Esta Abierto Ahora! - The (new) TJ Oyster Bar

After a most exciting morning washing clothes and fixing the house, I started to get cabin fever.

"Let's go out for lunch" was my solution.

"Ok, let's have Mexican" said Bert.

Not wanting to drive far, we went to the TJ Oyster Bar on Bonita Road.

Gone was the old signage in thick blue letters. It now sported their new logo. As expected, it was packed with a line out the door. We resigned ourselves to this fact and prepared to wait. One of the workers announced to those of us in line, "Our new store is now open, There's no waiting there!". Plus Bert pointed to this sign near the cash register:

Cue "Halleluia" music!

Of course, we had to do it up like Newcleus and "JAM ON IT"!

A mere few seconds later, we were at their new location, just a tiny bit east on the same road, next to Vons. More parking options (still crazy busy though), and better yet, a bigger location with A/C! This location was once a (failed or never opened) Caribbean Restaurant, but now it's the TJ Oyster Bar!

BOTH locations will be open. I'm sure there are die-hards that will still frequent the original location at Bonita Plaza.

We walked in and sat in the only empty spot we could find, which was at the bar, which gave us a nice view of the hustle and bustle going on in the kitchen.

Our friendly waiter (a cool guy with dreadlocks) said they had their 'soft opening' last weekend and that the grand opening would be tomorrow!

The menu  appears to have the same items offered at the first location.

The cool thing was, same prices too!

As you can see, it's quite spacious in here. It felt so nice to not have to stand in a long line in a hot and tiny environment!

The first of our orders came up - TC's Seafood coctel (this is the small size):

which she really enjoyed with the saltine crackers they provided in the basket...Just look at those nice pieces of shrimp and octopus! Hidden within were Krab, scallops, and fish. The sauce as a bit on the sweet side which was just fine for TC.

Our variety of tacos:

Bert originally ordered the Smoked Manta Ray but they were out, so he got the Octopus instead. Nice big pieces there....

Bert's Garlic Shrimp taco which was waiter's favorite. This was Bert's favorite of the day as well.

TC's fish taco (.99)...

Bert's Seafood Mix taco...

and lastly, my Oyster taco. Had to get something with oyster in it, right? Unfortunately, the breading was a bit too thick and didn't really impress me. I like the breaded oysters from Marukai and Mitsuw much better (I know, it's a different style, so sue me). These oysters were kind of small and tasted too much of breading.

Our tacos with my Pescadilla, which I shared. I mean, look how MASSIVE that thing is! I like the contrast of paper plates and a nice white serving platter!

Mmmm, filled with cheese and buttery seafood...

Shrimps, scallops, Krab, fish, and octopus!

TC liked the rice more than I did so most of it went to her. This was such a rich and filling dish. I'm glad that we tried it. We will definitely be back to try more of their menu!

There was a guy next to me who was sharing a long plated dish of shrimp with his wife. I had to ask him what they had and he told me it was the Shrimp Aguachile. I have only seen aguachile served in big drinking cups (from taco trucks) but never in a formal dish. It looked impressive. He told me that if I ever ordered it, I could always ask them to tone down the heat.

Although we were not attended to right away (when we first walked in, the girl told us we could sit anywhere then forgot about us, it seemed), that quickly changed once our waiter gave us our menus.He was super friendly as were other staff at the bar who wanted to make sure we were helped. The restaurant was packed and we were lucky to even get a seat. Lots of folks there enjoying their food and we saw lots of the action since we were right next to the kitchen. It was like torture waiting for our food as we kept seeing waiter after waitress carrying plates of tostadas, ceviche, tacos, and such! But the wait was worth it!

Grand Opening is Tomorrow!

The (new) TJ Oyster Bar
next to Vons on Bonita Road
Bonita, CA 91910

It's a block east from their old location.

Here's Cathy's recent post on the old location as well as yelp (someone also went there today). Thanks to Cathy who heralded the new location! Now she has to go to compare!