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BJ'S Restaurants, Inc. Opens In San Rafael, California

HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif., Nov. 3, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- BJ's Restaurants, Inc. (Nasdaq:BJRI) today announced the opening of its newest restaurant in San Rafael, California, on November 2, 2009. The new BJ's Restaurant & Brewhouse is located at the intersection of Freitas Parkway and the 101 Freeway in the heart of Marin County at the Northgate Mall. The restaurant is approximately 8,500 square feet and contains seating for approximately 270 guests and features BJ's extensive menu, including BJ's signature deep-dish pizza, award-winning handcrafted beer and famous Pizookie(R) dessert. BJ's highly detailed, contemporary decor and unique video statement, including several high definition flat panel televisions, creates a high energy, fun and family-friendly dining environment for everyone to enjoy. 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 very excited to open our 91st restaurant in San Rafael, California," commented Jerry Deitchle, Chairman and CEO. "The new San Rafael restaurant is our first restaurant in Marin County and our eighth restaurant in the San Francisco Bay Area, where the BJ's restaurant concept enjoys some of its highest sales volumes. Opening day sales for San Rafael were very strong. We currently expect that our 10th and final new restaurant opening for 2009 will occur in Hurst, Texas in mid-November. As a result, we expect to successfully achieve our previously stated capacity growth goal for 2009. We currently plan to open as many as 10 to 11 new restaurants during 2010." Investors are reminded that the actual number and timing of new restaurant openings for any given period is subject to a number of factors outside of the Company's control, including weather conditions and factors under the control of landlords, contractors and regulatory/licensing authorities.

BJ's Restaurants, Inc. currently owns and operates 91 casual dining restaurants under the BJ's Restaurant & Brewery, BJ's Restaurant & Brewhouse or BJ's Pizza & 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. Quality, flavor, value, moderate prices and sincere service remain distinct attributes of the BJ's experience. The Company operates several microbreweries which produce and distribute BJ's critically acclaimed handcrafted beers throughout the chain. The Company's restaurants are located in California (49), Texas (15), Arizona (5), Colorado (3), Oregon (2), Nevada (3), Florida (5), Ohio (2), Oklahoma (2), Kentucky (1), Indiana (1), Louisiana (1) and Washington (2). The Company also has a licensing interest in a BJ's restaurant in Lahaina, Maui. 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. Such statements include, but are not limited to, those regarding expected comparable restaurant sales growth in future periods, those regarding the effect of new sales-building initiatives, as well as those regarding the number of restaurants expected to be opened in future periods and the timing and location of such openings. These "forward-looking" statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause actual results to be materially different from those projected or anticipated. Factors that might cause such differences include, but are not limited to: (i) the effect of recent credit and equity market disruptions on our ability to finance our continued expansion on acceptable terms, (ii) our ability to manage an increasing number of new restaurant openings, (iii) construction delays, (iv) labor shortages, (v) minimum wage increases, (vi) food quality and health concerns, (vii) factors that impact California, where 49 of our current 91 restaurants are located, (viii) restaurant and brewery industry competition, (ix) impact of certain brewery business considerations, including without limitation, dependence upon suppliers and related hazards, (x) consumer spending trends in general for casual dining occasions, (xi) potential uninsured losses and liabilities, (xii) fluctuating commodity costs and availability of food in general and certain raw materials related to the brewing of our handcrafted beers and energy, (xiii) trademark and servicemark risks, (xiv) government regulations, (xv) licensing costs, (xvi) beer and liquor regulations, (xvii) loss of key personnel, (xviii) inability to secure acceptable sites, (xix) limitations on insurance coverage, (xx) legal proceedings, (xxi) other general economic and regulatory conditions and requirements, (xxii) the success of our key sales-building and related operational initiatives and (xxiii) numerous other matters discussed in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. 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.

CONTACT: BJ's Restaurants, Inc.
Greg Levin
(714) 500-2400.