Bakersfield Life

Dining Divas: BJ"s Restaurant & Brewhouse

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 Something for everyoneFrom drinks to desserts, the selections at BJ's may seem overwhelming, but the welcoming staff helped guide the Divas to some great choices.Everyone's restaurantAimee: BJ’s offers a casual and fun setting for all types of events. You can have an after-work drink at the bar, a great family dinner, or a huge corporate party and enjoy the fantastic service the BJ’s staff brings. The warm welcome from the general manager, Dustin Wiltshire, made us feel right at home. The beautiful chandeliers, great artwork, and modern garage doors make the restaurant decor a relaxing place to enjoy some big food at great prices!Wendy: BJ's is a well-known restaurant and brewing company where everyone from the office executive to families come to enjoy the comfortable atmosphere. It's better than a sports bar. It offers a very dynamic dining. It's perfect for the guys to meet and watch some football this season while having one of several beers offered on tap. BJ's is what I would say is "everyone's restaurant," welcoming anyone to come and enjoy!Drinks Aimee: I am not a beer drinker, but BJ’s is the place to go if you are. There are seven award-winning brews that are always on tap and they offer additional seasonal brews! BJ’S offers a “Perfect Pairing” section on the menu to help order food that would compliment your beer ... or the other way around. But enough about the beer, lets talk mojitos! I love a good mojito and that is exactly what I got. The mango mojito is a mix of Bacardi Limon rum, mango puree, fresh mint, limes and BJ’S signature mojito mix. It was not too strong and the mint/mango combo was perfect. I would definitely recommend this cocktail to everyone! Lori: I decided on one of BJ’s specialty drinks, BJ’s Irish Root Beer. It had whiskey, Bailey's, butterscotch schnapps and BJ’s homemade root beer. It was like drinking a root beer float, a dessert in a mug! Whitney: I ordered the Peachy Keen Sangria. BJ's signature drinks have been created by various bartenders within the restaurant chain. I like that they allow their bartenders to be a part of their menu! Grey Goose L'Orange vodka, Stoli Razberi vodka, white zinfandel mixed with a white peach, pineapple and orange juice, which makes one refreshing and happy drink. It sounds like a strong cocktail, but it's not.AppetizersAimee: We also had two fantastic servers, Clarice and Brandon, who were so informative and helped us make our food choices! The Divas' eyes are always bigger than our stomachs, but that doesn’t seem to stop our love of appetizers. We ordered the combo plate and the chicken pot stickers. The combo plate features an assortment of the most popular appetizer items; spinach and artichoke dip, mozzarella sticks, avocado egg rolls and Santa Fe spring rolls. Everything was very good and we could have had it as a meal in itself. My favorite by far was the Santa Fe spring rolls. They are filled with black beans, chicken, roasted red peppers, jalapeños and jack cheese, deep fried to a golden brown and served with a spicy dressing! Yum … I really am eating better, but this Diva stuff is going to kill my diet! Wendy: The sampler is perfect when you just can't decide on all the great choices! It's a great meal for two or if you are with friends it's just enough to tide you over until your main course arrives. In addition to the sampler we ordered the chicken pot stickers. They're one of my favorite appetizers. They were fabulous!LunchAimee: With a menu this large we didn’t even fight over who would order first. I wanted the parmesan crusted chicken and the great white pizza; I just couldn’t make up my mind. Lori and I decided to share both items, she really is the nicest Diva in the group! The pizza had a thick crust topped with a rich and creamy alfredo sauce, fresh tomatoes, parmesan cheese and grilled chicken. It is very addicting. You can’t have just one bite. I also loved the parmesan crusted chicken. The chicken is marinated and coated with panko breadcrumbs and fried to a golden brown. It is served with white cheddar mashed potatoes and steamed broccoli. You may think I ate a lot, but you should have seen the size of Wendy’s baked potato! It could have served all nine of her children!Wendy: Because everyone gave me such a hard time for ordering chicken at our last dining adventure I decided that I was going to go for what felt right. So my first question to Dustin about the menu was, “Where's the beef?” He recommended the flame-broiled New York strip. It's hard to go wrong with a great cut especially if you order it at BJ's. It's also available blackened, which was how I ordered it. My NY was so good. It comes with a huge baked potato. There was no way I was going to be able to eat all of that potato, so that came home with me. It didn't last very long in my fridge. One of my teenagers found it and devoured it before the next morning!Lori: Finally, each of us deciding on the main course took forever…so many choices. I was trying to decide on the Great White Pizza  or the parmesan grilled chicken breast. Aimee and I both wanted both, so we shared. I ordered the pizza and Aimee decided on the chicken. Both were the best choices.Whitney: I ordered the New Orleans jambalaya. Blackened chicken, shrimp and chicken-Andouille sausage in a spicy sauce served over rice pilaf. Excellent! I asked our server Brandon what was his favorite dish on the menu and he said hands down the meatloaf. I wish I had ordered it, for Oakies like me grew up on meatloaf. Brandon surprised us by bringing an order of meatloaf for us to try. It's big-enough portions to take home for meatloaf sandwiches the next day. I brought the leftovers home and my husband said he'll be ordering it every time he's eats at BJ's -- and he doesn't like meatloaf. He never eats my meatloaf, so this seriously annoyed me. Oh, and Wendy is off the “watching her cholesterol” drama and ordered a steak! All is right with the world again.  DessertAimee: Well by this time we were all ready to pop! We want to share everything with our readers, so we pushed ourselves over the top and ordered not one, but two flavors of Pizookies! If you have never ordered a Pizookie, you are missing out. It is a pan cookie served warm and topped with ice cream. We had the chocolate chip and peanut butter. I usually am not a fan of peanut butter, but this was so addicting. The warm cookie with whole peanuts baked in was truly irresistible!Wendy: This dessert is unlike anything I've ever had in a restaurant. We ordered the chocolate chip Pizookie and the peanut butter Pizookie.  It's to die for! I really don't know how I did it but I managed to have room for a couple bites of both. Lori:  I love, love, love the Pizookie. For every Pizookie sold, 25 cents of each cookie gets donated to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. Love that.  Whitney: In my opinion,there is no other option than the Pizookie with vanilla bean ice cream and peanut butter cookie for dessert. I only was able to eat two bites of it for my sweet friends wolfed it down within a blink of an eye. Nice.BJ’s Restaurant & Brewhouse 10750 Stockdale Highway. 241-5115 or bjsbrewhouse.comOpen 11 a.m. to midnight Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 1 a.m. Friday, 10 a.m. to 1 a.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to midnight Sunday.