BJ's Restaurant Brewhouse

Welcome to my little tour of two of the franchise locations of BJs Brewhouse Restaurant. I searched this place out quite a bit on the internet looking for brewpubs in the Ontario, CA area since I was heading out there on business. BJs is a public company with locations throughout California and a few other Southwestern states, including two locations in Florida and one in Columbus, Ohio. This franchise is located, like most BJs, in or around a mall parking lot with easy accessibility and parking. As I walked in at about 4:30, the place was half-full. You'll notice a large TV screen with two flat screens to each side so far, my kind of place. The atmosphere was right up my alley, people chatting, eating, and drinking good brew. I sat at the bar. The large bar area was well-lit and the servers were attentive and fast. I arrived during happy hour and was pleased to find that the beer was $1 off and mini-pizzas were half price. The food selection was above average for a brewpub. BJs offers your typical menu items ranging from burgers, fries and pizza, to the more elegant blackened NY Steak or the Atlantic Salmon Filet. You also can order the fish and chips which are made from the blonde ale. Entre menu items range from $7-$19. This location differs from most of the BJs in that it actually has brew kettles, unlike some of the other locations throughout CA. To my delight the a cask offering tonight was a Blonde Ale brewed with Lime. The beer was pretty good, too much lime for my taste, but overall decent brew. The beers ranged from $4 for the regular offerings to $4.50 for the specials brews. BJs locations also offer their regular beers in six packs as well as growlers, which takes your visit up a notch. This BJ's had about 15 beers on tap, 10 or so regular beers with 1 cask and 4 seasonal beers which were all fantastic. BJ's also offers a full bar and guest taps with a few being Chimay, Guinness, Sierra Nevada Summerfest, etc. Overall if youre looking for a good place to grab a beer and some good food this place is worth the visit. When I come back to CA, I'm def making another stop here. BJs Brewhouse Restaurant WEST COVINA 2917 E Eastland Ctr Dr. 626.858.0054 TEL Hours:11am-12am Sun-Wed11am-1am Thurs-Sat As I walked in, this place was packed. It was about 6pm and the place was jumping. I took a seat at the bar and got settled in for a few beers and food before I went back home. The bar set up is completely different than the West Covina BJ's. It has a much smaller bar area and the seating is somewhat limited. As I sat at the bar the server asked my name and gave me his and that was great. The offering at this BJ's does not include a cask but the "regulars" were all on tap with a few seasonals. That differed from the West Covina, which is great, so you can try out a few of their seasonals without repeating. This BJ's had an Oatmeal Stout, Maibock, and an IPA. I ordered the Maibock, which was fantastic, along with the oatmeal stout, and finished with the IPA. The menu price ranges are the same which is to be expected for a franchise. The biggest difference was the atmosphere less relaxed, but that was fine, since the place was packed. The food again was great, I actually got some free pizza while I waited due to a mistake in the order, so that was a plus. Again, this just solidifies my love for this franchise and one day I hope to get a few better chain Brewpubs closer to my area (John Harvards, Rock Bottom, I'm talking to you) or maybe even BJ's could make its way to the Northeast! BJs Brewhouse Restaurant RANCHO CUCAMONGA11520 4th Street 909.581.6750 TEL Hours:11am-12am Mon-Thurs11am-1am Fri-Sat Best Pairing from my visits: The Tatonka Stout w/Chocolate Chunk Pizooke: The stout poured a syrupy black out of a nitro tap leaving a frothy blonde head and delic