BJ's Restaurants

BJ's Restaurants, Inc. is an American restaurant chain, headquartered in Huntington Beach, California.[1] Some locations feature microbreweries that supply beer to other locations in the chain. The chain operates under the names BJ's Restaurant & Brewery, BJ's Restaurant & Brewhouse, BJ's Grill, and BJ's Pizza & Grill. BJ's menu features pizza, its own handcrafted beers, as well as a selection of appetizers, entrees, pastas, sandwiches, specialty salads and desserts.[2]

BJ's Restaurants, Inc.
  • BJ's Grill
  • BJ's Pizza & Grill
  • BJ’s Restaurant & Brewery
  • BJ’s Restaurant & Brewhouse
FormerlyBJ's Chicago Pizzeria
TypePublic
NASDAQ: BJRI
S&P 600 Component
Industry
Founded1978 (1978) in Santa Ana, California, US
Founders
  • Mike Phillips
  • Bill Cunningham
Headquarters
Huntington Beach, California
,
US
Number of locations
209 (2020)
Area served
United States
Key people
Greg Trojan (CEO and president)
Products
Websitebjsrestaurants.com

History
The BJ's in Hillsboro, Oregon

BJ's was founded in 1978 and first opened in Santa Ana, California, as BJ's Chicago Pizzeria[3] by Mike Phillips and Bill Cunningham.[4][5] Phillips and Cunningham sold their company to their accountants Paul Motenko and Jerry Hennessy in 1991.[6][5]

By 1996, seven restaurants had opened between San Diego and Los Angeles. Originally known as Chicago Pizza, the company went public about 1996, raising $9.4 million.[7] The company then bought 26 Pietro's Pizza restaurants in March 1996 in a $2.8 million deal in cash and assumed debt, but then sold off seven of the locations with plans to convert the remaining Pietro's to what was then BJ's Pizza.[7] During the same year, the company opened a microbrewery at its Brea restaurant.[8]

Between 2010 and 2011, the National Retail Federation named it as one of the 10 fastest growing restaurants in the U.S. based on year-over-year sales.[9]

As of March 4, 2011, BJ's operates 103 restaurants located in 13 states (California, Texas, Arizona, Colorado, Oregon, Nevada, Florida, Ohio, Oklahoma, Kentucky, Indiana, Louisiana and Washington).[2]

In October 2012, Greg Trojan became President and CEO.[10]

In 2013, BJ's produced a combined total of 60,000 barrels annually at their 11 brewery restaurants to serve their chain of 136 restaurants in 15 states.[11] In 2010, the company's BJ's Hefelightzen was awarded a gold medal at the Great American Beer Festival.[12]

Operations

As of April 2019, BJ's operated 205 restaurants in 28 states:[13]

  • Alabama
  • Arizona
  • Arkansas
  • California
  • Colorado
  • Connecticut
  • Florida
  • Indiana
  • Kansas
  • Kentucky
  • Louisiana
  • Maryland
  • Massachusetts
  • Michigan
  • Nevada
  • New Jersey
  • New Mexico
  • New York
  • North Carolina
  • Ohio
  • Oklahoma
  • Oregon
  • Rhode Island
  • Pennsylvania
  • South Carolina
  • Tennessee
  • Texas
  • Virginia
  • Washington

Awards and recognition

Some of the company's beers have been awarded gold and silver medals at various beer brewing competitions throughout the world.[8]

References
  1. "Company Overview of BJ's Restaurants, Inc". Bloomberg. Retrieved January 4, 2019.
  2. "BJ's Restaurants". Forbes. Retrieved April 8, 2020.
  3. Alvarado, Jocelyn (September 23, 2012). "Best of Orange County: BJ's Restaurant & Brewhouse". Orange County Register.
  4. Jacobson, Max (September 29, 1994). "Restaurants : BJ's Dishes Pizza That Pans Out". Los Angeles Times.
  5. Chang, Andrea (May 5, 2010). "BJ's takes a bigger slice of casual-dining market: The Huntington Beach-based chain's vast menu and modest prices are helping it thrive after a tough few years for the restaurant industry". Los Angeles Times.
  6. Luna, Nancy (December 22, 2008). "BJ's Restaurants co-founders leave pizza chain". Orange County Register.
  7. Rose, Michael (November 17, 1996). "BJ's Pizza to revamp Pietro's with breweries, remodeling". Portland Business Journal. Retrieved March 15, 2013.
  8. Bloom, Earl (January 21, 2013). "BJ's Restaurant and Brewhouse". Orange County Register.
  9. Luna, Nancy (August 2, 2012). "BJ's pizza among 10 fastest-growing chains". The Orange County Register.
  10. "BJ's Restaurants, Inc. Announces Incoming President and Upcoming CEO Transition". foodnewsfeed.com. October 31, 2012. Retrieved April 2, 2018.
  11. Morgan, Jason (August 16, 2013). "Brewpub Files: BJ's Restaurants crafts brand quality across its restaurants". Craft Brewing Business.
  12. "BJ's Restaurants Wins Gold Medal at the Great American Beer Festival". NBC News. September 28, 2010.
  13. "BJ'S company snapshot". Fidelity. Retrieved June 10, 2019.

Official website

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