A new churro shop is opening this summer and a longtime wellness boutique has moved to a new home in the latest business news from downtown Naperville.
Lola’s Handcrafted Churros
Lola’s Handcrafted Churros will be opening its third location next month at 8 W. Jefferson Ave., moving into the spot formerly occupied by CBD store Kerwell.
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Owner Mayra Serna, 38, said having a store in Naperville feels surreal after having spent her teenage years growing up in Wheaton and wandering around downtown with her friends for fun. She remembers being 16 and stopping at Naper Nuts & Sweets for popcorn. Now, her new shop will be right next door.
“I immigrated to the U.S. when I was 14 and, to be honest, I’ve walked those streets in Naperville since I was a teenager,” Serna said. “I guess never in a million years I would imagine being part of such an amazing community, but it just feels right. I’m giving something back.”
Serna had worked in the hospitality industry for nearly a decade, but had to leave when she became pregnant in 2017. One day during her pregnancy, Serna was craving a churro but the one her husband brought her one from a bakery didn’t have the taste she was looking for.
“I was just like, ‘It’s not it,’ and he’s like, ‘Why don’t you make it?’” Serna said. “I was like, ‘Of course I can make a churro,’ but it was not easy, so it just started from there.”
She was determined to recreate the perfect crispy outside, soft inside that she knew from growing up in Mexico.
“It was very painful because I don’t like wasting food to begin with, so you can imagine how many batches of flour and dough (were) thrown out because I knew the texture, I knew exactly how I wanted (it) to taste like,” Serna said.
Making a churro that tasted like her childhood also involved a lot of math, something Serna said was not her strong suit. That included everything from figuring out the exact amount of time she should cook them to how long she should mix the dough. It was five years before she nailed the recipe, she said.
“All that was … an amazing process because I developed so much patience and love for numbers as well. I didn’t have that before,” Serna said.
She opened her first shop in Lisle in 2022, naming it for her mom, who she described as an “amazing woman.” The second store opened in Yorkville last year.
The most popular item at Lola’s Handcrafted Churros is the churro sundae. For $11.50, patrons get a churro covered in different toppings and served with soft serve ice cream. Among the options are churro sundaes made with Nutella and strawberries and cookies and cream.
Other items on the menu are milkshakes ($7.25), mango lemonade ($5.25) and the Lola’s latte ($5.25), an espresso-based drink with milk infused with horchata flavor and finished with a hint of rose essence and edible rose petals.
“I just hope anyone who walks into Lola’s this upcoming July finds a vibrant and happy place to make memories like I did back in the day in downtown. And I hope everyone enjoys my product and our service,” Serna said.
Regenerate Boutique moves
Health and wellness store Regenerate Boutique has a new home.
The business, which sells everything from athleisure apparel to jewelry and home decor, moved from 124 S. Webster St. to 143 W. Jefferson Ave.
“Honestly, the space that we had, the location was not the best location,” owner Andrea Siracusano said. “The side door on Webster was just really tough with people. … They thought we were either a doctor’s office or a yoga studio because it has yoga above us.”
She and her sister, Amanda Garcia, who’s the store manager, had been thinking about moving for years. When they learned that neighboring store Peace — a self-described “conscious living boutique” known for selling items like crystals, body products and jewelry — was closing down after a 10-year run, they jumped at the chance.
With the new location, Siracusano now has about 1,000 square feet instead of 850. While it may not sound like a huge upgrade, the space and layout is going to make a big difference because she’s in a more visible spot.
“We’ll have a front porch. We have a large refrigerator with new grab-and-go drinks, with fresh pressed juices,” said Siracusano, who plans to hand out samples of Purity Coffee on the weekend. “We’re going to have tables and chairs out there. … It just feels quaint and it feels like old Naperville.”
As for her former location, Siracusano said she plans to use it for pop-up events, including women’s health talks, mahjong classes and mom meet-ups. She hopes Regenerate Boutique will ultimately double as both a business and a community gathering place, she said.
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