JOSH FIELDS/Arizona Summer Wildcat Psychology junior Anika Arroyo serves her guests at BJ's Restaurant and Brewhouse a Pizookie dessert Sunday night. BJ's is open for lunch and dinner weekly at 4270 N. Oracle Rd.

Before I tell you what I think about BJ's Restaurant and Brewhouse, let me explain how I feel about chain restaurants in general, because it's only fair that I present all biases right away. Lest anyone accuse me of simply liking BJ's because of the unobtrusive decor that resembles a poster store more than a restaurant, or the myriad of televisions tuned to a number of sporting events, or the inoffensive menu that caters to everyone, it should be known that I despise chain restaurants.

Mostly on principal, I must admit, I refuse to eat at any restaurant with mega-sized anything (unless said mega-sized items are cheaper during so-called happy hours). As the daughter of a small-business owner, I see chain-anythings as the death of independence. Growing up in Tucson, I've seen too many Mom and Pop's go out of business, left in the wake of some new Great Big Thing moving in to town.

All of that aside, in the first two weeks that BJ's Restaurant and Brewhouse was open, I ate there three times. I promise it wasn't just the unobtrusive decor, or the myriad of televisions, or the menu that pleases everyone that lead me to do so. (Nor was it the ability to come up with an idea or two of what "BJ" actually stand for.) In fact, lest anyone accuse me of being unbiased, I wanted to dislike BJ's from the moment I saw the massive, 266-patron-holding walls being erected. However, the outstanding combination of an extremely large, friendly staff, and delicious food left me feeling satisfied and, momentarily, unable to find fault.

From the outside, BJ's is a huge, imposing building with dark brick walls that looks like it could be a set in any one of the comic-book movies coming out this summer. On the inside, it's a whole different story.

Upon walking inside, my friend and I were greeted by the largest staff of happy people that I've ever seen. It wasn't phony, either. Hoping to catch at least one server moping in the corner, I searched the faces of every member of the very busy staff for any sign of unhappiness or general restaurant fatigue, but to no avail. These people actually seemed happy to be waiting tables, which seems almost out of place in a city full of angry waiters.

My most recent visit to BJ's happened to coincide with the NBA finals. As we followed one of several delightfully perky hostesses to a table as far away from the bar as possible, I noticed that if BJ's had at least one problem, it was noise. The cheers coming from the bar area spilled over into the rest of the restaurant with almost no damper. Our table also happened to be directly behind a party of 30. Already, I was gearing up for disappointment. I tend to jump too quickly to negativity, but I'm working on it.

As our waitress handed us menus, pointed out the specials and told us how the beer menu was arranged (lightest to darkest), I realized that I didn't know anyone that would be unable to find something to eat at BJ's. Featuring salads, hamburgers, sandwiches, deep dish pizzas, pasta, stuffed potatoes, comfort foods, and several entrees as well as deserts, BJ's Restaurant and Brewhouse seems to have taken the menus from every other chain restaurant and edited them into one super menu. While I don't believe that more is always better, it does come in handy when dining with finicky parents or, in this case, a cranky, tired, not-too-hungry friend.

We decided to start with the Sweet Onion Strings ($6.25) and something to drink. Because we couldn't justify going to a brewhouse without trying the brews, my partner chose a pint of the Jeremiah Red Ale ($3.75) and I went with the Berryburst Cider ($4.25). Although a tad greasy, the Onion Strings were sweet, but not too sweet, and balanced nicely by the very peppery Sante Fe sauce and ranch dressing that we quickly dubbed best ranch dressing in town. The Red Ale was a true Irish-style ale with a strong full-bodied flavor. With 7.1 percent alcohol by volume, this brew made my cider seem like a wine cooler.

For dinner, I decided on the mini 6" spinach and artichoke pizza ($7.50) with cream cheese, mozzarella and basil. The small size was misleading; this pizza was over an inch in height and gigantic in flavor. The large pieces of artichoke complimented the texture of the rich cream cheese perfectly. After reading the menu description of the 24-30 ounce giant stuffed potatoes, my guest decided on the "Classic" Baked Potato (read: no frills) with cheese and bacon ($4.75 for the potato, $1.25 for the fixings). Maybe the menu was misleading, but we expected a giant potato. Instead, we got a medium-sized baked potato with a spoonful of bacon crumbled on top of a sprinkle of cheese. It was just a potato.

Not to be dissuaded, we decided to try and figure out exactly what a Pizookie was. A restaurant trademark, we liked the sound of a fresh-baked cookie topped with vanilla ice cream. When it became clear to our waitress that we were having trouble deciding on the type of cookie, she suggested we get two different halves. Our half chocolate chunk and half peanut butter cookie arrived soon after and it wasn't long before we had eaten the entire gooey, warm piece of Heaven.

While our meal had moments of disappointment, our overall experience was great. The menu appeals to just about everyone and the beers set new standards for micro-brews in Tucson. As upsetting as it may be, this chain restaurant has what it takes to become a Tucson fixture, and it kills me to say that.

BJ's Restaurant and Brewhouse is located at 4270 N. Oracle Road, and is open 11 a.m. to 12 a.m. Sunday-Thursday and 11 a.m. to 1 a.m. Friday and Saturday. For more information, call 690-1900.