BJ’s Restaurant & Brewhouse (Review #2) – Huntington Beach

We went to BJ’s Restaurant & Brewhouse in Huntington Beach two weeks ago. Now I’m a huge fan of BJ’s pizza, so much so I’d never ordered an entrée, until my most recent visit! Everyone else in our party shared a BJ’s Favorite Pizza, while I splurged and got a new item on their menu, the Parmesan Crusted Chicken Breast, as well as a side caesar salad.

I used to like their caesar salad but it wasn’t really that good this visit, it was so drenched with dressing that it overpowered my mouth, but the croutons were good. My entrée however was delicious that it made me regret previous visits to BJ’s that I contemplated getting an entrée. The chicken is marinated, lightly coated with Parmesan and panko. Next it is pan fried to a nice golden brown. It was served with white cheddar mashed potatoes and steamed broccoli. The chicken topped with a lemon chardonnay butter sauce, sun dried tomatoes, fresh basil, and parmesan cheese.

The chicken was cooked just about perfect, since it didn’t appear to retain much grease, and the sauce had a different flavor to it because of the lemon, but it was a very refreshing flavor, it didn’t overpower and went well with all the other flavors. The mashed potatoes were great, I mean unless they are runny or something I don’t see how anyone could screw them up. The broccoli was just a little on the overcooked side, but went well with the bits of sauce on my plate. I would order this meal again, if I wasn’t feeling up to pizza.

The rest of my party thoroughly enjoyed their pizza. BJ’s pizza is one of my wife’s favorite which is funny because she is usually only interested in thin crust pizza, but BJ’s has a special place in her heart.

The BJ’s Favorite comes with oven-baked meatballs, pepperoni, Italian sausage, mushrooms, green peppers, black olives, white onions and fresh Roma tomatoes. The crust is great; especially the outside parts that crisp up a bit with the mixture of slightly burnt cheese on top. I’m sure someone out there will cry foul saying I consider a chain companies “Chicago Style” pizza superior to most, but they really know how to make their pizza, I’m not biased to a chain if they do a good job (as I’ve stated in the past when I reviewed Islands).

Service was good, and I’ve always liked the atmosphere of this BJ’s. I love that if you are in the main area of the restaurant that you can watch the huge screen TVs they have in the bar area. They also have a great selection of house label beers, I didn’t have one tonight but I’ve had them in the past. Mrs. DanGarion is a big fan of the berry cider that they pour.

Visit 8/5/08 for Dinner