together, co-owners Ariel Barrios, Ozzy Aguirre and Raul Gomez say that their debut in Johnson County continues a mission near to their hearts.
“This is tradition. It’s not just another restaurant,” said Barrios. “Some people will probably see us as another restaurant, but it’s more than that.”
If you go:
Address: 1295 Jordan St., North Liberty
Hours: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday; 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday; 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday
Phone: (319) 665-0075
Website: Find Xolo on Facebook
Details: A large menu delivers a fusion of modern and Mexican street food influenced by Mexico City and Guadalajara alongside a robust line of Ozzy Aguirre’s renowned margaritas. All food, including authentic signatures like corn tortillas, is made from scratch.
Look inside
Mirroring a vision revealed with its previous openings at Mextizo and Cafe Tacuba in Cedar Rapids, Xolo’s interior design is as much a feast for the eyes as the food is for the body.
The space, though it previously served as other Mexican restaurants, was still laid out with a holdover from a previous sports bar tenant — the bar in the middle disrupting the layout of the large, two-level space. That was their first fix in the renovation.
Through each detail, the owners want you to see Mexico City the way they knew it growing up.
Mextizo diners will recognize the style: oversize, circular booths in soothing earth tones, airbrushed murals covering every wall and thousands of artificial flowers that bring a forest to suburbia.
“It feels cozy,” Aguirre said — and diners have responded well to that. Mextizo in particular has waits during peak dinner rushes nearly every night — often upward of 45 minutes.
At the entrance, 3,000 roses cover the first wall seen in the vestibule. Inside, thousands of lush pink bougainvillea sprawl as vines across the second floor’s balcony.
Finding the number of flowers they need is not a small task, often requiring purchases from multiple vendors.
“Whenever you go to Mexico City, you can see (bougainvillea) in the middle of the street, you can see it everywhere,” Barrios said. “It feels like you’re home.”
But instead of seeing an ode to Frida Kahlo everywhere, a new theme appears on the airbrushed walls painted by Aguirre’s cousin, Milton Chacon.
The dog you see throughout the restaurant pays homage to the restaurant’s name and the owners’ roots. The Xolo, short for Xoloitzcuintli, is a hairless dog native to Mexico for over 5,000 years and the first dog of the Americas.
It’s a breed of dog that ancient Aztecs and Mayans held deep spiritual beliefs about.
“He’s supposed to guide your spirit to the other world when you die,” Aguirre explained.
It’s may be the most obvious design choice in the restaurant, but Barrios said every choice — down to the color coordination of the booths — draws on some sort of symbolism. The trio wanted meaningful threads running through each of their restaurants that would pay respect to where they grew up as they continue to deepen their roots in Iowa.
“This is my home, but we have to respect our roots, and we want to recreate those roots here,” said Barrios. He has been in Iowa for 25 years — more than half his life.
The trio have been friends in Iowa for about 15 years.
“It’s our culture, it’s not a trend,” Aguirre said.
The menu
The menu, a replication of Mextizo, delivers a fusion of modern and Mexican street food influenced by Mexico City and Guadalajara alongside Ozzy Aguirre’s robust line of margaritas known around Linn County.
They figure there’s no reason to fix a menu that isn’t broken.
When they opened their last two restaurants in Cedar Rapids, Aguirre’s stepfather, grandmother and aunt moved from Mexico to train staff and have a daily hand in the kitchen, crafting keys like their unusually pliable corn tortillas — a signature every diner should try at least once.
All of their food is made from scratch daily starting at 7 a.m.
Tortilla chips, served to each table with a free salsa or an optional array of specialty salsa and guacamole flights, reflect an attention to detail in batches that are delicately fried.
Within staples like burritos and fajitas, each section offers a unique take on traditional Mexican food.
Tacos Villada are named after the street Aguirre grew up on. Another taco option resembles the kind they would get in a Mexico City street market with guacamole, pico de gallo and jalapenos.
Steak Chacon is served with potato wedges, and spaghetti poblano adds a new twist to a dish that’s old hat to most Americans.
Appetizers offer a reason to pay for something more than the free chips, with options like a chorizo queso that add new dimensions to cheese. Guacamole flights come in multiple variations, such as mango.
In a show of unabashed authenticity, the menu embraces spicy shrimp, octopus and oysters in artistic presentations.
Even simplicities like the house pico de gallo — a staple garnishing plates at many restaurants — manages to stand out with a new verve that many restaurants neglect. Avocado appears generously on plates.
Noticing a larger proportion of Hispanic diners at their new location, the owners said they’re pleased to earn the ultimate stamp of authenticity. But their growing popularity with non-Hispanic diners in Cedar Rapids has also demonstrated something important.
“They’re hungry for real, authentic Mexican,” Aguirre said. “It’s a chance for us to bring our roots and show ourselves with our food.”
Rapid growth
Their fourth opening comes less than two years after the co-owners opened New Bohemia’s Cafe Tacuba in late 2023, plus Mextizo in northeast Cedar Rapids and Tequileros in Vinton in early 2024.
But they’re not stopping in North Liberty. The Ozzar Group, mum on the details, has plans for a fifth location north of Cedar Rapids in the near future. Diners in North Liberty see a hint of those plans with a question mark on the bar wall, where each of the group’s brands are painted.
The group knows the Mexican restaurant scene well. Barrios helped start La Cantina in 2011; Aguirre helped start Mas Margaritas in 2019.
Expanding too quickly is always a concern for a fast-growing business. But they’re confident they can pull it off between their management style, their trusted staff and what they bring to the table.
Each day, the owners are on site at each restaurant to oversee service and sample food for quality and consistency.
The group, which also considered Tiffin for its expansion to Johnson County, is within a mile of several other Mexican restaurants. But after success in a city with 38 Mexican restaurants, they remain confident in how well they will stand out from the crowd in North Liberty.
“If you’re disciplined and consistent with food and service — I think that’s what sets us apart,” Aguirre said. “I think that’s what has made us successful — consistency.”
Comments: Features reporter Elijah Decious can be reached at (319) 398-8340 or elijah.decious@thegazette.com.
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