It looks like we’re all going to have to wait until after Labor Day for Tom McCusker, he of Honest Tom’s Taco Truck infamy, to open his bricks and mortar location in West Philly. He says he’s at least two more weeks away from opening the doors. McCusker and a dedicated crew of friends have been burning the midnight oil all summer to transform the 10-years vacant real estate office near 44th and Spruce streets into a a fully functional taco take-out. For the most part, everything’s ship-shape and ready. He’s holding out on a hood vent and a final health inspection. “I’m hoping it’s only going to be a week or two, tops,” McCusker told Grub Street. “We were shooting for August, but that came and went. So Labor Day became our new goal, but we just keep getting pushed back.”
The latest setbacks he blames on August’s rainy weather. Each aspect of the building’s renovations are tied directly to his daily take with the taco truck. And each day he was rained out was a day he couldn’t pay for building materials and labor.
Now that the majority of work is complete, McCusker has time to focus on the menu. He plans to expand his offerings to include tacos, burritos, and homemade tamales. ‘We’re going to try to get into brewing root beer,” McCusker said.
In the immediate future the shop will be take-out only, but McCusker hopes to begin working on turning the building’s second floor into a dining room sometime this winter.
