By Lucia Cheng, Des Moines Register
Cerro Grande Meat Market opened at 2517 Hubbell Ave. with specialty cuts, tamales and more than 42 sausage recipes rooted in four generations of butchery.
Updated Aug. 6, 2026, to reflect the market’s opening in Des Moines.
DES MOINES, IA — Cerro Grande Meat Market is open on Des Moines’ east side, bringing the Lopez family’s specialty cuts, prepared foods and extensive sausage selection to 2517 Hubbell Ave.
The family-owned market celebrated its grand opening July 19, approximately one year after an electrical fire destroyed the family’s former business in Ottumwa.
Owner and butcher Jose Lopez rebuilt the market in Des Moines after the July 6, 2025, fire brought 15 years of work in Ottumwa to an abrupt end.
“I lost everything. My clothes, my bed, everything. I had nothing,” Lopez said. He was also caring for a newborn at the time.
Where is Cerro Grande Meat Market in Des Moines?
Cerro Grande Meat Market is located at 2517 Hubbell Ave. on the east side of Des Moines.
The market specializes in fresh meat, Mexican and Latino cuts, house sausage recipes, tamales and other prepared foods. Product availability may vary as different sausage flavors and seasonal items rotate through the store.
Shoppers can check the Cerro Grande Meat Market Facebook page for current business hours, weekly specials and updates about available products before visiting.
An electrical fire destroyed the family’s Ottumwa market
The July 2025 fire left the underinsured Ottumwa building with a hole measuring approximately 30 by 60 feet from the basement to the roof.
Rebuilding at the same location was not a practical option. The Lopez family ultimately left Ottumwa and relocated the business to Des Moines.
The decision meant leaving a community where the family had built relationships with customers over more than a decade. Lopez had watched customers celebrate marriages, engagements and other milestones while they, in turn, watched younger members of his family grow up.
The Lopez family built deep ties in Ottumwa
Cerro Grande Meat Market’s role in Ottumwa extended beyond selling specialty cuts and foods connected to customers’ home countries.
The family donated thousands of pounds of meat to local fundraisers and participated in community events. Cerro Grande prepared tacos for Ottumwa’s Balloon Races, with proceeds benefiting the organization, and worked with Kiwanis on service projects.
Lopez also helped a CrossFit trainer raise money to open a gym by selling boxes of chicken after reviewing the trainer’s business proposal.
The response after the fire demonstrated how deeply the market had become connected to the community. So many people offered to help clean the damaged building that the family eventually had to turn volunteers away.
What shoppers can find at Cerro Grande Meat Market
Cerro Grande’s selection is built around specialty meat cuts, prepared foods and more than 42 sausage recipes.
Those recipes range from familiar varieties to unusual combinations, including a cordial cherry-and-chocolate sausage. Lopez developed other products after speaking with chefs and butchers from different parts of the world.
He also learned to make Guatemalan sausage from scratch and spent months tracking down a recipe for longaniza, a sausage associated with Spanish, Filipino and Latin American cooking traditions.
The goal is to offer cuts and flavors that may be difficult to find at a conventional supermarket, particularly for customers preparing dishes from Mexico, Central America and other parts of the world.
Lopez said he tries to keep prices accessible because he understands the importance of finding ingredients connected to a person’s home country, especially foods a customer may not have eaten in years.
Cerro Grande continues four generations of butchery
Lopez is a fourth-generation butcher whose family trade began in Mexico more than a century ago.
His father opened a Hispanic market in Marshalltown during the 1990s before moving the business to Ottumwa. Lopez later saw an opportunity to develop the store into a more specialized meat market.
Over five years, he expanded its inventory, developed new products and used social media to introduce customers to the market’s cuts and recipes.
Lopez approaches butchery with the creativity of a chef. He has drawn inspiration from European-style neighborhood meat markets while developing products for Iowa’s Latino and immigrant communities.
His work also earned recognition in Ottumwa. Lopez won first place in the Ottumwa Symphony Orchestra’s 25 Men Who Can Cook competition in 2022 and placed second in its People’s Choice category that year.
Customers have traveled from outside Iowa to try Cerro Grande’s products, according to Lopez. The Des Moines location gives the family an opportunity to continue building that following after the loss of its Ottumwa store.
For some shoppers, Lopez said, the most difficult step may simply be entering an unfamiliar Hispanic meat market. His hope is that the selection and service will give them a reason to return.
Related: La Isla Mercado Cubano opens as Marshalltown’s first Cuban grocery store
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