A family meat market with roots stretching back generations in Mexico is opening this summer at 2517 Hubbell Ave. in Des Moines.
Why it matters: Cerro Grande Meat Market aims to offer products not found at your typical grocery meat counter. It will sell Latino and Mexican specialty cuts, rotating seasonal sausages and ready-to-cook foods.
How it started: Co-owner Jose Lopez is a fourth-generation butcher, he tells Axios.
- His great-grandfather ran a meat counter in Mexico in the early 1900s, and the craft passed through his grandfather, grandmother and father, Ramon Lopez, before reaching him.
- A fire in July 2025 destroyed Jose and his father’s Ottumwa butcher shop after a piece of equipment short-circuited, but the family decided to use the moment as an opportunity to relocate and rebuild in Des Moines.
Zoom in: Jose said he plans to sell over 42 sausage varieties, ranging from simple breakfast links and garlic flavors, to a cordial cherry-and-chocolate sausage.
- He will sell marinated fajita meat and core Latino carnicería cuts, too. Meat will be sourced from USDA Choice and Prime distributors.
- Jose also takes inspiration from European butchers, known for being neighborhood stops and for displaying their meat products almost like art around their shops.
Plus: Jose’s sister, Ariana Lopez, is opening a Mexican-style ice cream shop inside the same building…