BJ's Brewhouse Comes To Wichita!

BJ’s Brewhouse is the newest restaurant to open in Wichita on the great ole east side of town. It’s located in the same lot as Towne East Mall next door to Logan’s Roadhouse which by the way, not a big fan of.

7960 East Kellogg
Wichita, KS 67207
316.687.0250 TEL
Hours
11am-12am Sunday-Thursday
11am-1am Friday & Saturday

http://www.bjsbrewhouse.com/ (First thing I noticed on the website, if you do a search for a Wichita area zip code, it spells our city wiTchita.)

I went there with a group of friends this week to catch an early glimpse of what to expect. Place is gorgeous inside. I was amazed at how fast they were able to get the building up and completed inside.

We got there and place….was….packed! Of course everybody in Wichita, like myself, has nothing to do so they always check out the latest restaurant to hit the scene. We arrived at seven and were seated about 30-40 minutes later. Word of advice to you readers: they do call ahead seating.

Everybody was friendly throughout the evening. Just observing the employees, you could tell many of them were still being trained on the spot. That is to be expected for new restaurants I suppose.

All of the guys in our group tried their handcrafted beers. You can try a sampler platter of 4 or 8 of their beers on tap. I had four different ones: Lightswitch Lager, Brewhouse Blonde, Harvest Hefeweizen and Piranha Pale Ale. Of the four, Harvest Hefeweizen was my favorite. My other friends tried nearly everything else including their season: Nitwit. (List of beers: http://www.bjsbrewhouse.com/bj-beers)

BJ’s Brewhouse also makes their own soda and one of the people in our group had their root beer which I was able to take a sip of. Nu Way’s is much better if you’re looking for homemade root beer. It doesn’t even compare.

Their dinner menu is like a training manual companies give to you at the start of employment. It’s pretty thick and has a variety of items to choose from. Note they have Gluten Free options for those of you who are into that. As for the prices, I’d say many of the items run a little higher than what you would see at similar places. Burgers run around $10, many of their medium pizzas are ~$20, the pasta dishes were about $10-15, etc. Here’s their online ordering menu for Wichita: http://www.snapfinger.com/menus/bjsbrewhouse/default.aspx?SiteID=17101

Took me a while to figure out what I wanted to order with such a large variety to choose from on the menu. It was between the Cajun Pasta, a Crispy Jalapeno Burger, a steak, the New Orleans Jambalaya or a Double Deluxe Burger. Seriously, there are a lot of menu items. Eventually I decided on the New Orleans Jambalaya ($15.75 – Our distinctive Jambalaya dish brings together blackened chicken, shrimp and Chicken- Andouille sausage, sautéed with bell peppers, onions and tomatoes in a spicy sauce. Served over rice pilaf and topped with green onions.) It was definitely spicy but didn’t pack in a lot of flavor for other jambalaya I’ve had around Wichita. It was definitely filling but I wasn’t overly pleased with it. I love me some jambalaya but BJ’s Brewhouse’s take on it was underwhelming.

My friends had an assortment of different items you can see below, some I remember the name of, some I don’t.

The Classic Burger

Cajun Pasta

So that’s just a brief synopsis of the BJ’s Brewhouse experience. It’s a place I will likely go to again because its close and they serve beer. Two things I am always up for. Plus I’ve had some friends tell me they like their food so I might have to try something new. The jury is still out! Give it a try yourself and let me know what you think by sending an e-mail to wichitabyeb@gmail.com – I’m curious to read your thoughts on this place.

Happy Dining,
Eddy