BJ's Restaurant and Brewhouse

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I've been to a couple in different parts of Texas, and also the one that is about 10-15 minutes from my house. I have had a pretty wide range of experience with their house beers. Some of them were excellent, and some were cringe-worthy. I had an imperial stout that was pretty tasty last time I visited my local one, which admittedly was several months back.

Also I can't recall the exact circumstances but last time I was there the bartender was pretty friendly and hooked me up with a couple of free beers of stuff that was on tap but not listed on the menu, and also gave me a couple of pint glasses they had leftover from some kind of event.


All that and I forgot that they also give you a discount if you are a card-carrying AHA member. Which I am, but I always forget about that kind of thing.
 
Got one right down the street from me in Carlsbad (north of San Diego) and I have only had their "totanka (sp?) imperial stout". Pretty good.
 
I tend to like their house beers, but I agree they can vary in quality depending on the one you go to.
 
There are several of them here in the Bay Area. I find them to have a corporate feel which I don't necessarily like but overall I have a hard time complaining about the food or the beer. Their house beers are decent, I'd rather drink them than most of the staples that everyone else has, and they have a great selection of guest beers. So kinda corporate but really pretty good.
 
I have enjoyed all of their beers I've tried. The location down the street from me no longer brews on site so they lost their license to do growler fills... lame.
 
Got one right down the street from me in Carlsbad (north of San Diego) and I have only had their "totanka (sp?) imperial stout". Pretty good.

How do you Pizza Port?? I love(d) that place when I lived down there. It's been a couple of years since I've been there, but I at least try to stop on my way through.

btw - I like BJ's Tontonka Stout too.

E
 
Drove passed one on the way out of Orlando Jan31st. I was a little annoyed I didn't know it was up there until I drove pass on my way back down south. Sounds like I missed a good spot to try.
 
Buffalo Chicken Pizza with a Tatonka Stout is pretty darn good. Their blond ale with a chicken sandwich of some kind is good if you don't want that full-and-can't-move feeling.

They have two restaurants in our county alone.
 
I have been to two of these places in CA and think them quite mediocre. Imho, the beers of theirs that I have tried to me represent bland examples of craft beers geared towards pleasing the masses. Nothing unique, interesting, or all that tasty. That said, it is better than going to an applebees and drinking a 22 oz coors light.
 
I didn't find any of their beers to be undrinkable. Some of them were just okay, but I thought the nut brown and Jeremiah Red were both pretty good.

I agree those are their two best beers in Las Vegas, The Totonka Stout is good too.
 
I don't remember much about the beers I had but I do remember the smoking hot redhead waitress...

I mean smoking hot. Really.

Their buffalo chicken Pizza is, in fact, the ****.
 
I haven't been to one in a while....but I remember their beers to be pretty good. What turns me off about my local BJ's is that they market themselves as a brewpub. Their beer is produced offsite and then trucked in:confused:They used to brew their own but now only produce soda. The brew system is still in the window though so I wonder how many people know this. I think that is completely opposite of what a brewpub is supposed to be.
 
I go there occasionally since there is one close by my house. I tried their stout previously and thought it was good, then tried it at a later date and couldn't get over the hot alcohol taste. It is an imperial stout but it was way to alcoholic to me. Tasted like vodka added to Guiness. I usually drink from their bottle list (Belgians). I like their meatloaf.
 
BJ's has been excellent in my opinion. I understand that all their beer is brewed centrally and distributed to the restaurants. Their head brewer, Michael Ferguson, is very talented. I found their beers very good and the food was too.
 
The food there is great. I now only order bottled beer because last time I got a Sierra Nevada I think there was a tap line cleanliness issue.
 
Last time I was at a BJ's I was at UCLA and under the age for consumption. I don't remember the food, that was pre-culinary school.

I have wanted to give it another try since leaving Westwood... I loved their cookie/icecream dessert thingie at the time.
 
We have one near our home in McAllen, TX. The beer is just so-so for me. But, the other night some guys got together for a few pints and they had a seasonal ale called "Oasis Amber". It was probably the best beer I've had from BJ's. Here's what it says on the web site: Style: Amber Ale
Alcohol: 4.5%
Seasonality: March/April
 
Good food good beer, however, I was disappointed that most of them don't actually brew on location. How can they call it a brewhouse if they don't actually have a brewhouse on location? I went in to purchase a keg for my squadron and was told I would have to drive 2 hours away to their phoenix location where they actually brewed the beer.
 
I hate to be in the minority, and it could be that I'm spoiled living in the BEST beer town on earth (that won't get me flamed much), but the two times I've been to the BJ's here I've thought that the beer was sub par, and would much rather have had a widmere anything. I had 3 pints in 2 hours and had a massive headache the last time I was there. What I remember most was the hot alcohol taste and lack of depth to the malt.

On a side note, the pizza was pretty decent, good enough to bring me back a second time.
 
I've got to give BJ's a shout-out. I spent over 16 weeks this year in Dallas for work. I tried every micro-brew/brewhouse place I could and actually avoided BJ's which was *2 blocks* from the hotel because it was 'corporate'.

Around Week 7 or 8, I went in there on a saturday afternoon. Nice bar, decent beer, great food and great service. I ended up there at least once a week after that.

I liked the Jerimiah Red and Pook's Pilsner; The best thing though was the Root Beer Float with a pint of stout. Awesome!
 
I have found their own beer to be quite variable in quality. Typically, it's the darker the better. The supposed Koelsch-style ale doesn't taste even remotely like a Koelsch. The local BJs also has taken a nosedive in terms of food quality, as has been the case with many chain restaurants over the last few years (especially Olive Garden).

Still, I appreciate that they support local breweries and offer a wide variety of beers to their customers. I don't eat there weekly like I used to, but I still drop in every other month or so for a quick lunch and beer, and usually don't regret it.
 
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