Dining Out

Robin J. Stein, Enjoy!

BURBANK -- Who says chain restaurants have to be bland and

uninspiring? BJ’s Restaurant and Brewery in Burbank turns that old canard

on its head with a wide-ranging menu and a “more is more” attitude.

The restaurant, the 23rd in this West Coast chain, takes over the

space of the late Bobby McGee’s in downtown Burbank. The place has had a

facelift and now features orange walls and a massive bar that has as its

centerpiece a giant TV screen showing not one but four separate sporting

events at once.

When it comes to food, BJ’s is just as over the top. Appetizers,

including usual suspects buffalo wings, nachos and potato skins, are

pig-out-sized monuments to excess.

Opting for moderation, we chose the bruschetta, six slices of toasted

french bread topped with chopped tomatoes, onion and basil in balsamic

vinegar and parmesan cheese. We scarfed down every morsel of this

flavorful combination of crunch and tang.

Thus fortified, we strode boldly into BJ’s extensive menu from which

choices run from barbecued chicken chopped salad on the light side to

ravioli with creamy tomato sauce and all the way to hardcore entrees like

baby back ribs and steak Sicilian, a New York steak topped with Italian

bread crumbs.

I decided to steer a middle course and check out what BJ’s touts as

its “famous deep dish pizza,” choosing the veggie rendition.

The Chicago-style pie was loaded with fresh-tasting tomatoes,

mushrooms, black olives and green peppers that still packed a nice

crunch.

While BJ’s pizza’s won’t make anyone forget the windy city, mine was

about as good as any you’re likely to find this far from Lake Michigan.

My more carnivorous husband went for the grilled roast beef sandwich,

a meaty marvel of juicy sliced beef piled with grilled onions, tomato and

cheddar. It came with some tastily seasoned wedge fries and a side of

sinus-clearing horseradish that really perked up the proceedings.

Dessert seemed like overkill, but we plunged on without regard to

waistline or gluttony. We chose another of BJ’s self-proclaimed “famous”

offerings called, well, a “Pizookie.” This confection consists of a small

mountain of vanilla bean ice cream resting atop a large cookie, in our

case, white chocolate chip macadamia nut. It’s so rich and so sweet, you

know you’re going to hate yourself in the morning, but you keep shoveling

it in anyway.

After that belly-buster of a meal we walked -- OK, waddled -- out to

the parking lot and the roar of the freeway, vowing to return and work

our way through the rest of that massive menu.

Besides, the Pizookie comes with two other kinds of cookies we haven’t

even tried yet.

IF YOU GO:

WHERE: BJ’s Restaurant and Brewery, 107 S. 1st St., Burbank.

PHONE: 557-0881.

LIQUOR: Full bar.

HOURS: 11 a.m. to midnight, Sunday through Thursday; 11 a.m. to 1

a.m., Friday and Saturday.

PRICES: Entrees $5.95 to $15.95, appetizers; $5.35 to $9.95.

Today’s guest restaurant critic is Robin J. Stein, a writer living in

Glendale.