It all started in 1978 with two men and a recipe for deep-dish pizza.

The first BJ’s Restaurant opened in Santa Ana, Calif., and with its success, the owners have been able to expand and open more locations throughout the Golden State. In the past few years, they made their way up the coast to the Evergreen State, with its newest location in downtown Redmond.

BJ’s Restaurant & Brewhouse at 7211 166th Ave. N.E. in Redmond Town Center opened on May 6, and in addition to their signature deep-dish pizza, the restaurant’s menu also includes a variety of salads, appetizers, sandwiches, soups, pastas, entrees, desserts and handcrafted beers.

With a little bit of something for everyone, the new eatery has already made its mark in the community after less than three months and has been voted Best New Business in the Reporter’s Best of Redmond contest.

Greg Levin, chief financial officer for BJ’s, said they chose to open a location in Redmond because they really like the area.

“It has a great community feel to it with a lot of density and allows us to continue building out the state of Washington,” he said. “In fact, Washington has really embraced the BJ’s concept…(we) are absolutely thrilled to be here.”

Levin said they have four BJ’s locations in Washington — two of which, (including the Redmond location) opened this year.

He said BJ’s is “very passionate about being a local restaurant.” In addition to this role, the company also has a  TASC Force (Team Action to Support our Communities), which is made up of volunteers from each restaurant who participate in local community activities such as park cleanups, building houses for Habitat for Humanity and painting schools.

“Additionally our restaurants will do local fundraisers for schools or other nonprofit entities,” Levin said, adding that one of the company’s major charities is the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and they have donated a portion of the proceeds from their Pizzookie dessert sales to the organization for many years.