BJ’s Restaurant & Brewhouse is a family friendly food chain and a must try restaurant. It was founded in 1978 by Paul Monteko and Jerry Hennessy. The location in Hillsboro is around a 20 minute drive from Lincoln,depending on traffic. But the time it takes to get there is worth it. I really enjoyed it and think it is a great place for people of all ages. There were diverse options for drinks, food and desserts.
When I arrived in the parking lot, I noticed how crowded it was. Luckily, there was no wait for us to be seated. The BJ’s menu was slightly overwhelming because of how much variety there is ranging from pizzas and pastas to tacos, sandwiches, burgers and many more. I would recommend having an idea of what type of food you want before you get there.
For drinks, I ordered two drinks to share with my sister, the Blue Raspberry Candy Rush and the Boba-Licious Mango Sparkler. Each drink was $5.25. My sister and I could easily customize what toppings we wanted on the drinks. They were fun, flavorful, sweet and reminded us of candies like sour punch, sour patch kids or a sweet piece of dried mango. Although they were non-alcoholic, they were made at the bar which was especially busy.For that reason, the wait time was longer than we liked.
For my main course, I ordered the broccoli and cheddar soup in a bread bowl. The soup itself was $9.99 and there was a $2.99 upcharge for the bread bowl. This is more on the pricey side in my opinion, but the soup was rich, filling and the bread bowl was chewy and delicious.
Last but not least, I tried BJ’s famous dessert, the Pizookie. The Pizookie is a large “pizza shaped” cookie topped with ice cream and sweets such as chocolate chips, whipped cream and sauces. I ordered the cookie to-go and was still super satisfied when I got home later to eat it. I went with the Hot Fudge Brownie Pizookie for $7.50. It came with whipped cream, hot fudge, vanilla ice cream, crushed walnuts and a cherry. I really liked how they separated all the toppings in their own container so I could choose how much I wanted.
In comparison to other restaurants like Red Lobster, Texas Roadhouse and Cracker Barrel, BJ’s is a better option. Some of those restaurants lack gluten-free, vegetarian or vegan options; BJ’s has all three. BJ’s also stands out because it has delivery, an online menu and coupons active multiple days of the week. For example, every Tuesday, any flavor of Pizookie is $5.
Overall, I loved my experience. The service was great and so was the food. It is a little expensive and far away from where I live, but I can confidently say that if I’m ever in the Hillsboro area, I know which restaurant to go to.
