BJ's Restaurants
| File:BJ restaurant.png | |
| |
| Formerly | BJ's Chicago Pizzeria |
| Company type | Public |
| Nasdaq: BJRI S&P 600 Component | |
| Industry | |
| Founded | 1978 in Santa Ana, California, US |
| Founders |
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| Headquarters | , US |
Number of locations | 202 (2019) |
Area served | United States |
Key people | Greg Trojan (CEO and president) |
| Products | |
| Website | bjsrestaurants |
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]
History
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[update], BJ's operated 204 restaurants in 27 states:[13]
- Alabama
- Arizona
- Arkansas
- California
- Colorado
- Connecticut
- Florida
- Indiana
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- Maryland
- 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
- ^ "Company Overview of BJ's Restaurants, Inc". Bloomberg. Retrieved January 4, 2019.
- ^ a b "BJ's Restaurants". Forbes. Retrieved April 8, 2020.
- ^ Alvarado, Jocelyn (September 23, 2012). "Best of Orange County: BJ's Restaurant & Brewhouse". Orange County Register.
- ^ Jacobson, Max (September 29, 1994). "Restaurants : BJ's Dishes Pizza That Pans Out". Los Angeles Times.
- ^ a b 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.
- ^ Luna, Nancy (December 22, 2008). "BJ's Restaurants co-founders leave pizza chain". Orange County Register.
- ^ a b Rose, Michael (November 17, 1996). "BJ's Pizza to revamp Pietro's with breweries, remodeling". Portland Business Journal. Retrieved March 15, 2013.
- ^ a b Bloom, Earl (January 21, 2013). "BJ's Restaurant and Brewhouse". Orange County Register.
- ^ Luna, Nancy (August 2, 2012). "BJ's pizza among 10 fastest-growing chains". The Orange County Register.
- ^ "BJ's Restaurants, Inc. Announces Incoming President and Upcoming CEO Transition". foodnewsfeed.com. October 31, 2012. Retrieved April 2, 2018.
- ^ Morgan, Jason (August 16, 2013). "Brewpub Files: BJ's Restaurants crafts brand quality across its restaurants". Craft Brewing Business.
- ^ "BJ's Restaurants Wins Gold Medal at the Great American Beer Festival". NBC News. September 28, 2010.
- ^ "BJ'S company snapshot". Fidelity. Retrieved June 10, 2019.
External links
