West Philly’s Vegan Taco Shop Is Closing After a Year

University City’s Honest Tom’s Plant-Based Taco Shop, the food truck that became a restaurant and later went vegan, is closing for good at the end of the July. Owner Tom McCusker is moving on to other projects, including “growing dope” and “selling natural foods,” and passing the torch to three of his employees, who plan to open a Mexican restaurant in the space .

Honest Tom’s opened as a food truck about 10 years ago, Philly Mag reports, and gained enough of a following for its tacos and burritos to turn into a permanent shop at 261 S. 44th Street a few years after that.

Last summer, spurred by changes to his own diet, McCusker briefly closed Honest Tom’s, retooled, and reopened as an all-vegan eatery with tacos, burritos, and bowls packed with rice and beans, chickpeas and potatoes, a carrot and lentil version of barbacoa, and other meat-free options. He later started stocking tropical fruit and set up a fruit stand.

But along the way, McCusker moved away from the city with his family and started a hemp farm to make CBD products, he told Philly Mag. Running the restaurant at the same time was too much. This week, he posted a photo of himself and his kid on Instagram with this note:

On July 30th I’ll be retiring from the restaurant business in order to focus on growing dope, selling natural foods, and hanging out with this kid. In that order.

Three of the hardest working people I’ve ever met are taking over the shop, and turning it into a place of their own. Alvaro, Maria and Eli have been cooking your food and putting up with my shit for almost a decade now, and it’s their time to shine. They’ll be opening a Mexican restaurant that will rival any spot in the city, and I wish them the best.

Me and yaseer are starting a fruit and alkaline food delivery/pickup program tentatively titled @fruitadelphia serving the city of Philadelphia, Delaware County, Wilmington, DE and hopefully in the coming months well beyond. It’s been a pleasure serving you.

According to the magazine, the new Mexican restaurant will open early August, but details are sparse at the moment.

• Honest Tom’s in UCity Will Close and Become … A Mexican Restaurant [Philly Mag]
• Honest Toms Owner Tom McCusker on Running a Plant-Based Restaurant [34th Street]
• Where to Eat in West Philly [Eater Philly]