Dive Brief:
- BJ’s Restaurant & Brewhouse will add a roster of reworked chicken sandwiches to its core menu beginning Thursday, according to a press release. .
- The sandwiches, which come in three basic builds but have more sauce and flavor varieties, are part of the casual chain’s multi-year focus on menu innovation, which is a major component of its revival effort.
- BJ’s brand turnaround has resulted in several quarters of same-restaurant sales growth, with a 2.4% increase in Q1 2026, driven primarily by increased traffic, according to its earnings release.
Dive Insight:
Chicken sandwiches can help casual dining brands take share from QSR combo meals. Chili’s, for example, upgraded its chicken sandwich lineup in an effort to broaden its menu appeal in April.
A range of flavors and options gives BJ’s the ability to appeal to more consumers across flavor niches without necessarily adding many SKUs or new processes.
Keeping the menu from becoming too complex has been an important element in BJ’s strategy. CEO Lyle Tick said the brand closed out 2025 with a net reduction of six menu items and four SKUs on the chain’s Q4 earnings call in February.
The chain’s initial menu overhaul focused on improving its pizzas and Pizookies — a cookie baked in a pizz-sized dish — CEO Lyle Tick told Restaurant Dive last year.
The chicken sandwich lineup has been in the works for some time. On the brand’s Q1 earnings call in May, Tick told analysts that changes to the chicken sandwiches “have shown a clear positive impact in tests, improving the chicken sandwich and overall handheld performance.”
The brand is including its Original Chicken Sandwich in the $13 Pizookie Meal Deal, according to the press release. Tick said in May that inclusion in the PMD was meant to mimic the success of the chain’s Smashburger addition, which started exclusively as a component of the $13 meal deal before “it became very popular and people wanted it, and then it became a mainstay on the menu.”
The Original Chicken Sandwich is positioned to serve as more of an entry point to the category within the PMD that can entice guests on future visits to try the more premium sandwich builds.
