Saying good-bye sucks.
BJ's: Home of the Pizookie
I certainly couldn’t wish my journalist buddy anything but good luck when she got a chance to move back to Colorado, where her family preferred to be. But I could invite her to a farewell lunch, just the two of us, to say those typical things about how we won’t lose touch.
Did she have a favorite venue here in Indianapolis that she’d miss? Not exactly … BJ’s Restaurant & Brewhouse is in both states, but why let a little detail like that stop us from enjoying lunch at this newest addition to Greenwood Park Mall? Besides, I believe I mentioned that “have a nice life’s” suck, so it seemed appropriate.
(Side note: My husband and I were very curious as they constructed this add-on, because it looked bigger than a restaurant but smaller than a retailer. So the day the sign BJ’s went up, we guessed it might be a massage parlor. Ba-da-bing! Yah, with initials like that, you can build your own jokes, too.)
They escorted us to a table across that enormous wooden floor, handed us the menus, and that’s where I blew it. I cracked under the pressure and actually ordered grilled salmon with a baked potato and side salad (because the soup of the day was broccoli, and I can’t at least pick the ranch dressing off of that). My friend ordered an enormous salad on her tab, along with a home-brewed root beer.
The party platter Pizookie
And the whole time, we could have been sharing a Pizookie: an enormous chocolate chip cookie, warm from the oven, and topped with vanilla bean ice cream. Heck we could have even changed the cookie to white chocolate macadamia nut, peanut butter or oatmeal raisin walnut. Who in their right mind says, “I’ll take the salmon, please” — in a landlocked state, for cripe’s sake — in lieu of the world’s greatest dessert?
Sigh. I suppose I’ll just have to plan a trip to visit my friend when she settles in, and we’ll see if I don’t bring more common sense to the hellos than the good-byes.
BJ’s Restaurant
1251 US 31 N.
Greenwood, IN 46142
(317) 881-3500
Photographer credit: BJ’s Restaurants, besighyawn,