BJ's Restaurant & Brewhouse - BJ's Brewhouse Burger (3 stars)

5616 Spectrum Dr, Frederick, MD 21703
Phone:  (301) 695-0470
Website:  http://www.bjsrestaurants.com

National chain, across many states of the United States

Time of Visit:  July 9, 2015 at 1200 pm

My Order:  BJ's Brewhouse Burger

                   Thin, Crispy Fries
                     Sweet Iced Tea

I had been to BJ’s before, but never rated the burger.  It turned out to be a very disappointing experience.

Burger Rating = 3.0 (Three Stars)

Presentation, Overall Rating 4

The meal came out looking very nice.  The burger was presented on a plate with the fries alongside, arranged around the burger.  The burger itself was placed with the top bun slightly off the burger, allowing you to see the patty.  An overall good presentation, a 4.

Meat, Overall Rating 2

The best thing I can say about the burger is that it was edible.  It was thin patty, cooked on a flattop grill.  It looked pretty good at first, but that ended with the first bite.  First of all, the burger was not cooked to my requested doneness, although it was close enough I didn’t send it back.  Second, it was cooked very unevenly, with portions cooked pretty well and others cooked much less.  Throughout the burger were too many bites of gristle, much more than the occasion piece that can happen to any burger.  It didn’t have a bad flavor, but the texture just was not good.  I would go so far to say that it wasn’t any better than your typical fast food burger.  This patty only gets a 2 from me.

Bun, Overall Rating 3

The bun was a very good hamburger bun, with a pleasant denseness, yet still soft.  I was looking actually forward to the bun, as it is advertised on the menu as parmesan crusted.  I have had the buns here before and they have had a good crust on them.  That didn’t happen this time.  There was only a hint of parmesan and it certainly was not a crust.  Instead, there was only a light toasted circle around the edge of each bun.  If the bun had been crusted like my prior experiences, it would have been outstanding, but instead it was only average, a 3.

Toppings, Overall Rating 3

Lettuce:  Usually I complain that there is not enough lettuce put on a burger, but that was not the case this time.  There was plenty of iceberg lettuce, maybe a little too much, as some was lost from the sandwich as it was eaten.  It did provide an abundant crisp crunch to the burger.  I’m going to give it a 4.
Tomato Slices:  These were good juicy slices, but as happens too often, they didn’t quite cover the burger evenly.  But, they were good enough to get a 4.
Pickle slices:  These were good pickles that provided a nice briny bite to the burger.  A good solid 4.
Grilled Onions:  Uh, what grilled onions?  The menu stated that the burger had grilled onions, but there were none.  It never said optional or upon request, so this was a complete failure, a 0.

Balance/Taste, Overall Rating 3

Although the meat left a lot to be desired, the overall flavor of the burger was good.  But, the overstuffing of the lettuce made the burger hard to pick up and control, so I can’t give it any more than a 3.

 

Other Notes:

Location and Access

This restaurant is easy to spot if you are in the area as it’s located right in the FSK parking lot, near JC Penney.  Because it’s in the mall parking lot, there is plenty of parking.

Facilities

The building is not very old, so there are no structural problems.  There are several places to sit inside but no outside tables.  The restrooms were easy to find.

Staff and Service

Service on this visit was very sluggish.  Although I was seated very promptly, it took several minutes for the waiter to appear at my table, long enough that I had gone through the menu and decided on my order before he even appeared.  Once my order was taken, it didn’t take too long before he brought my drink back and my meal came out not long after.  He did check on me shortly after the food arrived, but he didn’t come back to the table after that until long after I had finished the meal.  He didn’t check if I wanted my drink refilled and I was waiting for him just to get the check.  I would have flagged him down if I had seen him, but he was nowhere in sight.

Sides

Thin Fries:  These were typical shoestring style fries and they were done very well.  They were warm and crispy and were good all through the meal.
Sweet Iced Tea:  The tea was fine, but I sure would have liked a refill.

Value

The price wouldn’t have been bad if the burger and service were up to par, but they weren’t.  I didn’t get charged for the tea, so that was a plus, but it still wasn’t worth the price for what I got.  I should have stopped a Smash Burger or Red Robin.