For a long time, BJ’s Restaurants & Brewhouse hung its hat on variety.
You want craft beer? BJ’s has that. Pizza? Absolutely. Slow-roasted meats? Why not.
The idea was that by offering a little something for everyone, the 200-unit casual-dining chain could attract a wide audience. But in the process, its identity got a bit lost.
“The brand was I think using breadth and ease and no veto vote as one of its core drivers,” said BJ’s CEO and President Lyle Tick in an interview. “The byproduct of that is that it gets a little unclear for consumers what your power alley is, what you’re great at.”
Tick, the former president of Buffalo Wild Wings, joined BJ’s in September following the departure of CEO and President Greg Levin. Since then, he and former interim CEO Brad Richmond have been working to get BJ's back on track after a streak of sluggish sales. Total sales at the chain rose just 1.8% in 2024, according to Technomic.
One of Tick’s first orders of business was to clarify BJ’s brand—to find its “power alley,” a baseball term that refers to the part of the field where a batter tends to hit the ball best.
BJ’s is a unique concept. It was founded in 1978 in Santa Ana, California, as BJ’s Chicago Pizzeria. In the mid-90s, it began brewing its own beer. It also serves pasta, burgers, steaks, salads and ribs. But it is probably best known for the Pizookie, an ice cream-cookie dessert served in a pan.
“My initial observations about the restaurant and the brand were, there’s a lot to work with,” Tick said. The challenge was weaving it all together into a coherent story. “Sitting in a BJ’s, I was kind of like, ‘What exactly is it?’” he said.
When Tick and the team began studying the brand, a few things stood out: Its customers are younger and higher-income than average. They tend to visit in groups, typically for dinner and late-night. And they view going to BJ’s as a regular treat.
The team put those pieces together to help crystallize the BJ’s use case. They landed on what they’re calling the “social splurge” occasion—a group meal that is special and indulgent but also accessible enough to happen on a regular basis.
BJ’s already does very well with celebratory meals like Mother’s and Father’s Day and graduation. But Tick believes there’s an opportunity to grow BJ's share of the everyday visits that in the past have been dominated by traditional casual-dining chains.
“We can get pretty compelling trade-up from, if you will, base-level CDR,” he said. “It seems to be very focused on getting trade-up from QSR right now. So we can occupy this space, and those occasions we believe are pretty resilient.”
BJ's bar program is a differentiator. | Photo courtesy of BJ's Restaurants
Once leadership had BJ’s market position nailed down, it began to look at which elements of the brand supported the social splurge idea. They zeroed in on pizza, Pizookies and craft beer, as well as shareables—an area of the menu the chain plans to expand on.
But it’s starting with pizza. Its former namesake dish is still one of BJ’s most popular items, particularly in its home state of California. But consistency and customer satisfaction have been eroding, Tick said. So the chain has reformulated its pizza from the ground up.
The new version features a Detroit-style crust, sauce made from fresh tomatoes instead of paste, 100% whole milk mozzarella and upgraded toppings. Sausage, for instance, will now be slow roasted in-house, replacing a premade product. And BJ’s has switched from multiple pepperoni options to a single, cupped variety that turns crispy when cooked.
The new pizza was a hit in blind taste tests versus the old version. It’s now in test in four of BJ’s biggest markets, and results have been encouraging, Tick said.
In addition to changing its pizza recipe, BJ’s is also paring back the number of preset pizza options on its menu in an effort to improve quality and make things easier for the kitchen, though customers can still build their own pies if they want.
It’s doing the same with its Pizookie lineup, with plans to eliminate two Pizookie bases this month. In part, it wants to clear the way for more limited-time Pizookies.
“They’re real cultural pieces of dialogue and they drive traffic,” Tick said. “We need to make room for that. We need to simplify what’s going on in the restaurant.”
The chain’s recent focus on Pizookies has paid off. In September, it launched the Pizookie Meal Deal, which offers a choice of entree and a Pizookie for $13, Monday through Friday. The value meal has resonated with price-conscious customers, and the conversation around it has helped make BJ’s more top of mind.
“Our traffic is up not only during the week … but over the weekend too,” Tick said. “The subtext of that is when we are more salient, we’re resonant.”
The Pizookie delivered another win for BJ’s earlier this year, when the off-menu Pizookie Platter—a jumbo version of the regular Pizookie—went viral on TikTok. As of early May, BJ’s had sold 24,000 Pizookie Platters, or 17 times more than usual. That contributed to 1.7% same-store sales growth in the first quarter on a 2.7% traffic increase.
The chain plans to lean even further into Pizookies with LTOs that can generate both traffic and buzz. A new Snickers flavor has been flying off the shelves. “They’re supposed to last until the end of June, and we’re already starting to run out of them at restaurants,” Tick said.
The last piece of BJ’s core menu strategy is its brewing program. Launched in 1996, the operation now has breweries in California, Texas, Nevada and Colorado that brew and distribute beer to BJ’s restaurants nationwide.
BJ’s is the only restaurant chain to brew its own beer at that scale. And it is admittedly not the easiest way to do things, Tick said. But it’s a big part of BJ’s story. “It reinforces quality and care. So it’s got a bit of a brand halo,” Tick said.
Not only that, but it also gives BJ’s a way to innovate on beverages, which is perhaps the hottest menu segment in the industry right now. The chain now makes craft sodas and is testing nonalcoholic beer and exploring low-ABV options as well, a nod to America’s shifting drinking habits.
“There’s no doubt that way people are drinking is evolving, and that’s going to continue to evolve,” Tick said. “But what I don’t think will change is social drinking … and I think that our craft beverage and craft brewing heritage gives us a right to win in that space.”
UPDATE: BJ's promoted Lyle Tick to CEO shortly after this story was published. It has been updated to reflect that.
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