BJ's Restaurant Brewhouse

Welcome to my little tour of two of the franchise locations of BJ’s Brewhouse Restaurant. I searched this place out quite a bit on the internet looking for brewpubs in the Ontario, CA area since I was heading out there on business. BJ’s is a public company with locations throughout California and a few other Southwestern states, including two locations in Florida and one in Columbus, Ohio. This franchise is located, like most BJ’s, in or around a mall parking lot with easy accessibility and parking. As I walked in at about 4:30, the place was half-full. You'll notice a large TV screen with two flat screens to each side… so far, my kind of place. The atmosphere was right up my alley, people chatting, eating, and drinking good brew.

I sat at the bar. The large bar area was well-lit and the servers were attentive and fast. I arrived during happy hour and was pleased to find that the beer was $1 off and mini-pizzas were half price. The food selection was above average for a brewpub. BJ’s offers your typical menu items ranging from burgers, fries and pizza, to the more elegant blackened NY Steak or the Atlantic Salmon Filet. You also can order the fish and chips which are made from the blonde ale. Entrée menu items range from $7-$19.

This location differs from most of the BJ’s in that it actually has brew kettles, unlike some of the other locations throughout CA. To my delight the a cask offering tonight was a Blonde Ale brewed with Lime. The beer was pretty good, too much lime for my taste, but overall decent brew. The beers ranged from $4 for the regular offerings to $4.50 for the specials brews. BJ’s locations also offer their regular beers in six packs as well as growlers, which takes your visit up a notch.

This BJ's had about 15 beers on tap, 10 or so regular beers with 1 cask and 4 seasonal beers which were all fantastic. BJ's also offers a full bar and guest taps with a few being Chimay, Guinness, Sierra Nevada Summerfest, etc. Overall if you’re looking for a good place to grab a beer and some good food this place is worth the visit. When I come back to CA, I'm def making another stop here.

BJ’s Brewhouse Restaurant
WEST COVINA
2917 E Eastland Ctr Dr.
626.858.0054 TEL

Hours:
11am-12am Sun-Wed
11am-1am Thurs-Sat

www.bjsrestaurants.com

As I walked in, this place was packed. It was about 6pm and the place was jumping. I took a seat at the bar and got settled in for a few beers and food before I went back home. The bar set up is completely different than the West Covina BJ's. It has a much smaller bar area and the seating is somewhat limited. As I sat at the bar the server asked my name and gave me his and that was great.

The offering at this BJ's does not include a cask but the "regulars" were all on tap with a few seasonals. That differed from the West Covina, which is great, so you can try out a few of their seasonals without repeating. This BJ's had an Oatmeal Stout, Maibock, and an IPA. I ordered the Maibock, which was fantastic, along with the oatmeal stout, and finished with the IPA. The menu price ranges are the same which is to be expected for a franchise. The biggest difference was the atmosphere… less relaxed, but that was fine, since the place was packed.

The food again was great, I actually got some free pizza while I waited due to a mistake in the order, so that was a plus. Again, this just solidifies my love for this franchise and one day I hope to get a few better chain Brewpubs closer to my area (John Harvard’s, Rock Bottom, I'm talking to you) or maybe even BJ's could make its way to the Northeast!

BJ’s Brewhouse Restaurant
RANCHO CUCAMONGA
11520 4th Street
909.581.6750 TEL

Hours:
11am-12am Mon-Thurs
11am-1am Fri-Sat

www.bjsrestaurants.com

Best Pairing from my visits:
The Tatonka Stout w/Chocolate Chunk Pizooke: The stout poured a syrupy black out of a nitro tap leaving a frothy blonde head and delicious chocolate body. I love having an imperial stout out of a nitro tap different mouth feel and just damn tasty. The aroma/taste is dark chocolate, caramel, earthy hops, spicy, alcohol, sweet and very complex. I paired this beer with the chocolate chunk Pizookie which is a fresh baked cookie in a mini pizza pan served with vanilla ice cream. The bitter chocolate from the beer and the sweet cookie played off each other very well making for a fantastic dessert.

Frank Bennett