Cultural Analysis of BJ's Restaurants and Brewhouse

Social Practices:

BJ's is a casual sit-down, fast-dining restaurant. The sit-down restaurants' scale is above Red Robin and on par with the Cheesecake Factory. 

• The Company

  • The chain of restaurants has the purpose of making 'BJ's your home away from home.'

    • They are creating a comfortable high-energy environment for both their employees and customers.

• Customers

  • The restaurant is more suited for larger groups than a date night, but it is not limited to those types of customers. 

    • The atmosphere of the restaurant is loud and friendly. 

    • People would not go for a quiet, peaceful dining experience.

    • Instead, people go to enjoy the company of friends and family where they can converse loudly.

  • BJ's is also a brewhouse and has an active bar, meaning that it interests sport-watchers.

    • It can be a dependable place to get a decent drink and food while watching the game.

  • People also go to BJ's for the dependability of the routine and norms of the restaurant experience, food, and atmosphere. 

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Communication Strategies 

• As an organization, BJ utilizes various communication modes to emphasize its cuisine. 

  •  Social media content that highlights famous Pizookie, pizza, and beer. 

• However, there seems to be little emphasis on the social scene of its restaurants. 

  • Not emphasizing the family and friends atmosphere that makes it an attractive location for customers to dine in.

• There does not seem to be a lot of traditional media advertising for BJ's restaurants. 

  • It may be because it is a well-established restaurant chain with its desired audience.

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Ways of Acting 

• Casual, Fast Dining Experience 

  • BJ is not a fancy sit-down restaurant since it serves casual everyday family and friends. 

    • It can be the location for weeknight outings or special occasions like dates, celebrations, and sports viewing hangouts. 

    • The atmosphere allows customers to be loud and enjoy the company of their friends and family. 

• Family-Friend Oriented 

  • BJ's are usually large restaurants that offer sitting for larger groups. 

  • People do not necessarily go to world-class cuisine; though it is excellent and enjoyable, it attracts customers to return because it is fun energy. 

    • It is more of a place to enjoy the company of one's friends and family without the stress of being too loud, annoying, or overstaying your welcome.

    • It is also a perfect spot to watch sports games with friends due to oud environment that promotes cheering.

Values 

• BJ's team takes pride in creating an unforgettable guest experience and wants the customers to return time and time again. 

• BJ values a culture that begins within its team and is committed to contributing to a high-performing, comfortable and inclusive family environment based on the organization's larger cultural values.

  • CRAFT

    • Connection, Respect, Advancement, Fun, Trust

      • These values illustrate how BJ's is centered on developing a restaurant to positively serve its,s guests and employees. 

 

My Opinion on Cultural Criticism:

• First, cultural criticism to study BJ Restaurant and Brewhouse is helpful since it can showcase the structural elements of the culture and how it contributes to the success or failure of the establishment.

• Second, the analysis for this restaurant chain would be better by interviewing or surveying frequent BJ guests to better explain the chain's cultural elements from a guest perspective. 

  • I have only been to BJ's once, quite a few years ago, and I do not have the best guest understanding of the restaurant. 

• Third, the method helps examine the organization's values and how it translates to the environment and behaviors of its people. 

  • However, I cannot attest to the cultural norms or traditions of customers and team members beyond the given information on the restaurant's website. 

• Ultimately, I do not feel that cultural criticism is the best approach to studying restaurants like BJ's. That may be due to my limited understanding of specific information about BJ's. I believe a genre analysis of BJ's and other types of similar restaurants would be more valuable to analyze the trends, similarities, and differences between these establishments. Then, one would discern what makes one of the places more liked or favored than the rest.