A TikTok creator posting as @mrwhattheheck55 says BJ’s Restaurant & Brewhouse advertises a cast-iron mountain of pepperoni on its website for $18, then hands you a saucer.
BJ’s pizza: what do you get for $18?
The creator lays out the story in a two-image TikTok.
The first photo is a BJ’s menu card. A deep-dish pepperoni pie fills a black pan, glistening, a ramekin of hot honey at its shoulder.
“What BJ’s restaurant advertises on their website for $18.00…” the overlay reads. Then, in what the poster claims is a gotcha situation, he shares “what sorry tiny thing you actually get!”—a small, slumped pie in the corner of a BJ’s box.
The card tells on itself. The listing reads “Mike’s Hot Honey Pizza – Personal.” The price beneath it reads about $17.78, not a rounded $18. And, while hard to see, the personal pizza is actually shown in the back of the photo.
’18$ “personal” pizza is CRIMINAL PRICING’
In the comments section, viewers were livid for the creator.
“Oh no you need to press charges,” joked one commenter.
“$18 ‘personal’ pizza is CRIMINAL PRICING,” said one person, which seems accurate for a six-inch pizza.
One former employee does admit the photo usage is a problem, writing, “It literally says personal pizza. You got what you paid for. As a former kitchen manager at BJs that picture is of the large though so it does look like a bait-and-switch.”
Fast food false advertising
In December 2024, the Federal Trade Commission and Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul settled with Grubhub for $25 million for a number of deceptive charges.
One was pitching its subscription as “free” or “$0” delivery while still charging for it through junk fees, which the company also had to end under the ruling. Raoul called the deal “the culmination of a multi-year investigation into deceptive and illegal business practices perpetrated by Grubhub.”
In another case, a proposed class action claimed Burger King’s ads inflated the Whopper to look roughly 35% bigger than the patty that lands in the box. In May 2025, U.S. District Judge Roy Altman refused to toss it, ruling the allegations “go beyond mere exaggeration or puffery.” However, Altman declined months later to certify a nationwide class, shrinking the fight.
Subplot News reached out to @mrwhattheheck55 via TikTok comment and direct message and to BJ’s Restaurant & Brewhouse via email. We will update this story if they respond.
