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| - BJ's Restaurant & Brewhouse in the strip at Great Northern Mall is in the location previously occupied by Smokey Bones restaurant.. Our party of three had dinner at 4 pm on a Saturday. A bit early, but our guest couldn't wait to try the prime rib. All in all, it wasn't worth the price.
When we entered, there were four "hosts/hostesses" with a moment of confusion determining where to seat us. Our waitress was ebullient and cordial. We start with drinks. I ordered a double dirty martini, up; my wife asked for the vanilla cream soda, and our guess asked for one of their specialty drinks. Our drinks arrived after a significant wait although neither the restaurant nor bar were busy. The cream soda was not in a chilled mug as listed on the menu: "Sorry, we're out of cold mugs."
The bartender brought over the alcoholic drinks and asked who received the Absolut martini. I told him I'd ordered a dirty gin martini. He acted as if it were my fault the order was wrong. He said he'd have to "check the ticket" to be sure I'd asked for the correct drink. Strike one.
I ordered the Chicken Lettuce Wraps [$10.75] appetizer and my wife asked for the Brewhouser Blonde Asparagus [$4.95]. The chicken for the wraps was watery and drippy, though the flavor was average. The asparagus was greasy and clumped together as if either fried too long or at too low a temperature. She didn't finish it. Strike two.
I ordered the Classic Rib Eye [$22.95] medium, french fries, and creamed corn; our guest asked for the prime rib medium rare; and my wife ordered the Fresh Atlantic Salmon [$18.50].
My steak arrived at the far end of medium: brown inside and nearly juiceless, more like well done. Strike three.
The prime rib's surface was an odd pink and more like medium than medium rare. The salmon was average. I didn't bother to finish the steak, although the fries were well prepared.
On the whole, the food was mundane and much more expensive than similar chain restaurants. For instance, a comparable boneless rib eye from the dinner menu at Longhorn is two dollars cheaper and has always been cooked correctly every time we've dined there.
While a restaurant can't control it's clientele, it's offerings will draw certain customers. BJ's extensive pizza offerings brought in two parties of 10+ while we were there, each with a large number of children under five years old. It felt more like a Chuckie Cheese than a casual adult restaurant.
Later that evening my wife got sick to her stomach from the greasy appetizer.
We won't go back and I can't recommend BJ's unless you're under five and will only eat pizza.
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