We have been a huge fan of the BJ's franchise in Columbus and despite the negative Yelp reviews were looking forward to trying this location too.
We arrived on Saturday night at 6pm and the place was packed and we were told about an hour to 90 minutes for a table for 2. Pretty typical when you don't make reservations on a Saturday. Luckily while we were grabbing drinks from the bar 2 seats opened up. We ordered avocado egg rolls and stuffed mushrooms for appetizers, a crispy jalapeno burger, and parmesan crusted chicken. After about 20 minutes our dinners showed up and we told the food runner we were still waiting on our appetizers - a few minutes later our appetizers arrived. The bartender came over to apologize and then sent the manager over to apologize - and ended up taking off one of the appetizers from our bill which I thought was a nice way to handle the situation.
The stuffed mushrooms were just Ok - probably a 2 star item. They were bland and no particular flavor stood out. The avocado egg rolls were fantastic & I would recommend. I loved the crispy jalapeno burger - 5 stars - (Fried jalapenos, pepper jack cheese, chipotle mayonnaise, Baja sauce, red onions, tomatoes, lettuce and cilantro on a toasted bun) and it was cooked to perfection. The parmesan crusted chicken - 5 stars - (Topped with lemon Chardonnay butter sauce, sun-dried tomatoes, fresh basil and Parmesan cheese. Served with white cheddar mashed potatoes and steamed broccoli).
We also tried the skinny margarita (5 stars) and you can't go wrong with any of their in house craft beers. If you download the app and join their loyalty program you receive a free pizookie!
I would recommend downloading the app to add your name to the waitlist before arriving to the restaurant. We never got the text that our table was ready until we were in the car on the ride home - thankfully those 2 spots opened up at the bar or we would've been waiting the full 90 minutes.
Side note for those with gluten sensitivities - I did notice many items were gluten free & they did offer gluten free buns for $1 up charge.