BJ's Restaurant & Brewhouse — Restaurant in Gainesville

This was one of the BEST restaurant/pubs I've been to yet! Aside from the irritating wait while staring at a MORE THAN half empty restaurant for five minutes and then finally being seated at a dirty table (needless to say, the host/hostess or seating staff leave MUCH to be desired!)....the rest of our service over the top fabulous and the food was knock-out-of-the-ballpark CRAZY good!

It's a good idea to try their beer sampler. You just might find your new favorite craft brew! Several tasted just like another craft beer I've had and funny enough, the only one I did NOT like was their "award-winning" oktoberfest brew! Hunh. Their hoppy selections are great and I really like their red. Next time, I may have to try some more!

For an appetizer, we got the combo appetizer platter. It usually comes with spinach/artichoke dip (while being delicious, I'm sure...but members of my party werent that crazy to try artichokes lol), boneless chicken wings, mozzarella sticks and avocado "egg rolls". Since we were told we could swap out that dip for more of whatever usually comes on the platter, we chose to get more boneless chicken wings...SMART MOVE! OH...MY...GOSH! If you haven't been to this place and tried them...you are SO missing out! They are coated in this (now, they BREW their OWN!) root beer glaze that is so crazy good...we thought it couldn't get any better until we tried the "ranch" that came with it--it's not ranch, so don't get grossed out by that. It's this vanilla creme that goes with that root beer glaze so perfectly you'll have eaten the entire plate and be looking around for your waitress to order more! Whoever thought up this recipe is a genius. It's a match made in taste bud heaven! It's perfectly sweet with a lil bit of heat and that deep root beer flavor...just WOW.

The avocado egg rolls are fantastic. No meat in them, but somehow you never even notice! The mozzarella sticks are mozzarella sticks, more like mozzarella fries, but equally good....just not standing out on their own...

Next came our entrées. After our appetizers, which pretty much filled us up, we decided on sandwiches except for one person who thought they could eat a whole deep-dish pizza! (Word to the wise...uh, no. You will NOT be able to finish it! Lol) I just HAD to try the craziest combination sandwich I've ever seen on a menu and boy, did it deliver! On a really nice soft and fresh bun, you get tomatoes on the very bottom, avocado, a country fried steak patty, pepper-Jack cheese, country gravy and a fried egg. Crazy, right? Wow! So good! I'd order it again and again but there's so much more that I want to try! Lol

There were two that ordered the Nashville hot chicken sandwich and fries (I had opted for a house salad - loved the chopped veggies!) and there was that one person that ordered a deep-dish extra cheese pizza. All enjoyed their meals but could not finish them -- you do get alot of great food for your money. And of course, we HAD to try a Pizookie for dessert!

I did not find one single thing we did not like. Great atmosphere, fabulous waitress (I gave her my best tip yet, $20--she worked her butt off for us!) and excellent food. They're not cheap by any means but not over the top price-wise either. Plus, we got to watch the Gator/Tennessee game and that was the cherry on top!👍

We WILL be back to try more...

I'm writhing this on behalf on of family- My grandmas 75th was coming up so we decided to book a party at BJs. My mother called several times throughout this past week to get things in order and to confirm everything was good. She also let them know the food we had decided on. The celebration was this past Friday. My mother called Friday to confirm everything. The manager she spoke with confirmed everything would be ready for us. My grandmas party was at 6. We made sure we could get there at 5:30 to set up and the manger she spoke with had said that was okay. We got there at 5:30 and waited almost 30 minutes to be taken to the tables our 14 top would be sitting. When we first got there the hosts seemed like they had no clue about our party and went to get a manger. When that manger came over, he asked what manger we exactly spoke with and he seemed like he didn't have a clue either. Eventually, we were taken to the table where we rushed to set things up. Then another manager came over asking the same thing- what manger did we talk too. We had told them our food order in advance so they could be prepared. Well they didn't know our food order either it seemed. I heard my mom telling them what we wanted, because it was going to be buffet style, again and again. So I guess there was a misunderstanding/miscommunication somewhere. It took a hot minute to a server to make it over to us, we were only lacking 4 people, so I'm not sure if they were waiting for everyone to arrive. But we had been there a while before she came over. Our server was nice. It took her a while to get us things like refills, plates for cakes, etc. I understand they were busy and we were a large party. But if you're going to give someone a large party...I don't think it's wise to give them a full section at the same time. (The restaurant where I work has a minimum table section, if you have a party of 12 or more you must split it, if you take a large party by yourself they normally give you a minute to get caught up- this system works very well and it assures that every guest has the attention they deserve). BJs is a pretty decent place and everything but I don't think I'd bring a large party there again. Like I said I'm a waitress so I hate complaining. But there system there just seemed to be lack of...

It was our first time eating there. We were seated right away. The waitress came over about 5 minutes later and got our drinks. She was pleasant as she asked was it our first time eating there and we said yes, then she asked were we part of the rewards team... More than likely that answer would be no (as it was, duh, we never been there before). Anyways, I was expecting her to tell us about the food, special, the drinks or something after she asked was it our first time eating there but I realized she was really warning us. So we both ordered soup as an appetizer and it came out can cold! It was just like they poured it in the bowl and forgot to nuke it! My husband, being who he is didn't complain, but I definitely wasn't eating cold soup! Well we were expecting a quick turn-around with the meal (I ordered a BJ Burger, no changes and my husband ordered rootbeer ribs. It took about 40 minutes for that to show up cold too! Well his was a little warm but mine was cold as ice. I immediately felt the fries that came with the order and they were cold so I asked for some fresh fries. The fresh fries came out warm like they were sitting under a light. I took a bite from my burger and that is when it hit me that they young lady was warning us. Anyways, I gave them a 3 star because she did mention that we were waiting all that time for my husbands ribs when in actuality I think she was warning us again that my food would be cold. I asked was there a manager there because the entire time we were there, not one manager walked the floor to greet the patrons or to ask how their service was. The waitress took a minute to say that there was a manager there but by then I had already decided I did my review. This appears to have been a great place at once. It is beautifully designed, the menu has different food items to select, and the ambiance is beautiful. It is too bad that the...