TV Restaurants

What Happened to Ms. Tootsies Soul Food Cafe After Best Thing I Ever Ate?

Best Thing I Ever Ate, Season 5 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Closed 2021

Current status

Closed

As of October 2026, Ms. Tootsies Soul Food Cafe has closed — confirmed via inquirer.com, January 15, 2021.

What the source shows: The Inquirer's obituary (2021-01-15) reports KeVen Parker's death, and a follow-up Inquirer report (2021-02-08) says Ms. Tootsie's and Parker's Soul Food Café closed following his death; Yelp's South Street listing continues to show the location as permanently closed. How we decide a status →

What happened after Best Thing I Ever Ate?

The Best Thing I Ever Ate's 'Fried Chicken' episode (Food Network) featured Ms. Tootsie's fried chicken, part of the restaurant's Southern soul food menu on South Street. Ms. Tootsie's was opened in 1999 by KeVen Parker, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer's obituary of Parker, and it operated for more than two decades as a fixture of the South Street corridor in Philadelphia. The Inquirer reported on January 15, 2021, that Parker had died at age 57, and a follow-up Inquirer report on February 8, 2021, said Ms. Tootsie's and Parker's related Soul Food Café closed as his businesses regrouped following his death. Yelp's listing for the South Street address continues to mark the restaurant permanently closed, with no reopening announced by the Parker family.

The episode Best Thing I Ever Ate, Season 5

Episode 2
Air date not confirmed
Title: Fried Chicken · What was featured: soul food fried chicken plate

Also in Season 5 Best Thing I Ever Ate

Season 5: 61 of 104 still open · 7 renamed, moved or under new owners

All 13 Season 5 episodes →

Nearest open restaurants By distance from 1312 South Street

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Sources we checked 4 references

  1. inquirer.com https://www.inquirer.com/obituaries/keven-parker-soul-food-ms-tootsies-reading-terminal-south-street-philadelphia-obituary-20210115.html
  2. inquirer.com https://www.inquirer.com/food/ms-tootsies-keven-parker-restaurants-closed-temporarily-20210208.html
  3. phillyvoice.com https://www.phillyvoice.com/keven-parker-soul-food-cafe-mr-toosties-philadelphia-restaurants/
  4. Yelp https://m.yelp.com/biz/ms-tootsies-rbl-philadelphia
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Record btiea-0411 · checked by Cal Marchetti.