Solon
Solon, IA · LATEST NEWS
Cedar Rapids Gazette
La Leona Mexican restaurant expands south to Marion
MARION — A family-owned group of Mexican restaurants is opening the lion’s share of its new growth south of the border — of Wisconsin. La Leona, whose owners run restaurants in Illinois, Wisconsin and northeastern Iowa, are planting their first flag in the Corridor with a Marion location. The brand’s third spot, which opened Oct. 13 at 1011 Eagleview Drive, fills the vacancy left by the Golden Palace Chinese Buffet , which closed around early June. La Leona, the name of the owners’ home in Mexico that translates to “the lioness,” imports the flavors of their native Jalisco state, on the Pacific coast of Mexico. A growing footprint Two brothers, Francisco and Marcos Lugo, and Marcos’ brother-in-law, Roberto Zarate, join forces for the third La Leona location. The brand has opened three locations in just as many years. Starting in Winnebago, Illinois, it has quickly blossomed with a second opening in Dubuque in November 2025 before opening its first Corridor location in Marion. The trio has grown Mexican restaurant holdings of other names across the Upper Midwest, starting in Wisconsin in 2003. But in Iowa, they see a more promising business environment. They discovered the vacancy on the growing eastern
