July 11, 2018
Honest Tom’s Taco Shop closed on July 3 and reopened a week later as Honest Tom’s Plant Based Taco Shop. The restaurant opens with a brand new menu and a brand new logo of a smiling tomato.
While vegan options were available before, their meat options are now gone and have been replaced by vegan alternatives. Here are some of the new "meat" styles: "Carbocoa" fills the void of pork with slow-cooked carrots and lentils; "Biff" represents beef with walnut taco "meat," and the "Chucken" is chickpeas and plantain prepared chicken tinga-style.
Keeping with his "honest" name, owner Tom McCusker went vegan a year ago and, in the process, has completely rebranded his restaurant in the matter of a week to fit his dietary choices. This rebranding, however, has upset several people who were fans of Honest Tom’s chicken and meat option tacos and burritos.
He took to the Honest Tom’s Facebook to address some of the frustrations to explain his stance and his reasoning, “I don’t want to run my business based on animal agriculture anymore. I’m not knocking anyone who does, these are just my beliefs and how I’m choosing to run my business.”
He added a message to his loyal meat-eating customers: “I’m begging you to trust me on this one. Come by and check out the new menu, you will not be disappointed.”
You can find the new Honest Tom's Plant Based Taco Shop in University City at 261 S. 44th St. Check out their new website here.
