BJ’s Restaurants, founded in 1978, keeps logging higher traffic and same-store sales in 2025, but that’s only part of the story. The California brand has also made some drastic changes to its deep-dish pizza in response to customer complaints about the crust.
For the second quarter of this year, BJ’s, which has about 25 locations in California, reported a 1.7% rise in same-store sales and a 3.2% year-over-year sales increase along with 2.7% more traffic. Q3’s improvement was less dramatic but still better than some of the larger pizza chains—the brand’s same-store sales rose by 0.5%, including 1.5% comp growth in the quarter’s last two months.
That marks five straight quarters of sales and traffic growth for the California-based brand.
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“In the last six-plus weeks, our traffic is tracking at [an increase of] roughly 3.5% year-on-year, close to 9% on a two-year basis, and outperforming Black Box casual dining benchmarks again,” Lyle Tick, BJ’s CEO and president, told investors in a recent earnings call for Q3.
But customers weren’t altogether happy with the food. When Lyle, previously president and chief concept officer, took over the CEO position in early June, he immediately rolled out several initiatives based on declines in guest satisfaction scores. Prior to that, he’d already hinted at the changes that were in the works during a May earnings call. “We’ve dissected the feedback, and our culinary team has renovated the product from the ground up,” he said.
For one thing, customers griped that the deep-dish crust was too doughy and inconsistent. “That led us to do a complete ground-up rebuild of the pizza,” Tick said. “We went on pizza safaris. We looked at what’s trending in pizza, what makes a great…deep-dish pizza.”
The result: From dough to toppings, the company said it has now created a “legendary remix” inspired by New York, Chicago and Detroit styles. “We’ve taken the best from New York’s water, Chicago’s deep dish and Detroit’s signature crunch and remixed them into a California original,” Tick said in a press release earlier this month.
BJ’s new dough is pan-pressed by hand and proofed for more than 12 hours “for the crispier bite and airy interior.” It’s made with unbleached flour and New York water, “drawing inspiration from the caramelized edge that delivers a Detroit-style crunch while staying true to BJ’s deep-dish roots.”
BJ’s also now uses whole-milk mozzarella, fresh-pack tomato sauce, hand-crumbled Italian sausage that’s roasted in house, and cup-and-char pepperoni.
Meanwhile, BJ’s has shifted its marketing focus to social media, influencers and word of mouth. Earned media impressions shot up by 300% this last quarter, and the brand’s unique Pizookie Meal Deal proved to be a hit as a $13 value offer. It’s anchored by the personal-sized Pizookie dessert, which can be paired with a choice of eight entrees, such as a mini-deep dish pie and salad, chicken Parm or the All-American Smash Burger.
Customers aren’t necessarily spending more at BJ’s Restaurants, but they’re coming in more often, Lyle said. “In Q3 and through October, our growth has continued to be traffic-driven, with broadly flat to slightly down average check. Underlying this performance is an increase in frequency that is more than making up for any check compression.” He attributed that to the Pizookie Meal Deal and growth in late-night business.
