BJ’s Restaurants Opens in Winston Salem, North Carolina

HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif., March 16, 2016 -- BJ's Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI) today announced the opening of its third new restaurant this year and its first restaurant in the state of North Carolina.  The new BJ's Restaurant opened on Monday, March 14, 2016 at the Hanes Mall in Winston Salem, North Carolina.  The restaurant is approximately 7,300 square feet, seats approximately 225 guests and features BJ’s extensive menu, including BJ's signature deep-dish pizza, award-winning handcrafted beer and famous Pizookie® dessert.  BJ’s unique, contemporary décor provides the perfect environment for all dining occasions.  Hours of operation are from 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 midnight Sunday through Thursday, and 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 a.m. Friday and Saturday.

“We are excited to open our first restaurant in North Carolina," commented Greg Trojan, President and CEO.  “We plan to open another restaurant in North Carolina later this year in Cary, as we continue our national expansion.  We remain on target to open 18 to 19 new restaurants this year and our next new restaurant is scheduled to open at the end of this month in Lafayette, Louisiana at the Ambassador Town Center.”

BJ's Restaurants, Inc. currently owns and operates 173 casual dining restaurants under the BJ's Restaurant & Brewery®, BJ's Restaurant & Brewhouse®, BJ's Pizza & Grill® and BJ’s Grill® brand names.  BJ's Restaurants offer an innovative and broad menu featuring award-winning, signature deep-dish pizza complemented with generously portioned salads, appetizers, sandwiches, soups, pastas, entrees and desserts, including the Pizookie® dessert.  Quality, flavor, value, moderate prices and sincere service remain distinct attributes of the BJ’s experience.  All restaurants feature BJ’s critically acclaimed proprietary craft beers, which are produced at several of the Company’s restaurant and brewery locations and independent third party craft brewers.  The Company's restaurants are located in the 23 states of Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and Washington. Visit BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. on the Web at http://www.bjsrestaurants.com.

Certain statements in the preceding paragraphs and all other statements that are not purely historical constitute “forward-looking” statements for purposes of the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and are intended to be covered by the safe harbors created thereby.  The “forward-looking” statements contained in this press release are based on current assumptions and expectations and BJ's Restaurants, Inc. undertakes no obligation to update or alter its “forward-looking” statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.  Investors are referred to the full discussion of risks and uncertainties associated with forward-looking statements contained in the Company’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its recent reports on Forms 10-K, 10-Q and 8-K.

For further information, please contact Greg Levin of BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. at (714) 500-2400 or JCIR at (212) 835-8500 or at [email protected].