Wednesday, April 1, 2009

My Vist to BJ’s Restaurant Brewery

I had a craving for a full meal, so I went to BJ’s Restaurant Brewery last night. I’ve only been to BJ’s on one other occasion prior. At that time I wasn’t impressed. I had only ordered the appetizer samplers plate that came with Spinach & Artichoke Dip, Angus Beef Sliders, Avacado Egg Rolls, Crisp Potato Skins, Santa Fe Spring Rolls, and Mozzarella sticks. I also ordered a glass of the Harvest Hefeweizen. The Hefeweizen is a wheat beer that is used with Bavarian weizen yeast to produce its flavor. It’s a fruity beer, so it isn’t uncommon that you will find people enjoying a glass of this beer with a wedge of lemon. All in all, the meal was okay, but what can you expect from a meal entirely of appetizers? I felt like I didn’t give BJ’s a true test of its dining potential, so I wanted to return at a later date.

I had a chance to return to BJ’s, so I wanted to enjoy a full dinner service, but this time I wanted a glass of wine instead of a popular beer that BJ’s is known to have in their menu. Since most of the meals are rich and full of flavor, I decided to order a glass of Bearboat Pinot Noir. This wine was not a vinyard that was familiar to me, but I knew I was interested in ordering the Angus Beef Open Sandwich and Pinot Noir is a selection that normally goes well with roast beef.

The Angus Beef Open Sandwich is a "knife & Fork" sandwich that comes with a slice of toasted garlic bread with a hearty sized portion of roasted beef, a mound of mashed potato, covered with brown gravy, with a bed of mixed vegetables, while my dinner date ordered the Blackened Chicken Potato.

As little as a potato may sound at first, it is not so little in portion at all. In fact, the potatoes that BJ's uses for this dish is incredibly large in proportion. Most likely these potatoes are grown in Idaho where the potatoes there are known to get as large as a game hen. This stuffed potato was filled with blackened chicken, steamed broccoli, fire-roasted red peppers, jack and cheddar cheese with a side of creamy alfredo sauce. I tried it and it was quite flavorful, but a bit rich.

Had I known the portions of food were so large, we wouldn’t have started with the spinach dip with tortilla chips, or we could have shared a single meal, because my date and I aren’t big eaters. Fortunately, we were able to take leftovers home to finish another day.

BJ's does have a full array of delicious looking deserts, but we were too full to even think of ordering anymore food. However, I did get to see one of the deserts from the couple sitting next to us and they were kind enough to let me photograph their desert called a Pizookie.

At the bottom of this mouth watering delight begins a large chocolate chip chocolate cookie, with two scoops of creamy chocolate ice cream, and finally topped with a bar of the famous Ghirardelli chocolate, which is known as the “Triple Chocolate Pizookie”. I asked the couple if the Pizookie was as good as it looks, “Yes, you have to try it some time,” said the girlfriend.
My overall visit at BJ’s was satisfactory. The service was excellent, but I wasn’t overly impressed with the food. The prices of the meals were favorable considering the food we ate was pre-cooked, the mashed potatoes aren’t made from scratch, and nether is the gravy. The chicken and the vegetables tasted frozen, but it still turn out to be a good meal.
If you are on a strict calorie diet, I don’t recommend BJ’s, but for an occasional casual night out, it is worth the trip, especially if you are looking for a place to hang out with a group of friends and want to enjoy a good beer and pizza and enjoy a good sporting event. They have large wide-screen televisions throughout the restaurant and one large screen inside the bar area. I shall return to this venue again.

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