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Finally snagged a BJ's curbside, but....

September 22, 2018 06:37PM
I've always taken the pictures at home, although I have to say I am only about 10 minutes away.
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September 23, 2018 08:41AM
I've also taken pics on my car seat or the side passenger seat when it's too windy. Don't want extra foreign bits flying into my food. And I own a PT cruiser convertible to give you an idea what the seat sizes are. Sometimes when my adult son is with me, I make him volunteer his lap to take pics.
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September 23, 2018 09:08AM
I've only had the opportunity do food shops way away from home and a Chihuahua as my copilot.
Shooting a picture in the car was the only option.

This is what I did. I found some place where I could tie up the dog or let him run. If I didn't; he would've eaten my meal.
Then I took multiple pictures from every single angle I could imagine, while trying to keep an eye on my favorite brat of all time.

I will admit, my strategy was hit or miss. I did always end up with accepted pictures and not a squished dog.

I might add...it made sure the dog didn't eat my POV.

YMMV

Live your life in such a way that when your feet hit the floor in the morning; the devil shudders...And yells OH #%*+! SHE'S AWAKE!
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September 23, 2018 12:49PM
If you ever go on Monday and get the pizza, do NOT get deep dish unless you LOVE bready pizza. I do like a thicker crust or pan pizza, but not theirs. I mean, it's about twice as thick as Pizza Hut's deep dish and the crust is not nearly as tasty (must be missing a lot of the grease, LOL). The Tavern cut is thin and crisp.
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September 23, 2018 08:39PM
@JASFLALMT wrote:

If you ever go on Monday and get the pizza, do NOT get deep dish unless you LOVE bready pizza. I do like a thicker crust or pan pizza, but not theirs. I mean, it's about twice as thick as Pizza Hut's deep dish and the crust is not nearly as tasty (must be missing a lot of the grease, LOL). The Tavern cut is thin and crisp.

Also my location told me I could ask for any of combos they have on the really too thick bread crust and have it on the Tavern cut. This time I ordered the regular pizza with the Mediterranean or Greek? Pizza which is no longer on the local menu but they did make it for me. Next time I will ask for Tavern cut...this was I think about 4x the dough in a regular pizza...and it was too salty too. They had a very salty pesto on it that I do not remember from the Mediterranean when it was on the menu. I love pesto but instead of basil pesto this was salt pesto!
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September 23, 2018 09:29PM
@sandyf wrote:

I love pesto but instead of basil pesto this was salt pesto!

Sounds awful. I don't use much salt at all, so a lot of what I get at restaurants is too salty for me. I'll stay away from that!

I hate really thin crust on my pizza. I like it kind of medium-thick, like Pizza Hut's pan pizza. Although LIttle Caesar's deep-dish pizza is pretty good, depending on the location. If you can get real Sicilian pizza (which has a thick, bread-dough like crust) from a real Italian pizzeria that knows how to make it, it's delicious. But I'd never order it from a commercial chain place. My grandfather used to make the best Sicilian pizza.... I'm getting hungry thinking about it!

I learn something new every day, but not everyday!
I've learned to never trust spell-check or my phone's auto-fill feature.
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September 23, 2018 10:16PM
My main problem with BJ's thick crust is that the amount of toppings-to-crust ratio is not good. Not enough cheese and other toppings at all, so it's like a really thick (3") bready crust with some sauce smeared on it and a few toppings.

I know that individual restaurants with chains can be vastly different. I haven't had the overly salty experience with our two local BJs restaurants, thank goodness! I don't like too much salt and hardly ever add it to food and cook with the bare minimum. It drives me crazy when people add salt without even tasting the food first.

On a side note: I love our local Carrabba's, but when I went to Arizona with my husband, we went there with a large group of people and the food was not great. Every single one of us though the food was way too salty. Very disappointing. Also, I have noticed that out of about 12-15 local Papa John's, only 2 of them have a pretty good pizza. The other ones are not very good at all. A couple of them add too much sauce and not enough cheese, and a few others somehow screw up the crust where it's either tough and chewy or doughy and undercooked. Vastly different experiences sometimes with chains!
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September 23, 2018 10:51PM
@JASFLALMT wrote:

My main problem with BJ's thick crust is that the amount of toppings-to-crust ratio is not good. Not enough cheese and other toppings at all, so it's like a really thick (3") bready crust with some sauce smeared on it and a few toppings.

That is the big problem with the super-thick crusts. You need lots of sauce, cheese, and toppings so that the taste is not just crust! And 3" is too thick; even a good Sicilian-style pizza is maybe 1" to 1 1/2" thick, but the crust isn't crispy except around the edges.

I hadn't had Papa John's pizza in years (we were boycotting them), but recently I had a couple of slices of a friend's. I didn't like it at all. The sauce wasn't very good. I'd rather have Domino's or Pizza Hut. I do like the garlicky sauce they give you, though!

I learn something new every day, but not everyday!
I've learned to never trust spell-check or my phone's auto-fill feature.
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September 24, 2018 12:16AM
I don't even know what's in the garlic sauce...I don't want to know.
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September 24, 2018 01:51AM
@JASFLALMT wrote:

I don't even know what's in the garlic sauce...I don't want to know.

LOL. I guess we should just enjoy it and not question too much!

I learn something new every day, but not everyday!
I've learned to never trust spell-check or my phone's auto-fill feature.
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September 24, 2018 04:04AM
I grew up in Brooklyn where I think the best pizza in the country was, at least based on the many cities I have had it in. The cheese stretched out at east 10 inches if you took a bite and then pulled the slice back away from your mouth, the crust was regular but the edge was yeast risen so it bumped up and tasted wonderful, the sauce had garlic and oregano in it and was not bland....Even the NY style pizza here in LA does not taste like the Brooklyn pizza in the narrow stores with a walk up window. One slice was huge. Even the Sicilian was great although I preferred the regular crust. It was loaded with cheese and the crust was always tossed to make it.
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September 26, 2018 09:33PM
I love NY style pizza. It's hard to find someone who makes good, authentic NY pizza. I love a big slice that covers the entire paper plate it is served on from those walk up windows. It's greasy, cheesy, saucey goodness.
Weirdly enough, there was a great NY style pizzeria in Chicago off Broadway. My husband and I were walking and saw it, stopped, and were amazed. NY style in a city known for it's thick crust.
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September 26, 2018 09:36PM
So I did a BJs yesterday (kind of sick of always getting pizza) and there weren't any specials, really,. We got the parmesan crusted chicken and it was really good, big enough for two people to share. Got some wings, side salads, turmeric cauliflower, and roasted Brussels sprouts. It came to $45 and some change but I had a $10 off rewards.
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October 02, 2018 02:33AM
Their appetizers are so good! Avocado egg rolls, roasted brussels sprouts, and the roasted beets n stuff are all very good!
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October 02, 2018 10:59AM
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October 04, 2018 01:33AM
You would know it... My very first BJ's shop, and the server forgot the fries that were supposed to come with the sandwiches! I was worried my shop wouldn't get accepted for lack of a side, but it did. I'm mad, though! LOL. We wanted the fries. Good thing the reimbursment covers most of the cost, or I'd really be p.o.'d!

I learn something new every day, but not everyday!
I've learned to never trust spell-check or my phone's auto-fill feature.
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October 14, 2018 03:49PM
It's probably a good thing since the fries are usually cold and limp on take out shops.
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October 16, 2018 01:57AM
If you are a fries lover the (Wed?) special of the fancy burger comes with unlimited fries. Eat fries to your hearts content...or maybe not your heart...your stomach though. After that avoid the bathroom scale for a few days.
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October 16, 2018 02:03AM
How do they give unlimited fries on takeout orders?
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October 16, 2018 07:56AM
I was referring to Birdie who mentioned a server so I thought that shop was not a take out.
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October 16, 2018 12:04PM
She did a takeout. If she was dining in and the plate came to the table with no fries it would have been an easy fix.
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October 16, 2018 01:54PM
I would still hope that they would give an extra container of fries to-go on unlimited fries night!!!!
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October 16, 2018 06:36PM
Not to change the subject but, Whole Foods has great pizza, and you can buy one slice which is huge. The crust is the right amount of bread, and not being tempted to eat more works. BJ's pizza just doesn't move me, either thick crust or thin....but, their double bone pork chop over mashed potato's is a winner.

Live consciously....
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October 16, 2018 06:53PM
@JASFLALMT wrote:

I would still hope that they would give an extra container of fries to-go on unlimited fries night!!!!

Maybe they would!! Ever try requesting that? It might depend on the local manager.
As to requesting a change inside the restaurant...this happens so infrequently to me it is not one of the items I remember about guidelines. There are some jobs that do not allow notifying the staff if something is missing. I guess I should put that info in my cheat sheet just in case. I got banned from this shop many years ago with another msc because they did not give me soup, which came with my meal, on a curbside. I contacted them and the manager, who happened to answer the phone when I called in, insisted on sending me a gift card for my trouble. I tried gently to turn it down but after he insisted again I felt another turn down by me would be a red flag. In any case it mostly transpired after my report was turned in. The msc decided I was outed and banned me from doing the shop again in any BJ's even tho the manager had no idea what I looked like. It is a longer more involved story but the gift card was the reason they said I was outed.
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October 17, 2018 02:55AM
No, I am not a big fries person...and I still think that on takeout shops they would end up cold, soggy and limp by the time I got home. When I am actually dining in at a restaurant and get a dish with fries, I always order them extra well done, unless it's on a shop that doesn't allow modifications like that due to skewing the timings. If that's the case I will get a substitution or just not eat them. I can't stand underdone fries!

I too got a gift card from a manager after a shop that made me and my husband ill (dine in). The MSC did not ban me, though. That's weird, right?
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October 19, 2018 02:06AM
Quick question on these shops....does the msc reimburse for tips on these shops(BJ's curbside)? I do not have access to the guidelines right now but I did not get reimbursed for my tip. Thanks
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October 19, 2018 02:14AM
Heck no, and that really irritates me.
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