Cyndi Gryte uses the mixology skills she picked up while tending bar at the infamous Coyote Ugly in New York City to create a rotating menu of craft cocktails.
Writer: Hailey Evans
Photos: Aly Carroll
Iowa has hundreds of small-town, family-run restaurants across its 99 counties, but none is more charming than Juniper & Olive Co. That sounds like a qualitative statement, but this place in Jewell can back it up: The Food Network dubbed it “The Most Charming Small-Town Restaurant” in Iowa in 2025.
And for good reason. Juniper & Olive Co. sits on the corner of Main and King streets in historic Lot No. 1, the town’s oldest building. Over the decades, the 1881 building has been a bank, a newspaper office and even a speakeasy. So when current owner Cyndi Gryte turned it into a bar and cafe in 2021, she spruced up the place with references to its past and her own personal history.
Cyndi Gryte, Owner
The Food Network called the space “an Instagram-worthy backdrop that will make your followers green with envy.” Inside, the white and gold palette is accentuated with eclectic decor, including a stag head wearing sunglasses, vintage posters and lots of gilded mirrors. Gryte said her design style is inspired by her travels, both in the United States and abroad.
The mermaid in the bistro’s logo is an homage to the group of women she befriended while tending bar at the now infamous Coyote Ugly in New York City after graduating from Iowa State University. “We called ourselves the Mermaids,” she said. The women’s friendships have spanned decades and state lines.
After returning to her home state to support her family, Gryte decided to open her “dream bar,” a place her Mermaid friends would like to gather for coffee or a lingering lunch. Her time at Coyote Ugly also taught her about mixology, and she loves concocting fun new cocktails. She switches up the drink menu at least monthly.
She admits that maintaining such an old building is a lot of work, but she’s proud of its role in the small town just three miles west of Interstate 35. “Hospitality fits me,” she said. “Community is very important, and creating a group to spread kindness is what hospitality is all about.
“There’s something special about small towns,” Gryte added. In Jewell, she said, the other shop owners and neighbors are always ready to show their support, share Instagram posts or lend a hand with some manual labor. Some of her former teachers from Nevada High School even came to help paint before her business opened.
Open 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, the bistro serves coffee, tea, panini, charcuterie and desserts, along with a few dozen craft and classic cocktails. Upstairs, she’s opened a designer bridal boutique called Gigi Blanc.
