Jeremiah Burns discovered his future between two slices of bread.
It arrived in a match of desperation: He’d been a pc technician however received laid off. He’d opened a therapeutic massage remedy enterprise however received burned out.
Burns fell to his knees and requested for assist. Then he turned to his spouse Taylor and started firing wild enterprise concepts like a machine gun — rat-a-tat-tat-tat — till one sounded excellent.
“What about PB&J with Tay?”
He defined: “I like peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and it rhymes along with your title and our daughter’s title, Taylynn.”
Taylor Burns laughed. “You’re ridiculous,” she mentioned.
Unbeknownst to Jeremiah, Taylor went and did some analysis. Then she advised him, “There are two peanut butter and jelly eating places within the nation. However none in Texas.”
Seven years later, Yelp ranked PB&J with Tay the thirty third finest sandwich store within the U.S. The Olmos Park restaurant maintains a 5-star score on Yelp.
Tucked into the neighborhood enclave and positioned atop a flight of picket stairs , PB&J with Tay echoes a nostalgic, treehouse vibe. Suppose childhood enjoyable and yard eats.
Distinctive creations like “The Egg-cellent” (peanut butter, over-hard egg, bacon and strawberry jalapeño jelly) and the “Kitchen Sink” (peanut butter, Nutella, cream cheese, walnuts, bacon, banana, coconut flakes and selection of jelly) are served on Texas toast with potato chips.
Its acclaim extends past Yelp. On Fb, PB&J with Tay is 100% really helpful primarily based on 331 opinions. On Google, PB&J attracts a 4.9 score from 543 opinions.
The exhausting occasions
The connoisseur PB&J sandwich store virtually went below earlier than it may open, which recollects one other time Jeremiah went to his knees.
In 2019, Jeremiah discovered himself broke. He had no cash to pay his dwelling mortgage. None to pay lease for his different enterprise, The R&R Station – Therapeutic massage and Therapeutic, close by in The Yard strip heart. Not a penny to complete PB&J with Tay.
“I’m achieved,” he advised Taylor, a bartender. “I tousled. I don’t know the place to go from right here.”
Jeremiah had no expertise within the restaurant enterprise. He had no clue about permits. No thought about insurance coverage and taxes. No inkling about startup prices. So he discovered what he wanted to know on the fly, hitting impediment after impediment, till he hit one that will not budge.
“I used to be midway achieved,” he mentioned, “and I couldn’t open.”
He had a number of associates investing sweat fairness — cleansing flooring, getting the place prepared — who immediately needed to cease. Jeremiah’s plight moved a couple of of them, together with Laurie Schweinsberg. She and her husband and son had helped rework a vacant area that after held a hair salon and bridal robe store.
Schweinsberg made a pitch: She would cowl bills in change for changing into a silent companion with 10% of the enterprise.
“She palms me an enormous test,” Jeremiah recalled. “And inside every week, I paid my mortgage, I paid the therapeutic massage store lease, I paid for the restaurant, I loaded up on peanut butter and jelly. And I had my opening day.”
When Jeremiah thought his dream had ended, Schweinsberg turned a solution to prayer.
“I had not too long ago acquired an inheritance from my stepfather and I wished to do one thing type for somebody,” Schweinsberg mentioned. “Jeremiah has achieved an ideal job. It’s been a blessing to see how this restaurant has actually bloomed.”
Forging forward
PB&J with Tay served its first clients on Oct. 30, 2019. Inside two weeks, KSAT-12 aired a characteristic on the sandwich store.
“We have been flying excessive,” Jeremiah mentioned.
4 months later, the COVID-19 pandemic shut down the restaurant. Whereas different companies acquired Paycheck Safety Program cash from the federal authorities, PB&J with Tay didn’t qualify.
“We had not been open lengthy sufficient,” Jeremiah mentioned. “It was brutal.”
When eating places have been allowed to reopen at restricted capability, PB&J remained just about empty. Prospects have been too scared to enterprise out or determined to seize meals elsewhere. The pandemic damage Taylor as nicely. Unable to have a tendency bar, she collected unemployment. Jeremiah, in the meantime, persevered, crafting one sandwich at a time, making ready takeout orders, incomes simply sufficient to stay solvent.
The pandemic lifted. PB&J opened to full capability. Prospects returned and posted glowing opinions concerning the meals, the service and the cleanliness of the sandwich store. Jeremiah was again in enterprise and Taylor resumed tending bar.
Gratitude pours from his coronary heart, marvel from his lips.
Jeremiah credit God for holding his doorways open, thanks his spouse for supporting his ardour and waits on the following buyer.
He’s received a sandwich to make and he’s received to do it excellent. As the home motto says, all the pieces between two slices of bread is “made with love” and “served with kindness.”
