What began as Mission Taco Joint in the Delmar Loop in 2013 will end this Saturday, October 17, when Adam and Jason Tilford close their final three restaurants.
“We’ve had an amazing run as a restaurant group. Unfortunately, our time has come to an end,” the brothers wrote Monday afternoon in a social media announcement. “We’re just a small family owned company and that hit hard,” they added.
The Final Closures
The announcement encompasses Session Taco’s flagship (6235 Delmar), its Soulard location (908 Lafayette), and sister concept Lapez Mod Mex (398 N. Euclid) in the Central West End.
All three restaurants will open at 4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday this week, with no lunch service. The Session locations will also give away remaining merchandise during late-night happy hour, according to the social media post
In their farewell, the brothers cited the cumulative effects of the pandemic, a difficult economy, rising food costs, and a trademark lawsuit. The dispute with Gruma Corporation, parent company of Mission Foods, prompted the company to announce its change to Session Taco in September 2024.
They were particularly blunt about the name and menu changes, writing that they “absolutely shit the bed on our rebrand.” Adam tells SLM that the damage came from the rebranding itself, rather than pressure from Gruma or legal expenses. “It was the cost of the rebranding that was astronomical,” he says, “a cost we never were able to recoup. I’m a restaurant guy and not a marketing expert, and I take full blame for screwing that part up.”
He traces the “perfect storm” to the pandemic and a shift in how a younger generation socialized. “We witnessed a new group of diners who spent their 21st birthdays isolated at home, playing online games with their friends, having food delivered, and not going out to drink and celebrate like my generation did,” he says. “When the COVID veil lifted, the dining atmosphere changed. Dine-in business never really returned, alcohol sales dropped way off, and the late-night bar business all but disappeared, all of which our brand was dependent on. And that was before interest rates rose and the cost of food and now diesel fuel increased dramatically.”
The decline has been stark. “One of our stores is doing a quarter of the weekend business we were used to,” he adds. “With no relief in sight, we simply couldn’t go on.”
The brothers encouraged customers to return for one last meal and support the employees working through the farewell week.
“Please stop by this week for a last round of tacos and margs, and to say goodbye to our amazing staff (and leave big tips please),” they wrote. “Thank you for all the support over the years. We love you all!”
Prior Closures and Conversions
The pullback began with the June 2024 closure of Mission Taco Joint in Kansas City’s South Plaza, followed by Session Taco in Leawood in March 2025 and Town & Country that November. The Kirkwood location closed in January 2026.
Other locations were reinvented: the CWE’s Session location became Lapez Mod Mex in December 2025, while St. Charles’ Session location closed in February and reopened as Sobremesa in June. Lapez offered a more upscale approach to Mexican cooking patterned after Milagro Modern Mexican, a prior concept in Webster, which closed in 2018. In St. Charles, Sobremesa introduced a broader menu and a more family-oriented setting.
Those pivots proved short-lived. Leawood’s Lapez closed in May, Kansas City’s remaining Session shuttered in August, and Sobremesa followed in September.
As for what comes next, Adam tells SLM that he plans to remain in St. Louis, where he and his wife are raising young children, and find a restaurant-related job that draws on his experience without involving ownership or day-to-day operations. “I have a whole lot I feel can share with people,” he says. “Lord knows I’ve seen it all.”
His brother Jason, whose children are older, may have different plans. Adam says he wouldn’t be surprised if Jason moved to the Virginia Beach area closer to friends and family, and where the brothers spent part of their high school years. SLM has reached out to Jason Tilford for comment.
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