Basis of Presentation	3 Months Ended
Apr. 04, 2017
Accounting Policies [Abstract]
Basis of Presentation	1. BASIS OF PRESENTATION The accompanying unaudited consolidated financial statements include the accounts of BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. (referred to herein as the “Company,” “we,” “us” and “our”) and our wholly owned subsidiaries. The financial statements presented herein include all material adjustments which are, in the opinion of management, necessary for a fair presentation of our financial condition, results of operations and cash flows for the period. Our consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (“U.S. GAAP”) for interim financial information and with the instructions to Form 10-Q and Rule 10-01 of Regulation S-X. Certain information and footnote disclosures normally included in consolidated financial statements in accordance with U.S. GAAP have been omitted pursuant to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) rules. The preparation of financial statements in accordance with U.S. GAAP requires us to make certain estimates and assumptions for the reporting periods covered by the financial statements. These estimates and assumptions affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, revenues and expenses. Actual amounts could differ from these estimates. A description of our accounting policies and other financial information is included in our audited consolidated financial statements filed with the SEC on Form 10-K for the year ended January 3, 2017. The disclosures included in our accompanying interim financial statements and footnotes should be read in conjunction with our consolidated financial statements and notes thereto included in the Annual Report on Form 10-K. *Reclassifications* Certain reclassifications of prior period’s financial statement amounts have been made to conform to the current period’s format. *Recently Issued Accounting Standards* In February 2016, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) 2016-02, Leases (Topic 842). This guidance requires the recognition of most leases on the balance sheet to give investors, lenders, and other financial statement users a more comprehensive view of a company’s long-term financial obligations as well as the assets it owns versus leases. ASU 2016-02 will be effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2018, and interim periods within those fiscal years. Currently, all of our restaurant and our restaurant support center leases are accounted for as operating leases, and therefore are not recorded within our balance sheet. We are currently evaluating the impact that this guidance will have on our consolidated financial statements as well as the expected adoption method. In April 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-10, an amendment to ASU 2014-09, Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606). ASU 2014-09 provides a comprehensive new revenue recognition model that requires a company to recognize revenue to depict the transfer of goods or services to a customer at an amount that reflects the consideration it expects to receive in exchange for those goods or services and expands related disclosure requirements. ASU 2016-10 clarifies ASU 2014-09 to address the potential for diversity in practice at the adoption. ASU 2016-10 is effective for annual and interim reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2017, and early application is permitted. We expect to adopt this standard using the full retrospective method. The majority of the Company’s revenues are from food and beverage sales at our restaurants. ASU 2014-09 will not have an impact on revenue recognition related to food and beverage sales unless the sales are to a customer participating in our loyalty program. Currently, we measure our total loyalty rewards obligation based on the estimated number of customers who will earn and ultimately claim rewards under the program, and we record the estimated related expense as reward points accumulate. These expenses are accrued for and recorded as marketing expenses and are included in “Occupancy and operating” expenses on our Consolidated Statements of Income. Under ASU 2016-10, we will be required to allocate the transaction price between the goods delivered and the future goods that will be delivered, using the loyalty points earned, on a relative standalone selling price basis. The portion of the transaction price allocated to the future loyalty rewards will be deferred until the related loyalty rewards are redeemed. We will no longer record marketing expense related to loyalty points earned. The new standard will not impact the way we account for gift card breakage. We are in the process of quantifying the impact of adopting the new standard. *Recently Adopted Accounting Standards* In March 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-09, Improvements to Employee Share-Based Payment Accounting (Topic 718). This guidance changed how companies account for certain aspects of share-based payments to employees. Companies are now required to recognize the difference between the estimated and the actual tax impact of awards within the income statement when the awards vest or are settled, and additional paid-in capital (“APIC”) pools are eliminated. This ASU also impacted the classification of awards as either equity or liabilities and the classification of share-based transactions within the statement of cash flows. We adopted ASU 2016-09 during the quarter. The impact of the adoption of this standard was $0.08 million of additional income tax expense within our consolidated financial statements. In November 2015, the FASB issued ASU 2015-17, Balance Sheet Classification of Deferred Taxes (Topic 740). This guidance requires deferred tax liabilities and assets to be classified as non-current in a classified balance sheet. We adopted ASU 2015-17 during the quarter. The adoption of this standard resulted in the reclassification of $18.4 million from current to long-term deferred taxes on April 4, 2017, and January 3, 2017.

1. BASIS OF PRESENTATION

The accompanying unaudited consolidated financial statements include the accounts of BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. (referred to herein as the “Company,” “we,” “us” and “our”) and our wholly owned subsidiaries. The financial statements presented herein include all material adjustments which are, in the opinion of management, necessary for a fair presentation of our financial condition, results of operations and cash flows for the period. Our consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (“U.S. GAAP”) for interim financial information and with the instructions to Form 10-Q and Rule 10-01 of Regulation S-X. Certain information and footnote disclosures normally included in consolidated financial statements in accordance with U.S. GAAP have been omitted pursuant to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) rules. The preparation of financial statements in accordance with U.S. GAAP requires us to make certain estimates and assumptions for the reporting periods covered by the financial statements. These estimates and assumptions affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, revenues and expenses. Actual amounts could differ from these estimates.

A description of our accounting policies and other financial information is included in our audited consolidated financial statements filed with the SEC on Form 10-K for the year ended January 3, 2017. The disclosures included in our accompanying interim financial statements and footnotes should be read in conjunction with our consolidated financial statements and notes thereto included in the Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Reclassifications

Certain reclassifications of prior period’s financial statement amounts have been made to conform to the current period’s format.

Recently Issued Accounting Standards

In February 2016, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) 2016-02, Leases (Topic 842). This guidance requires the recognition of most leases on the balance sheet to give investors, lenders, and other financial statement users a more comprehensive view of a company’s long-term financial obligations as well as the assets it owns versus leases. ASU 2016-02 will be effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2018, and interim periods within those fiscal years. Currently, all of our restaurant and our restaurant support center leases are accounted for as operating leases, and therefore are not recorded within our balance sheet. We are currently evaluating the impact that this guidance will have on our consolidated financial statements as well as the expected adoption method.

In April 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-10, an amendment to ASU 2014-09, Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606). ASU 2014-09 provides a comprehensive new revenue recognition model that requires a company to recognize revenue to depict the transfer of goods or services to a customer at an amount that reflects the consideration it expects to receive in exchange for those goods or services and expands related disclosure requirements. ASU 2016-10 clarifies ASU 2014-09 to address the potential for diversity in practice at the adoption. ASU 2016-10 is effective for annual and interim reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2017, and early application is permitted. We expect to adopt this standard using the full retrospective method.

The majority of the Company’s revenues are from food and beverage sales at our restaurants. ASU 2014-09 will not have an impact on revenue recognition related to food and beverage sales unless the sales are to a customer participating in our loyalty program. Currently, we measure our total loyalty rewards obligation based on the estimated number of customers who will earn and ultimately claim rewards under the program, and we record the estimated related expense as reward points accumulate. These expenses are accrued for and recorded as marketing expenses and are included in “Occupancy and operating” expenses on our Consolidated Statements of Income. Under ASU 2016-10, we will be required to allocate the transaction price between the goods delivered and the future goods that will be delivered, using the loyalty points earned, on a relative standalone selling price basis. The portion of the transaction price allocated to the future loyalty rewards will be deferred until the related loyalty rewards are redeemed. We will no longer record marketing expense related to loyalty points earned. The new standard will not impact the way we account for gift card breakage. We are in the process of quantifying the impact of adopting the new standard.

Recently Adopted Accounting Standards

In March 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-09, Improvements to Employee Share-Based Payment Accounting (Topic 718). This guidance changed how companies account for certain aspects of share-based payments to employees. Companies are now required to recognize the difference between the estimated and the actual tax impact of awards within the income statement when the awards vest or are settled, and additional paid-in capital (“APIC”) pools are eliminated. This ASU also impacted the classification of awards as either equity or liabilities and the classification of share-based transactions within the statement of cash flows. We adopted ASU 2016-09 during the quarter. The impact of the adoption of this standard was $0.08 million of additional income tax expense within our consolidated financial statements.

In November 2015, the FASB issued ASU 2015-17, Balance Sheet Classification of Deferred Taxes (Topic 740). This guidance requires deferred tax liabilities and assets to be classified as non-current in a classified balance sheet. We adopted ASU 2015-17 during the quarter. The adoption of this standard resulted in the reclassification of $18.4 million from current to long-term deferred taxes on April 4, 2017, and January 3, 2017.