TJ’s Seafood Market & Grill

This place blew me away. I got the gumbo and the hot Connecticut-​style lobster roll. I thought the gumbo was too bland at first, but a couple spoonfuls in and I suddenly felt a nice kick to it and I found myself wishing I had more by the time I got to the bottom of the bowl. The lobster roll was absolutely heaven. The lobster tasted fresh and had a nice texture to it; the bread was crisp and warm, AND it held together really well (which, for me, is important in a sandwich). Definitely will be back, absolutely love the place.

You should already know the food is amazing but in case you don’t… It’s amazing. Don’t skip the gumbo. And the lobster roll is a buttery, lobstery, delicious fantasy.
But this post is mainly about the chocolate bread pudding. Stop what you’re doing and go get it. I believe there was a butterscotch syrup on top. It is fluffy and rich and chocolatey and moist and incredible. I could’ve ordered two.
Bottom line: the fish may be so good that you’re tempted to eat yourself silly but don’t. Don’t. Skip. Dessert.

Food was awesome, could’ve done without the waiter telling us how much better this place is than Fish City Grill. The food speaks for itself.

Darling place at Preston and Royal.

Very nice atmosphere, warm and inviting. The waitstaff and bartender were friendly and eager to please. The 7.00 $ cup of gumbo with okra was blandly, tasteless and served with a microwave heat film on top. The calamari with pickled banana peppers on top was good but no better than any other $$ restaurant. They need to step up the food to go along with the prices.

Beautiful restaurant, superb service. Some dishes were just wonderful, some not so great. The good. The Dover Sole was delicious and beautifully presented. The Truffle oil French fries were remarkably delicious. The Sea Bass lettuce cups were wonderful. The drinks and wine list – most excellent. The deserts were yummy. The not so great… the oysters, I’ve had much, much better at Boulevardier. The lobster was brutally over cooked. Would we go back? Yes, but I would order far more defensively. Going back to the beginning. A beautiful, well laid out interior, spotlessly, squeaky clean. The wait staff is on the very highest order.

Great restaurant with wonderful food. The salmon board is a must for your appetizer. The lobster pasta is devine, but very hearty! Enjoy!

My first time to visit this place though our host, my mother-​in-​law have been here a few times and likes it. I ordered the special tonight — jumbo shrimp and clam pasta in a cream sauce was fantastic. The others in our party ordered, the crab cakes, scallops with what looked like risotto, salmon on a plank, shrimp and grits, etc. no problem with the food. Everything was delicious.
Our only complaint would be a $ 5 bar charge for a scoop of ice cream, Really couldn’t figure that one out since it was for ice cream. Roxy, our server did a great job taking care of our group though she could have warned us of the coming bar charge during the order for ice cream. She did promise to tell her patrons in the future of the restaurant’s practice.
We’ll be back!

A+. The food at TJs Seafood Restaurant & Market is good, but my 5 star rating is because of the owner. He made us feel like friends, and the place is very obviously a family owned independent local business. In my opinion, that elevates this place to the next level. That being said, a restaurant cannot get a good review without good food!
First, the drinks. TJs has a full bar and a decent wine list. My friend got a Chardonnay and seemed to enjoy it. I got a cocktail that I’d never tried before – a «light» cape cod. It is vodka, light white cranberry juice & lime. It’s delightful! Crisp, cold, refreshing and not at all sweet or syrupy. The only problem with this drink is that it goes down way too easily & way too quickly!
For an appetizer we had the Rhode Island Calamari which was thick and perfectly tender. For entrees we both ordered the fresh catch which was an Alaskan Wolf fish served with lemon caper butter and broccolini and coconut rice. The fish was firm white fish with a silky, buttery texture and the whole meal was light, fresh and simply, but deliciously prepared.
The chalkboard said that every Monday is Lobster Night. I can’t wait to go back and check it out.

The food in this place was good and tasty but the portions are small and the price is higher than I wanted to pay for a late dinner meal. Our server was Jhase and he was GREAT! The food presentation was very nice and the restaurant was clean.

A great seafood restaurant where you wouldn’t expect to find one.
A friend and I stopped in at lunchtime. Not too busy. Very pleasant and helpful staff. The menu is not exhaustive but it’s clear they keep the items limited so they can do them well.
My friend had haddock, which she raved about. She’s kind of a foodie and was actually a little dubious about ordering it. But she devoured it and enjoyed all of it.
I had fish collars which are very rare on most restaurant menus. They’re something you usually only find in the islands. They were buttery and delicious. My only issue is that fish collars in general are not very big. The order could have used one more. I also had a side Caesar salad which was exceptionally good.
Service was prompt and friendly. The check was not bad. Good value for the money. I will definitely be back. Parking in the shopping center can be a challenge but that’s not the restaurant’s fault.
As a side note, I have also been to the TJ’s on Oak Lawn. The food there is not quite as good and the service is a little slower. The TJ’s on Royal is definitely the better of the two.

Having been a long-​time fan of TJ’s for live crawfish, lobster, and amazing fish (straight off the plane) — we are thrilled that we now can enjoy TJ’s as a full dining experience. My wife and I visited the location off Royal last week and we were immensely impressed by the friendly, knowledgable staff, and of course — the food! Super-​fresh Ceviche’ with sweet potato chips, a meaty Lobster roll (buttery, not mayo’y! WIN WIN!), and Big-​Eye tuna w veggies, well-​picked red & white wines, and a Bushwhacker — Mmmmmmm — Delicious! Another great dining experience at a place that knows seafood (and what to do with it).

One of the downsides of having a net worth of someplace north of nine figures (okay… ten, but who’s counting?) is that enjoying a meal out undisturbed is as likely as me dating Katy Perry (well, on second thought…). Ever since I appeared on the cover of Forbes at my villa south of Barcelona, privacy in my life has been a literal Hell-​hole.
Some mornings I wake up and think, «maybe, just maybe, I should just dump it all and become a waiter at Olive Garden.» That absurd thought is quickly slapped from my brain as my man-​servant, Antoine, serves me another Bloody Mary with my anchovy tomato quiche while overlooking the Caribbean.
Last week, I wanted to sneak out unrecognized someplace not far from the Preston Hollow estate. Knowing that the Bentley or the Lambo, even though they are a dime-​a-​dozen in Dallas, can still attract attention from the paparazzi, I decided to slum it in the Porsche 911 with my food taster, Tracy, for a bite to eat.
We decided to try TJ’s Seafood at Royal and Preston since it is located in an unassuming shopping center. Given that it was early on a mid-​week school night, the place was only half-​full and we snagged some anonymous seats at the end of the bar.
TJ’s sits in the space that was previously occupied by that kid’s restaurant with the name of an odd-​colored cow. It is now a reasonably stylish and moderately upscale neighborhoodish seafood joint. As an added bonus, it offers up a retail fresh seafood counter.
I ordered the Pistachio Crusted Chilean Seabass, which means that Tracy, as my food taster, orders a duplicate meal. Within a reasonable period of time, our orders appeared before us. As with my usual custom, when our food was delivered, I did the old switcharoo with Tracy and made her go first. As she took her first few mouthfuls, I watched carefully for any sign of convulsions or grimaces. Instead, Tracy flashed me a pleasant grin and I dived right in.
THE GOOD
While not delivering a five-​star «wow,» the seafood was fresh, perfectly prepared, and cooked; consistent with the décor and surroundings of the restaurant.
The bar service was attentive… our server was never forgetful of our presence.
The joint was void of kiddies running wild. Neighborhood joints in this part of town often have their share of unattended kiddies, but not on this night.
The paparazzi were nowhere in sight and I wasn’t badgered by those pesky autograph seekers.
THE NOT-​SO-​GOOD
I had to fire Tracy after I found that she cleaned the remainder of my dish after a brief trip to restroom.
THE BOTTOM LINE
If you are hunkering for some reliable seafood accompanied by a relaxed, nicer-​than-​average neighborhood ambience without the paparazzi or press on your heels, TJ’s just might be the place for you.
(And, if you know anyone who is looking for a personal food taster gig, give me a jingle. The pay is crap, but the culinary benefits are excellent.)

Highly Recommend!
Cleanliness 1 Star
Atmosphere 1 Star
Service 1 Star
Food 2 Stars
We received a gift certificate to this location from our mortgage lender after we closed on our house. So we decided to use it for lunch and check the place out. Overall my wife and I both enjoyed our visit here very much. The service and food both were great and we will visit again.
CLEANLINESS & ATMOSPHERE
The location is easy to get to and the parking lot is big. When busy you may have to park somewhere and walk over to the location.
The inside has a fresh seafood counter, bar with TV’s, and seating area of tables and booths. The booths are spacious and plenty of room for us to sit, relax, and for plates on the tables. Everything was clean and smelled great no fishy smells or other unpleasant odors. The inside appears to be kept up by the staff.
The atmosphere is open space and easy to hear your dining partners conversations. The interior has a light beach theme with light blue walls and white accents. The seats are comfy and comfortable.
SERVICE
The server Jimmy B was great. He was very helpful, knowledgeable on the menu. and made great recommendations. He checked back with us the right amount. He gets bonus points for how he handled it when my wife accidentally spilled her tea. He was very courteous and helped us clean it up and brought her a new one. He never got mad, rolled his eyes, or anything. He did everything to make her less embarrassed and no big deal.
FOOD (5 stars by itself)
Crab Cake Sliders & Rhode Island Style Calamari. The crab cake sliders come 3 to the order. The crab cake is moist and more shredded crab meat than lump making it a little soft however the crunch from the slaw, lettuce and AMAZING BREAD offsets it sync works well. The Calamari was tender and not overlooked and the dipping sauce was excellent.
My wife had the tilapia tacos. They were very flavorful crunchy cabbage salad and the tomato jam was a little spicy but added great flavor.
I had the lobster roll and was very good. The bread was AMAZING crunchy outside with soft buttery inside. Several large crab claw meat pieces included. This was a really great sandwich. I had the frits parm fries with the sandwich. They were crispy yet tender and tasted GREAT!

This is by far one of my favorite seafood restaurants. Hubby and I have been here a few times for our anniversaries and special occasions. It’s a little pricey to go on a normal dinner date for us regular folks. The clientele here really reflects the demographics. Mostly older, wealthier people.
I’ve always gotten the regular Connecticut style lobster roll ($ 26) a bit steep but the size of the roll is larger than what you get at seabreeze or any other places that has lobster rolls. They also have a petite option for $ 16, but just trust me and go for the regular size. You won’t regret it. Connecticut style is just lobster and butter, no mayo or other fillings. The truffle fries are good but I could never taste the truffle oil so I don’t see the need to pay an extra $ 3 for french fries that taste normal to me. Their other sides are good as well.
The appetizers are also where it’s at! The calamari is amazing, so are the crab cake sliders. My favorite of all time is the Thai Chili Charbroiled Oysters.

Stopped by here for brunch with wife at around 12 p.m. on a Sunday afternoon during Father’s day.
Good Unilocal reviews and a Gilt City Voucher brought us here. Restaurant looked clean, and just a few customers at the time we arrived. The hostess was friendly and led us to our table quickly and gave us our menus.
The bar tender ended up waiting our tables. He was a cool guy.
We placed our orders at once (appetizers + lunch), got our glasses of water, and a $ 5 brunch mimosa and sangria.
For drinks, we ordered:
$ 5 Brunch Sangria — Refreshing
$ 5 Brunch Cran Mimosa — Same ol’ mimosa taste… nothing fancy
For appetizers, we ordered:
$ 13 Crab Cake Sliders — You gotta try this!
$ 13 Charbroiled Oysters — These were great
For lunch, we ordered:
$ 16 Citrus Halibut Lunch — This was yummy!
$ 12 Blacked Trout Lunch — Needed a little bit more seasoning, was bland.
Experience would have been 5 stars had it not been for the almost 10 minute wait for our appetizers. Not sure what was going on, but we had the longest wait ever for an appetizer.
10 minutes after we sat down, the restaurant was practically packed. When we arrived, there were hardly any diners.
There were only 2 waitresses, the bar-​tender, and the hostess attending the the diners, and I think they may have been overwhelmed.
Overall, the service was o.k., the appetizers were great, the drinks refreshing, the Halibut was yummy, the trout needed some more seasoning.

I’ll go back, maybe. Food was good, but the service was a C-.
The sommelier was very knowledgeable and helpful, fun to have a red wine with fish. Lobster pasta was very tasty, crab cake was just ok.
Can’t emphasize how below average the waiter was… Even after letting the manager know early on we were unhappy, he didn’t step up his game. The dallas market is so competitive, need to step it up.

I had the pleasure of receiving some fresh fish from Tj’s due to ordering via
!
I got brown gulf shrimp and tilapia. All were amazing. I only got a little this time just to try it out, but this place will need to be my go to place for fresh seafood next time! I need to purchase the sea bass next!

I finally got to check this place out after hearing so many good things about TJs! I am a huge fan of all places named TJ (Maxx), so I really wanted to like this place, too! Mondays are Lobster Nights and since I have never had lobster the «American way» (boiled in water and dipped in melted butter), I wanted to experience how y’all Americans do it. Asians always cut up lobster and batter it up and stir fry it with tons of garlic, onions and oil, and I think we end up masking the lobster’s sweet meatiness with all those ingredients.
Anyway, my lobster was delish! I’m so accustomed to my stir fried lobster that I’m going to have to get used to the plain old butter way. We also ordered the Peruvian ceviche app, which was just ok. The crab cake sliders were pretty good. However I really wanted the Thai charbroiled oysters, but I have a tendency to order too much food because my eyes are hungrier than my belly. Gonna get that next time. We also ordered the blackberry panna cotta for dessert which was so smooth and creamy and perfect after such a rich meal. My boyfriend refused to order 2 desserts, so I’m gonna have to get the bread pudding next time.
Food 4 stars, service and ambiance 5 stars! Easy parking, too. In the same plaza as Royal China.

Five star dining experience. Went tonight and had Don as our server! Impeccable food and wine choices! Service was on point all night.
We enjoyed fresh oysters, Caesar salad, scallops with grits and sea bass with grits. Also had a taste salmon collar (amazing)!
Got to meet owner Jon. He was very aware of his business and we enjoyed chatting with him while he walked the restaurant.
Spend the money and go out for a relaxed dining experience with fabulous food!