BJ's Restaurant & Brewery

In the past I travelled to Thousand Oaks, CA (north of LA) and now go to San Francisco. In Thousand Oaks I was a BJ's regular to watch ball games on their many large screen plasmas and enjoyed the above average beer - their IPA was my favorite. The pizza was the menu highlight, most of the rest was fine but nothing special.

In San Francisco the BJ's, which opened in 2006, just south of SFO is not nearly as consistent and I have not gone back in some time. Combine that with the fabulous alternatives in the area is just doesn't make the cut.

BJ's does serve good beer and not "national brands" as their lead brews - anyone that does that with some passion and focus on educating the uninformed is welcome as far as I am concerned.

Hopefully the Louisville BJ's will be more like the Thousand Oaks location.

I have to say the California Pizza's menu says they carry local beers but when I asked the server pointed to a Sierra Nevada tap handle. I told her the Chico, CA was not local to me.

wow.

i laughed at that one.


Blake had called me mentioning something about the place when he was in Miami for the Cheers conference,and i was completely unfamiliar with the place...
while making a stop at Macy's this past weekend i saw the space (from outside) and remembered it.

I think the type of beer program they offer is admirable, especially for the location...
but it doesn't appeal to me as a "destination spot"
If I'm in that area, I'll drive a mile up the road to BBC.

and if I'm looking for a serious beer experience... I'll go to the sunny side and pay Roger and Jesse a visit at NABC. (which i hear is well on their way to opening their new taproom/brewhouse)

I'll go to the sunny side and pay Roger and Jesse a visit at NABC. (which i hear is well on their way to opening their new taproom/brewhouse)

That is music to my ears. Anyone got any more gossip on this issue? Will it be in New Albany? Jeff? .... Louisville?!?!

Well I've already made it to BJ's twice to check them out, and I will say that the food there is a pleasant surprise.

Their menu is pretty large with one page reserved for pizzas and calzones. On my first trip I got the calzone with sausage and pepperoni. They come in two sizes (for one person, and for two people) and being the big eater that I am, I went ahead and got the larger one. I was definitely impressed, the bread was very good and the calzone was filled (not stuffed) with my two "toppings" of sausage and pepperoni. Just a note: Apparently they add green peppers inside as well so if you're not fond of that taste you may ask them to leave them out. My partner in crime ordered one of the featured entrees, grilled chicken breast over a heaping pile of mashed potatoes with onion straws on top and all drizzled with a little balsamic. It looked impressive and she said it was worth ordering again.
Two days ago I made my second visit and was overwhelmed by the amount of workers in that place. My goodness! I counted 27 workers in there at one time and there were about 5 tables with guests! It was almost annoying sitting there trying to eat and seeing 16 servers standing in front of you all chatting away twiddling there thumbs. Note to the people in charge: If you have too many people scheduled to work don't allow them to congregate next to the tables and discuss last night's "sweet party". That's not why I came in. Anyways back to the food.
On this night we tried the spinach and artichoke dip and we were rewarded with a good choice, but no different than the hundreds of other "variations" of that same dip available around here. I had to try one of those giant burgers (1/2 lb) that I noticed on my first trip. After some deciding I picked bacon cheeseburger on sourdough with 1000 Island on top. Their menu says they serve there burgers med-well unless told otherwise and I asked for a medium. To my surprise it came out fairly pink and was quite good. The lettuce was more stalk then leaf but it was definitely a good burger, not up to Red Robin standards, but good nonetheless. Potato wedges similar to KFC's were my side, fried=good. This time my better half ordered the Sesame Chicken Salad on the recommendation of the waitress. It was all positive from that side of the table. The chicken was very tasty and the salad was filling enough and loaded with all her favorites. We were both too full to try the Pizookie dessert, stupid name but it sounded great. A deep dish cookie in a pie pan with ice cream on top.
All in all a pretty good place to check out if you're looking for a new place.
By the way the bar has a pretty slick setup with a huge TV divided up into 6 screens all showing different games. Great diversion when you get dragged along to the mall.

I'll post a separate explanation of our NABC brewery project later today when I have time. I appreciate the interest!

I'll post a separate explanation of our NABC brewery project later today when I have time. I appreciate the interest!

We wait with baited(beer) breath!

I'll post a separate explanation of our NABC brewery project later today when I have time. I appreciate the interest!

Any news on this topic?

I'll post a separate explanation of our NABC brewery project later today when I have time. I appreciate the interest!

Any news on this topic?

There is The Potable Curmudgeon from 18 Jan. to tide you over.

Sorry, I got busy.Thanks, Dave.

Gee, thanks. Very exciting although I was hoping Amy, Kate and Roger would cross the river. My husband has actually tried to talk me into moving to Indiana so we could be closer!

I finally made it out to BJ's for the first time. I tried the Nutty Brewnette and it was really good. The food and service was good but the kitchen messed up two of our orders. I ordered a veggie burger and they brought me out a real beef patty. My dad ordered a pizza and they dropped it! We didn't have to pay for either of them. All in all it was a decent experience. I plan on going back to try some of the other brews.