Profile: BJ's Restaurants, Inc. (BJRI.O)

BJ's Restaurants, Inc. (BJ's), incorporated on October 1, 1991, owned and operated 82 restaurants located in California, Texas, Arizona, Colorado, Oregon, Nevada, Florida, Ohio, Oklahoma, Kentucky, Indiana, Louisiana and Washington during the fiscal year ended December 30, 2008 (fiscal 2008). A licensee also operates one restaurant in Lahaina, Maui. Each of the Company's restaurants is operated either as a BJ's Restaurant & Brewery that includes a brewery within the restaurant, a BJ's Restaurant & Brewhouse that receives the beer BJ's sells from one of its breweries or an approved third-party craft brewer of its recipe beers (contract brewer), or a BJ's Pizza & Grill, which is a smaller format, full-service restaurant. The Company's menu features the BJ's deep-dish pizza, its own handcrafted beers, as well as a selection of appetizers, entrees, pastas, sandwiches, specialty salads and desserts, including the Pizookie dessert. The Company's BJ's Restaurant & Brewery restaurants feature in-house brewing facilities, where BJ's handcrafted beers are produced for many of BJ’s restaurants.

The Company's core product is its deep-dish pizza. Approximately 17% of the Company’s total restaurant sales during fiscal 2008, consisted of deep-dish pizza. BJ’s version of deep-dish pizza is light, with a crispy, bakery-type crust. The pizza is topped with meats, fresh vegetables and a blend of five cheeses. In addition to its deep-dish pizza, BJ's has a menu with approximately 100 items featuring appetizers, specialty salads, soups, pastas, sandwiches, entrees and desserts. Its other menu offerings include Santa Fe Spring Rolls, BBQ Chicken Chopped Salad, Blackened New York Steak, Cajun Pasta, Halibut Fish Tacos, Balsamic Glazed Chicken and BJ’s Pizookie dessert. This menu allows BJ's to appeal to a range of guests and dining occasions, including everyday lunch and dinner, special occasions and late-night business.

All of its restaurants feature the Company's handcrafted beers. Approximately 11% of its total restaurant sales in fiscal 2008, consisted of its handcrafted beers. BJ’s offers seven standard beers along with a rotating selection of seasonal handcrafted specialty beers. It also offers guest handcrafted beers on its draft beer taps, as well as a selection of bottled Belgian beers. The majority of its beers are produced at its own in-house breweries located in some of the Company’s locations and then distributed to other of its locations in a hub and spoke fashion. BJ’s also has contract brewing arrangements with third-party craft brewers to produce its handcrafted beers under its recipes. During fiscal 2008, the Company’s breweries produced approximately 33,000 barrels of beer, and contract brewers produced approximately 13,000 barrels of beer for distribution to its restaurants. It also offers a selection of wines and spirits for sale in its restaurants. Alcoholic beverages, including its handcrafted beers, represented approximately 22% of its total restaurant sales in fiscal 2008.