Nathan Cabrera comes from a family with deep roots in the local restaurant and grocery business. And when he decided to open his own restaurant in Eagle Grove, the 22 year old entrepreneur decided on something he'd heard time and time again that the people of Eagle Grove were missing these days – a full ice cream parlor, which also serves a hot lunch menu, and has a drive through option. Something Eagle Grove has been missing since the Twins Shoppe closed.
"I wanted to bring something new to town," Cabrera told the Eagle. "I just wanted to bring the ice cream business back. Add a little fun to the town, you know?" Plus, Cabrera added, "I 've always had a sweet tooth, for ice cream, and for soda-pop."
And he wasn't content to stop there. "I wanted to bring more to the table than just ice cream," he said. He envisioned serving hot lunches, and candy and other snacks too. As for hot lunch options, Cabrera is starting with hot dogs and walking tacos, but has plans to expand his offerings in the future. As for why he started with those, "my favorite snacks, whenever I'd go to a concession stand, were walking tacos, hot dogs, stuff like that," he explained, adding, "there's more to come."
A big part of the plan was to make sure they had a drive-thru. "That was something the town needed," Cabrera noted. From students and workers on a short lunch break, to disabled people who have trouble getting out of their vehicles, to folks just out for a drive, a drive-thru option would be a real plus, Carbrera said. And so it was decided to acquire the old Gino's Liquor store, which had a pre-existing drive-thru, but also had plenty of space for dine in customers, and remodel it. "That was a lot of work, and I had a lot of help," Cabrera noted, gratefully, "and the place looks fantastic now!"
A question on a lot of people's minds, as throngs of customers came to check the recently opened shoppe out, was just how they came up with that catchy name, Bubble Cow. "There was a lot of thinking," Cabrera said, noting that he, his family, his girlfriend and his friends "kicked around a bunch of names." In the end, Cabrera said, they settled on Bubble Cow because, "dairy comes from cows, and we also have soda… So we just thought, the fizziness of pop, plus the dairy in the ice cream, equals Bubble Cow!"
Cabrera said he was humbled and encouraged by the early interest the community has shown in the Bubble Cow. "I'm glad that people are excited to come in and try us," he said, "I'm feeling pretty confident."And, he added, "I'm very excited about our future plans too."
Bubble Cow is open 11 am to 7 pm, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays, and is open an hour later on Fridays and Saturdays, from 11 am to 8 pm, and closes an hour earlier on Sundays, from 11 am to 6 pm, but is closed on Mondays. All are welcome!
