Forget about Taco Tuesdays.
TJ’s Burritos in East Granby serves tacos all day, every day, for breakfast, lunch and dinner in addition to Mexican favorites such as burritos.
It’s all part of a mixed-concept idea that has found success. The restaurant has a dedicated breakfast menu with staples such as avocado toast and breakfast sandwiches along with a standard drink menu of coffee, tea and lattes. But if you’re feeling a little more hungry, you can get tacos and breakfast burritos, all before 9 a.m.
“I always wanted to open my own coffee shop,” said co-owner Tricia Martin. “And if I have all the ingredients for lunch and dinner, why not open up in the morning? So it kind of grew on us to be a three-in-one concept.
“Also, at the time in East Granby there weren’t a lot of breakfast options in town. So we started catering to breakfast as well while keeping some of our popular Mexican options. A lot of people come in for their breakfast taco or burrito with their coffee.”
TJ’s Burritos, at 3 Turkey Hills Road, was founded by Martin and Jeremy Jackson in 2021 , both graduates of Windsor High School, along with its former head chef Stefan Drago, a Granby native. That’s where the name TJ’s comes from. Tricia is T. Jeremy is J. Stefan is S. Drago has since left the company.
Now the pair are set to open their second location in Bloomfield at 695 Park Ave. inside the former Amna’s Kitchen space. The restaurant plans to open its doors by Nov 1, according to Martin. She said the location was partly inspired by a conversation with her daughter.
“My daughter goes to the University of Hartford and she mentioned there’s not a lot of affordable options nearby for dining in or getting delivery,” Martin said. “So when I said I’m thinking about Bloomfield, my daughter and her friends were very excited. Construction has already started on the building re-designing the interior.”
Martin said it’s also personally fulfilling for her to open in Bloomfield because of her ties to the community. She said her mother and sister live in the town and her grandparents grew up near Park Avenue. “I couldn’t be closer to my family,” Martin said.
In addition to their breakfast menu options, the restaurant has a full lunch and dinner menu offers burritos, tacos and bowls with choices of chicken, beef and pork, salads, taquitos, empanadas and chicken wings, burgers and sandwiches. Among more than six different burrito options include a Korean BBQ pulled pork burrito with Korean BBQ, pulled pork, cilantro rice, red pepper slaw, tortilla strips and jalapeños. For non-meat eaters, the portobello burrito is an option with marinated portobello, black beans, avocado slices, cilantro rice, jalapeño, and salsa verde.
“Our ‘Going back to Cali’ burrito and ‘Loaded Potato Burrito’ have become our signature breakfast options,” Martin said. “They’re packed with eggs and the loaded potato has bacon, cheddar, hash browns, sour cream and scallions. It’s one of our most popular for breakfast. The Cali burrito has marinated steak, scrambled eggs, Cajun fries, cheddar, pico, guac and sour cream.”
Taco options include the popular sweet chili shrimp taco with grilled shrimp, sweet chili sauce, red pepper slaw, pico and corn in a flour tortilla. Other options include the Buffalo chicken taco with fried chicken, pickle, bacon, Buffalo sauce, chipotle ranch and red pepper slaw. The birria tacos offer some spice with birria short rib, jack cheese, red onion, cilantro and birria sauce with dried chili peppers.
“I would definitely recommend our birria tacos. They’re really delicious and among our most popular tacos,” Martin said. “We also do a build your own, so you can add whatever you want. A lot of people want to come in and build their own taco or burrito.”
TJ’s Burritos offers Happy Hour Monday through Saturday from 4 to 7 p.m. and a Sunday brunch from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Several different cocktails are served along with flight options for cocktails, coffee in the morning, and hot chocolate for kids. Several events are held throughout the week including trivia every Monday from 7 to 8:30 p.m. and Music Bingo every Tuesday at 7 p.m. TJ’s Burritos is open Monday through Saturday 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. and on Sundays from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. For more information on TJ’s Burritos visit their website at
Stephen Underwood can be reached at sunderwood@courant.com
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