TJ’s Seafood Market has been selling fresh fish out of the same stretch of North Dallas since 1989, and the restaurant part came second. Jon Alexis took the shop over from his parents, relocated the original location, and eventually turned both the Preston Royal spot and a second one in Oak Lawn into full restaurants built around the fish counter rather than a restaurant that happens to have one in the corner. That backstory matters at brunch, because it’s the reason you can sit down for French toast and also order a dozen oysters on the half shell without either one feeling like an afterthought.
The brunch menu itself is short and does exactly what it needs to. The Brioche French Toast comes soaked in a vanilla cinnamon custard and topped with whipped cream and berries, and it’s the kind of version that doesn’t need a syrup pour to taste finished. The Lake Austin Migas is scrambled eggs with pico, queso fresco, and crisp tortilla strips, served with sour cream and flour tortillas on the side, and it’s worth adding shrimp on top, since a seafood market is exactly the place you want to trust with shrimp at 10 in the morning.
Classic Bacon & Eggs is exactly what it sounds like, scrambled eggs with bacon, hash browns, and toast, and it earns its spot on the menu by being the reliable order for the table’s least adventurous eater. The Smoked Salmon Bagel is built on shug’s everything bagel with cream cheese and the standard fixings, and it’s the strongest argument on the menu for why a seafood market makes sense as a brunch spot in the first place.
The drink list keeps it simple. TJ’s White Mimosa swaps the usual orange juice for sparkling wine and white cranberry, which is a lighter, less syrupy way to start a meal than the standard version. The Bloody Mary, available regular or jumbo, is built on a housemade mix with Boss hot sauce and finished with a seafood skewer, which turns the garnish into an actual course rather than a stick of celery you ignore.
Here’s the part that separates TJ’s from most brunch menus in Dallas: because it’s also a full seafood restaurant on weekends, the raw bar and lunch menu are fair game alongside the brunch sheet. A Dozen on the Halfshell, served by the dozen or half dozen, comes with cocktail sauce, horseradish, ponzu, and mignonette. The TJ’s Shrimp Cocktail, which the restaurant has billed as the best in Dallas for years now, is hard to argue with. The New England Seafood Chowder comes by the cup or, better, as a bread bowl with steamed clams. And if you’re going on a Sunday specifically, oysters run at a steep discount all day, which turns a normal brunch order into something closer to a proper raw bar spread.
And while we’re on the subject: CraveDFW has called TJ’s Connecticut-style Lobster Roll the best in Dallas for over a decade now, going back to when Jon Alexis first put it on the menu, and that still holds. It’s not on the brunch menu specifically, but it’s on the regular lunch and dinner menu, and if you’re the type to stretch brunch into an early lunch, it’s worth staying for.
CraveDFW’s recommendation: start with a half dozen oysters and the Bloody Mary with the seafood skewer, then split the Lake Austin Migas with shrimp added and the Smoked Salmon Bagel across the table. It’s a brunch that actually uses what the restaurant is good at instead of treating brunch as a separate menu bolted onto a seafood house, and that’s rare enough in this town to make the trip worth it on its own.
Expect to spend somewhere in the $15 to $20 range per brunch plate, with the raw bar add-ons running higher depending on how many oysters you order and whether you stray into the lobster roll. TJ’s Seafood Market is at 6025 Royal Lane, Suite 110, in North Dallas. Reservations and hours are at tjsseafood.com, or call (214) 691-2369 to confirm brunch service before you go.
