BJ's Restaurant & Brewhouse — Restaurant in Newark

Unfortunately, our experience at this BJ’s location left us feeling out of place. From the moment we arrived, we didn’t feel welcomed by certain staff members, which was disappointing because hospitality should be a priority in any restaurant.

We used the "call ahead" service to reserve a table, expecting to speak to someone directly, but instead, we followed automated prompts. When we arrived, we immediately informed the host that we had one additional guest—our child—bringing our party to seven instead of six. The initial response was less than accommodating, as we were met with troubled looks from the host and another staff member (a blonde woman with blue contacts), who asked us to wait 10 minutes.

After 20 minutes, we politely asked for an updated wait time. The new staff members who assisted us were kind, but the blonde woman returned and questioned if there was a problem—as if we were causing an issue. We reassured her that we were simply asking for an update. Eventually, we were seated at a booth too small for our family, and after waiting even longer, we were moved to another table—this time, a table for four, despite our party of seven. We had to request two tables to be joined, which the blonde woman reluctantly approved, visibly annoyed.

Service remained slow, but we remained patient. About 15 minutes after being seated, we were finally asked for drink orders. The blonde woman returned briefly to ask if we were okay, but walked away so quickly that we didn’t even have a chance to express anything further. We were celebrating a birthday and had traveled over 100 miles for this dinner, yet the experience made us feel like an inconvenience rather than valued guests.

We were told we'd be compensated for the extended wait, but when we received the bill, we had to ask for the promised comp ourselves. Instead of the blonde woman returning to address us, the waitress simply deducted two items from our bill.

Throughout the entire visit, no staff members wore name tags or introduced themselves, which felt impersonal and unprofessional. My husband and I left feeling unwelcome, as if the staff would have preferred us to dine elsewhere. This was disheartening, especially since we’ve had much better experiences at other BJ’s locations in the Central Valley.

The only reason we are leaving this review is in hopes that the staff who treated us with irritation and indifference take this as an opportunity to improve. Hospitality and customer service matter—how guests feel during their visit makes all...

BUYER BEWARE: SOUP IS A RIP-OFF!

If you look at the photos, you'll see that I got half a cup of soup and you'll see when I poured it in a mug at home, it was literally not even filling half the mug.

I ORDERED,

PAID FOR,

AND CONFIRMED WITH THE SERVER

THAT THIS WAS THEIR GENUINE PORTION OF A

"BOWL".

I paid $12 for a BOWL - I don't even think this is a CUP.

(By the way, the reason it's in a mug at my house is because it was barely LUKEWARM.

I was STARVING. Not only was I disappointed with the serving size, I really wanted to sip it in the car on my way home.

Instead, I waited until I was home because I needed to warm it up.)

$12 for this.

This is a TOTAL rip off.

When I confirmed with the gal this was a bowl, she giggled awkwardly and apologized while confirming that yes, this is their size of what they consider a "bowl".

I'm extremely disappointed. This has happened to me in the past here as well but I forgot about it.

However, now that I remember, when this happened to me in the past and I asked for more soup to fill it up, they told me I needed to pay for it.

Please beware. This is not proportionate. This is not a bowl of soup- this doesn't even fill up half a MUG.

I took a photo of it in my car so you could see that the container is genuinely half-empty, and I wanted to put it next to my water mug for comparison so you could get a better idea of how small these to-go cups are.

Also, one of the photos I posted is the review I left on Yelp- feel free to read that...

Came back again from the same restaurant with disappointment. We got seated right away. And as my husband and I were browsing through the menu, we noticed our waitress was busy attending to other table. She passed us a number of times but didn't acknowledge. Time has passed and I went back at the front to asked who our waitress was - just to be sure that we were not forgotten. We were not forgotten but we were ignored definitely. She let the table finishes, then deliver other people's food, then when she has time, delivers their checks, comes back with the check and waited for them to finished/leave. She was able to finished 3 table before I've gone at the front to see which our waitresses was. The host at the front walk back with me to point out that she was in fact our waitress. She was instructed to apologise (I overheard). We waited for another 30+ min before our food came out. It was a very disappointing experience especially with a baby. We had to wait for so long and was ready to leave. Fortunately our baby sat through patiently but by the time we were eating, that's when the bored came in so had to eat fast and one of us had to take baby outside. I can understand that it was busy and/or if they are short handed but that's when EVERYONE has to put in works and help out. After all, it was a lunchtime rush hour. It will eventually died down. I was just very disappointed and how management handle...