PJ&Co Restaurant/Saloon is well known to the riding community in this area. And we want to welcome them as the newest sponsor to help support this site.
PJ&CO sign.
The business is located at 1590 South Wells Avenue on the corner with Grand Canyon Boulevard.
Owner Steve Erickson raced motocross in his younger days and still rides for fun.
“I was a racer in the early 70’s and raced motocross in Southern California in ’70, ’71, ’72, grew up racing down there,” he said. “I turned expert when I was 17 so I was racing with some of the greats. In the old days they just had expert, now they have pro and expert.”
Later after moving here he and a former partner had an idea and opened up the restaurant and bar.
“We opened up in 1987 and we just made that title up,” he said. “I used to have a partner that I bought out about six years ago and he had a friend we worked with they called “PJ.” His name was JP but he liked that and PJ’s has a good ring to it.”
PJ&CO owner Steve Erickson.
The restaurant side is full service serving breakfast, lunch and dinner. On the bar side there are many TV screens so a fan can watch their favorite sports.
“That was our whole intent to be kind of a family style restaurant where we had sports,” he said. “People could hang out and watch sports at the bar. The main thing is that it’s a real family place, when you have kids you have two options; go to the pizza parlor or go to PJ’s.”
One of the signature features of PJ and Co is the food made from scratch right in the kitchen.
“All our soups, we hand paddy the hamburgers, we make our dressings but there are a couple of salad dressings that we buy,” he said. “Pretty much everything is made from scratch, including all the baking, cornbread, biscuits, pies, we make our own pie shells for quiche. We’ve always done it that way.”
There is also an outdoor patio and for the first time ever it was used in early November. But now it will probably be closed until the spring when the weather is warmer.
Another feature is that every Wednesday evening is Bike Night. It’s a place where those that ride can meet and socialize.
“I can’t remember when we started, either in ’98 or ’99. I had a friend that had a motorcycle buddy that told me about a friend’s place back in Detroit that had a bike night, every Wednesday night,” he said.
Erickson received a video from the guy in Detroit showing exactly what that motorcycle night was like.
“I said, ‘man that sounds like a good idea,’ its Wednesday’s nights, not that busy and now in the summer it’s become our busiest night of the week,” he said. “It really changes when the time changes and when it starts getting cold. We still have a few diehards and I ride pretty much unless there is ice on the road.”
Like many business they rely on word of mouth recommendations.
“We don’t advertise and the only thing we do is to promote our rewards system and that’s been a real big deal,” he said. “We started that about three or four years ago and I don’t know if that was the turning point but it really made a difference.”
The loyalty program uses either a card or using a cell phone number.
“When they spent $100 they automatically get $5 back on their account. So they’re getting a 5% spiff if they are using their loyalty card,” he said.
There is also a website and much of the information about the business can be found there.
Like many enterprises PJs weathered the recent economic meltdown.
“It really didn’t hit us until about ’11 or ’12 then it was really bad,” he said. “Then ’13 was okay and ’14, ’15 and ’16 is going to be a record year. It’s really rebounded but for us it just came a little later.”
He also gives back to the community through helping a charity. And that will be tied into a special celebration next year as on March 20th PJs and Co celebrates its 30th anniversary.
“The charity we’re connected with is the Veteran’s Guest House,” he said. “On our 25th anniversary we gave 25% of the day’s sales back to them so I’m hoping to do the 30% back to them from that day.”
All in all the future looks bright for this business that not only offers good food, a great place to socialize as well as bring a family and also caters to those in the riding lifestyle.
For further information please check out their website at www.pjandco.net.
There is a photo gallery at the end of this article.
If you enjoyed this article please “like,” and share it as widely as possible. Comments are welcome.
Subscribers have articles posted to their inbox as soon as they are on the site.
We now have four very appreciated sponsors that are helping support this site.
The newest is familiar to anyone in the riding lifestyle. It’s PJ & Co Restaurant and Saloon located at 1590 Wells Avenue in Reno.
Good food, great place and they have Bike Night every Wednesday. For further information please check their website at, www.pjandco.net.
Concours Body Shop, owned by racer and race supporter Gil Grieve, is a business doing quality repair work on cars and trucks.
The business is located at 240 Telegraph Street in Reno and their website is, www.concoursbodyshop.net.
If you are into karting or want the most cost effective way to start racing then check out Nevada Kart Sport, our only full service kart shop in this region.
They are located at 1220 E. Greg Street in Sparks and their website is, www.nevadakartsport.com.
Into riding or racing a motorcycle? If so Reno Motorsports is for you as they have a full service shop as well as about anything a rider could want.
They are located at 964 Terminal way, by Mill Street and their website is, www.rms-renomotorsports.com.
Have a business targeted toward the motorcycle or motorsport demographic? Well we are looking for more sponsors. You can contact us either through the comment section of the site or our Face Book page.
Photo Gallery:
