Nacho Mama’s, known for their hubcap margaritas and nacho plates, will close its restaurants in Canton and Towson, effective Jan. 12, 2025.
“Thank you, Baltimore, for giving us the ride of a lifetime,” the restaurants’ owners wrote in an email message Tuesday. “It has been our honor to serve you. As we ride off into the sunset with a smile and a wink to the sky, we say, ‘Thank You, Thank You Very Much.’”
The two Nacho Mama’s restaurants — located at 2907 O’Donnell St. in Canton, and 2 W. Pennsylvania Ave. in Towson — will shut down. Meanwhile, their sister restaurants, Mama’s on the Half Shell in Canton (2901 O’Donnell St.) and Owings Mills (10080 Reisterstown Road #20), will remain open.
“We are looking forward to continued success and growth within the Mama’s Restaurant Group as we embark upon our future,” the owners wrote.
Patrick “Scunny” McCusker opened the original Nacho Mama’s on Jan. 8, 1994, Elvis Presley’s birthday. While some were initially skeptical of an Irishman opening a Tex-Mex restaurant in the historically Polish neighborhood of Canton, it quickly became a hit with residents near and far.
The Mama’s Restaurant Group later opened their first Mama’s on the Half Shell location in Canton in 2003; a second Nacho Mama’s location in Towson in 2016; and a second Mama’s on the Half Shell location in Owings Mills in 2023.
Scunny was killed while riding a bicycle in Ocean City on Aug. 24, 2012. His wife, Jackie, and their children, Darby and Finn, have carried on the restaurants’ legacy.
“When my late husband and partner decided to open Nacho Mama’s, he liked to blame his decision on this witty phrase: ‘An Irishman decides to open a Mexican restaurant in a Polish neighborhood…’ and the rest is history,” Jackie wrote in the email message.
She continued, “It truly has been our pleasure to serve you and welcome you into our home. We hope that you will visit us one last time for our famous hubcap margarita or a Natty Boh or to share a meal from our special Maryland-Mex menu.”
“Our memories will continue to live on, as we remember the laughter shared and the memories made. We will hear the jokes forever echo in our minds that our founding father, Scunny McCusker, could not help himself but to tell endlessly behind our bar.”
