I should probably start with a little disclaimer, we go way back with BJ's. Back to when they were just a few little pizza joints along the beach cities of Orange County. Before they went public and became a big corporation.
I have a soft spot for them because they paid (indirectly) for my son's first year of college when I was able to get their stock cheap after their IPO and sold it for a profit healthy enough to pay for a year of private college. I may be a little biased...
If you follow this blog, or know me in other ways, you know I tend to avoid corporate restaurant and look more for mom 'n pops, independent restaurants, or even a small chain here and there. While we do eat in some of the big names once in awhile, I'm hard-pressed to find anything memorable about them so they don't get on our regular list.
BJ's is kind of heading in that direction but it's still good enough for us to visit once in awhile on a Tuesday night. When we first found them around a quarter century ago during our then weekly trip to the beach, they served a very good thick crust pizza (it's not Chicago style no matter what the menu tries to tell you, just a very thick crust), some excellent pastas, salads, and sandwiches including the most amazing roast beef sandwich I've every tasted.
Along the way, they bought a very large restaurant in Brea (the former Magnolia's Peach for you old timers) and built an onsite brewery, making them one of the pioneers of the local micro-brewery movement. They make, and still do, some outstanding brews.
After going public, they expanded slowly. Co-CEO's Paul Motenko and Jerry Hennessy were very picky about new locations and product quality being diluted by expanding too fast but some stockholders disagreed. A hostile takeover attempt thwarted by a white-knight investor eventually led to these two being pushed out and now the company has expanded rapidy to 174 locations in 23 states.
While my beloved Stockyard roast beef sandwich is long gone, they still serve their signature pizzas, pastas, and salads. The menu has greatly expanded beyond that to include burgers, steaks, chicken, seafood and more.
On Tuesday's, we usually land during Happy Hour where we'll sit in the bar and have a couple of discounted brews. I like the Piranha Pale Ale, Jeremiah's Red (named after Jerry Hennessy - there's also a PM Porter, named after Paul Motenko...now you know the rest of the story), and the BJ's blonde. Letty likes the Berry Burst Cider and BJ's blonde.
We get some of the cheap appetizers during this time like their wings or a cheap personal pizza.
It's all very good.
If we're really feeling like going all out, we might even have one of their famous pizookies...a fresh baked cookie, served in a little deep-dish pizza pan, topped with ice cream.
Yeah, that last one's really good.
Darryl
Copyright 2016 - Darryl Musick
All Rights Reserved
No comments:
Post a Comment