By William Jacko
Special to The Laker/Lutz News
If you like a delicious meal with a high-quality craft beer, then BJ’s Restaurant & Brewhouse in Wesley Chapel is the place for you.
Six BJ’s breweries supply the restaurant chain with its own line of craft beers that complement any meal perfectly. From its signature Chicago-style, deep dish pizza to its extensive menu of appetizers, burgers, slow-roasted items and enLIGHTened entrees, there’s an award-winning craft beer to match.
Since opening their first brewery restaurant in 1996, BJ’s craft beers have won more than200 awards. The restaurant is always rotating BJ’s own seasonal beers and a wide selection of local craft beers to its menu,and has even partnered with a local Florida brewer to create a new beer.
“Right now, we have a pretty successful beer called Driving Me Hazy that we collaborated on with Brew Bus, a great brewer here in Tampa,” said General Manager Dustin Wiltshire. “It’s a New England-style Hazy IPA that we brew for the entire state of Florida.”
BJ’s is a restaurant, as well as a craft brewery. It started as a California pizzeria in 1978, and has since expanded to more than 200 restaurants in 27 states.
“Deep dish pizza is a constant that’s been with us for our entire existence,” Wiltshire said. “We have 16 signature flavors of pizza, including tavern-cut, deep dish and made-to-order combinations”.
“The menu is extensive, and covers everything from prime rib, tri-tip, pasta, and handcrafted burgers to healthy low-calorie and gluten-free options, like the bison burger and Peruvian quinoa bowls.
“Our culinary team did a fantastic job creating enlightened dishes that are that are full of flavors using herbs and different vegetables that bring out a lot of flavor and keep that calorie count low,” Wiltshire said. “They even offer gluten-free pizza crust, burger buns and a gluten-free chocolate chip Pizookie®.”
No trip to BJ’s would be complete without indulging in their signature and sinful dessert, the Pizookie®— a one-of-a-kind pizza cookie served gooey-hot from the oven and topped with two scoops of creamy vanilla ice cream.
“Not only are we about great food, great beer, great cocktails and great times, but we put just as much energy and effort into building great communities through our TASC Force or Team Action to Support Communities, BJ’s Restaurants Foundation and our Cookies 4 Kids Program,” said Wiltshire.
Check out BJ’s daily and happy hour specials at BJsRestaurants.com, or better yet, drop by BJ’s on State Road 56 at Tampa Premium Outlets.
Published May 15, 2019
