BJ's My personal review.

Today m girlfriend had to go to Oxmoor for an appointment. I decided I would give BJs a shot just to decide for myself.

We made it to the restaurant around 2:45pm and were immediately seated. The place was slightly busy but not packed, there were still numerous empty tables. Our waitress already seemed to be run ragged, she came and got out drink orders promptly. I ordered a root beer, which was brought overfilled and ripping, by another waitress. Our waitress then showed up a few minutes later shocked that I had a root beer already as she had one for me on her tray. So alright, I just got an extra root beer. We ordered an appetizer of potato wedges, followed by a deep dish basil and olive pizza for myself, and fettuccine alfredo for my girlfriend.

The wait then began. I at least took the time to take stock of the surroundings. There was a huge TV divided into multiple feeds ala Idiocracy (for anyone who has seen that movie) behind the bar ad several flat panels placed around the bar showing multiple sporting events. The TVs combined with the background music are nearly sensory overload.

Our waitress came back and advised us they had a run on wedges earlier and they had to make cut potatoes again to make our order. It wasnt much longer before our wedges arrived. They were nice and evenly battered at a good temperature. They could nearly be a meal to themselves at the size of the portion. We're approaching 3:30 PM now though and our waitress returns to apologize as my pizza is taking longer than expected. She says it should've been ready by now but it will be just a few more minutes. She offered to give us some rolls while we waited but we declined.

I'd say it was just 5 more minutes when my pizza arrived. It wasnt even completely cooked. The crust had a solid exterior but was still doughy in the middle. The cheese had barely melted, it was however at least edible so I ate a couple of pieces. I wasnt about to send it back after how long we had to wait. My girlfriend's alfredo was cooked completely but nothing spectacular. It was just as good as what you get at Fazzoli's for half the price and the same size portion. The garlic bread that accompanied it tasted like a piece of toast with heavy garlic salt.

All of this ran us a grand total of 33 bucks before tip. I cant say I will be going back, definitely not at the prices. Service aside it seemed to be just another McDonalds-ized Rich-O's ala Old Chicago Pizza Company. At least Old Chicago cooked the food completely and brought it out rather swiftly. I will say out waitress kept apologizing for the waits and kept checking up on us regularly at BJs.

Overall I would not recommend BJ's as long as there are other options in the area.

[Robin Garr]

I decided I would give BJs a shot just to decide for myself.

Nice review, Mike. You don't pull your punches, but you're fair. Good work!

We went by for lunch one day and had better luck with service and timing. Maybe they staff up during the lunch hour and pull back between lunch and dinner?

We did have a couple of beers (5 ounce tasting glasses) and I thought they were pretty much as mentioned in the other BJ's thread: Middle of the road American craft-style beers, and to their credit, very correct to style. I was telling Dave Pierce later that if a person wanted to practice for AHA beer judging certification, he could do worse than drink through BJ's lineup until he could recognize them all. That's not a bad thing, really.

Hey, coincidence, I had lunch there today, too. Around 2 p.m. It was busy when we arrived and we had to wait 15 minutes for a table. I was shopping with a friend and her daughter.

We didn't have a wait for our food, but we did have a service problem. The same one that my husband and I experienced when we went for the first time a week after it opened. They brought our appetizers at the same time as our salads. I hate that! Actually, it was one step worse with my husband. They brought our appetizer, then our salad, then our entree, all within two minutes. At least today, they didn't bring our entrees until after we were close to finishing our salads.

We didn't order anything fancy. Just turkey club sandwiches, wedge salads and spinach-artichoke dip. (My friend's teenage daughter insisted on that one.) The food was fine, nothing spectacular, but nothing wrong, either. And actually, the spinach-artichoke dip was better than I expected for such an oft-served dish.

$10 for my lunch with iced tea. I was happy. perfectly fine for a day of shopping for prom dresses. (yes, it's that time of year for the teenagers!)

I decided I would give BJs a shot just to decide for myself.

Nice review, Mike. You don't pull your punches, but you're fair. Good work!

We went by for lunch one day and had better luck with service and timing. Maybe they staff up during the lunch hour and pull back between lunch and dinner?

We did have a couple of beers (5 ounce tasting glasses) and I thought they were pretty much as mentioned in the other BJ's thread: Middle of the road American craft-style beers, and to their credit, very correct to style. I was telling Dave Pierce later that if a person wanted to practice for AHA beer judging certification, he could do worse than drink through BJ's lineup until he could recognize them all. That's not a bad thing, really.

Thanks Robin. I'm working on moving beyond reviews of simply, "This Place Sucks."

I cant comment on the beers though, not my bag. I'm sure Roger will be able to tackle that very well when he visits the place.

Wow...They seem to be doing very well...crowd wise...

Wow...They seem to be doing very well...crowd wise...

Oddly, I'm reminded of how the majority of people once believed the world is flat.

So much for majority rule.

[Robin Garr]

the world is flat.

And Lord Corporation can do no wrong.

So much for majority rule.

"The nail that sticks up gets hammered down."

there's a sucker born every minute

and a place that is crowded and a cash register that is full...a great combination to stay in business and not have to close down......

[Robin Garr]

and a place that is crowded and a cash register that is full...a great combination to stay in business and not have to close down......

Robert, have you eaten or drunk at BJ's? If so, do you have any actual information to contribute to this topic?

I watched the Louisville-Tennessee game at BJ's this past Thursday night.

It was Happy Hour all night since UofL was playing, so I had the avocado egg rolls. I thought they were pretty good, actually.

As for the beers, I had the porter and a pale ale. I enjoyed the porter; I prefer the porters at BBC and Cumberland, but it was good on it's own terms.

The pale was okay, but I wished I had order the Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale they had on tap.

Overall, it's a great place to watch an NCAA Tournament game and have a few decent beers. The way I look at it, it isn't an Applebee's, which places it head and shoulders above most mall restaurants.

Timing issues with courses is such a big deal to me that unless I am at a higher end restaurant, I time it myself.

I'll simply refuse to order anything and do it one step at a time. I will even tell them that I won't consider ordering my next item until I am finished with my first. I am nice about it, but ya know, I've been burned wayyyy to many times not to take drastic measures.

and a place that is crowded and a cash register that is full...a great combination to stay in business and not have to close down......

The rallies in Nurnberg drew good crowds, too, and yet we subsequently fought a war to empty their cash registers.

I suppose we come back to the point: Believing in something and profiting from people aren;t necessarily the same thing.

Excuse me -- I'm going to the locally-owned BBC to get a growler and some wings.

If popularity was a reliable indicator of quality then McDonalds would be the best restaurant in the world.

"The rallies in Nurnberg drew good crowds, too . . ."

The rhetoric is officially overheated.