Irish Dinner and Beer Tasting at BJ's

BJ's Restaurant and Brewhouse is having an Irish Dinner and Beer Tasting featuring a tribute to the 250th anniversary of Guinness. Six courses are paired with Harp, Smithwick's, Guinness and several of BJ's in-house brews (beers served at Texas locations are contract brewed at Saint Arnold Brewery in Houston). The dinner event is actually occurring at various BJ's locations around the country during the months of October and November. The Texas locations and dates are:

November 3rd - Plano
November 4th - Addison
November 5th - Lewisville
November 10th - Houston (Willowbrook)
November 11th - Austin (Sunset Valley)
November 17th - Arlington
November 19th - Houston (Clear Lake)

Click on the image to the right to see the full menu with beer pairings for each course. The cost is $30 per person which is a reasonable amount compared to other beer dinners that have have occurred lately.

I've been to several different BJ's locations and I've always enjoyed their beer and and the food. However, their locations are typically out in the suburbs and are usually filled with young families and its not uncommon to have a long wait. A quick glance around the restaurant and you'll also notice that the majority of customers are not drinking beer (at least when I've been to them). They seem to be marketing themselves as a casual family restaurant that also happens to have house beers and not as a "brewpub restaurant". That's not necessarily a bad thing, I just wish Houston had a few actual, real brewpubs.