PB&J with Tay — Restaurant in Olmos Park

Hello again my fellow Foodies! Here are my detailed review sections for this restaurant that will be sorted in this order: Overall Rating and thoughts, Atmosphere, Service, Food, Tea Rating. Overall Thoughts and final rating: This place is awesome! It's located on the second floor of a building via a staircase on the outside in the front. I found it a little difficult to figure out where to go up but I figured it out eventually. I'm definitely coming back, the food is worth it! And it's filling even though it doesn't look like it would be! The service... Amazing and so supportive. Jeremiah actually invited me there to review his restaurant,and I'm eternally grateful for the advice and support he's given! The vibe and decor is another thing I want to show my love for, the antique decor gave the experience an even better feeling and vibe. If you can't tell already, I highly recommend this place!

And for that, I Rated this place 4.5/5!

Detailed and In Depth Review:

Atmosphere: This place looks awesome! Antique decor, great lighting, and I Love the chalkboard menu! And did I mention,the place smells like someone's cooking bacon? It's fantastic! I wanted to grab some pics of the dining rooms but there were people there so I didn't want to be rude, but you can see some pictures of them on the Google and Facebook page!

For that, I Rated this section a 5/5. Service: The owner, Jeremiah was the one who made me my food and who greeted me and the others that were with me, and he's one of the nicest people I've met! As I've said before he invited me over to his restaurant for me to review and I'm eternally grateful for the invite! He explained the menu very well, then went on to tell me that he makes his own version of a jalapeno strawberry jelly which I immediately knew I had to get lol. He made the sandwich right in front of me and I just think that's awesome! After I had eaten he talked to me and really helped me gain some of my confidence back to do these reviews. It's truly an amazing thing when you meet someone that is so kind, supportive, and helpful.

And for that, I Rated this section 5/5! Food: The Sandwich I got named "The Elvis" had toasted Texas toast for the bread, bacon, peanut butter, banana, and I chose to put the jalapeno strawberry jelly on mine as the jelly of my choice. I really liked the sandwich, I'm gonna go light on the peanut butter next time because I think peanut butter can be a bit overpowering and it was a bit of that with this one. But it wasn't so overpowering that I couldn't taste the Jelly which was slightly spicy and fantastic! The banana and the bacon and everything on that sandwich mixed so well together, it was pretty dang good. I also need to mention that every sandwich comes with potato chips, which are great, and it also comes with a drink. All in all, it was really filling! And it doesn't look like it would be, but it is! I got this for a late lunch, and I had went out to eat again and it was good bit later in the day for dinner and I was still kinda full! 😂

And for that, I Rated this section 4.5/5. Tea Rating: Well... It didn't feel right getting tea with this sandwich as the tea is sweet and so is the banana, jelly, and peanut butter. So... Instead I got milk, which I think is freaking awesome. I'm a big milk drinker myself, I drink it with almost every meal at home, and to have the option to drink that with my sandwich basically made my meal feel complete.

And for that, I Rated this section 5/5. This concludes this review, thank you again Jeremiah (The owner of this restaurant) for inviting me out to your restaurant to eat and review it!

If any of you want to invite me to try y'all's restaurant or have any comments please send me a message on Facebook to the page "The Very Detailed Food Reviewer" I'll be happy to speak to you and work it all out! All of my reviews can be found on that page as well! God Bless and Be With you all and thank you all again!

-TVDFR ...

Okay, so you know that scene from Ratatouille where the food critic tries the final dish, gets transported back in time to his childhood, and then drops his pen out of sheer disbelief over just how good that dish is? Well, that’s almost exactly what happened to me when I took a bite out of my sandwich from PB&J with Tay. The only difference is that I’m not a (professional) food critic, and instead of dropping a pen, I had to pull my vehicle over to the side of the road just to begin processing the fact that this was the best PB&J I’ve ever had in my entire life.

I’ve been driving by this small shop for months, but there was always one thing stopping me from going in: the fear that this sandwich could never be as good as the ones my mother used to make. Growing up, I had two certainties in my life. First off, as long as Tim Duncan was healthy, the Spurs would be making the playoffs. And second off, I would always find a peanut butter and jelly sandwich in my lunchbox. Now, learning to truly appreciate the Spurs came with time. But when it came to appreciating a good PB&J... well I might as well have been born with that instinct. There was something about Mom’s PB&J. Maybe it was how it always stayed fresh no matter how long it had been in the lunchbox, or maybe it was how eating it was consistently the highlight of my day. Whatever it may be, I was positive that nothing could ever top hers. But as I write this review, know that that is no longer the case.

As I walked in, Jeremiah (the owner) greeted me with a contagious smile that I could feel even though he was wearing a protective mask. I eagerly scanned the menu, already questioning what exactly it was that I was doing here. After all, I thought nothing could top my mother’s masterpieces. After much debate, I decided to try the Hawaiian. Peanut butter, pineapple jelly, coconut flakes, and... bacon?? Oh yes I tell you, bacon. I watched Jeremiah get to work, and I was immediately blown away. Not only was he one of the nicest people to talk to, but it was evident that he knew what he was doing. He may not have known exactly what was at stake for me, but it was clear. He was a pro. If I had had more time, I would have eaten inside (as the inside of the shop is amazingly decorated and put together), but I took it to go. Jeremiah and I said our goodbyes, and off I went with a fresh made PB&J.

My plan was to wait until I got home to dig in. However, due to the incredibly pleasant aroma that was making its way from the bag, a decision was made. I had to try it right then and there. I pulled the red-and-white checker-wrapped sandwich from the bag. I unwrapped the sandwich, and I took a bite. And from that moment on, I knew my life had changed. The creaminess of the peanut butter, the savoriness of the jelly, the crunch of the bacon and coconut flakes, and the golden brown shine of the Texas Toast. This... this was the best peanut butter and jelly I had ever had. I pulled my car over, and I finished it right then and there. And I enjoyed every last bite of it, If I wouldn’t have ordered right before closing time, I would have gone back then and there and ordered more. But my experience was now complete. After years of competition from other PB&J’s, I had realized that nothing could compete with Mom’s. Nothing, until I ordered from PB&J with Tay.

There’s a new #1 peanut butter and jelly in my life. Five stars is not enough to explain how seriously good this place is. And if you take away nothing else from this review, take away this: PB&J with Tay has the potential to be the best PB&J you’ll ever have in your life. So why not...

Ok, of the hundreds of reviews that I've done, I've only classified 4 restaurants as hidden gems and only one in San Antonio. I'm definitely adding this place to that list. My daughter found this place on Instagram and bugged us about going for 2 weeks. Finally, Wednesday we stopped by right before they closed. I'm not going to lie, i wasn't too excited about a PB&J place but wanted to keep my daughter happy. Well, I'm happy she convinced us to go. There were so many choices. I ended up getting strawberry/jalapeno jelly, bacon, cream cheese, and peanut butter (on toasted bread). I had never eaten anything even close to this crazy concoction but i was there so i figured, what the heck.. In short, it was dang good! My wife got the PB, strawberry, cream cheese with banana slices and my daughter got the PB, nutella and grape jelly. I'm happy to report, we all loved the sandwiches. The atmosphere is like you grandmother's old pier and beam house with similar decor; very homey. To top it off, i asked the owner about his place, how he came up with the idea, ect. He was very excited to explain the story, how he prayed about it, etc. He advised that he had two jobs, his PBJ place and a massage place after he finished work there. He emphasized how he worked long hours but stressed his concern and desire to manage his time effectively to spend the most time he could with his kids. You could hear the love in his voice about his family, his love of God and to say he was friendly to his customers is an understatement. I didn't say much but i knew exactly what my wife and daughter were going say as soon as we left and i nailed it. As soon as they walked out, both the wife and daughter said, "that was the nicest guy...i really like this place, you better give him a good review!" So... Here i am lol. Honestly, this place was getting a great review without their input. I'm fact, I'm adding this place to the hidden 💎 (gem) list, one of only two in San Antonio, Comfort Cafe being the other. This place is clean, great atmosphere, has a great selection of sammiches, the owner is a God loving Christian man who loves his family and treats his customers like they're family. This place checks every box to qualify as a hidden gem. My family and i cannot recommend this place highly enough.. We pray for his continued success!

Oh, almost forgot, my wife also got the banana pudding and says it was the best...