ST. LOUIS, MO – October 27, 2026 (StLouisRestaurantReview) Session Taco, the St. Louis restaurant brand formerly known as Mission Taco Joint, has closed its remaining restaurants, ending a 13-year run for a locally founded company that once operated nine locations across the St. Louis and Kansas City metropolitan areas. The shutdown also includes LaPeZ Mod Mex, the restaurant group’s contemporary Mexican dining concept in the Central West End.
Brothers Adam and Jason Tilford announced the closures on October 12, 2026, identifying Saturday, October 17, as the final day of service.
The announcement affected three restaurants: Session Taco in the Delmar Loop, Session Taco in Soulard, and LaPeZ Mod Mex in the Central West End.
The shutdown followed more than two years of restaurant closures, concept changes, rising operating costs, and attempts to adapt to changing customer habits.
In interviews published by St. Louis Magazine, Adam Tilford attributed the company’s difficulties to declining dine-in traffic, reduced alcohol sales, weakening late-night business, and an expensive rebranding effort after a trademark dispute.
The owners also acknowledged that their efforts to reinvent the business were unsuccessful.
What began as a single restaurant in the Delmar Loop in 2013 grew into a recognizable regional brand known for creative tacos, margaritas, and late-night dining. However, the company struggled to maintain its original business model as consumer behavior changed.
The closures clearly illustrate the challenges restaurant operators face when expansion, changing customer habits, and rising costs converge.
Three St. Louis Restaurants Close Permanently
The final closures affected three locations:
- Session Taco — Delmar Loop: 6235 Delmar Boulevard, St. Louis, Missouri.
- Session Taco — Soulard: 908 Lafayette Avenue, St. Louis, Missouri.
- LaPeZ Mod Mex — Central West End: 398 North Euclid Avenue, St. Louis, Missouri.
The Delmar Loop restaurant was especially significant because it was the company’s original location.
Opened in 2013 as Mission Taco Joint, the restaurant helped establish the brand’s reputation for Mexican-inspired street food, margaritas, and late-night specials.
The Soulard restaurant became another familiar destination for customers seeking casual Mexican food, cocktails, and a lively atmosphere.
LaPeZ Mod Mex represented a newer direction for the company, offering a more upscale Mexican dining experience than the original taco-focused concept.
In their October 12 farewell announcement, the Tilford brothers thanked customers and employees for supporting their restaurants.
They encouraged customers to visit during the final week and support the employees working through the closing period.
During their final days, the three restaurants offered dinner service beginning at 4 p.m., with lunch service discontinued.
Their October 17 closures ended the group’s remaining restaurant operations.
Mission Taco Joint Became a St. Louis Success Story
Mission Taco Joint opened in the Delmar Loop in 2013.
The concept combined Mexican-inspired street food with a casual atmosphere and a strong emphasis on cocktails, social gatherings, and late-night dining.
The restaurant developed a recognizable identity through creative taco combinations, margaritas, and food-and-drink specials.
Its popularity encouraged the Tilford brothers to expand into other St. Louis neighborhoods and suburban communities.
The company eventually entered the Kansas City metropolitan market.
At its peak, the restaurant group operated nine locations.
Expansion let it reach more customers and build a larger regional brand.
However, it also complicated restaurant operations.
Multiple locations require coordinated staffing, food purchasing, inventory management, equipment maintenance, administrative support, and consistent customer service.
The company eventually invested in a headquarters and commissary facility in Webster Groves to support its expanding restaurant portfolio.
For several years, Mission Taco Joint represented a notable example of a St. Louis restaurant concept growing beyond its original neighborhood.
However, the business environment changed substantially during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.
The company also faced a trademark dispute that eventually forced it to abandon the name it had built its reputation on.
Those developments became central to its eventual contraction.
Trademark Dispute Led to a Costly Rebranding
One of the most consequential developments in the company’s history was a trademark dispute with Gruma Corporation, Mission Foods’ parent company.
The dispute began in 2023 and concerned the Mission Taco Joint name.
Following the dispute, the restaurant group announced in September 2024 that it would operate under the new name Session Taco.
The change required the company to introduce a new identity to customers who had known its restaurants as Mission Taco Joint for more than a decade.
Rebranding an established restaurant company can be expensive.
The company may need to replace signs, menus, packaging, websites, advertising materials, and other branded items.
A new name may also require additional marketing to maintain customer recognition.
In an October 12 interview with St. Louis Magazine dining editor George Mahe, Adam Tilford acknowledged that the rebranding process had been extremely expensive.
He explained that the company never recovered the investment required to implement the new identity.
Tilford also accepted responsibility for how the company handled the transition.
Importantly, he distinguished the rebranding’s financial consequences from the legal expenses tied to the trademark dispute.
That distinction matters.
The available reporting supports the conclusion that rebranding created a significant financial burden. It does not establish that the trademark lawsuit alone caused the company to close.
Financial records have not independently established the total rebranding expense.
Nevertheless, Tilford’s public statements identify the unsuccessful transition as a major contributor to the company’s difficulties.
Changing Customer Habits Hurt the Business
The rebranding was not the only challenge Session Taco faced.
Adam Tilford also identified changes in customer behavior following the COVID-19 pandemic as a major problem.
Mission Taco Joint had developed a business model that depended partly on customers gathering for tacos, margaritas, and late-night entertainment.
According to Tilford, those habits changed during the pandemic and did not fully return afterward.
He described younger customers becoming accustomed to food delivery, online entertainment, and spending evenings at home rather than visiting restaurants and bars.
According to his account, the company saw declining dine-in traffic, lower alcohol sales, and a substantial drop in late-night business.
Those changes mattered especially for a restaurant brand whose identity included cocktails and late-night dining.
Tilford told St. Louis Magazine that one restaurant generated about one-quarter of its previous weekend business.
That statement referred to a particular location, not the company’s overall sales.
It should not be interpreted as evidence that every restaurant experienced a 75% decline.
However, it illustrates the severity of the difficulties management reported.
Restaurants with significant beverage and late-night operations may depend on those sales to support their overall business model.
When customer traffic declines, it becomes harder to maintain sufficient revenue.
The company has not publicly disclosed detailed financial statements, so the precise financial impact of declining alcohol and late-night sales cannot be independently calculated.
Still, the owners’ statements make clear that changing dining habits were an important factor in the company’s struggles.
Rising Costs Added Financial Pressure
The Tilford brothers also identified increasing operating expenses as a challenge.
Restaurants must manage food costs, labor, utilities, property expenses, equipment, insurance, and other financial obligations.
For a company operating multiple locations, rising expenses can affect several restaurants at once.
Adam Tilford specifically discussed rising food costs, interest rates, and fuel-related expenses.
Those pressures can be difficult to offset without increasing menu prices.
However, restaurants must also consider what customers will pay.
When operating costs rise and customer traffic declines, businesses can struggle financially even if they keep attracting diners.
Restaurant operators may respond by adjusting menus, changing hours, reducing expenses, or closing underperforming locations.
Session Taco attempted several of those strategies during its final years.
Available reporting does not establish the company’s total operating losses or identify a single expense as the sole cause of the shutdown.
Instead, ownership described a combination of economic pressures and changing customer behavior.
Restaurant Closures Began Before October 2026
The final three closures marked the end of an extended contraction.
The company closed its Kansas City South Plaza restaurant in June 2024.
Session Taco in Leawood, Kansas, followed in March 2025.
The company closed the Town & Country restaurant in November 2025, followed by Kirkwood in January 2026.
The company also attempted to convert existing locations into new restaurant concepts.
In the Central West End, LaPeZ Mod Mex replaced Session Taco in December 2025.
In St. Charles, Session Taco closed in February 2026 and reopened as Sobremesa in June.
Those changes reflected attempts to attract customers through different dining experiences.
However, the new concepts did not provide a lasting turnaround.
Local reporting indicated that Leawood LaPeZ closed by early June 2026.
The company’s remaining Kansas City Session Taco closed in August.
Sobremesa in St. Charles closed in September.
By October, only the Delmar Loop and Soulard Session Taco restaurants and the Central West End LaPeZ remained.
All three closed October 17.
LaPeZ Mod Mex Was an Attempt to Reinvent the Brand
LaPeZ Mod Mex departed from the casual taco-and-margarita identity associated with Mission Taco Joint.
The concept drew inspiration from Milagro Modern Mexican, an earlier restaurant the Tilford brothers operated in Webster Groves.
LaPeZ emphasized contemporary Mexican cuisine and a more sophisticated dining experience.
The Central West End Session Taco reopened as LaPeZ Mod Mex in December 2025.
The new concept offered a different dining experience in the same location at 398 North Euclid Avenue.
An earlier LaPeZ location had operated in Leawood, Kansas.
That restaurant closed by early June 2026.
In a June 1 report by the Johnson County Post, Adam Tilford explained that the Leawood restaurant received positive customer feedback but did not attract enough business to sustain operations.
That distinction is important.
A restaurant can get favorable reviews and still struggle if it doesn’t generate enough customer traffic.
The Central West End LaPeZ continued operating until the final October shutdown.
Available reporting does not show that LaPeZ failed because of poor food quality, customer dissatisfaction, or a specific menu problem.
Instead, the closure was part of the broader decision to end the restaurant group’s remaining operations.
Sobremesa in St. Charles Also Closed
Another important development involved the former Session Taco location at Streets of St. Charles.
The restaurant closed as Session Taco in February 2026 and reopened as Sobremesa in June.
The new concept emphasized a broader Mexican menu and a more family-oriented dining atmosphere.
Its name referred to the Spanish tradition of spending time together at the table after a meal.
Sobremesa occupied approximately 7,500 square feet at 1650 Beale Street.
According to St. Louis Magazine, the restaurant had 195 indoor seats, approximately 40 outdoor seats, and a separate arcade area.
The concept was designed to appeal to customers seeking an experience different from the original Session Taco format.
However, Sobremesa closed after dinner service on Sunday, September 13, 2026, approximately three months after opening.
In its closure announcement, ownership cited difficult economic conditions and insufficient sales.
Adam Tilford also acknowledged that the restaurant’s substantial size made it difficult to operate when customer traffic fell short of expectations.
Sobremesa’s short lifespan showed that introducing a different restaurant concept did not necessarily resolve the company’s financial problems.
However, the available evidence does not establish that the menu, service, or overall concept was inherently unsuccessful.
The documented problem was insufficient sales to sustain operations.
Webster Groves Headquarters Sold for $1.55 Million
Another significant development occurred in March 2026 when Tilford Restaurant Group sold its former headquarters and commissary property at 286 East Avenue in Webster Groves.
The St. Louis Business Journal reported that the property sold for $1.55 million.
Hess Equipment Solutions, a commercial kitchen equipment supplier, was the buyer.
The property consisted of two buildings totaling nearly 13,000 square feet.
The facility had supported centralized food preparation and administrative operations during the company’s expansion.
As the restaurant portfolio contracted, maintaining centralized production became less necessary.
The remaining restaurants shifted toward preparing food in their individual kitchens.
The sale therefore reflected a significant change in the company’s operating structure.
A business that once required centralized production to support regional expansion had reduced its operations to a much smaller portfolio.
The sale price does not establish how much money the restaurant group ultimately retained from the transaction.
Financing, improvements, maintenance, taxes, and transaction expenses would affect the financial outcome.
No verified evidence shows the property was sold specifically to pay debts or finance the final restaurant closures.
Nevertheless, the transaction provides important context for understanding the company’s contraction.
Employees and Neighborhoods Affected by the Shutdown
The closures also affected employees and the neighborhoods where the restaurants had operated.
The Delmar Loop and Soulard locations had become familiar dining destinations for customers seeking tacos, margaritas, and late-night food.
The Central West End restaurant underwent several changes as the company tried to adapt its offerings.
In their farewell announcement, the Tilford brothers thanked employees and customers for their support.
They encouraged patrons to visit during the final week and support staff members working through the closing period.
The total number of employees affected by the shutdown has not been independently established.
However, the closures ended restaurant operations that provided jobs and supported neighborhood dining.
For longtime customers, the shutdown also represented the disappearance of a recognizable St. Louis restaurant brand.
Restaurant Closures Do Not Automatically Mean Bankruptcy
The closing of Session Taco and LaPeZ Mod Mex should not automatically be characterized as a bankruptcy.
The reporting reviewed for this article confirms that the restaurant group ended its remaining restaurant operations.
Those sources do not establish whether the company entered bankruptcy proceedings or another formal process involving creditors.
The available reporting also does not provide independently audited figures for company debt or operating losses.
A restaurant company can close its locations without necessarily entering bankruptcy proceedings.
The accurate conclusion is that the owners ended restaurant operations after describing substantial financial and operational difficulties.
Any additional claims about bankruptcy, insolvency, or creditor losses would require supporting financial or court records.
What the Closures Mean for St. Louis Restaurants
Session Taco’s history offers an important example of the challenges restaurant companies face when they expand beyond their original markets.
The Tilford brothers built a recognizable brand, developed multiple locations, and invested in centralized infrastructure.
The company benefited from a dining model built around creative food, cocktails, and social gatherings.
However, the owners later described changes in customer behavior that weakened important parts of that model.
The pandemic altered dining habits, while rising operating costs created additional pressure.
The trademark dispute required a new brand identity, and the rebranding process became a substantial expense that management said it never recovered.
The company attempted to respond by closing locations, introducing new concepts, and reducing centralized operations.
Those efforts were insufficient to restore long-term sustainability.
The story also illustrates why restaurants must evaluate expansion carefully.
More locations can increase revenue opportunities, but they can also increase staffing requirements, management complexity, and financial exposure.
When business conditions change, reducing a restaurant portfolio can be difficult and expensive.
Session Taco’s contraction from nine locations to none demonstrates the scale of those challenges.
Final Assessment
The closure of Session Taco and LaPeZ Mod Mex marks the end of a significant chapter in St. Louis restaurant history.
What began as Mission Taco Joint in the Delmar Loop in 2013 became a recognizable regional restaurant company with locations across two metropolitan markets.
The brand built a following for tacos, margaritas, and late-night dining as it expanded into multiple neighborhoods and suburban communities.
However, the owners eventually faced several overlapping challenges.
Customer habits changed, operating expenses rose, and a trademark dispute replaced the company’s established brand identity.
The rebranding process created substantial expenses that ownership said were never recovered.
Attempts to introduce LaPeZ Mod Mex and Sobremesa did not prevent the final shutdown.
The sale of the Webster Groves headquarters and commissary further reflected the company’s transition away from its former expansion model.
By October 17, 2026, the final three restaurants had closed.
For St. Louis Restaurant Review, the most important takeaway is that restaurant success requires more than an appealing concept or an established customer following.
Businesses must continually adjust to changing customer expectations, economic conditions, and operating costs.
The Tilford brothers’ experience also shows the potential consequences of an expensive rebranding process, especially when a restaurant company is already under financial pressure.
Their public acknowledgment of those challenges provides valuable insight into the realities of operating independent restaurants.
Session Taco’s 13-year history reflects both the opportunities and risks of restaurant expansion, leaving behind a recognizable St. Louis dining legacy and an important lesson about the difficulty of adapting when business conditions change.
Sources: St. Louis Magazine, George Mahe, October 12 and September 12, 2026; St. Louis Business Journal, Erik Siemers, October 12, 2026, and Gloria Lloyd, August 20, 2026; Sauce Magazine, Lauren Healey, October 12, 2026; Johnson County Post, June 1, 2026; and St. Louis Restaurant Review’s August 22, 2026, coverage of the Webster Groves property sale.
Martin Smith is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of St. Louis Restaurant Review, STL.News, USPress.News, and STL.Directory. He is a member of the United States Press Agency (ID: 31659) and the US Press Agency.
