{"id":592153,"date":"2026-02-15T17:07:16","date_gmt":"2026-02-15T17:07:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/592153\/"},"modified":"2026-02-15T17:07:16","modified_gmt":"2026-02-15T17:07:16","slug":"how-one-man-turned-pbj-into-a-successful-business","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/592153\/","title":{"rendered":"How one man turned PB&J into a successful business"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jeremiah Burns found his future between two slices of bread.<\/p>\n

It arrived in a fit of desperation: He\u2019d been a computer technician but got laid off. He\u2019d opened a massage therapy business but got burned out.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Burns fell to his knees and asked for help. Then he turned to his wife Taylor and began firing wild business ideas like a machine gun \u2014 rat-a-tat-tat-tat \u2014 until one sounded just right. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhat about PB&J with Tay?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

He explained: \u201cI love peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and it rhymes with your name and our daughter\u2019s name, Taylynn.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Taylor Burns laughed. \u201cYou\u2019re ridiculous,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Unbeknownst to Jeremiah, Taylor went and did some research. Then she told him, \u201cThere are two peanut butter and jelly restaurants in the nation. But none in Texas.\u201d<\/p>\n

Seven years later, Yelp ranked PB&J with Tay<\/a> the 33rd best sandwich shop in the U.S. The Olmos Park restaurant maintains a 5-star rating on Yelp.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Tucked into the neighborhood enclave and located atop a flight of wooden stairs , PB&J with Tay<\/a> echoes a nostalgic, treehouse vibe. Think childhood fun and backyard eats.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"The Kitchen Sink Double Decker sandwich comes with Nutella, cream cheese, walnuts, bacon, bananas and more. Credit: Amber Esparza \/ San Antonio Report<\/p>\n

Unique creations like \u201cThe Egg-cellent\u201d (peanut butter, over-hard egg, bacon and strawberry jalape\u00f1o jelly) and the \u201cKitchen Sink\u201d (peanut butter, Nutella, cream cheese, walnuts, bacon, banana, coconut flakes and choice of jelly) are served on Texas toast with potato chips.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Its acclaim extends beyond Yelp. On Facebook, PB&J with Tay is 100% recommended<\/a> based on 331 reviews. On Google, PB&J draws a 4.9 rating from 543 reviews.<\/p>\n

The hard times<\/p>\n

The gourmet PB&J sandwich shop almost went under before it could open, which recalls another time Jeremiah went to his knees.<\/p>\n

In 2019, Jeremiah found himself broke. He had no money to pay his home mortgage. None to pay rent for his other business, The R&R Station \u2013 Massage and Healing<\/a>, nearby in The Yard strip center. Not a penny to finish PB&J with Tay.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m done,\u201d he told Taylor, a bartender. \u201cI messed up. I don\u2019t know where to go from here.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Jeremiah had no experience in the restaurant business. He had no clue about permits. No idea about insurance and taxes. No inkling about startup costs. So he learned what he needed to know on the fly, hitting obstacle after obstacle, until he hit one that would not budge.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI was halfway done,\u201d he said, \u201cand I couldn\u2019t open.\u201d<\/p>\n

He had several friends investing sweat equity \u2014 cleaning floors, getting the place ready \u2014 who suddenly had to stop. Jeremiah\u2019s plight moved a few of them, including Laurie Schweinsberg. She and her husband and son had helped remodel a vacant space that once held a hair salon and bridal gown shop.<\/p>\n

\"\"A popular drink option for diners at PB&J with Tay is milk. Credit: Amber Esparza \/ San Antonio Report<\/p>\n

Schweinsberg made a pitch: She would cover expenses in exchange for becoming a silent partner with 10% of the business.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cShe hands me a massive check,\u201d Jeremiah recalled. \u201cAnd within a week, I paid my mortgage, I paid the massage shop rent, I paid for the restaurant, I loaded up on peanut butter and jelly. And I had my opening day.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

When Jeremiah thought his dream had ended, Schweinsberg became an answer to prayer.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had recently received an inheritance from my stepfather and I wanted to do something kind for someone,\u201d Schweinsberg said. \u201cJeremiah has done a great job. It\u2019s been a blessing to see how this restaurant has really bloomed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Forging ahead<\/p>\n

PB&J with Tay served its first customers on Oct. 30, 2019. Within two weeks, KSAT-12 aired<\/a> a feature on the sandwich shop.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were flying high,\u201d Jeremiah said.<\/p>\n

Four months later, the COVID-19 pandemic shut down the restaurant. While other businesses received Paycheck Protection Program money from the federal government, PB&J with Tay did not qualify.<\/p>\n

\"\"PB&J with Tay owner Jeremiah Burns packages a to-go order for a customer inside his Olmos Park shop on Feb. 11, 2026. Credit: Amber Esparza \/ San Antonio Report<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had not been open long enough,\u201d Jeremiah said. \u201cIt was brutal.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

When restaurants were allowed to reopen at limited capacity, PB&J remained virtually empty. Customers were too scared to venture out or decided to grab food elsewhere. The pandemic hurt Taylor as well. Unable to tend bar, she collected unemployment. Jeremiah, meanwhile, persevered, crafting one sandwich at a time, preparing takeout orders, earning just enough to remain solvent.<\/p>\n

The pandemic lifted. PB&J opened to full capacity. Customers returned and posted glowing reviews about the food, the service and the cleanliness of the sandwich shop. Jeremiah was back in business and Taylor resumed tending bar. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Gratitude pours from his heart, wonder from his lips. <\/p>\n

Jeremiah credits God for keeping his doors open, thanks his wife for supporting his passion and waits on the next customer.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s got a sandwich to make and he\u2019s got to do it just right. As the house motto says, everything between two slices of bread is \u201cmade with love\u201d and \u201cserved with kindness.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Jeremiah Burns found his future between two slices of bread. It arrived in a fit of desperation: He\u2019d…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":592154,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5133],"tags":[5229,1066,43961,255848,255849,255850,255851,7202,7203,32954,358,3187,7593,67,586,132,5230,68,2969,25421],"class_list":["post-592153","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-antonio","tag-america","tag-facebook","tag-icymi","tag-jeremiah-burns","tag-pbj-with-tay","tag-peanut-butter-and-jelly","tag-peanut-butter-and-jelly-sandwiches","tag-san-antonio","tag-sanantonio","tag-sandwich-shop","tag-texas","tag-tx","tag-typefeature","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-usa","tag-yelp"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116075747498892653","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/592153","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=592153"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/592153\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/592154"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=592153"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=592153"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=592153"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}