Brewhouse

Just wanted to start this post with a cute gift I received from a former student for Valentine's Day. It's a little love bug rose flower pot.

Last weekend Justin and I went out to dinner at BJ's Brewhouse. They're a chain that has a variety of gluten free selections. The GF options are listed on the regular menu or you can request your own allergen menu. The servers seemed pretty knowledgeable about GF because they are a mainstream part of the menu.

I started with their very own Berry Burst Cider. It's a little sweet for my liking to drink on a regular occasion, but I can guarantee you anytime we go here I will order it. It's unique and it's different from the usual options of restaurants: Woodchuck and Redbridge. It almost tastes like wine because of its luscious berry flavor.

Justin and I decided to split everything. We started with the Italian Market Salad, which was a tasteful choice. It is filled with fresh mozzarella, salami, artichokes, garbanzo beans, red onions, tomatoes, red peppers, cucumbers, olives, and a delicious vinaigrette. I definitely want to try to replicate my own version of this at home.

Their pizza is okay; the crust is very thin and lacks flavor. Justin said it reminded him of Tony's frozen pizzas. You know those pizzas you can buy for 99 cents. While the crust fails to impress, the toppings are delicious. We picked sausage, pepperoni, mushrooms, and onions. The only bad part is each topping costs $1.00 extra. You may recall a very long time ago, we ordered a to-go pizza from BJ's without ever having had the restaurant experience: look here. Back then I wasn't overly impressed with their pizza but appreciated that the restaurant offered a GF option because there still aren't that many pizza places around here with GF options.

So let me say this: the best part of BJ's is their GF Chocolate Chip Pizookie. If you're GF, you're probably used to your dessert options at chain restaurants being only ice cream. This pizza-cookie is served warmed and tastes on point. I even asked myself, is this really gluten free?

All four of these components make me love BJ's Brewhouse. 

GF drink + delicious flavorful salad + GF pizza + AMAZING GF dessert = a recommended restaurant

They also offer other GF options for dinner if you're not in the mood for salad or pizza. Heck, I would go just for the cider and the dessert! 

Now they just need to brew their own GF beer...one can dream, right?