Taco John's and CherryBerry to Open in Waukee

The ground has been leveled and soon the walls will go up on Waukee's newest strip mall at the corner of Northeast Dartmoor Drive and Hickman Road.

Once open, that strip mall will house two new options for dining on-the-go - a Taco John's restaurant and a CherryBerry frozen yogurt bar.

According to Steve Downing of Downing Development, the 10,000 square-foot strip mall will be anchored on each end by the two stores with additional space to be leased in-between.

"At this point we have approximately 6,000 square-feet vacant in the middle of the building," Downing said. "We are currently working with several potential users and expect to have the remaining space leased up soon."

Bill Byrne, CEO and founder of Taco John's, said the Waukee location will include dine-in seating for 60-65 people and drive-thru service, as well.

"It will be the same Taco John's with exactly the same menu as our other stores," he said. "Having that drive thru is really important. We do more business in the drive thru than in the dining room."

CherryBerry, one of only a handful in central Iowa, is a self-serve frozen yogurt bar where the customer has control over what goes in their cup. Choose from 50 different fat-free frozen yogurt flavors and more than 50 toppings to make your favorite sundae.

Byrne said a CherryBerry opened in Ankeny two months ago and a second central Iowa location will open in Grimes next week.

"CherryBerry is an excellent product," he said. "It's great for families, I think it's something Waukee will enjoy."

Byrne said Waukee should get its first taste of CherryBerry frozen yogurt as soon as February 2013. Taco John's is on schedule to open shortly after in March.