She recently received an Emmy nod for her performance, nominated alongside greats like Meryl Streep and Carol Burnett for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series.
Eyewitness News entertainment reporter Joelle Garguilo caught up with Colón-Zayas at Counter and Bodega -- one of the actress' favorite Puerto Rican restaurants in the city to talk about representing women of color, Puerto Rican pride and her pinch-me moment.
While many of us have fallen in love with her character, Colón-Zayas never imagined getting this kind of attention.
The newest season of "The Bear" showed us more of her character's backstory. It turns out Colón-Zayas's story is every bit as inspiring.
"After I graduated college, it was a couple of years of just having survival jobs, being a terrible waitress, working temp jobs," Colón-Zayas said. "I would be the first one. I would get there when they opened even if they didn't have anything for me, because where I was coming from in the Bronx they weren't gonna call me...I would go in and make the morning coffee and be like, where it is. And so all of those steps, they all build. I feel like they all built Tina."
The actress said she learned how alike she was to her character.
"I learned that just believe in yourself as much as others believe in you. Try to take that on," Colón-Zayas said.
The 52-year-old actress reflected on how much this moment means to her.
"It's so profound that I can only take it in doses," she said. "What it means to be a middle aged actress of color, a character actress struggling for all of these decades to get this break. And I'm not just talking about fame, I mean powerful, brilliant writing diversity, shining a light on a community that is ignored."
She also commented on what it would look like to explore her backstory the way her character's was in this season.
"You would see a wildly energetic kid who played double Dutch and was crazy," she said. "I thought I had superpowers. But it was a mixture. It was when the Bronx was on fire 24/7. It was hard, but we got through it, but it was by the skin of our teeth. So I still carry that thing of like, OK, we got this, but is it going to last?"
Audiences can hope that her sweet success will last as long as her message for many who started out like she did.
"I just want to tell all these women and young girls who grew up like me, who look like me, like, please, you are gold," Colón-Zayas said. "Even if they tell you different, you are pure gold. You come from warriors."