BJ's Restaurant and Brewhouse

On the evening of Tuesday March 5th, I drove to my boyfriend's house while sulking over the thought of having lost a bet, and knowing I'd be paying it off that night. I made the mistake of betting against my bf on a college basketball game. I'm not sure who was playing.... I believe it was Michigan State vs Ohio. All I remember was that I lost. The price I had to pay was a pizza.

He was waiting, standing outside his driveway as I drove up to his place.  We took a short drive to BJ's Restaurant and Brewhouse, pushed through revolving entrance doors and waited less than 10 minutes for a place to sit. The dimly lit restaurant was nearly full.  The hostess sat us in a booth where I had a clear view of two big screens on the west wall.

 BJ's, a California based company founded in 1978, expanded to Albuquerque November of 2012.

Shortly after having been seated our waiter, named Chris, greeted and handed us the menu. My bf suggested I place the order, I went with a large peperoni, pineapple pizza , and an order of chicken wings. In the mood for an alcoholic beverage, my boyfriend ordered a beer and I ordered an overpriced margarita. We sipped on our drinks and chatted until our order was ready.

The wings were brought out first. My bf, a native of Buffalo NY( home of the original buffalo wing) was really impressed with the taste. He claimed the wings were close to Buffalo standards and would give them a grade of A-. They were a bit dry, didn't come along with enough celery sticks and we weren't impressed with the silly sauce decorations. 

Our gourmet pizza was served upon finishing our wings. The waiter placed the pie on top of a pizza stand near the edge of the table. I didn't expect the pie to be as big as it was. I ordered a large expecting it to be a typical medium size, as had been the case at other gourmet pizza places. 

The pizza was composed of a thin crust, not so salty cheese, and great tasting tomato sauce.

 

BJ's Restaurant is known for their dessert Pizookies (a pizookie is simply a pizza cookie, topped with ice cream). Having finished our entire pizza pie and wings, we decided to have our dessert to-go. We paid the waiter, earned some rewards points and left. We were satisfied with our visit. The service was acceptable, our waiter was kind and attentive. BJ's turned out to be a hip joint, perfect for a date or a gathering with friends. 

We drove to my house, watched television, and after letting our food settle decided to try the dessert. This Pizookie turned out to be far too sweet for our taste.  

http://www.bjsbrewhouse.com/