BJ’s Restaurant & Brewhouse

This review is SOLELY based off of the service my friends and I received on Friday, January 29^th. In short: there were some extremely rude inconsiderate customers before us who horribly affected our plans, and the management at BJ’s did what they could to make up for it.
I had reservations for my birthday at BJ’s at 9pm, I was originally coming in with a group of twenty people. The way reservations work is that you’re only allowed to stay two hours max. Unfortunately, the rude inconsiderate group before us decided to break that rule. My friends and I ended up getting seated at 9:50 pm because of those awful people. Because of this, most of my friends couldn’t make it to that event, and I don’t blame them, because just like me, they work 45 – 65 hours a week, and plus, we have school. What made my case even more upsetting was that I was also sick. To add insult to injury, those inconsiderate rude customers walked out laughing, and one of them just gave me a card that was only 20% off as her way of apologizing, and it was set to expire in two days. Unbelievable.
By the time we got seated, I asked the hostess for some exemptions. The manager ended up coming out, and instead of granting the small requests I asked for, he gave my little remaining group and I an offer we couldn’t refuse to make up for the horrible guests before us. Our server was also just as great.
With that said, I will most definitely come to this establishment again. You can’t always expect to be lucky thinking you’ll have good guests who will be considerate of others, but you can at least try to make the awful situation less problematic, and that’s what the manager, server, and hostess at this BJ’s did.

Absolutely love the food here, but every time I come the service is terribly slow. We waited about 20 min just to get our drink orders in. Wish I could give a better review.

So disappointed in the service here. I’ve had birthday’s ruined for family members and rude service from waitresses and it seems to always happen at this location. It even gets to the point where I had to ask a manager to switch out the waitress taking care of my table and he didnt so I had to call the BJ’s corporation to make a formal complaint. So over this place. I will never come back to this location.

Not that great. Very busy… line out the door… noisy…love the menu only because it lists calories and you will gag when you see the sky high calories on classic dishes.
Tries it twice. Cest fini!

Okay, I have been here not once, not twice, more than three, 1 more plus 4… YES 5 TIMES!!! and every single time within the last 2 years have been HORRIBLE! Let me clarify… It’s not the food, its the service! They actually suck and have no clue on customer service. It appears this place is run with twenty something and are more worried about being friends than managing a restaurant. Yes, even the management falls short.
What is BJ’s known for (the clean version) their PAZOOKIES! one time I went there and the waiter gave us the check and never asked if we wanted dessert. HELLO? Does it look like I WOULD PASS UP DESSERT? NOPE! Another time I repeatedly reminded the server of my missing beverage and at the end of the meal you FINALLY decide I might want me drink?
Last night we went there, other than the staff playing with each other by locking each other out the side door and then running around to get in. Forget that I said I wanted to still look at the menu and I let you know and then you still take away the menu. and dismiss the fact that I ordered soup in a brad bowel and there was a very little amount of soup and all bread. Ohh and you never checked on us to see how everything was going. No worries.
When you FINALLY come back I let you know I want to order the dessert and I want to pay for everything before the cookies get here because we needed to leave as soon as the cookies come. YOU NEVER CAME BACK! I then was running behind on getting where I had to go and then still waiting on YOU! I got up and asked the receptionist to get the manager and instead he gets YOU! I asked for the manager.
I then tracked the manager and had explained my frustration. COMMEN SENCE! I said I wanted the tab paid so I can just go after and not have to wait! The manager then had to hear how annoying it was about the lack of attention, lack of soup and lack of following a simple request

My 10 yrs old neptew picked this place to go for his bday… not tat he wanted beer, he of course wanted pizza! It was a busy saturday like any dam saturday. The host say the wait will be 1 hr 15 mins. we decided to waited patiencly for bday boy n impatiencely for this long ridiculous wait. we arrived at 5:55. about 2 hours later no table available for us. We checked few times n they say not available yet, I walked round to observe n saw bout 3 – 4 large tables empty. I asked them wassup. they say its been reserved. in my mind… really!!! its a fukin busy saturday during busy hours, you’re gonna take reservation?!
some restro such as Little Dipper in fremont only takes rsvp before 6:00 wich totally make sense to me. anyways we waited 15 mins more, then we decided to speak to manager, after speaking to the manager he immediately gave us one of those empty tables n set up the tables himself rite away. he gave us 2 large appetizer on the house. makeup or not, still dserve 2 stars!

You don’t go to BJ’s expecting amazing gourmet food. You expect good food and a BJ’s atmosphere with great service. I’m giving this place five stars because the manager at this place is awesome. We had six kids with us and he was super nice to them and very helpful in making sure we got everything we ordered and were satisfied. He even came to specially congratulate my son for receiving an award at school which entitled him to a free meal at BJ’s and gave him a special pin. Nice guy!
It was a busy Friday night so it’s obviously loud and food took a while but nothing crazy. The price for kids meals is an amazing deal everything is under $ 6 and huge portions. And they can get healthy stuff! Seriously the kids meals are more than enough for an adult.
I had the Brussels sprouts and they were yummy and crispy! I also had some of my sons grilled chicken with broccoli and rice and it was great for kids food. The kids had fun playing hide and seek on the patio /​courtyard between BJ’s and Panera while waiting for their pizookies. And the baby enjoyed watching the planes fly overhead :)

Ordered a deep dish pizza take out with extra sauce and I begged the cashier like twice to make sure she put extra sauce on the order and she said yes.
I take the pizza home and there’s seriously like half the amount of normal sauce.
I’m extremely frustrated and have 80 percent of a wasted pizza sitting here and I’m typing this review instead of eating it. I am that upset.
I will never order anything from here again. You had one chance.

Wow. The management at this place sucks. The food is just ok.
So I ordered a hamburger. Medium well. The waiter comes by 20 mins after we place our order and explains the kitchen is backed up and if he could bring a salad out for us. Wife said sure and he brought her a Caesar salad. Another 5 mins roll by and my wife gets her meal and I get mine. I look at my burger. Part of it is burnt. I cut it in half and it is well done and completely dry. Also my fries are cold. He takes it. Offers a salad on the house I state no thank you. 25 mins go by. No sandwich. Another five go by and then I receive it. And it is now perfect. The waiter offers to bring me a salad for the inconvenience ($ 6.95) I said no think you and ate my meal.
After I finished I though hell if they were offering a free salad and I declined it, I might as well see if they take the appetizer off (5.95) I ask the waiter. He informs the manager. He comes back and the states the manager said no. I informed him it’s the same thing as offering the salad. If anything I’m saving them about a dollar. I tell him to go back and ask her again.
She comes out and starts interrogating me. She asked was your food ok? I said yes. The second time but that isn’t the issue here. She just stared at me all smiling and not a genuine one at all. It was a conditioned response. Instead of just taking off the appetizer she chose to come interrogate me first ask me questions and then leave without telling me what the point of her questioning was and without telling me what she was going to do! This was highly unprofessional!
She ended up taking the burger off, so the bill was about $ 24. I left a $ 10 tip. As I wasn’t trying to get something for free. Just trying to ask for what was already offered, but they ended up taking up more time for nothing. Anyway I think the guy sincerely did a good job and he shouldn’t be punished for what the kitchen did. The chef should have made sure my burger was correct the first time rather than have me sitting there for such a long time and then wasting even more of it at the end with all the back and forth…
The manager here… man…she really needs to learn how to treat customers…

We usually go to this BJ’s because the one near DeAnza is ridiculous… Also this one is closer to my parents house. The parking here is sooo much better than any other BJ’s in the area.
I haven’t had bad experiences with horrible wait time estimates, but I do know it gets busy and I’ve had that issue with other locations.
I like that I can get quality gluten free food here. Though it’s no deep dish pizza (which I love and miss here), the pizza is still good — though expensive because any toppings on a cheese pizza cost $ 1 more for each). But thank goodness for hh, because these pizza fall under it.
My brother and dad shared the buffalo chicken deep dish small pizza which I think is the best too. My mom got a personal deep dish veg pizza and loved it, and it really was the perfect size for her. We usually get avocado rolls but we figured we had enough food tonight.
The beers are wonderful, but I have to say I always get a mix of negative and positive experiences with the margaritas. Tonight I got the watermelon basil margarita which was horrible on so many levels, but I did get some Sprite and soda to get it less sweet, but still I would recommend to stay away from it.
Lastly we ended off with a gluten free pazookie… Tastes just like the regular one! I just wish they extended more of the other flavors to the gf menu like the salted caramel;).

Takeout didn’t workout so well… So after sitting at the bar for forty minutes to go my takeout order I failed to check the contents. One of my entrees was missing which I found out when I got home. So I drove back to BJs in holiday traffic to get a replacement. The sad sickly looks ng chicken breast they gave me looks like something out of a bad TV dinner. I love BJs food don’t get me wrong, and the staff was super nice… But this is an embarrassment to food. The wife is not going to allow me to do takeout again which is a damn shame, I really like the beer there.

2 stars for this BJ’s restaurant, because I’m annoyed with the hostess and their false waiting time. I came here yesterday (12÷17÷15) with a group of friends after graduation. There were 7 of us and they said it will take 40 minutes, which is the usual wait time whenever I come here. We were all very hungry, but we decided to wait and talk outside by the entrance. Like 20 mins later we decided to go in and ask how much longer, and she said it’s still going to be a while, but if we want to sit outside, it will only take 5 minutes, so we’re like sure! But like WTF, why didn’t you give us that option first? So yeah that 5 min wait to sit outside turned into 10 minutes, and another 5 minutes, and another 10 mins and by that time I got angry cause everyone that arrived after us got seated before us? WTF. But seriously, can you get your estimate wait time correct? It’s annoying when you give us the wrong time. I know I gave the hostess an attitude (and I apologize), but please give me a better estimate wait time? I would of been fine if you said one hour, but you kept giving us a false wait time :(don’t say 5 min and get my hopes up… lolz. k. Bye.
Besides that whole wait time issue… the food was good (just hoping they didn’t spit in our food, since I was kind of rude)! The food wasn’t like amazing, but I think we were all hungry, so we digged into our food!
Just a note, if you sit outside beware of bees, birds, and extreme cold or hotness.
Not sure if I’ll return to this BJ’s location again … I never had such a bad experience /​wait time with this location and I been coming here for the past 2ish years since its near SJSU. K, done ranting.
P.S Our server, David was very nice though :)

My favorite place!!! Everything about the place is simply 5 stars. Stunning ambience and excellent service.
Impressive selection of beers and cocktails. Recommended ones: Strawberry mojito and Pink cadillac.
They have ‘small bites’ if you just want something light to munch with your drinks. Affordable yet yum. Try the Spinach stuffed mushrooms or Sriracha queso dips. Wate
3 things you must try here:
1. Signature Deep dish pizza — pick any flavor and it tastes oh-​so-​heavenly. Personal fav: Great white screaming cheesy chicken with alfredo sauce and roasted garlic — Awesomeness! You can build your own too!
2. New Orleans Jambalaya — House speciality with an exotic range of spices + Chicken + Shrimp served on pilaf. You can make it extra spicy and it will taste even better.
3. Pizookie — Do not miss it for the wirld. Its the ultimate dessert — melting ice cream on an oven fresh hot cookie — Try the pizookie trio — sampler of 3 versions if you are a first timer. Personal fav: White chocolate pizookie with macadamia nuts.
On top of all this great stuff, these guys are open until midnight which is a killer.
Honestly im biased and i simply adore this place! They are consistently good and I just keep coming back!
Tip: Sign up for a BJs membership card. Its free but they give great deals and free pizzokies.

I don’t come here often, but when I do it’s usually not that bad. The wait was really long, which is expected on a Friday night. I’ll need to remind myself to not come here on a weekend or a night that might be busy.
Service was really slow. Tables and floors were really dirty. We had to ask for multiple things a few times. They seemed understaffed, or our server had an really big section of the restaurant to himself. Food took a really long time, and he was too busy to acknowledge it or apologize. Pizookie took at least 20 minutes. I don’t come here often, so I’m not sure how long a dessert usually takes, but I don’t think it should take that long. We were here for almost 2 hours.
The food was nothing special. Pizza was a little soggy for a thin crust. Calamari wasn’t that crispy, and still soaked in oil. The best thing we got was the crispy thin fries.
Maybe I’d come back for happy hour on a weekday, but definitely not wasting another Friday night here.

I could live without going to a BJ’s Restaurant & Brewhouse ever again, but my boyfriend likes the place. In terms of chain restaurants with large menus and a stunning dessert, I’ll stick with Cheesecake Factory.
When we do go here, the wait is always long. Sometimes they even have tables and just lack the servers to seat people. And if there’s a game being broadcast on the TVs all over the restaurant, you can be sure that the wait will be even longer.
Service is friendly, but can be slow. The menu is extensive, but nothing really sticks out as amazing. Maybe it’s just that I’m not much of a beer drinker, but I just can’t appreciate this place. Especially not when the beer costs as much as a meal. And the meals are pretty standard, if not slightly underwhelming for the price.
One of the redeeming things about BJ’s Restaurant & Brewhouse is the pizza-​cookie, the pizookie. I like the pizookie trio, since you get the option of 3 different types of pizookies to try with some exclusions for the special items.
While I’m still open to coming here, I can’t say it’s ever going to be my first choice. I’ll continue to keep an eye out for an item on the menu that I’ll love to order, but to this day I am still floundering about with my food decisions.
This location in particular has some perks. For one, it’s in a plaza with A LOT of parking options available. Two, the outdoor patio is very nice. Three, they have plenty of waiting room. If you choose to wait outside, loudspeakers broadcast when a party is being called.

I came here for a weekday work lunch. Although it wasn’t very busy, the experience was mediocre at best.
My biggest complaint was the food and the portion sizes. The menu is huge (16 pages? Something like that), which usually gives me anxiety, but BJ’s is known for its pizzas and burgers. If you like anything else, it will still most likely be here. Looking at the prices/​menu photos and keeping in mind that this is a chain, I was under the impression that we would be getting a lot of food. I ordered the Southern Fried Chicken with gravy and potatoes — which would have been better if it wasn’t one spoonful of potatoes and one piece of chicken. Also, gravy drenched the entire chicken, so crunchiness + flavor = nonexistent.
Service was also kind of inconsistent. Our server forgot to fill some people’s waters, and the food came out randomly so that some of us finished eating when others would just get their meals. It’s enough to just say… Eh, probably not coming back again.

Would give them 0 stars if I could!!!
Came here around 9pm on a Thursday and surprised to hear a 5 – 10 minute wait for 2 people.
Sits IN FRONT of the hostess stand for 20 minutes…
Goes up to check on my name
Hostess says to us «OH we called you 18 minutes ago»
Are you kidding me? If I was sitting 5 feet away from the hostess stand and didn’t hear a thing, then obviously you aren’t yelling loud enough.
Not coming back here again!

We’ve been to this particular location a handful of times, and their food has been consistently good. Since it is in a prime location, you have to be prepared for chaos. If you come at an odd time/​hour, then you increase your chances of bypassing that long wait to be seated and served.
Last night we ordered the following:
California Club (Flatbread Pizza Appetizer)
6″ Deep Dish Cheese Pizza (Kids’s Menu)
BJ’s Brewhouse Blonde (Fish & Chips)
Baked Beignet
Everything listed above came out perfectly. The flatbread pizza was had a nice crisp to the crust, and had just the right amount of cheese. The deep dish cheese pizza was good, but I felt it had a little too much cheese. I’m a little biased because I’m more of a thin crust guy. If you are a fish & chips fan, they use Pacific cod fillets, and skinny fries that come out with the perfect amount of crisp, and with very minimal grease! The baked beignet was a little tough and chewy this time, so I wasn’t a big fan.
Side note:
They don’t have any «free» house bread. They brought 4 plates of bread, but charged us $ 1 per plate. The upside was the bread was really good, but you have to tell us that it isn’t «house bread». Maybe they can call it, «dollar bread»? :P
Conclusion:
Great atmosphere, good service, good food. I’d definitely come back, but I wouldn’t wait longer than 20 minutes for a table.

I’ve come to eat and drink here several times and each time was NOT a total disaster like some of the other reviews I have read.
The food comes out wrong every time we come but they do their best and fix it.
Ordered a cheese pizza, it came out with pepperoni. They brought us a new one no issue.
Pizza was burned on the crust, they gave a new pizza and let us keep the burned pizza.
I then gave the burned crust pizza to the homeless man sitting outside. So that was a win win.
All the servers were friendly with great attitudes which keeps us coming back. Small issues here and there but nothing to keep us from returning.
I usually order Guiness on tap, the pour and glass could be better. but oh well cant be too picky.
They do have flights and I always order those as well. One waitress told me that flight selection was limited to BJ’s brews only I said hmmm I think your wrong LOL. So dont let them tell you otherwise you can order anything on TAP for your flights.
One standout here was the Ahi tuna salad, it was delicious and I will order it next time I come back.
*** 3

The downtown location is in a nice shopping center with some great stores. The low-​lighting and cool atmosphere make for a relaxing meal. Stopping in on a weekday after the lunch crowd was gone was the right choice. We were greeted by the hostess and seated immediately.
While deciding what to order from the large menu, I noticed management showing the staff what needed to be cleaned and how. I appreciate seeing this. It means they care enough to clean the booths in great detail and customers like me will enjoy a meal in a clean and sanitized environment. I’ve worked at a restaurant before and providing the best experience to patrons is key. Big kudos!
The food can be hit or miss at different locations, but it was great this time. Our order consisted of nicely battered calamari and pepperoni explosion flatbread. This was so tasty! The mains were ahi tuna salad (big, delicious salad indeed) and deep dish pizza (what they are known for). The sparkling rasberry lemonade was refreshing. Free refills of course, except refills on the root beer float were minus the ice cream. They make their own root beer. Everyone left satisfied and full.
I want to send thanks to our server Jessilyn. She was attentive, friendly, patient, helpful and provided outstanding service. She accommodated every request we had, even my request for a cup of hot water to heat my granddaughter’s bottle up who had woke from her slumber during our meal. After the baby was fed, and we were ready to scoot, she boxed up our leftovers nicely and we were on our way.
Next time it’s going to be a poozookie (I think that’s what it’s called)!