Review: BJ's Restaurant & Brewery

Type: Chain, mass-market brewpub
Menu: Traditional American
Location: McAllen, Texas
Web
Beers: BJ's Brewhouse Blonde, Harvest Hefeweizen, Piranha Pale Ale, Jeremiah Red Ale, PM Porter, Tatonka Stout, Nutty Brewnette, seasonal brews

Originally started as a Chicago-style deep dish pizzeria, this Chicago chain switched it's focus to beer in 1996 for it's Brea, California store. Along with the palatable South Padre Island Brewing Company (review forthcoming), BJ's stands out among a sea of family-themed chain restaurants in the Rio Grande Valley. Located just off of the Ware Road exit in McAllen (in front of the new Convention Center and Barnes and Noble, right next door to the future P.F. Chang's), BJ's is the first phase in the evolving McAllen marketplace.

The beers are better than most chain brewpubs, but none of them blow you away. At least BJ's makes up for its lack of distinctiveness with a honest variety. Of the beers, the Brewnette is the most memorable and best-suited for the menu that retains an emphasis on pizza, right down to the dessert Pizzookie, a monstrous cookie topped with ice cream that tastes a heck of a lot better than I just described it.

This is not to say that BJ's offerings are entirely typical. Aside from the numerous pies, BJ's has a decent amount of sandwiches, burger, salads and pastas. The main course meatloaf, pot roast and fish tacos are all very good, the former two also available in smaller-portioned open-faced sandwiches. The sides fit nicely; in what can be read as both a compliment and a complaint, my wife commented that next time she'll forgo the entire meal and just order the delicious steamed vegetables.

The real gem of the BJ's menu are the appetizers. While there is a selection of the common (potato skins, chicken wings, spinach artichoke dip), BJ's offers their own unique takes on some lesser-found starters. Sliders (mini cheeseburgers), chicken pot stickers and lettuce wraps all get the individualized treatment. The Official Beer Journal favorite are the avocado egg rolls. Any of you that have tried to cook with avocado know the difficulties: cook too little and it remains cold and hard; cook too long and it turns to mush, completely losing its desired, natural texture. BJ's solves both of these problems with its rolls, which are cooked quickly at a high temperature. Throw in the thick and dark, sweet and spicy sauce, and you've got yourself the pinnacle dish on the menu.

But the best aspect of the BJ's in McAllen is neither the food nor the beer: it is the symbolic upswing that it represents, a move away from the recycled line of Chili's Applebee's and Olive Gardens that litter this region. As with any new restaurant in the Valley, there seems to be a perpetual waiting list; that will surely die down. As with any restaurant in the Valley, the service tends to be rather slow; that might never change. Hopefully, neither setback will lead to closings.

Beer: 7.4
Food: 8.1
Atmosphere: 7.8