This place is horrible it was over 15 minutes before we had anyone serve us and that's only because I flagged someone down. 1 1/2 hours later our dinner was still not served to us. Our waitress only stopped by once. We finally got fed up and left I talked to a manger and he was very apathetic . Do not recommend and if I could give a zero I would. read more

My wife and I had lunch at BJs. We ordered the tri-tip sliders. They were amazing. The waiter that delivered the food guaranteed their "amazingness." He was right. The meat was tender and the bun melted in our mouths. When we walked in the front door, the host had no personality. I don't think we even got a smile. He said we would have to wait for a table but were welcomed to sit in the bar area. While at the bar I noticed half the restaurant was empty. I went back to the host and he said it was a five minute wait. Useless- he could have said that up front. The waitress arrived within a couple of minutes took our order and all was good. We didn't receive neither paper nor cloth napkin, no silverware either. The waitress didn't bother to check on us until we were finished with our meal. We had to ask another waiter for napkins and silverware and even then, he brought one set... for 2 of us. We ended using tissue from my wife's purse. The food was great the service was subpar. read more

If you want a great lunch with even better service go to Bj's. Ask for Monique's are. She had only worked there 3 weeks and is a pro! Treats her guests like a million bucks and the food was great. But with her smile and upbeat attitude it made the experience 110% of what you hope for! read more

My family and I had came in tonight and had a bad experience. Thomas was our server and he made us feel uncomfortable by standing and starting at us most of the time we were there. He came up to us and asked if we were ready to pay and stood there while we got our money together. We weren't even there 45 minutes and he was rushing us out. He then continued to walk past us staring until we left read more

I really wanted to like this place because of the variety of beer they have. But why go spend my money on drinks there if i hate eating there. I've been there 5 times and every time they had to mess something up. First time: I went in with some co workers after work to check out the new "hot spot". This was when all the trainer servers were shadowing, So we had 2 servers. We had ordered a bunch of drinks, a large pizza, a bunch of appetizers, and my favorite was their traditional buffalo wings which i had ordered 15, and asked my server when i ordered them for extra ranch. First of all the drinks took forever like 25 mins.. Our appetizers came out before the drinks. Then i never got my extra 5 wings, the trainer server apologized and told us she would take them off our tab.. But she never brought the extra 5 out to us. She never brought me the extra ranch even when i asked 2 more times. I even asked another server passing by and i never got my freakin ranch. The pizza was a lil undercooked. And when we ordered another round of drinks we got them with the bill. Second time: I went with my boyfriend and the drinks took forever again. I ordered a salad to come out before my food and an appetizer and got it all at the same time so we had like 6 plates in a tiny 2 person table.. How am i supposed to feel comfortable like that?? Third time: I didn't even dine in.. I called for a pick up order for my favorites.. The traditional buffalo wings. When i got there the hostess was so freakin rude it was ridiculous. I thought they re job was to greet people as they walk in. What she did was look me head to toe as i walked through the door, rolled her eyes as she said with attitude "can i help u?" I was there to pick up my order and she just looked ovr her shouldr and said over there then turned around like if i knew where i was going and started talking to the other hostess. The other girl knew i was pissed off because she gave me one of those I'm sorry smiles and pointed where i should go. Fourth time: I went with some friends this time i only ordered a side salad, my wings, and a beer. Same problem with the drinks but now u only have to wait 10 mins. Never got my salad and received boneless wings. Boneless and traditional sound way different. The manager even came over apologized told me he was going to take them off my bill.. I still paid for them.. And embarrassing enough my friends had to wait and watch me finish my wings which i devoured ungracefully because i was starving and a little too buzzed from drinking on an empty stomach. Fifth and last time: I ordered the fettuccine Alfredo. I took it home to feed to my dog.. It was sooooo dry. The chicken was burned as well. And the pasta was not al dente more like hard to chew. I didn't want to send it back because for the first time i had really great service there. If BJs want to continue to be the "hot spot" of Salinas and not run away business they need to step their game up.. There is so much competition. Hire faster bartenders, make sure managers are checking on their guests for their experience, and keep doing a good job on the wings. I'm gonna miss u traditional buffalo wings!!!!!! read more

A friend took me there the other night, it was nice. The atmosphere was very pleasant. the food good, our cook Jessie Rodrigues came to our table and told us of his passion for making the best foods. Turns out the very nice young lady serving us was his daughter Bonilla. They As I said teh place was very nice, the food great but the service and staff where amazing:) read more

So this was out first time here and I have to say it was a nice experience. From reading the reviews I was scared to come here at first but most bad reviews were about the service not the food. So we took a chance and great service but the food... well the burger was lackluster and the bread was completely covered in grease and my pizza was okay but at that price your better off at round table. They only got a 4 out of 5 because of there flat bread appetizer, that was amazing. read more

BJ's Restaurant & Brewhouse - Great looking burger right? - Pizza Near Me - Salinas, California

See all

This place has been a blunder since day one...I mean looks like corporate tries to keep the menu looking good but the staff does not perform what BJs is trying to do at least at this Salinas location ... Management at this location needs to hire people who care.... read more

A party of 5, slow service -and cold food. The restaurant wasn't even crowded. We had 30min to "wait" for a table when part of the restaurant was empty. Took about 20min to get asked what we wanted to drink, and another 40min for our cold food to come out. For a tab of $200 was definitely not worth it... go somewhere else. BEWARE! I'm expecting a call from a manager, we will see about that read more

Even though it was super busy the waitress was super nice and professional! The food was great and enjoyed the evening with my friends.

I wish they would give small plates so we could share appetizers instead of napkins, and if you're a fan of fish and chips, don't get these

1 star for the half off wine, another star for the server (who wasn't mine) that brought us straws, silverware, napkins and a clean wine glass after my server failed to do any of that in a timely manner. We were brought salads to eat with our fingers...no silverware or napkins, my wine was served in a small carafe but I was given a dirty wine glass. I asked my server for another glass right then, but 5 minutes later still no glass. So, I was sitting there with salad I couldn't eat and wine I couldn't drink... Got the attention of another server and he got me one in less than 30 seconds! My husband waited forever to get a second beer. Server blamed a busy bar, but the place wasn't busy at all!!! I mean come on, it's a Tuesday night! Don't come on the weekend, or you'll be thirsty! LOL! And the bus boy, who couldn't bring us a straw because he's not allowed, was reaching to get empty plates while we're still eating...like can you wait?!?! Anyway, we won't be back. read more

This is probably my worst experience here at the brewery and I only come for the dessert. The kind thing was that we were seated quickly but at a table set for ten people and there was only two of us. However, it took way too long just to be given a menu as well as our waters. Reminder, the restaurant isn't even busy and all I asked for was one dessert. In addition to that, the host was telling people to sit at booths that weren't even cleaned and didn't know what to do when they asked her a question. Maybe tonight is just a rough night but the service is extremely sluggish.........lol read more

It's great to see a restaurant like this in Salinas -- it's long overdue. Just don't leave behind a pair of expensive sunglasses at your table (on accident) or you won't see them again. Perhaps some of the servers and management staff need a reminder that THEFT is a real ding on customer service overall, and tarnishes the reputation of the restaurant -- ultimately affecting business. read more

Our waitress had a few table she has just started her area we were her first table, she seemed really unhappy didn't smile, short, unprofessional, she was rude. Not friendly it made my friends and I feel like we should leave. It was very uncomfortable and we didn't enjoy our food. At the end she give us a bill that was over by almost $100.00 when we told her it was not ours she give us attitude and walked off. It was my friends birthday and they brought us dessert when we were almost leaving. This is my four time here and every time they get something wrong. Bad customer service, the management team as well. Great location and potential it's sad to go to waste. read more

I really want to love this place. I really do! I've been here at least 5 times since they've opened. I try different times to see how well their service is even when they are slow. This place needs to get their act together and hire some quality help. These long waits (even when it's not busy) is unacceptable. I'll be complaining to headquarters today about our experiences there. I've even tried their call-ahead seating and that doesn't even help! If you call and ask how long the wait is, they'll say it's 30 minutes only to find out that you have to wait another 30 minutes when you get there. I get that it bumps you up on the list to call ahead, but the person answering the phone should clearly state that when asked how long is the wait! This last time we went there, a family of four, and the place was not even half to three quarters full and we had NO wait to be seated. But we didn't see our dinner until 60 minutes after we were seated. Apparently, (according to our server), they are required to bring out the food all together. So, the pizza was hot out of the oven but the rest of the food was cold as ice cubes! Then upon complaining that the two burger meals were cold, it took another 25 minutes to get that! So, two of us were done eating and had to watch the other two eat. And during that 25 minute wait, our server never came back to check on us to see if we needed drink refills. After waiting 20 minutes, I went up to ask to speak with one of the THREE managers and I stood there waiting for 10 minutes and they still didn't come out after they were requested. The food eventually arrived so I sat back down. The server was so frustrated at how the kitchen was putting out the food that he said if it doesn't get better that he'd be quitting his job. I felt bad for him. Of course, they are good about comping for meals, which is their only salvation at this point. But after wasting 2.5 hours of our evening there just to eat dinner, and having similar experiences all 5 times that I've been there, I'm not sure that I will come back soon! I thought they'd have their sh*t together by now but apparently I'm wrong. read more

First time at this restaurant. First impressions: great environment, my patron margarita was perfect; however they didnt carry any energy drinks for my red bull vodka :( customer service sucked, we had a party of 6 and were gnna split da bill ...she made us check our own tabs for any mistakes she made, which were quite a few. Very Dissapointing, the ratio between waiters and customers is not well calculated. Overall advise to future customers is be prepared to wait read more

I like the atmosphere/vibe. Their homebrew Hef is terrific. I only tried a salad, since I ended up having a huge lunch earlier that day, but it was good. It is, in my opinion, a little on the pricey side (at least, our bill was higher than I expected for a couple salads, a beer, a lemonade & one apetizer). Overall good, though, and I definitely plan on going back for a better sample. read more

We chose this restaurant for our Mother's Day Brunch. I was surprised when we were able to be seated immediately (party of 6). It was just after 10 AM and the restaurant was mostly vacant. Our hostess attempted to seat us at a table that was covered by smudge marks. I requested to be seated at another table and she complied. Our server arrived about 5 minutes after being seated and she appeared to be overwhelmed. We should have gotten up at this point and gone somewhere else. We were waiting for someone to join us, and therefore there was a delay on our part. However, our drink order was slow, cream and sugar was not available or offered for our coffee, and the server looked like she was on the brink of a nervous breakdown. Our order was "finally" taken and it took 45 minutes from the time we ordered to the time our food started to arrive. Our drinks were not refilled and I discovered that one of our napkins, given by our hostess rolled with silver ware, was dirty. The restaurant was still empty and I couldn't see why we were not getting adequate service and a prompt pace. The table next to us seemed equally frustrated as we were. Our food arrived and one entree arrived 5 minutes after all others. This added a further delay and frustration to our experience. Someone claiming to be the Manager visited our table during this period. He mentioned that he "just"arrived and learned that we had waited for an unreasonably long time for our meals. He apologized and promised to make it up. He asked us if we needed anything and I said Yes, refills on our drinks. Our table had empty glasses, empty plates, and we had been there for 1 1/2 hours. I place the blame on the management and inexperienced servers. I felt compelled to pull the manager aside and inform him of what our expectations were. I opted not, because I wanted to remain "civil" for the remainder of our visit. I suggest you close one day and have a training session with your staff and perhaps fundamental training for the management. Everything was way off. I would like to explain it all, but I feel that I should not because it is not my responsibility to train you or your staff. I am however, compelled to share my experience via Yelp to let you and others how subpar of an establishment you are running. Lastly, it is an insult to have your servers pick up their tip while the table is still occupied. The only reason we left a tip was out of respect and pity. Won't be back to this Bj's. I have been to others and I have never had an issue. The food was good by the way read more

nine of us appeared here for a company celebration today. it was not crowded at 2:30, yet it took an hour for our food to arrive. my first root beer was cold, but the refill was not, and had no ice. i expected my flat bread/pizza to be warm, but it was not. all of the dishes were presented well. drinks were filled to the top, and refills came without asking. prices appeared to me to be high. not going back. read more

So last night I took my company staff out to a late X-mas/New Year's dinner. We called in a reservation the week prior. We receive a confirmation phone call the morning of and we needed to amend the number. I show up a little early than the reservation just because that's how I am and the amended number which was 21 people never made it to the night shift. The service was awful in basically every way. 1) No one asked who the host of the group was. 2) Half of the tables didn't have a napkin/flatware and we needed to ask. 3) It took over a half an hour for everyone to get their first drink. 4) The servers never introduced themselves. 5) One of the servers dropped an appetizer too close to a member of our group. 6) One of the servers bumped and dropped an empty beer bottle on the back of my office manager's head. 7) My drink, an old fashioned' was incorrectly made. 8) The server's didn't take our group's order in order leaving the servers to basically call out 'who had the _____'. 9) The second round of drinks took another 30 minutes for the last person of our group to get theirs. 10) The servers were unaware of our company's planned menu. 11) The servers were unaware of our company's (2) drink maximum. 12) Not even a manager came out to check on our group to make sure everything was going well. 13) In the end the server mistakenly assumed the older person of our group was the one paying. Not the person sitting at the head of the table. WOW! 14) The cook came out and introduced himself at the end of the dinner and gave us 2013 holiday beer glasses. It's 2014 going to be 2015 in (2) days. At least the food was good. It is clear to me that upper management has no clue or doesn't care about the service that BJ's provides. Let's just call the place Shenanagin's....... Obviously I won't be making this annual event at that establishment again. Hope this helps Yelpers! read more

I would not knock all BJ's but this one kind of sucks! I have been here 6 times since they opened and 5 out of 6 times they told me they were out of avocado egg rolls. But there is more...... the one time they did have them, they were brought out after we were into our meals (Trust me I did not ask for them after my meal). However, not only is this low rating about avocado egg rolls, their service sucks. The only time I received fairly quick service was when I went at 10am and was the only table there. I understand new restaurants have to shake out their bugs but they need to hurry up or they will lose customers. read more

Pretty much every time I've dined here the food took an obscene amount of time to get to the table. This has got to be the slowest kitchen in all of Salinas.. & the food def does not warrant the wait. read more

BJ's overall was decent 2.5/5 You can tell they're still working on their flow and team building. They gave gramps one of those Irish Coffee skinny mugs for his coffee he gave it a try but it hit him in the nose and it was too dainty for his working man fingers. After a search and explanation that the regular coffee mugs were all broken one was found, irate employee went crazy? They also brought my soup &salad entree as an appetizer so the soup got cold and the grandparents fussed over wanting me to eat while we waited for their entrees. The chicken tortilla soup was quite good. They made a big deal about pouring it from a cup to the plate that had the chicken & cheese mounded in the middle but then submerged the fresh lime in it so I couldn't really squeeze it without getting soup fingers. The salad was a basic bland iceberg with a couple tomato and cucumbers slices. I got the creamy garlic dressing as it was the closest pairing for the soup. It was very bland compared to the soup so I put a huge amount of pepper in it to give it some kick. I know this is nit picky but the holes in the pepper shaker were ridiculously small, it took me a good 20-30 seconds to get enough out lol. The grands decided on pot roast. Gramps got the open faced version and Grams got the entree version. Salad is $2.50 extra I think, so they didn't get any. Looking at the two meals I'd get the sandwich and just not eat the bread since it was $3-4 cheaper for the same food. The pot roast was very tender the mushroom gravy was flavorful but salty. The mashed potatoes were odd to me. Dense and oddly dry even though you know there is a ton of fat in them. The roasted veggies were kinda lifeless looking. Seemed more steamed than roasted none of that carmelized burnt edges that make roasted veggies so tasty. Positives were that the staff was friendly, the decor was very nice and clean so far, the menu was huge and had a nice variety. I do want to try it at another point when I can splurge a bit more on calories since most of the entrees were over 1200 kcals easily. I'd actually like to split one of their deep dish pizzas with one of their "award winning" brand of beers. Grams thought they would have had a brewery setup like the Monterey Brew Pub but I assume it's all done centrally and shipped. I'm pretty curious as to wether they're owned by the same company as PF Changs Cheesecake Factory or CPK. Feels very much like that style of elegance for the masses. I'm hoping that after another month they'll get it together and I think it'll be a good addition for Salinas. Red Lobster next door is going to go out of business though. read more

Stopped by for lunch today on the way home from NorCal. Was immediately greeted with a smile and "Welcome to BJ's!" by the friendly hostess. She asked if we are rewards members (I am) and asked if I'd like to enter my number into the logger (I did). We were seated right away, handed our menus and within 1-2 minutes, the friendly beverage server came by to take our beverage orders. In another couple minutes, we had our ice cold beverages. Our friendly waitress promptly took our orders and the food arrived within 5 minutes. As usual, the food was excellent! Our waitress checked on us regularly, asked whether we wanted desert (no thanks) or our check and quickly brought the check. The manager even came by to check on us. We paid via the BJ's app without a hitch. Gotta say: we've been to many BJ's locations over the years and this Salinas location could possibly be the very best! This is the way every restaurant should treat their guests! Thanks BJ's..we will return! read more

When you make reservations make sure you add in an extra 30mins to an hour for your reservations. Also the girl at the front desk has an attitude. I've never been to a BJs restaurant that was so short staffed and rude! I already talked to the manager and I will also email corporate thanks to the rude girl at front desk who wants to give me the evil eye as I leave since they were past our reservation time and their excuse was no server and then no table when they already let other groups ahead of us who didn't make a reservation. :P read more

So slowwwww. Absolutely ridiculous. There was only like ten other parties in the entire restaurant and the wait for our food after ordering was over 35 minutes. Waitress was unprofessional and beyond slow. We were never offered a refill or asked how our food was. She stood in the corner and chatted with her friends most of the time and then disappeared. Food was alright. Although, one person in our party ordered an seared tuna salad and there were huge round balls of Wasabi hidden throughout the salad that someone carelessly just smacked on. All its issues really comes down to such a crappy staff. Definietly will not be back. read more

This place is a joke. Of all the times I've been here the service has been consistently awful... Wait staff slow and untrained. LONG wait for food. This place needs new management. read more

Just.../no. Started off bad from the beginning and went downhill, sadly. It's Saturday night, busy, I get it. Walked in, stood right in front of the podium to check in. My two teenage girls went straight to the bathroom so I stood by myself. Enter two families/parties behind me who are asked for their names and how many in their party as I'm ignored. Finally, I say, "excuse me but I believe I was here first and have been standing here." She looks at me and without acknowledgement that she just put others ahead of me asks for my name and tells me there will be a 25 minute wait. No, don't think so. Lucky for me my girls came in while I parked the car and put their name on the list. We were seated rather quickly because of this. We order chicken lettuce wraps as appetizer. They came out in a reasonable time and were delicious. However, we had to get up and find our server to ask for appetizer plates after attempting to eat juicy messy lettuce wraps over a napkin. I don't recommend it. I order ribeye with side of asparagus and side of Brussels sprouts and abportobello mushroom asparagus starter salad with NO CRANBERRIES AND NO PEPITAS. Going low carb. Salad and dinner arrives at the same time (weird) and I'm given a steak (overcooked - definitely not medium), asparagus and a friggin plain dried out overcooked baked potato! Had to send it back because I definitely cannot eat a starchy dry baked potato (if I'm going to eat it, it's going to at least have a little butter). While waiting for that, I start on my salad, no cranberries and dressing on side as ordered but PEPITAS all over the place. I spent the next several minutes while waiting for my dinner with the right sides picking out pepita seeds. I didn't want to send that back also. The girls received their spaghetti and meatballs and chicken Alfredo without incident, thank goodness. In the end, the food was okay, our server Brian tried (he even noticed I had a mountain of PEPITAS on the side of my plate and said he told them to HOLD them, but they didn't). We didn't get a water refill (the only thing we were drinking since we cut out sugary drinks). In the end, this place is mediocre at best and perhaps new management or serious training could help whip this place into shape. Attention to details matters in this industry. 2 stars is the absolute best I could give this BJ's. The worst BJ's location I've been to which is sad because I actually live nearby this one. Probably will not be back - this is my 2nd time here with similar outcome. read more

Food was great service was super good from the waiter then a food runner comes to the table...... who has this who has that. We may be old school in this respect but it is nice when the waiter is the one bringing the food and checking the accuracy of the order. read more

Don't eat here. My family and I came around 9pm and it took 15 minutes to be sat - not that bad. Once we sat down we ordered the ahi poke which was basically saturated in soy sauce and it looked like they chopped up avocados and threw them on the plate. We also ordered their Hawaiian mahi mahi and jambalaya. The food took awhile and when it finally came it was extremely dried out, bland and smelled like fish. I returned the food because it was inedible. Worst experience I've ever had at BJs and am thankful I don't live in the area. read more

BJ's Restaurant & Brewhouse - Worst mahi mahi I've ever seen. The rice and what seems to be veggies is brown because it's saturated in soy sauce - Pizza Near Me - Salinas, California

Bad service! Noodles on chicken Alfredo were hard.. got the wrong drink. Asked for a water waited 20 minutes just for the water.. bad server took forever to attend us really bad service will not be going there again asked for pizookies and were never brought out read more

We had high expectations but as soon as we entered there was nobody to greet us. Waited 15 minutes to be seated and once seated waited 15 more. At our table the waiter was rude, acting very impolite and without care. His name is Gerald. He rushed us and never even smiled. Most importantly the food was made without care. The pasta was dry and the meat was salty. Felt as if they did not want us there. Would not come back again after several times of repeated bad service and food. read more

My daughter and her 3 friends went to BJ's tonight. What a nightmare! The ordeal lasted from 7:30 to 11:00pm. It took one hour to get burgers. They had at least three different servers. Most of them were rude. It seemed as if the staff forgot about their table for a while. But, finally,the food came and there was HAIR in one dinner and a desert!!. The wait staff responded to this problem with,"Well WHY didn't YOU tell us?" The manager offered little relief, first, he had to go talk to the server, then he came back and argued with the guests about whether or not there was a hair and then he apoligized. Made them pay for it anyway. DISGUSTING read more

I have been to BJ's a few times with mixed opinions. The last time may very well have been my last. We went for burgers.. We are kinda picky eaters so both burgers were ordered plain and well done. One was nearly raw and both were cooked in onions. We sent them back. They recooked but the cook came out an basically chastised me about how they were ordered. Stated that this particular burger is ALWAYS cooked wit onions. No mention of that on the menu. Never got them that way before. Service is slow. The wait staff seldom writes down what you want. Lost of people seem to be there to work but service is still slow. read more

the ahi tuna salad is great, with a glass of wine your good to go one time I ordered the salad by phone and was late picking it up, they made me another one so it would be fresh. good service, the tuna salad is the best a little pricey but what isn't. read more

Went here last night with my husband and my sister and her boyfriend. They arrived before us and got their name on the list and we're told 15 to 20 minutes. At 45 minutes they started handing out free slices of pizza. The total wait ended up being an hour. Our server was on the refills but the food was cold and not too good. Overly priced for the long wait and gross food. read more

This place is really good..i really enjoy their chicken sandwiches and their deep dish pizzas. Nothing like the proper deep dish chicago style but closest thing to it. And they kinda have a nice collection of beers and theyre clean. So i like going there a lot read more

Hands down the worst BJs I have ever been to. Ordered the Roast Beef Dip with skinny fries and a side salad. The food came out literally 5 minutes later. No salad. I said wow that was fast and the server says yeah, they messed up on someone else's that ordered the same thing so you got their food. Gross! And the salad came behind. Fries were stone cold and the bread was hard as a rock. I complained politely, no discount or apology. Just an $18 tab. Won't be back. read more

My lord the service is slow. Fries were cold. Took 30 mins to get a beer. Go else where or stay home and cook. 2 hours and the cookie never arrived. Sad place and terrible management. read more