Not Your Average Joe’s

One month later:
Still excellent. The regular menu has so many things on it that I’m sad I can’t order off of it– although the Gluten Free menu is pretty expansive! I had the GF mac and cheese last Friday and it was exceptionally good– wonderfully cheesy and creamy and the GF pasta was great (which is hard to come by sometimes).
Still SUPER busy on weekend evenings– expect at least a 30 min wait. I do like that you can leave your number and they’ll text you when your table is ready, so you can go walk over to RTC and head back 5 min before the end of your expected wait time. I’ve found their estimates of waiting times are spot on.
Service is still slower than I’d like– I don’t dock stars for that because when I’ve been it’s seemed like they’re about 6 tickets into the weeds and everyone is already running around at top speed so it’s not like they’re slacking.
One thing I have noticed is that everyone seems to have realized that they have a kid’s menu so there’s a *lot* of children around. Last time I went it looked like it was a popular place for mom and dad to have dinner with their friends and bring all the kids so there were a few tables that were just kids.
Oh and this is NOT a good place for large groups. If you’re a group of 6+ then your wait time is going to easily be an hour plus as they’d have to scoot tables together, and there’s not that much room here to begin with.

Trip#2 was much better here, so I felt I could give a review.
I personally find that Joe’s is like a land for cheese lovers. I wanna say that like 80% of their menu includes cheese as a standard in their dishes. Even their house made oil dressing that goes with the bread has Parmesan. There is just cheese everywhere so I always have to ask to cut out any cheese from my entrée/​sides just to keep calorie count bearable. But since this place is all about customizing, that is not an issue at all :) I just always ask to have salad dressings on the side, and cheese to be excluded.
Good news though: HUUUUGE portions. My side salad was an entrée enough for me! I got the Not Your Average Salad with chicken, and it was delicious. Fresh and filling — a total win for me!
Our waitress was super nice and super attentive. Like. Beyond what I have ever experienced before in all American restaurants. Boom, waters there. Boom, more bread is there, BOOM, she is there! She had awesome intuition and also great communication too, because she always told us what she was going to do or check on. Sooo awesome!!!
They also have a gluten free menu which is awesome for any individuals who have this dietary restriction/​preference. Way to go for moving ahead with the times, Joe’s!
I will be back from time to time, but only for the homemade bread and salads, haha they are awesome!

Service here gets an A+ but the food gets a solid C.
I really, really, REALLY wanted to love this place. Not Your Average Joe’s seemed like a great restaurant addition to the Reston area. They also have a nice selection of gluten free options. There are only so many restaurants around here and it gets boring eating the same stuff all of the time.
I’ve dined in and ordered out at this restaurant. If you want to dine in, download their no waiting app. They will not take reservations on the phone but you can use the app. If you don’t, expect to wait 1 – 2 hours to finally be seated. With a wait like that, you’d expect the food to be phenomenal… You should prepare yourself to be disappointed. At my dine in experience, I ordered a chicken sandwich. It wasn’t hot when it arrived and was unfortunately, a bit cold. I did not want to complain because the restaurant was so busy. The flavor was also a bit bland. I don’t know if it needed more aioli or what, but something was definitely missing. I like my food to be flavorful and the sandwich was definitely lacking. The other people I dined with also thought there food was so-​so. All in all, a mediocre dining experience. Props to the waiter though. He did a great job.
My dining out experience is definitely the most disappointing of the two. I ordered online and had a scheduled pick up time. I arrived on time but the order was not ready. I waited for a while but didn’t mind so much because I knew that they were crazy busy. Once my order was handed over, I drove home so my family and I could enjoy dinner. Upon arriving home, I discover that my meal that is NOT supposed to have cucumbers, has several cucumbers in it. :o (Also, the expensive carrot cake I ordered was itty bitty. Somebody gave me the infant size version. The carrot cake is delicious but I don’t feel like I was given the regular size, especially at $ 7.50 a slice. Bonus — the carrot cake is actually gluten free and delicious! Anyway, there was nothing wrong with the other orders, but I was also told that their food was only so-​so. I was hungry, annoyed, and frustrated so I called and spoke with the manager. I know hungry people can be a pain in the ass to deal with… So I did try to be as nice as possible. Anyway, the manager rocks. She was very pleasant and worked on my issue. Her efforts are very much appreciated it.
I feel like Not Your Average Joe’s is overpriced for he quality of food that you get. I think they need a new head chef because their food (with the exception of dessert) is very mediocre. I think they have the potential to be great but they need to make some changes.
I’ll be back… But most likely only for dessert.

I have dined at not your average Joes in Newbury Port, MA which has always been my best Not your average Joe’s experience. I have also dined in Ashburn and only thought it was ok. The best part of the experience was the bread. I tried to make a reservation online only to have it direct me to open table error that said it wasn’t working. I thought perhaps they didn’t take reservations, not the case. Got there on Sunday evening and waited 40 minutes. They then got us up from our community table where we were having beers, only to have us wait 10 minutes to set the table. The food was only ok, I have the grilled chicken parmesan sandwich and the focaccia bread seemed stale. Perhaps they just have some kinks to work out, just wasn’t super impressed to go back…
I am coming back to this review, because of the wonderful customer service I received after I contacted Not Your Average Joe’s. The General Manager called me personally to address the issues I had and went above and beyond to win me back as a guest of Not Your Average Joe’s. That personally meant a lot to me and will definitely give it another try and believe it will be a much better experience. Their online iphone reservations are fixed and working again also :)

I am not normally a fan of bread with oil… but imp pretty sure they have crack in it… Hands down the most amazing bread, and oil dipping sauce every…
The food is pretty good although the deviled eggs are not as good as mine… lol
Service is good. I would recommend.

Lots of parking in the attached lot, even if the entrance still awkwardly faces the road. Bar on your left as you come in, hostess ahead on the right. Service was earnest but kinda disorganized– anytime a beverage or food item arrived, we had to redirect to the correct recipient. They were happy to box up our leftovers, and made sure we knew where they were set down so we wouldn’t trip leaving our seats. Menu is extensive, with multiple customization options for diners with dietary restrictions. TVs over the bar are still visible to some tables.
Table foccacia was thick and a little doughy for my taste, but I liked the herbed crust as well as the garlic and red pepper flakes in the dipping oil. Thai chicken lettuce wraps were huge enough to serve as several side salads or one moderately dressed entrée salad, and I appreciated that they used Bibb lettuce as well as freshly chopped jalapenos. Chicken dumplings had a nice sear, and were served in a balanced soy dipping sauce with green onion brushes to garnish. The Caesar side salad was equal parts Parm and dressed greens, and the limp triangles of pizza dough served poorly as croûton replacements.
Hand-​cut fries were crispy enough, with skin left on the way I like them. The cook on the salmon, braised short rib, and pork were great, but the seasoning on the former two were overly aggressive. The chili powder on the beef and in the mashed sweet potatoes was added pretty liberally. No problems with the pesto or roasted brussels sprouts. Polenta was very rich, but the molasses braised shank and green apple relish cut it nicely; this was the favorite dish of the evening, followed by the sage pecan salmon.
Prices are quite fair compared to other American restaurant chains, so we’ll eventually return to try more menu items: maple bourbon Manhattan, house-​made lemonade, mango shrimp spring rolls, super crunch salad, sesame hoisin salmon salad, Mona Lisa salad, smokehouse jambalaya, rosemary skewered scallops, Vietnamese salmon, romesco rockfish, turkey meatball strozzapreti, Parmesan-​cauliflower mash.

When I first heard of Not Your Average Joe’s, I kept thinking that I should get out to Leesburg sometime to try it. Ah… but so many restaurants, so little time. When they opened up in Reston, I decided to give them sometime to get their act together and kept an eye on the reviews. Over time, the reviews got better. This Saturday, we decided it was time for a visit.
We were here shortly before 5 p.m. and noticed that already they were doing a brisk business both at the bar and in the dining room. Upon entering, we were immediately seated. Soon after, a food runner came to our table with water and said our server, Rob, would be taking care of us.
Rob came to our table. It was obvious that he just got to work and said as soon as he put on his apron, he would be right back. He was very knowledgeable when it came to the menu. We gave him our drink orders. I decided to try the raspberry lime rickey. He said that it was made with Sprite and if I found it to be too sweet after tasting it, he would take it back and have it made with soda water. My husband had a Yuengling and Rob told him that he would also bring a sample of Yuengling’s IPA for him to try. The raspberry lime rickey turned out to be just fine with the Sprite (although using Sprite does not make it a true rickey). My husband didn’t care for the IPA but had no regrets sampling it.
Complimentary bread and an olive oil dipping sauce was brought to our table. Rob brought a small plate that had romano cheese, pepper flakes and some garlic in it. He then added the oil and mixed it all together. According to him, that mixture was «addictive». The bread had fried onion and salt on top and came to the table cold. I would have preferred it to have been heated up. While good, it was really chewy. I was skeptical as to the dipping sauce being «addictive» as I’m not a fan of romano cheese… but…it was quite good!
For my meal, I chose the mustard crusted chicken BLT. This sandwich consists of: «mustard and panko crusted with country bacon, lettuce, tomato tangy slaw and lemon aioli» You get a choice of «organic greens» or fries. I chose the fries. The sandwich was good, as the white meat chicken cutlet was very well cooked and managed to stay juicy. However, there was only a hint of mustard in the panko breading plus the lemon aioli could have been amped up a bit. The bacon had a great maple flavor to it. The cole slaw was on the side and was tasty. I ended up picking out the red onions as I felt they could potentially overpower the slaw. It was lightly dressed in a mayo based dressing. The fries were well prepared with a bit of crunch on the outside.
My husband ordered the Southwestern burger. This consists of: «topped with cheddar, BBQ sauce and a pile of onion strings». Rob had told him that he could have the amount of onion strings reduced and have some fries in lieu of so many onion strings. My husband agreed to that and was glad he did as there were still enough strings to add flavor. He asked for his burger to be cooked medium and it was more on the medium rare side. It was a very juicy burger and the roll didn’t stand up very well. He ended up eating part of it with a fork. Rob said it was the best burger in Reston Town Center. We haven’t eaten many burgers in RTC but my husband did think it was a good burger.
Rob told us that if we want to see a dessert menu (even if we didn’t order any) he would give us a bag of the bread and a container of the dipping sauce to take home with us. Okay, we thought, we’ll humor him :) We ended up ordering a piece of Key lime pie to share. The menu description said that there was a raspberry sauce that came with it. Rob also said that the graham cracker crust was housemade. When the pie came to the table, it was just about swimming in the raspberry sauce. There was also a large dollop of whipped cream on the side. While the pie was good, the crust was kind of hard (but tasty) and the pie itself had a nice Key lime flavor. Rob asked us how the pie was. We told him it was good but the raspberry sauce was just too much.
We paid the check (it came to $ 40 + change before the tip) and were about to leave with our bread and dipping sauce when Rob asked us to wait a bit as he had something else for us. It turns out that we were getting a free piece of pie (minus the raspberry sauce) courtesy of the manager. Also, we got some coupons to save on both take out and a future dining experience!
What we also came away with was a good impression as NYAJ really values its customers and wants them to be happy and make a return visit. Well, yes, we now want to go back! We thought that Rob did a great job (he even told us what days he works so that we could ask to be seated in his section). This NYAJ is very popular. As we were leaving, people were waiting for tables to open up.

I’ve been to the Gaithersburg location and have always enjoyed it. I suggested this location to my volleyball teammates after a long day tournament in Herndon. They all loved it! From the bread & dip to the large portions of their entrees to the drinks, it was all phenomenal.
The restaurant was large and accommodating. I loved that it had many larger tables to accommodate bigger groups (we had 6 people in our party). The décor was fresh, clean, and modern. I was also really curious about the giant mirror in the back room that supposedly turned into a TV! Unfortunately, we were all too invested in our food that we forgot about asking the server to turn on the TV for us.

Pros:
–Did a great job converting from Mac Grill, the décor is awesome and you would never know it used to be one
–Service was decent, everyone seemed to be helping each other out which I can appreciate!
–Bread and oil stuff they make is always like crack
–drinks are always excellent. my husband stakes out places/​bartenders that know how to pour well and make a good grey goose & sprite, and the bartender at the main bar did not disappoint him! Bury me in Bubbles is my favorite here but I would like to come back and try more options because I saw more than I’d seen on the menu at the Ashburn location.
Cons:
–The main bar was made way too wide/​long. There is barely any standing room when all the seats are full, which is GOING to happen anywhere near RTC on a weekend. If they had just shaved off like 3 – 5 inches both ways it would be totally fine, but as it was we were literally in everyone’s way for the 40 minutes we had to wait… so instead of being able to comfortably stand around drinking while we waited, we gave up after 2 drinks and went to stand by the hostess cuz I was so tired of constantly moving out of servers way… meaning they’re losing out on extra money coming in from anyone that found themselves in a similar situation as us.
–Food has never once wowed us. I thought maybe this location would be a little better but the burger our friend got was a joke. The outside was totally burned and the inside was cooked perfectly, which meant the temperature was too high. Even if it’s cooked fine on the inside, nobody likes the burnt taste. He considered sending it back but we had waited too long and he was very hangry so he ate it and got out of there as soon as he could. That being said, I got the BBQ pizza which I’ve had before and it’s pretty good, but my husband got the buffalo pizza and it was easily the best thing on the table! I highly recommend trying that one.
Someday we will be back to try again once the explosion has calmed down, and if it does better I’ll change my rating to reflect that!

I was very unsure what kind of restaurant this was when I heard it was coming to the area. After many of my friends told me it was good, I decided to check it out with my family.
We arrived around 1:30 on Sunday, and it was busy. We had about a 20 minute wait for 5 of us. Receptionist was very nice. They text you when your table is ready.
We were seated and two of us ordered alcoholic drinks. Unfortunately, they weren’t sure how to make a mimosa which made me lose a lot of confidence in the waitress. The manager (looked like the manager) came over and my friend mentioned champagne with orange juice, and we finally got our drinks. I asked for coffee and by the time I got it, we had already finished our appetizers. I was told the berry me in bubbles was very good, and the mimosa that was ordered was decent.
The food was pretty good. The foccacia bread was very good, and the olive oil with parmesan, Gaelic, and crushed red pepper dipping was extremely good. Unfortunately, when we asked for more it took about 25 minutes and we were already finished with our meals. I had the mango shrimp spring rolls as an appetizer and this was below average. It didn’t have much taste. The butternut squash flat bread was good, just slightly oily. Still though, it was very good.
I had the mustard crusted BLT which was tasty. The bread is buttered pretty thoroughly. If you don’t want that, I would mention it to them. It comes with a side of fries which was good as well.
We didn’t go for dessert. Overall the food was pretty good, and deserved 4 stars. Unfortunately the service was below average, and deserves 2 stars. I live in the area, so I was hoping for more. The food runners seemed more knowledgable about the menu than the waitress.
I really wish we had a better experience because we need a good staple, fairly healthy restaurant to take friends when they come to visit us…

My friend and I had lunch at the Reston location and had arrived separately. My friend arrived first and after a short wait was seated by the time I arrived. I came in and after looking at the waiting area and not noticing her, I asked at the Hostess Station where she might be, but they said that she hadn’t been seated yet and to look around for her in the waiting area. If you’ve been to this location, you would know that the waiting area is very small and it is hard to miss anyone. Thankfully my friend texted me where she was seated and I went back to her after first notifying the hostess that she had been seated.
The dining area was extremely crowded and a bit noisy. Some of the tables seemed to be too closely crowded together and didn’t allow for one to easily pass between them.
We started off with the Buffalo Caribbean Chicken Tenders. They were tasty though I was a bit disappointed by the mango salad which seemed overpowered by the cilantro. That could just be a matter of personal taste as cilantro doesn’t appeal to me.
We ordered the Cranberry-​Teriyaki Chicken and Chicken Enchiladas which both came with a salad. I felt that the blue cheese dressing which accompanied my salad could have used more blue cheese in it as it tasted a bit bland.
My friend had the Cranberry-​Teriyaki Chicken and we both felt that the name suggests more than a cranberry sauce. We both thought that the addition of actual cranberries might have made the dish better. She felt that the dish needed some texture as everything was soft.
I had the Chicken Enchiladas which were made more interesting by the addition of sweet corn in the filling. The pepitas added texture to my dish, but didn’t really add anything to the flavor. The sauce was very tasty, but there wasn’t enough to compensate for the overall dryness of the overcooked shell and rather bland rice and beans.
We both felt that we’d come back and order something different and that this was hopefully not a typical experience. However, with the many options for dining in Reston, this place may not get too many other chances.

I’ve been here several times since it opened a couple months ago and have only sat at the bar for Happy Hour. This place keeps bringing me back. They offer a very good happy hour for Reston with several special food and drink options. The food is slightly above average (I’ve only had appetizers, so far).
Deviled eggs — good with a unique smoky flavor
Thai Chicken Lettuce Wraps — not a lot of flavor but big and filling
Mango Shrimp Spring Roll — not a fan and just kind of plain, but the sauce helps
Buffalo Wings — nice size wings, but they have a heavy BBQ flavor, not buffalo
Guac and Chips — Excellent
What keeps bring me back is the service! The bartenders are on point! I’ve met Brandon, Christian and Eric and they keep your glass full and make sure you are having a good time. I will surely be sitting across from them in the near future.

I will say this time my experience was a lot better while dining at Not Your Average Joes. I was invited back and this time I took my husband here to dine with me on a cold winter evening. We are in the middle of moving so not much food in the house so it worked out perfectly.
We opted to sit in the bar area. There were other groups with small kids. I assume it was so the parents could enjoy the happy hour prices and still be at a table.
We orders guac and chips to start off with. The guac was flavorful and was a great starter. The chips were a little on the oily side so not the best for me but my husband didn’t care.
For our main course I ordered the rockfish which was pan seared. It came with chick pea fritters and small salad with olives. The fritters were just ok but the fish was cooked to perfection. My husband ordered the backyard burger with fries. His burger was cooked to his liking and it also was flavorful.
I would come back for those meals that my husband and I both enjoyed. Happy hour prices during the week were available in the bar area to include draft beer, mixed drinks and other appetizers. I don’t know if I would give one of their salads another shot based upon my precious review.

Let’s say that I was immediately attracted to the plants upon walking through the front door. I got excited thinking about the actual atmosphere beyond.
The place had a neat atmosphere. Similar to a more chill kind of bar feeling.
I ordered the mango shrimp spring roll and the seasonal rockfish entrée. While waiting for our food, the bread showed up. Let’s say that I’m not the person to usually jump at the bread, and this place was no exception. Bread was okay and the dip was new for me: olive oil, red pepper flakes and grated Romano cheese.
Appetizers came out next. I’m a big fan of spring rolls, so I was excited for this. The peanut dipping sauce wasn’t too shabby, but the spring rolls weren’t the freshest, which was apparent from the tough rice paper wrapper.
Rockfish came out after with my side order of garlic mashed potatoes. Presentation-​wise, I wasn’t expecting anything too amazing. However, first bite and I was taken back to my childhood. It tastes very similar to fish I’ve had growing up. Needless to say, it was very very good fish.
The dish also came with two little chickpea patties, which were okay.
Overall: service was great! Atmosphere was nice. Food was yummy.
4.75÷5

They have a gluten free bread basket. When my waiter told me I hugged him, I was so happy!
OK, bottom line– this place is legit and I absolutely will be going back multiple, multiple times!
Drinks– they have multiple non-​alcoholic things to drink so if you’re DD or have kids or if you don’t drink liquor you can still have a nice tasty thing that is not soda or water. They also have six different kinds of iced tea which is awesome.
The food has always been very good– I’ve been there three times so far and have had a salad every time, and each one has been something special which is saying a lot when it’s just a salad. The salmon was particularly excellent as well. I’m looking forward to going back for a burger sometime!
One word of warning– this place is currently *SUPER POPULAR* so wait times on food are a bit longer than you’d probably expect if it’s a busy night. I absolutely do not fault NYAJ’s for this, however, because every time I’ve been there I can tell that both front and back of house are totally bustin’ tail as hard as they can AND they’re doing so while being super friendly and offering great service.
Three thumbs up– I absolutely will be going back enough times to eat everything on the menu twice, and I wish my stomach was twice as big becuase their food is EXCELLENT!

I feel like they are still working out some kinks — they have been open less than a full month but we have eaten here twice here already. Food has been worth it so far.
Staff on phone leave a bit to be desired. Don’t bother to call — they don’t do call ahead seating and don’t take reservations on the phone. They DO take reservations online through their website which I highly recommend for dinner. We did walk in for lunch on Sunday and we were seated right away.
Focaccia bread and olive oil dip served complimentary is really good! Don’t pass that up! Pizza is very good — nice thin crust with a nice variety of toppings to choose from. Turkey meatball pasta dish is different. The meatballs are just okay but the pasta and sauce are really good! Chicken sandwich and bleu cheese burger were both really good and fries were very good. Enchiladas were very good as well — sauce was what made them good.
Starter salads were fine — nothing to write home about. Deviled eggs were good but inconsistent in their presentation/​garnish.
Service was slow the second time we were there — ordered cocktails and they took almost 10 minutes to come out. Manager apologized. Apps came out right away but then entrees took forever. Two entrees finally came but other two were delayed due to fries not being ready. When they did come (very shortly after) the fries were hot and delicious.
As I said — overall — food has been good and worth going back for. A lot on the menu to try. Front desk staff spotty and wait staff friendly but service overall spotty. Hang in there — I think they will improve with time — I’ll give them a chance…

So I ate here yesterday with my valentine; the place has very modern décor. The customer service is PHENOMENAL; not just our server but almost every server that walked pass our table made sure we had everything we needed. The managers were very interactive throughout the restaurant and they made sure they extended the warm welcome. The food was really good; I honestly can’t remember exactly what I had but it was the Valentines Day special. My Valentine had the Mustard Crusted Chicken which was really good. We started with the Thai Chicken Lettuce Wraps, Buffalo Caribbean Chicken Tenders, and Cheese Steak Egg Rolls. The oil, pepper, and parmesan cheese dip was good to dip the bread in. The Peanut Butter Ball for desert was fun and tasty. The only thing I did not like is the Steak and Cheese Egg Rolls. I felt the steak was too thick but none the less my Valentine did not waste them. Overall I will be back and as long as the customer service never changes I will add this to my list of recommendations.

First let me start with saying the service has always been top notch! The bread is great! The food is okay. I would give it one more chance just because of the great location and good service. Maybe I will find a few dishes worth re ordering.

We just found our new favorite restaurant to go to and it’s not your average Joe’s. The food is fantastic! The atmosphere is great and the service is surprising not bad. They are new so I knew the staffs are still in training but, everything ran smoothly. Only a few hiccups because it was during Valentine’s weekend and they ran out of whipped cream. Can’t wait to dine here again with my family.

It was our first time eating here and everything was exceptional. The food was delicious and the service was excellent. It was the best focaccia bread with olive oil dip I’ve had ever. Definitely recommend the pan-​seared crab cakes for the appetizer and the sirloin tips as an entrée.

We went there for lunch on a weekday few weeks ago and the place was packed (as expected for a new restaurant).
We were greeted nicely. The décor was modern and inviting. Service was very-​very slow but was expected due to the crowd.
My burger meat was very-​well done instead of medium-​well. Fries were cut too skinny and they got overly fried to the point where some turned out hard. Both big no-no’s for me, and hence the 3-​star rating. Also, I wish the food was much more flavorful.
The bartender was very welcoming. He introduced himself right away and talked about their stock.
Overall, the quality suffered due to large inflow of people and the restaurant’s inability to keep up. Will certainly give it another try. It’s a chain restaurant so just need to wait for the hiccups to subside. Besides, Mr. Silverstein has already proven that its a successful chain.

Having visited several times now for happy hour and once for lunch pick up I’ve concluded that I’m a fan. I had a few hiccups with online ordering and lunch pickup, though upon speaking with the manager the situation was promptly addressed with the upmost concern of customer satisfaction. Kudos for that!
I have to give the staff behind the bar high praise as well, as they always promptly greet, seamlessly keep glasses filled & just overall offer a great experience. Happy hour menu features several $ 3 drafts, $ 4 mixed drinks, $ 5 glasses of wine and a few eats. Note that the wings are only available during happy hour and that the spicy buffalo tastes more like spicy barbeque. My favorite app has been the Ahi Tuna Wontons, with each perfectly stacked. The guac is pretty good too, the chips are thin and nicely salted, served at just the right size portion. The Cheese Steak Rolls were something different, but won’t order again. The Romesco Rockfish is an absolute must from the seasonal menu, get it before it’s gone!

After a couple months of patiently waiting to get a table, we were lucky to walk in Super Bowl night. We decided to sit in the bar area to be closer to the televisions and catch a little of the excitement from the game.
Our waiter Rob greeted us with a huge smile, and some jokes. He was very knowledgable and sweet. We ordered drinks and scrolled through the menu. Rob brought us bread and a dish with some grated cheese and garlic. I wasn’t sure where he was going with that until he poured in the olive oil. What a great idea. Delicious little concoction! So we’re off to a good start. We decided to order deviled eggs as an app. I was impressed with the presentation and the taste. I read some other reviews and noticed people were complaining of the lack of flavor. The deviled eggs were pretty good and plenty flavorful without being over salted.
For entrees we ordered nachos, salad, pizza and chicken tenders. The nachos were absolutely delicious, perfectly seasoned and a touch spicy (spicy for my taste). The salad was crisp and fresh. The pizza was cheesy and tasty. Then we get to the hand breaded chicken tenders and I see where people talk about the lack of flavor. There wasn’t much flavor at all. Which was the main reason for me taking one star. However with all the different options on the menu I’m looking forward to trying something new.
Next time I plan on bringing the whole family so let’s see how our next visit goes :). I do hope we sit in Rob’s section next time as well as he really made our visit great!

Unilocal really needs to allow you to add half-​stars… This is a 2.5.
I tried NYAJ for the first time last night with two friends, and it was decidedly «ok.» I’m definitely glad someplace new took over from Macaroni Grill, but I can’t help but feel (after just one visit, mind you) that this was still a missed opportunity.
The dining space itself is well done. There’s a clean, modern, hipster vibe to it, and the last vestiges of Macaroni Grill are gone (a good thing). We didn’t go to the bar, but from what I saw it looked like it’d be a good place to watch a game or meet friends.
The menu is modern american, which if you don’t know basically means «schizophrenic.» There’s pizza, steak, burgers/​sandwiches, pasta, seafood– there’s a definite «jack of all trades» thing going on here. It’s influences include latin, asian, caribbean, italian, japanese, french, and cajun cuisine– and those are just the ones I remember seeing off the top of my head. I won’t knock the place for spreading the love around like that as much as it does since I know many people appreciate menus like that, but it’s never really been my thing; I’ll always prefer a more focused menu.
The food we ordered was mostly well done. To start we had mango shrimp spring rolls and buffalo caribbean chicken tenders. The spring rolls were easily our least favorite item, as they were basically tasteless. The chicken tenders, though… wow. I think they were the best I’ve ever had: they were sweet and tangy, had a bit of heat to them, and were fried perfectly. Definitely don’t miss out on those. As an entrée I had the braised short rib, which ultimately was forgettable. And it’s a shame, because the foundation of a great dish was there– the rib was perfectly cooked, as was the bed of risotto it was placed atop. But the cherry sauce it was served with was barely present– which is sad because what little of it there was was delicious. Given more sauce to coat the rib in, I would’ve been really happy.
Lastly, we had a piece of key lime pie (my favorite dessert) which was great– I’d put it right alongside Mortons’ key lime pie, which is high praise. Our waiter also comped it, which is always a good thing.
Said waiter, incidentally, was friendly and knowledgable, but inattentive. I’m never too harsh on the service at newly-​opened restaurants because there will always be growing pains, but it’s still worth noting that water was left unfilled, finished plates were left on our table, and in general things were pretty slow. (We were comped a dessert, remember.) Hopefully this will be sorted out by my next visit.
And I will be making another visit– there’s more than enough reason for me to want to try NYAJ again. With a few bumps smoothed out, I think this place could be a solid option, and I’m interested in seeing how the rest of their menu is. Town center has a lot of good options; hopefully Joe’s will turn out to be one of them.

Ordered take out so I could avoid the dinner rush, the place is so packed.
The bread would have been yummy if it wasn’t loaded with salt. Combined with the accompanying sauce we’re talking salt mine here. The pizza that I ordered had sundried tomatoes and mozarella cheese. There wasn’t much taste. The side salad had fresh ingredients but nothing exciting. All in all, this Joe is pretty average to me, sad to say…
was hoping to love this food considering they get such volumnous business.

Love the food
Love the service
Love everything in this place
Love the house-​made bread (so much that my husband and me had to fight for it)
Love the dip — parmesan, garlic, olive oil, something spicy
What else can a girl ask for?

Been here twice now — once for happy hour at the bar, once for dinner.
For the bar: The bartender Kristian was very friendly and helpful — big fan of the stamp he put on our placemat with his name on it, it was a cool and unique touch (and probably the main reason I remember his name weeks later). Great beer selection, fun cocktail choices. We got a pitcher of sangria, mango shrimp spring rolls, and cheesesteak egg rolls. The sangria was pretty good (though a little too cinnamon-​spiced for my taste). We were pretty disappointed by the lack of flavor for the mango shrimp spring rolls and did not finish them — ordered the cheesesteak egg rolls instead which were really good!
For the restaurant: Went last night for dinner with the family and while the service could use improvement, the food was DELICIOUS. Everyone commented on how they liked the restaurant’s lighting and aesthetics. The bread and parmesan/​oil on the table is great, I could have been satisfied with that alone. I ordered the cranberry-​teriyaki chicken which is served over a squash cannelloni and it was TO DIE FOR. My only peeve was the lack of attention to our service. Our server did not check on us other than to take our initial orders. Both my water and wine were simultaneously empty for about ten minutes before we managed to flag down the server for refills.

Just tried this place for the first time with my family and we all absolutely loved it! Delicious, fresh, and unique meal options, good prices, and wonderful service. Our server, Rob, was fantastic and very helpful with suggestions on the menu. We’ll definitely be coming back for more.
P. S. — their buffalo chicken pizza is SO YUMMY.

Came here for pre-​grand opening on Dec 30. It officially opens January 4^th. Marie was our server. Started at the bar where Kristian was super friendly and obviously a seasoned bartender despite this being a new location. Everything is made from scratch and they have a separate gluten free menu.
They cater dishes to food allergies and can modify any order to preference. I tend to be picky so I like my food sans some spices (cilantro-​yuck).
It was packed with people looking to get free food. Staff was very friendly. The raspberry mojito was very tasty according to my wife.
We started with chicken tenders that were marinated with a kick and came with pineapple salsa and ranch on the side.
We tried steak frites, scallops and short ribs.
Food was good service very good.
If there was one complaint it was a dirty rag smell coming from somewhere. Possibly a dirty mop. It was raining pretty hard outside.
All in all a nice addition to the Reston restaurant scene. I’ve been to the NYAJ in Woodbridge and Landsdowne and I prefer this one in Reston.

The hubs and I was able to check out Not Your Average Joe’s (NYAJ’s), an MA-​based restaurant chain. Their menu was pretty extensive, offering seasonal selections, appetizers, salads, burgers, stone hearth pizzas, main entrees, kid’s menus, and desserts. The kitchen is open, and, unfortunately, we did see one of the head ‘chefs’ snack on some of the cured meats with his bare fingers, which was a little concerning (!!!). From the moment we walked in through the door, we were told each time that everything on the menu is a ‘made-​from-​scratch’ concept; it was reiterated many times that food allergies/​aversions were their top priority. Complimentary focaccia was given, which was delicious! We started off with the Buffalo Caribbean Chicken Tenders (which were hand-​breaded and tossed with a mango-​buffalo BBQ sauce, served with a side of pineapple-​jalapeño ‘salsa’ — the chicken tenders, while cooked properly through, were not as crispy and saucy as I would have imagined it to be — also, the sauce was more of a tangy hot sauce, rather than a mango-​teriyaki like that I expected; the pineapple-​jalapeño salsa were more large chunks of pineapples, mixed with cilantro and slices of jalapenos — I was pretty disappointed with this dish, as we had already stated my very fierce aversion to cilantro; when the dish arrived with cilantro, there was much ‘confusion’ as both the manager on-​site and our server stated it was parsley (but, I can sniff those little buggers out!), then later backtracked and stated that they were ‘misinformed’ about the ingredients — I can only imagine how this would translate to other parties in the future who actually do have severe food allergies…);, and the Cheese Steak Egg Rolls (fried rolls filled with provolone and American cheeses, caramelized onions, and chopped steak, served on a bed of lettuce and a drizzle of Chinese mustard; these were definitely better in taste than the tenders, but the chopped steak was more on the dry end, and the cheeses weren’t that melty goodness and was more on the stingy side; the spicy Chinese mustard didn’t really make any sense and did not complement the rolls at all). For our entrees, I had the Three-​Cheese Pistachio pizza (all their pizzas are made with housemade dough and baked in the stone hearth forno at 700 degrees; the pizza came topped with whole California pistachios, rosemary, sliced red onions, Parmesan/​Mozzarella/​Asiago cheese mix, and topped with extra virgin olive oil — the pizza was pretty disappointing; there was way too much rosemary, so that made the pizza extremely overpowering and pungent; the pistachios — I just wished that it was either in candied form, as just having a handful of pistachios on top (with the red onions) of the pizza really didn’t pair well with the cheeses! I did think the thin crust was pretty okay, as it had a nice slight chew to it with a slight crisp exterior), and the hubs had the Steak Frites (grilled hangar steak with a side of hand-​cut bistro fries, and a mound of arugula dressed with lemon vinaigrette; the steak was requested to be cooked medium, but it came out as medium rare; however, it was still tender and had a nice little grilled exterior to it; the hand-​cut bistro fries were a little too overfried, but salted and seasoned with a bit of parsley; the lemon vinaigrette was too citrus-​y and overboard for the arugula, which already has a bite to it!). For dessert, it was up to the server’s discretion — we shared a Carrot Cake, set on top of a caramel drizzle — the cake itself was moist and filled with some raisin, but the caramel was not necessary, as the cream cheese frosting was already sweet enough. This cake is also GF! For drinks, I tried the Raspberry Lime Rickey (lime juice, raspberry purée, and soda water, glass rimmed with sugar — this was sweet, tart, and refreshing), and the hubs had the Arnold Palmer (unsweetened iced tea and housemade lemonade, glass rimmed with sugar — this was pretty good, too, and not overly sweet); our server also had us try the Cucumber Mint Spritzer (chunks of cucumbers, mint leaves, soda water, lemon, and lime, this was more of a fizzy cucumber beverage (I think I would have just preferred cucumber water instead)). Our server was Chandon, and he was pretty friendly, sweet, and attentive. I am curious to see what explanations would be given for the chef’s unhygienic handling of food, not washing hands with soap afterwards, and the floor managers playing the ‘blame game’ with the servers.
+‘chef’ snacking on meats with bare fingers in kitchen area (!!!)

While the Reston location won’t officially open till January 4^th starting today through the weekend they are doing training event meals by invite. I had emailed through their website early in the week about their online reservation system and from that conversation a invite was extended for tonight’s training meal.
It was interesting to see the changes inside. As you walk in the bar area is to the left and looked open and inviting. One if the things we noticed is thankfully sound baffling is installed in the ceilings allow for the place to be up beat with out being excessively noisy. We asked for a booth near the door as my husband has some walking issues. Our seat also gave us the ability to view a little of the kitchen. I like when one can see the dance that happens in the kitchen.
As tonight was a training session lots of extra folks helping the newbies and lots of suits present watching over the training. As this was a training meal I didn’t discount my rating for a couple of things that hiccuped in service… That’s why this is called a training dinner. My review is focused totally on the food which I really enjoyed.
For tonight we were asked to select one appetizer to share, a entrée different from the others at the table for two reasons so we could taste the other entrée and to help the kitchen coordinate different meals coming out at the same time. We also were given a surprise dessert which for us was a sorbet with fruit.
First up was the house made focaccia with a Romano cheese and olive oil to dip it in. Warm and tasty and a great start to nibble as we figured out the menu.
We started with the shrimp and mango rolls. A nice version of fresh spring rolls in rice paper with mint, chili sauce, mint, cucumber. The roll itself had a slight kick and it was prepared with a zesty sauce. Two rolls each cut in half were served which makes this easy to split with 2 to 4
For entries I had the rockfish that was lightly pan fried on top of amazing chickpea fritters that were extremely light and perfectly fried all laying on a zesty romesco sauce. I commented that I would love just ordering the chickpea fritters and romesco as a appetizer. The rockfish was perfectly cooked but the stars were hiding below!
Hubby had the steak frites which were cooked to a perfect medium rare. The steak was tender and flavorable. We did ask for one change and that was on the salad as he prefers a crunchier lettuce so instead of arugula they used to romaine. Hubby adored the lemon dressing that was on it.
We ended with a sorbet and fruit which was a perfect finish to our meal, a bit on the tart side it was refreshing and a nice size to share. Loved the mixed berries paired with it.
Overall we were very delighted with our meal. Enough we made a reservation for opening night.
Welcome to my neighborhood!