A sign with margaritas and a palm tree has been erected in front of Dakota Crossing, signaling a new tenant that will fill the space vacated in April.

Patio Bar & Grill will take over the location at 4518 Mortensen Road previously occupied by Mullet’s, which closed suddenly in April 2025.

Juan Dominguez, who owns El Viejo Mexican Restaurant in Boone and Cedar Rapids, and Mojito’s Mexican Restaurant in Ankeny, wanted to take a leap of faith and open what he says is a “dream come true” by serving breakfast in addition to a lunch and dinner menu.

“We have our favorite Mexican restaurant spots to go for breakfast,” Dominguez explained. “So we decided to open one like that, too.”

A co-worker from one of Dominguez’s other restaurants will partner with him in order to create a menu that offers breakfast options alongside the traditional menu found at Dominguez’s other restaurants.

“We’re going to have margaritas and burritos, and we’re gonna have good deals,” Dominguez said.

Dominguez noticed that local restaurants with breakfast often filled up quickly and left him and wife without an option to eat out, so he “decided to open something with breakfast.”

Dominguez, who lives in west Ames, believes the former location of Mullet’s will be a good spot for him to grow his business.

“I have seen some people asking for different businesses in this place than a Mexican restaurant… but we want to let people know we are new here,” he said. “We are different, and we hope customers and people from Ames let us show what we know how to do.”

Dominguez hopes to open Patio Bar & Grill before the end of the summer, pending some changes in the kitchen, a change in furniture and inspections in the coming weeks.