BJ's Restaurant and Brewery

BJ's
107 S. 1st Street
Burbank, CA 91502
(818) 557-0881

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I have eaten here before and though it was alright, though I must say this time I was very unimpressed. My girlfriend insists the pizza was excellent, and honestly I did not try the beer, but the only thing that was impressive was the desert.

I went again for my friend German's birthday, and enjoyed it a bit more. This time I had a calzone, and some beer, and we have the pizza sized Pizooki. Damn that thing is evil!!!

I had a BJ's Burger, which was very subpar. The Burger was on a long french role so the burger was oblong. It was also very overcooked, and thin and not impressive and juicy at all. The fries are decent, they were fat, but had a little too much spices on them for my taste, I would rather have fat fries with some vinegar. The house salad was OK though.

I had a normal calzone with marina sauce on the side, and ricolta and mozzarella cheese with olives and mushrooms. It was pretty good, though not super tasty, and actually a little small for my taste, maybe I should have had one for 2. I also tried my girlfriends tiny 4 piece pizza and it was pretty good (it even had pork, and didn't affect my stomach, so I am still wondering if I am no longer allergic to pork). The pizza is decent, though still not amazing. Of course I haven't had any really amazing pizza in Los Angeles, and I wouldn't expect it from a chain.

I tried 2 beers this time, and they were decent, though neither blew me away. I am not a huge fan of dark beers, but I had to try the TATONKA STOUT just because of the name. It is described as:

An Imperial Stout – a classic style so rich and flavorful that it was once the private beverage of Russian Czars. The profile is malty sweet, hop bitter roasted, full-bodied, alcoholic, and deliciously complex. Beer doesn’t get much more intense than this!

And has 8.5% alcohal. As I said it was a little dark and intense for me, and maybe just a little too sweet.

For a second beer I tried the PIRANHA PALE ALE which was OK, though maybe a little too hoppy for me. It is described as:

A hoppy, American-style pale ale made with Yakima Valley’s best hops. Bittered with Chinook, while dry-hopped with the snappy flavor and bit of Cascade hops. For hopheads only!It has 5.7% alcohal, and was decent, though as I said a little too hoppy for me.

The most impressive part is the pizookie, which is a fresh and hot large cookie with 2 scoops of ice cream on top. I am pretty sure this is the only reason my girlfriend Kelly likes this place so much, as the food really did not impress me.

This time, since it was German's birthday we went for the PIZOOKIE PARTY PLATTER, decribed as:
Perfect for groups of five or more! This Pizookie contains ALL FOUR KINDS of cookies presented together on a large platter and topped with a mountain of vanilla bean ice cream.
It is basically a pizza sized pizzokie, with 4 types of cookie crust (chocolate chunk, white chocolate macadamia nut, peanut butter and oatmeal raisin walnut) and a huge mound of vanilla ice cream. This was fantastic, and we honestly finished it.

More an more I am not liking most chain stores. Kelly told me I am becoming a food snob, and that very well may be true. I like good food. I will try anything (hell I love chicken feet at Dim Sum), but I don't like mediocre food. And this place is OK, but really not worth it. Still $110 for 6 people and a huge dessert is pretty reasonable, but then I am the only one who had beer, so...

I wouldn't recomend this place honestly. Just not too impressive to me.