EXHIBIT 99.1

BJ's Restaurants Opens in Corpus Christi, Texas and Tallahassee, Florida

HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif., Oct. 10, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- BJ's Restaurants, Inc. (Nasdaq:BJRI) today announced the opening of its two newest restaurants in Corpus Christi, Texas, on Monday, October 7, 2013, and in Tallahassee, Florida, on Wednesday, October 9, 2013.

The new Corpus Christi restaurant is located on S. Padre Island Drive and Staples Road as the latest addition to Moore Plaza. The free standing restaurant is approximately 7,500 square feet and contains seating for approximately 265 guests.

The new Tallahassee restaurant is located at the intersection of Apalachee Parkway and Blairstone Road as the latest addition to the Shoppes on the Parkway. The free standing restaurant is approximately 8,500 square feet and contains seating for approximately 280 guests. 

Both new restaurants feature BJ's extensive menu including BJ's signature deep-dish pizza, award-winning handcrafted beer and famous Pizookie® dessert. BJ's highly detailed, contemporary décor and unique video statement, including BJ's 103" plasma display as well as several high-definition flat panel televisions, creates a high energy, fun and family-friendly dining environment for everyone to enjoy. Hours of operation for each restaurant 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 in Corpus Christi, Texas, and Tallahassee, Florida," commented Greg Trojan, President and CEO. "Our new Corpus Christi location is our 29^th restaurant in Texas where we have enjoyed some of our largest comparable sales increases over the years.  Our Tallahassee location is our 14^th restaurant in Florida which is an area that we continue to target for more BJ's restaurants over the next several years. To date we have opened 13 new restaurants, including the relocation of our existing small-format BJ's Pizza & Grill® restaurant in Eugene, Oregon, and we plan on opening 4 more restaurants before the end of November." Investors are reminded that the actual number and timing of new restaurant openings is subject to a number of factors outside of the Company's control including, but not limited to, weather conditions and factors under the control of landlords, contractors and regulatory/licensing authorities.

BJ's Restaurants, Inc. currently owns and operates 142 casual dining restaurants under the BJ's Restaurant & Brewery®, BJ's Restaurant & Brewhouse®, BJ's Pizza & Grill® and BJ's 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, including the Pizookie® dessert. Quality, flavor, value, moderate prices and sincere service remain distinct attributes of the BJ's experience. The Company operates several microbreweries in addition to using qualified contract brewers to produce and distribute BJ's critically acclaimed proprietary craft beers throughout the chain. The Company's restaurants are located in California (63), Texas (29), Florida (14), Arizona (6), Colorado (5), Nevada (5), Washington (4), Ohio (4), Oklahoma (3), Oregon (3), Kentucky (2), Indiana (1), Kansas (1), Louisiana (1) and New Mexico (1). 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 and margin growth in future periods, total potential domestic capacity, the success of various sales-building and productivity initiatives, future guest traffic trends and the number and timing of new restaurants expected to be opened in future periods. 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) our ability to manage an increasing number of new restaurant openings, (ii) construction delays, (iii) labor shortages, (iv) increase in minimum wage and other employment related costs, including the potential impact of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act on our operations, (v) the effect of credit and equity market disruptions on our ability to finance our continued expansion on acceptable terms, (vi) food quality and health concerns, (vii) factors that impact California, where 63 of our current 142 restaurants are located, (viii) restaurant and brewery industry competition, (ix) impact of certain brewery business considerations, including without limitation, dependence upon suppliers, third party contractors and related hazards, (x) consumer spending trends in general for casual dining occasions, (xi) potential uninsured losses and liabilities due to limitations on insurance coverage, (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 service-mark risks, (xiv) government regulations and licensing costs, (xv) beer and liquor regulations, (xvi) loss of key personnel, (xvii) inability to secure acceptable sites, (xviii) legal proceedings, (xix) other general economic and regulatory conditions and requirements, (xx) the success of our key sales-building and related operational initiatives, and (xxi) numerous other matters discussed in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its recent reports on Forms 10-K, 10-Q and 8-K. The "forward-looking" statements contained in this press release are based on current assumptions and expectations and 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.

For further information, please contact Greg Levin of BJ's Restaurants, Inc. at (714) 500-2400.