I was away from the table for a moment and Laura ordered a Nutty Brewnette for me, when I sat back down our waiter humorously came over to ask if I definitely wanted it or if a Blonde Ale was more to my liking. I told him that Laura wasn't ordering the Brewnette just cause of her hair color but that it was actually the beer I wanted to try first. When I found out it was a Brown Ale (which I should have guessed) I almost did change my mind as a Real Ale Brown Ale from a few nights before had really turned me off from the style, but this particular brew was much hoppier according to the menu and once I tried it I knew I hadn't made a mistake, it was delicious.
I normally can't stand the idea of spending $12 on a salad, when it costs less than a dollar to put one together, so when I saw that the tomato and fresh mozzarella salad was $2.99 I was in shock. Sure when it arrived it was a relatively small portion, but I feel as if less scrupulous eateries would still charge $10 for a small salad just for the fancy drizzle effect the chef adds to it.
I ended up ordering the Grilled Chicken Club lunch combo with a Chicken Tortilla Soup and Wedge Fries. Laura went with a Garden Vegetable Loaded Baked Potato. We shared a Spinach and Artichoke dip with Tortilla Chips as well. Let me start by saying that I am so happy that a club sandwich in Texas always comes with a piece of avocado on it. Up north it's limited to lettuce, tomato, and bacon, that added piece of squishy green fruit really makes the difference to me. The Spinach Artichoke Dip was the perfect appetizer, the tiny bite of Laura's baked potato I tried was superb and my sandwich was outstanding.
The most impressive part of my meal was the soup though. I loved how it was served. They approached me with a very shallow large bowl with tortilla strips and cheese in the middle of it. Our waiter then poured the soup in to the bowl all around the center piece from a metal serving canister. This is a genius way to serve soup in order to keep it at it's warmest and make sure it doesn't sit under a heat lamp for too long. I am sure that fancy eateries the world over have done this for years but seeing as how my experience has been limited it is the first time I was privileged to be served this way.
The entire atmosphere, the service, the on site brewed beers, and the menu made us feel like we were eating at a restaurant reserved for the rich and famous. When the check came and it was less than $40 we realized just how incredible this place actually is. No pretentiousness, no over priced meals, no huss and fuss, just incredible food in a beautiful restaurant at affordable prices. After our meal I was so impressed with everything that I even took the time to visit the bar and grab a second beer before leaving. The bartender was beyond nice and I hadn't even realized it before hand but the house beers on tap were only $3.50 during lunch, a steal! So I had to go for the Pale Ale and it didn't disappoint.
Just to get a little back story, apparently BJ's started in California as a Deep Dish Pizza place in the late 70's. In 1996 with only 7 locations they started brewing their own beer, just 16 years later they've expanded to 121 locations! Talk about an idea taking root. With pizza and beer being my two favorite things in the entire world (note: I said "things" of course I love some people and places more) BJ's Restaurant and Brewhouse is definitely going to become a regular haunt over the coming months.
BJ's Restaurant and Brewhouse
No comments:
Post a Comment