Collaboration between City, State and new owners has AJ Steakhouse preparing to open soon in long-idle building on Waukon’s Main Street
New life for a long-idle building ... After more than two decades of sitting vacant, the building on the southwest corner of the stoplight intersection in Waukon that once housed JCPenney and Tierney’s Clothing Store in earlier years has been brought back to life. Through a collaborative effort by the City of Waukon, State of Iowa and the new business owners, Arturo Barreda and Jose Velarde, AJ Steakhouse is scheduled to be open for business in early September. Standard photo by Lissa Blake.
A view that’s all new ... The main floor of AJ Steakhouse (pictured above), in combination with outdoor seating in the adjacent outdoor plaza to the east, will accommodate up to 175 people when the new restaurant opens in early September. The top floor of the renovated building at the corner of Main Street and Spring Avenue will eventually accommodate private parties of around 40 people. Photo by Lissa Blake.
New kitchen ready to serve up 20-plus menu items ... AJ Steakhouse features a new, state-of-the-art kitchen, which is pictured above prior to its anticipated opening in the near future. The kitchen is designed to work well for preparing the new restaurant’s 20-plus menu items that will be available in a variety of price ranges. Photo by Lissa Blake.
Ready to begin their new venture ... Pictured outside their new restaurant venture in the former JCPenney/Tierney building in Waukon are, left to right, Jose Velarde with his brother, Alvino Velarde, and Nancy and Arturo Barreda. AJ Steakhouse is scheduled to open in early September on the corner of Main Street and Spring Avenue. Photo by Lissa Blake.
Visit by Iowa Lt. Governor, mural by Iowa City artist ... Iowa Lieutenant Governor Adam Gregg (left) visits with AJ Steakhouse co-owner Arturo Barreda (right) during Gregg’s Friday, August 26 visit to Waukon. In the background of the above photo is a hand-painted mural by Jesus Rubalcava of Iowa City, who also did the art located inside Fiesta Vallarta. Photo by Lissa Blake.
by Lissa Blake
A long-vacant property on Main Street in downtown Waukon is getting a fresh start thanks to a collaboration between the City of Waukon, State of Iowa and local business owners.
AJ Steakhouse, located in the building known previously as JCPenney or Tierney’s on the southwest corner of the stoplight intersection on Waukon’s Main Street, is set to open early in the month of September.
New building and business owners Arturo Barreda and Jose Velarde first opened Fiesta Vallarta in 2014 just a couple blocks east of their newest venture, and their busy Mexican restaurant has been a draw to downtown Waukon ever since.
A few years back, after the Waukon community lost both Mulligan’s and Gus and Tony’s to fires, the two restaurateurs started thinking about what they could do to fill that void. “We needed more restaurants and we thought the steakhouse would be a good idea,” said Arturo.
Two years ago, the business partners started looking for a possible location that would fit their needs. They had conversations with Waukon Mayor Pat Stone, who suggested they look at the idle building on the corner of Main Street and Spring Avenue. “We came and looked at the building, which was then owned by the City, and we bought it from them,” he added.
GETTING READY
Although opening a new restaurant is a lot of work - both before and after, according to Jose, the restaurant owners also have years of experience from which to draw upon. He and his family were already running a restaurant in Ames (where he met and worked with Arturo) when they opened Fiesta Vallarta in Waukon, later opening Fajitas Grill in Lansing in 2017, before selling that business to his brother-in-law in 2020.
When the duo first decided to turn their focus to a steakhouse, something that was going to be new for them, they knew they would need some training.
“We spent some time at J. Bruner’s, a really good restaurant in Clarinda. They have been mentoring us in how to run a steakhouse,” said Arturo, adding they will probably go back from time to time to get additional pointers.
And while opening and running a second restaurant with a completely different menu sounds like quite a challenge, the duo said in some ways, the steakhouse will be “simpler,” because there will be fewer items to prepare.
“At a Mexican restaurant, you have maybe 100 items on the menu. Here we plan to have around 20,” said Arturo.
THE EXPERIENCE
Offerings planned for the new menu include ribeyes, prime rib, filets, fish and pork chops, and there will be a variety of price points to choose from. “We’re planning to just be a regular, old-fashioned steakhouse,” said Jose.
Additional features will include a full bar on the second floor and outdoor seating in the plaza, which is being leased from the City. Further plans include a party room for large groups of about 40 people, which will be located on the third floor.
They plan to have the new steakhouse open Monday-Saturday from 4-10 p.m. AJ Steakhouse is still accepting applications for bartenders and wait staff, and anyone interested is encouraged to inquire at Fiesta Vallarta.
PROJECT HISTORY
Waukon City Manager Gary Boden explained the building has had half a dozen owners over the past two decades. Around 2000, the building was purchased by an individual whose plan was to fully remodel the space into a nice restaurant and bar. When that plan fell through, the building passed through a number of owners, finally coming under the ownership of Waukon Economic Development Corporation (WEDC) in 2014 and then the City of Waukon in 2020 - sitting unoccupied that entire time span.
In 2020, then Waukon Economic Development Corporation Executive Director Ardie Kuhse attempted to secure some funding to help rehabilitate the building by applying for a Community Attraction and Tourism (CAT) grant through the State of Iowa. At the time, the grant was denied, mainly due to the fact there was no specific tenant intended for the structure.
After Barreda and Velarde expressed an interest in reopening the building as a steakhouse, Kuhse was able to update the grant application and reapply, and the project was awarded $100,000 from the State.
The City of Waukon matched that with another $100,000 on top of the $60,000 WEDC had already paid to replace the roof in recent years. Boden said the City got another small grant of $10,000 to fix the south wall of the building. The steakhouse owners borrowed the rest of the money for the $500,000 project themselves.
DOWNTOWN ANCHOR
Boden said although the City typically hasn’t gotten involved in sponsoring grants, it is something it is willing to do for the betterment of the community.
“This building has been vacant for 23 years. We felt if we didn’t step in, it would continue to downgrade our downtown. This facility is an anchor to downtown, and I believe this will be a destination restaurant,” added Boden. “This was a 50/50, half a million dollar project, with about half from the private sector and half from the public sector.”
“We want people to know we (the City) are approachable, and we’re not adverse to sponsoring grants for businesses. Right now there is some grant money available for second story apartments, but we need participation,” Boden said.
POINT OF PRIDE
Iowa Lieutenant Governor Adam Gregg toured the new facility Friday morning, August 26 as part of the Governor of Iowa’s office plan to visit all 99 counties in the state of Iowa. “We love to come see projects like this … where someone has taken something old that’s an eyesore and turned it into a point of pride … These kinds of projects often trigger other investments, which lead to positive economic progress for communities,” said Gregg during his visit.
