Skip to content
Food
Link copied to clipboard

Ms. Tootsie’s and KeVen Parker’s Soul Food Cafe are closed for now after founder’s death

The late restaurateur's family is working on a succession plan, a spokesperson said.

A portrait of restaurateur KeVen Parker at the Met during his Jan. 25 viewing. He died on Jan. 15.
A portrait of restaurateur KeVen Parker at the Met during his Jan. 25 viewing. He died on Jan. 15.Read moreSTEVEN M. FALK / Staff Photographer

Three weeks after the death of trailblazing restaurateur KeVen Parker, the restaurants and catering company he owned are closed temporarily while a succession plan is sorted out, a family spokesperson said.

The duration of the closing has not been determined, said Monique Evans-Wescott, who could not elaborate on the scenarios under which Ms. Tootsie’s Restaurant Bar & Lounge at 1312 South St. and KeVen Parker’s Soul Food Cafe at Reading Terminal Market will continue.

A worker at the market location, who did not wish to be identified, said employees were given their paychecks on Thursday, Feb. 4 and sent home. The South Street location had been open for takeout during the pandemic.

Parker, who died Jan. 15 at age 57, was remembered Jan. 25 in a viewing at the Met in North Philadelphia that drew hundreds of mourners. His death, of cancer, took many by surprise, as he fought the disease, as well as advanced diabetes, privately and with his customary cheerfulness.

» READ MORE: KeVen Parker laid the groundwork for a new generation of Black chefs and restaurateurs

Parker never married, and his immediate family is small — survived by his sister, her children, and an aunt, according to information provided at the time of his death.

On Thursday, City Council approved a resolution to erect signs on the 1300 block of South Street to call it KeVen Parker Way.

Parker started in the food business in 1996 with Simply Delicious Catering. Soon, he was running the food operation at Cafe 3801 at 38th and Market Streets in University City. With his mother, Joyce “Tootsie” Parker, he then opened Ms. Tootsie’s at 1314 South St. in 2000, expanding with a fancier restaurant next door. He opened at Reading Terminal in 2013.