El Vaquero closes its doors
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By Jeff Snyder
MOUNT AYR, Iowa — After nine years in operation, El Vaquero Mexican Restaurant, located on Madison Street in Mount Ayr, has closed its doors.
El Vaquero, the popular lunch and dinner venue, was originally situated on Highway 2 until relocating to the north side of the courthouse square last year. The authentic Mexican food specialist moved into the vacated location of now closed Still Smokin Bar-B-Q. Doug Still, the owner of Still Smokin retired and subsequently leased his former location to El Vaquero in 2025. Still is currently listed as the owner of the location.
Customers would flock to the restaurant and generally gave the establishment positive reviews. It is believed that El Vaquero closed due to family issues and other issues among the ownership group as the primary factors for closing not any previous or current health code violations.
It is unclear at this time what the future plans for the space are, but area residents would most likely want to see another food establishment take over the spot.
