New to Reston: How Yelp-ers Are Rating Not Your Average Joe’s

It has been about a month since Boston-based Not Your Average Joe’s opened its doors at 1845 Fountain Dr. in Reston.

We thought we would check in on what diners had to say via posts on Yelp.

Overall: NYAJ has 33 review and a four-(out of five) star rating.

The Good:

“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.” — Tara H.

“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!” — Jenni M.

“This place has become the ‘go to’ place for me and my posse of friends. Great food, great ambiance, fun vibe, friendly service!!! With a big spacious well designed bar area it’s a great sports bar option with a classy urban chic feel. Food wise the garlic olive oil dip with bread as a starter is to DIE for!! Rosemary roasted scallops entree–AWESOME!! Asian tuna lettuce wraps…..light, tasty and DELICIOUS! Then KILLER desserts! The place has been packed EVERY time I’ve been there. Well done NYAJ and welcome to Reston! — Peggy B.

The Bad:

“I had the burger with cheese and bacon , sadly the top bun was burnt and also bits of the bacon, I asked for a medium i got a medium well and that’s a big difference for a a guy that’s in to burgers like me, so the meat was a bit dry. Also had the maple bourbon Manhattan it was not a balanced drink, I think the measurements were way off. The sangria was good though.” — Andres G.

“… Overall, we spent an hour and a half in the restaurant — most of that time was waiting for our food. I ordered the sweet blue burger and she ordered steak frites (both medium). The burger was burnt and tasteless. Her steak was rare, and as she put it, “one step from inedible.” The waiter never stopped to check on us and it took so long to get our food that we were reticent to send it back, something we never have done before.

We attempted to eat our meal, and when the waiter did return, he quickly took my plate despite the fact that I was still working on the fries. When we finally got the check, the waiter incorrectly charged us for a drink that we did not order. I noticed that another family also had been overcharged, and they had to hunt the waiter down.” — MjL

“Over rated! Not great food! Did a nice job on renovation. Very, very loud. The newness will wear off and we will all be back to somewhere else. Go once just to say you went and be done with it!” — JM

“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….” — Jerry T.

Photos: Top, pizza at NYAJ/Courtesy NYAJ; Bottom: Cucumber mint spritzer at NYAJ/Yelp.

Have you eaten at Not Your Average Joe’s? Tell us your thoughts in the comments.