Popular West Philly Taco Joint Will Be Reopening as a Full Vegan Eatery!

The owner, Tom McCusker of Honest Tom’s Taco Shop located at 44th and Locust Street in West Philly, always used to scuff when customers would come in asking for more vegan options. Now, after a year of eating fully vegan himself, he plans to reopen his shop as a 100% plant-based taco shop!

McCusker plans to reopen the shop on July 9th with a brand new menu and a new name: ‘Honest Tom’s Plant Based Taco Shop.’ His new menu will exclude chicken, eggs, and beef, and will be replaced with plant-based alternatives. McCusker wishes to embrace vegetables by not relying on meat replacements like seitan and tofu. Instead, he’ll be selling walnut taco meat, carbacoa, or carrots and lentils, and what he calls “chucken,” or chickpeas and plantains.

Of course, these changes are going to be met with mixed feelings. Members of the vegan community are delighted by the plant-based upgrade, while some omnivores are quite disappointed that the restaurant will no longer offer meat.

McCusker responded to these mixed remarks by commenting that he understands their disappointment, but he hopes that these customers will give his vegan food a shot. He also says that his food has always been excellent, and why would it not be now that it’s vegan?

One thing is for sure, McCusker is confident that his vegan tacos will shock customers by how good they are. He’s hoping that his old customers will come back and new customers that are ethical vegans will flock to his shop.

Craving some jaw-dropping vegan tacos?

If you cannot make it to the relaunch of Honest Tom’s Taco Shop, how about cooking up some tacos for yourself? Here are some taco recipes from our Food Monster App to get you started!

Chili Lime Lentil Tacos with Spicy Grilled Pineapple Salsa 

Lentils are a great meat alternative because they are hearty, filling, and extra savory. These Chili Lime Lentil Tacos are topped with a tangy salsa that is both sweet and spicy.

Pineapple Pizza Tacos

These Pineapple Pizza tacos come together in a pinch, and are great for when you are craving both pizza and tacos!

Black Bean Tacos with Persimmon Salsa and Lime Crema

These Black Bean and Persimmon tacos are unique, spicy, tangy, creamy…you name it! They are perfect served with a cold, refreshing beer.

For more taco recipes, we recommend downloading our Food Monster App, which is available for both Android and iPhone and can also be found on Instagram and Facebook. The app has more than 10,000 plant-based, allergy-friendly recipes, and subscribers gain access to new recipes every day. Check it out!

Lead Image Source: Plantain Sweet Potato Tacos/One Green Planet