BJ’s Restaurants aptly calls its Q2 “Celebration Season” because of Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, and graduations.
Given the resulting sales, the 219-unit chain had reason to hold its own celebration.
Same-store sales rose 6.5 percent and traffic increased 8.3 percent, marking BJ’s eighth straight quarter of comps and traffic growth. It was also the highest same-store sales bump in three years and the best traffic uptick in four years. The financial figures significantly outperformed Black Box casual dining benchmarks, according to CEO Lyle Tick. BJ’s has sustained these results into Q3.
Restaurant-level operating margin expanded roughly 20 basis points to 17.2 percent, and adjusted EBITDA increased $2.3 million, with the margin reaching 11.4 percent.
Mother’s Day and Father’s Day were up over 8 percent and 3 percent year-over-year, respectively, and more than 80 restaurants broke daily or weekly sales records. Notably, the brand saw growth across all geographies, dayparts, and channels. Tick also said that sales increases were evenly distributed across the week.
BJ’s seasonal Biscoff Pizookie played a major role, doubling Pizookie incidence year-over-year in Q2. Work on the menu will continue through the end of the year. In Q3, the company will leverage the S’mores and Spooky Pizookie flavors, ahead of further innovation for the holiday season.
Additionally, the $13 Pizookie Meal Deal is still driving new customer acquisition and repeat visits. BJ’s is considering adding a premium tier; Tick said the pilot is providing good insight, but that “it’s still in its early stages as we explore ways to give guests pathways to trade up while reinforcing two core BJ’s equities, variety and the Pizookie.”
“I’m trying to always take a big step back and say, are we delivering a more compelling BJ’s through the combination of things that we’re doing that are bringing more guests in and allowing us to grow profits,” said Tick, in regard to potentially adding a premium tier. “And as I kind of look at the big picture, you know, I’m really pleased with how the pieces are working together.”
Menu mix was negative in Q2, and Tick attributed much of that to $5 Pizookies on Tuesdays—which have built acquisition and frequency for hard-to-reach younger consumers—and the explosive popularity of the Pizookie Meal Deal, particularly on Fridays.
“Not all mix is created equal,” Tick said. “We continue to drive outsized traffic with some of these programs like the Pizookie, like the PMD (Pizookie Meal Deal). Those people that we see come into there come back more often, and we’re flowing more profit through to the bottom line. So as I think about it holistically, I feel really good about how our programs are working.”
Tick added that mix should improve as BJ’s continues its work across the menu, including refreshes around chicken sandwiches, burgers, and pizza. These upgrades have proven to drive higher incidence, more sales, higher average price, and higher dollar margin than before.
BJ’s marketing prowess helped too. The chain shifted marketing dollars from Q1 to Q2 to support the higher-volume Celebration Season. This led to more efficiency and a 67 percent increase in impressions in Q2 and a 146 percent rise in the first half of 2026.
“We’re able to bring together a relevant product calendar with our go-to-market and kind of marketing strategies and apply that to kind of the relevant channels. We’ve continued to move more and more towards social cultural word-of-mouth marketing,” Tick said.
The chain has seen favorable results on social media, with more customers seeing all the changes BJ’s has put forth over the past couple of years.
“I think part of that is marketing strategies, but it’s a much bigger story than that, right, which comes from better operations, better products, better atmosphere, and how the whole thing is working together,” said Tick, regarding BJ’s growing social media popularity. “And I think we’ve continued to focus on improving the entire value proposition. And so I think you continue to see that at kind of a macro level, which is how we look at the business and I think important overall context.”
Supporting BJ’s continued growth are Monika Saxena, who was hired as brand president, and Birju Amin, who is serving as chief technology officer. The former came from LongHorn Steakhouse, while the latter previously led technology at Taco Bell. At the store level, the brand hopes to make employees’ lives easier with POS simplification, tablet upgrades, and an AI-supported activity-based labor model. These investments have resulted in better guest metrics, a reduction in food and beverage costs, and higher team member and manager retention rates.
“Looking ahead, we have a deeper understanding of our business and our consumer,” Tick said. “We’ve identified our core growth drivers and are clear on the levers to pull in both the short and longer term. Our strategy remains centered on ensuring our people, our food, and our atmosphere work in concert to make BJ’s the brand of choice.”
In terms of new unit development, BJ’s plans to open in Buckeye, Arizona, an established market, and Joliet, Illinois, a newer trade area. Both will showcase a “refreshed expression of the BJ’s brand,” according to Tick.
