I’ll Meet You There continues Mary Kay McGrath’s legacy in the Czech Village with bookstore, cafe opening

CEDAR RAPIDS — The guardian of the Czech Village still lives up to her name nearly two years after she passed away.

For years, “I’ll meet you there” was the catchphrase that bonded Mary Kay McGrath, known as the “Angel of the Village,” to her family — directing them to meeting places to catch up through the busiest years of their lives. Now, it’s a cafe and bookstore that will bring others together.

Through a cozy joint concept, her daughters hope to bring new life not just to a vacant building, but to a community she cared deeply about.

I’ll Meet You There, fully opened on Dec. 8, offers a new reason to visit the Czech Village — and a reason to stick around.

Continuing her legacy

McGrath, who owned several properties throughout the Czech Village and New Bohemia later in life, floated the idea for a bookstore years ago to bring more visitors to the Cedar Rapids district along 16th Avenue SW.

After supporting the community in various ways for many years, McGrath started to purchase and revitalize property in the area in 2018, shortly before her pancreatic cancer diagnosis in October 2019.

The space at 62 16th Ave. SW, previously home to Hospoda pizzeria, became vacant just a few months before she died at age 69 in February 2024. After she passed, many of the community championer’s properties sat empty.

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For a while, her family tried to find another entrepreneur to fulfill her vision for a bookstore. Now, daughters Lindsay McGrath-Vasquez and Jaymie McGrath-Hobson are bringing it to fruition by picking up the mantle of her passion.

Mary Kay McGrath was known for her tenacity, passion, drive, initiative, connectivity and dedication to her community.

“She never sat around. If she saw something, she was going to go after it and do it 100 percent,” McGrath-Vasquez said. “I think that lives true for us now in trying to pass on her legacy.”

Though her illness started to limit her activity toward the end her life, she didn’t slow down by any means.

“She was just getting started down here. She had so much more to do,” McGrath-Vasquez said. “This is something we feel the responsibility to do on her behalf.”

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A coffee shop and bookstore

A proponent of personal connections, McGrath’s presence can still be seen in the buzzing space that imparts new energy through literary works and caffeinated beverages.

“We wanted a place where people could meet ... where they could come, they could enjoy conversation, they could enjoy a cup of coffee,” McGrath-Vasquez said. “Truly, an actual meeting place for people to come together and connect over books or anything else.”

On one side of the store, the cafe offers a small menu of espresso and coffee classics made with a custom, medium-bodied “Scholar blend.” Specialty beverages are written under book-themed names, and an assortment of tempting pastries by French Cedar Rapids chef Sandrine Wallace are displayed at the counter.

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The Hemingway offers a classic French vanilla latte. The Pharmacy, a callback to the building’s history as a drugstore in the 1950s, features a take of the off-menu Medicine Ball from Starbucks, made here with mint tea, honey, ginger and steamed lemonade.

Seasonals like Pride and Peppermint are on the menu this month, as well as more permanent drink fixtures like their Lotus plant-based energy drink creations.

Wallace’s pastry selections include quiche, souffles in veggie or meat varieties, croissants in chocolate, strawberry or almond flavors, chocolate tarts and custard-based pastries that offer a twist on the classic cinnamon roll.

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Coffee for dine-in is served in an array of eclectic mugs that foster a cozy, relaxed atmosphere. With comfortable seating spread out across the space, the owners hope to make customers feel like they’re at a friend’s home.

On the other side of the store, a curated array of books, stationery and gifts gives visitors something to peruse as they wait for their order or for a friend to arrive.

All of it serves the same goal the owners’ mother dedicated her life to — drawing attention to a community, not herself.

“I just hope it brings more people down here, and in turn they ... want to spend time here, so they go to the other shops nearby,” McGrath-Vasquez said. “There are some amazing businesses down here.”

Comments: Features reporter Elijah Decious can be reached at (319) 398-8340 or elijah.decious@thegazette.com.