A heaping helping of news & reviews from DFW’s dining scene.
What a difference a day makes -- especially when it comes to chain restaurants.
A few weeks ago, we visited BJ's Restaurant and Brewhouse, the California-based chain, at its newest location in Hurst. (There are more than a dozen BJ's in Texas, including one in the Arlington Highlands. A third Tarrant location is expected to open this month at Alliance Town Center in north Fort Worth.)
We enjoyed a simple meal: Root beer, an in-house brewed specialty ($2.85), hamburger sliders ($7.50), and chicken potstickers ($8.95). Just about everything clicked, from the tasty food to the exceedingly polite server. We were so jazzed about BJ's that we decided to return the next day and order more stuff, including a couple of the beers that are specially brewed for the restaurant.
Not so lucky this time. Almost from the start, our second visit was a case study in everything that can go wrong at a chain restaurant, where that personal touch is often missing. No amount of beer could have blinded us to the fact that it suddenly felt as if we were dining in an industrialized food factory.
We order two starters, the crispy calamari ($7.95) and the margherita fresca flatbread appetizer pizza ($7.95) -- the latter a house specialty, according to the multipage menu. Then, the wait began. At least 15 minutes, much too long for a lunchtime appetizer order. Our waiter didn't offer so much as an apology; in fact, when we inquired as to when the food might arrive, he mostly just looked peeved.
While it would be nice to report that the appetizers were worth that wait, both dishes proved to be disappointments: The calamari was thin, overcooked and dry, with an accompanying marinara sauce that tasted right out of a jar. (The lemon aioli, to be fair, had a pleasantly tangy kick, but no amount of dipping sauce could bring the limp seafood to life.) The crust on the flatbread pizza wasn't crispy or crunchy, as we might have expected, and the taste was simply blah.
The service snafus continued as the main courses arrived. One of our group had expressly asked that the caramelized onions of his French dip ($9.95) be placed on the side -- a request that clearly didn't get translated to the kitchen. The sandwich was sent back, and the waiter promised to put a rush on the reorder. Yikes -- if this was a rush, we'd hate to see what happens when BJ's chefs take their time. The French dip, with onions on the side, arrived around the time the others at our table were nearly finished with their main courses.
Again, it wasn't worth the wait: This time, the beef was cold and the cheese wasn't even melted. Um, that's not a French dip. It's a roast-beef sandwich -- and not an especially memorable one at that.
Our other two entrees scored higher marks: The grilled chicken pasta ($12.50) featured well-cooked noodles in a not-too-heavy cream sauce, topped with a moist chicken breast. It's hardly the kind of dish that reinvents the wheel, but it certainly hit the spot. The Italian market salad ($10.95) is a colorful mix of artichokes, red peppers, olives, pepperoncinis, cheeses and lettuces. The Italian herb vinaigrette could have used more seasoning, and the portion seemed on the small side. But overall it was a solid, lighter option.
We probably would have been willing to forgive BJ's culinary missteps and concentrate more on its successes had the service not been so shoddy. Our waiter disappeared for long stretches and seemed entirely indifferent to our needs -- a 180-degree turn from our waiter the previous day. It's perhaps the ultimate hazard of chain dining. Staff turnover is usually high.
Our meal ended on a positive note, however. We asked our server to bring us a dessert -- the item on the menu that he considered most exceptional. He turned up a few minutes later with BJ's Famous Pizookie ($5.75). The chocolate-chip cookie was soft and gooey and paired perfectly with the creamy vanilla ice cream.
It was a sweet reminder that restaurants like BJ's are popular for a reason: They produce a simple, straight-over-the-plate cuisine with the occasional pleasant surprise. If you're willing to roll with the inconsistency, you might even add BJ's to your list of regular dining spots. As for us, we might give it another try down the line, but we'll keep our order simple.
