One of the first places I went out to eat in Arizona was BJ’s. Of it’s five locations in AZ I went to the Chandler location. Located in the outside portion of the Chandler mall, you can choose to either eat inside or outside.  They have a really good Americana menu and a cool floor design. There is a large sports bar in the center of the restaurant and glass panes that separate off the Brewery section of the restaurant. For the first few times I went there I ordered the shrimp tacos, which comes with 2 tacos and a side. The last time there I ordered a crispy chicken sandwich with fries. The service is always good and the drinks at the bar are priced well. I highly suggest trying some of their own draft beer. I had their blond and had to order another, its fresh and served in a ice cold glass. Some friends I went with also tried some of their other darker, heavier beers and liked them as well.

Again the atmosphere is pleasant and makes you want to come back for more. They even offer beer tours and events. Although it is a national chain, I didn’t get the whole cookie cutter feeling when going there like you would at say an Applebee’s or Friday’s. Maybe I will try another one of their locations.

Our office is located in East Mesa so we decided to try something new and something close.  We ended up at a sports bar called Indigo Joes located on Power & McDowell.   We were seated immediately and the atmosphere reminded me of a Buffalo Wild Wings.  There were many tvs with plenty of sports to watch.  The menu consisted of burger, wings, sandwiches, & salads.  I decided to go with the ahi tuna sandwich.  I am a big fan of ahi tuna.  The sandwich came with fries and was a pretty large portion.   The food came out quickly and the service was good.  Our waitress was sure to keep our drinks full at all times.  The sandwich was pretty good.  Not the best ahi tuna sandwich I have had, but then again I was at a sports bar.

In conclusion I thought the place was pretty good.  If you are looking to watch a ufc fight or the suns play, this would be a great place.  Plenty of seating and pretty good food.  I will go back for sure.

This weeks tasteful adventure took us to BJs Brewery in Mesa. BJs is a Chicago style restaurant and brew house, specializing in their own selection of beers.

We arrived at the crack of noon, expecting a large lunch crowd, but had no trouble parking or getting a table right away. There were 7 in our dining party and the staff was more than happy to push a couple of tables together to accommodate us.

Drink orders were taken promptly as we sat, and as usual I chose the ice-tea. While waiting for the refreshments to arrive, we perused the menu. The first two pages consist of the drinks, with quite in-depth descriptions of their brewery and beer selections. The following pages consisted of a large selection of appetizers, sandwiched, salads, burgers, and full dinner meals, not to mention their infamous pizzas. I opted for the Sourdough burger with the standard steak fries. When the waiter took my order, he offered to add bacon and provolone cheese to my burger, with sounded delightful, to which I agreed.

The group chatted for a bit, but not more than 10 minutes the food had arrived. I was also offered a second ice-tea at the time, even though I wasn’t through yet, but I anticipated the bottom was nigh, so I complied. The burger smelled delicious and the steak fries were plenty. One thing I really like about certain restaurants is that when the burgers are large, the cooks cut the burger in half. This does two things for me, first, you are actually able to hold the burger without it falling all over the place. Second, the appearance is more flattering since the layering of the toppings such as the provolone and bacon are fully exposed, and you can see if the burger itself is cooked as it had been ordered.

The burger was excellent, topped with thousand island dressing. The fries looked excellent, but upon tasting them, they seemed a little bland. I was expecting some seasoning or something, but to no avail. Other than that small issue, the meal was good and filling.

BJs is apparently knows for their pizza, but we were unaware of that fact when we arrived. The topping selection looked interesting, but not one of our party took the hook. If I do find myself arriving back at BJs, I think I would like to try one of the pies. Also, after perusing the beer list, I would also like to pair one of the in house beers with the pizza, but that will have to be left for another day, and not at lunch.

Overall, I rate BJs four out of five. Service was attentive, the food was good, and the atmosphere was enjoyable. I can foresee a return visit in the future, I am just not sure when.

Until next time…

Today our party of seven could be found at BJ’s Restaurant & Brewhouse. BJ’s was originally famous for its deep dish pizza and handcrafted beer however over the years they have extended their menu and now run a full service restaurant and brewhouse.

The vibe at BJ’s is pretty neat. The structure is set up for a fun, high energy restaurant that is children friendly and for the most they hold true to that. As we rolled in the doors at noon I would have exactly called it high energy but it was inviting.

After taking a seat and getting out drink orders placed we were blinded by the sun coming in through the front door. Shortly after one of the workers went and shut the blinds, however he didn’t pull them down quite far enough. So we asked him to lower the blinds a little more. He did so willingly.

Today I ordered the turkey cobb sandwich. It wasn’t too long that after I ordered my sandwich was brought out to me. However three of the others in our party did not receive their orders at the same time. I proceeded to wait expecting that their orders would be up shortly. This didn’t happen and it took a little bit for the rest of the party to be served. My turkey cobb sandwich had roasted turkey breast, tomatoes, avocado, applewood smoked bacon, blue cheese dressing, lettuce and Dijon mayonnaise all served on a toasted garlic cheese French roll. I ordered this sandwich expecting it to be a lot like the one I had at Crackers and Co. (See my Crackers and Co. review here.) After a few bites I was able to tell that this sandwich was not of the same quality of the one I had at Crackers and Co. The avocado seemed to be a little aged while the blue cheese dressing and Dijon mayonnaise may have been too much. Some what disappointing.

My opinion is that BJ’s might just want to stick to pizza and beer. While I do encourage restaurants to seek out new items and expand there menus I feel that they should do so with quality control. It is possible that I may have just gotten the bad pick of the litter however a few of my fellow dinners weren’t too impressed either.

First Impressions

While the place was clearly new and fairly clean, they had obviously spent significant time and money on their decor, featuring a large, vaguely Socialist-Realism style mural of steelworkers on the back wall, aged-brick arches, tarnished-metal crown moulding, and posters of the beers they offered. Incongruously, but perhaps necessarily for the market, several large televisions and projectors were hung from the walls, tuned to various sports channels.

The menus are more than half drinks listings, reinforcing the primary purpose (more…)