Not Your Average Joe’s

OMG the parmesan, red pepper, olive oil, starter with the bread was so good! Now onto my meal, I got the jambalaya, which was also very tasty and had a good bite to it. It was on the «soupy» side but it didn’t bother me none. I like the option they give one with gluten and one gluten free.
My fiancé ordered the buffalo flat bread pizza (which in my opinion taste like barbecue, but he loved it)
Our drinks however could have been a little better. The drink itself was good it was just packed with ice (I guess that’s the trick lol to keep us ordering more)
I told our waiter and she assured the bar tender would fix the issues. We were under the impression we were getting another drink to compensate for the iced down margaritas only to show we were being charged for both. Our waiter understood and took off 1 of the 4 drinks we paid for. Eh. Whatever. Food was still good.

Been here multiple times in past few months only because it carries food my MIL likes and can eat, and it is near to her home. It also has free and comparatively easy parking for Bethesda.
However I really do not care for the food. Had a burger and fries today. Ok, but not great. A bit dry though not overcooked. Salmon I had last week was slightly overcooked, served with dried out potatoes. Jumbalya I had a few times back was way too salty. Service is spotty; servers are generally nice, but service can be slow here. Also our bill has been incorrect last three times. Not the servers fault in two of three times as the food price in menu doesn’t always mesh with price on their computers.
Scale of 1 – 10 it gets a 6.

Food was probably 3.5−4 stars, but service was poor. We sat a the bar on a Saturday around 2pm. Service was poor as the two bartenders were more interested in cutting limes and chatting with each other. When our food was up, we could see it near the kitchen and it sat there for at least five minutes before a runner brought it over. Bottom line: I would go back for a casual bite and be more vocal about the service.

My mom and I didn’t have time for dinner before going to a concert so we were starving, and passed by this place. Looked good so we gave it a try. It was about 9pm so things were pretty slow (not greeted for 5 mins and food took somewhere between 15 – 20 mins). We were surprised that the service and food took so long. Our server was really nice though!
I liked the food, but unlike the name it was average. Tasty, but nothing I hadn’t tasted before.
We started with a cocktail, margaritas for both of us. I had the watermelon cucumber, Mom had the classic. The watermelon one is good if you enjoy the taste of tequila, there was little to no lime juice to cut that strong flavor. Worked for me, tequila runs in my blood at this point of my life.
The food, we had the jumbelaya and the pork tenderloin. Both tasty, but on the salty side. I hate it when restaurants over salt their food :/​
I may or may not return, I can find equally good food elsewhere. But if you are looking for a fun place, it’s pretty good.
Good eatin’!

Yum.
Sit at the bar service is great.
Pizza is fairly good. Some of the stuff on the menu doesn’t appeal to me, since I like it. simple not reductions and shot like that. Gimme a piece a meat, fairly bloody and a starch and a vegetable.
Or a pizza
But then again WTF do i know. I just eat out at restaurants 5 nights a week.

I am currently obsessed with their Rosemary Skewered Scallops (Pan seared scallops served over couscous, grilled corn, bacon and tomatoes with an orange-​chipotle glaze). YUM! The portions were huge, prices were reasonable and the service was fantastic. Plus, they have oh so delicious cocktails. The Pineapple Painkiller is especially yummy. All in all, Not Your Average Joe’s is a great place to enjoy a delicious meal regardless of the occasion.

I’ve been to this NYAJ location about 10 times and am never blown away. Everything about the place is between okay and good, from prices, service, food quality, etc.
Happy hour has a few decent deals, including cheaper Sam Adams than you would usually find in the area, and even cheaper Yuengling. Trying to get a booth or bar table around happy hour is insane though. It’s like that scene from Mean Girls when she imagines all the other people as jungle animals fighting each other. Seriously, if a table even gives off a hint of getting ready to go, a crowd starts to stand ‘nonchalantly’ by the table ready to pounce (guilty myself — hey, if I didn’t join in, we’d NEVER get a spot!)
Avoid ordering food to go — I’ve done this twice and both times the food was cold when I picked it up at my scheduled pickup time and one time my burger was just everywhere as if the bag it was in was tossed around without knowing what was in it. There doesn’t seem to be enough care in the ‘chain-​of-​custody’ of the to-​go food.
The menu can be pretty seasonal and fresh, which can definitely be nice, but there aren’t enough staples on the menu to warrant playing around with the rest so much. I feel like the constantly changing options show how NYAJ is frantically looking for a big-​hit meal. They also have a lot of vegetarian options and a separate gluten-​free menu. I’m neither of these, but one of my best friends has diagnosed Celiac’s Disease and I can always bring him here.
The wait to get a table hasn’t been bad over the last 6 months or so. Unfortunately, it already seems as if NYAJ is starting to fall out of vogue with the locals and wait times have been falling as a result. It could be a coincidence, but it seems that each time we go there for dinner, there are fewer and fewer people there (happy hour excluded).
My servers have always been really friendly and polite, but often they forget this thing or that. Example, last time we didn’t get our table bread until halfway through our visit (when we reminded him for it). Also, when I asked about what the rotating local draft beer was (meaning the one tap reserved for a rotating local beer), he didn’t understand what I meant, and instead listed the local breweries, which were all already on the menu. Then I asked what the rotating bartender’s choice beer was (same concept) in an effort to clear up the confusion, but he seemed to have no idea what I was talking about. Maybe he was new. Still a nice guy, and I just stuck with regular tried-​and-​true beers that I knew were always on tap rather than pushing the issue.
I continue to return because of the convenience for me. NYAJ is literally walking distance, which no other bars can boast for me. That, and they do have some interesting seasonal meals now and again. As always, I’ll be back. The 3-​star phrase «A-​OK» suits this place well.

I came here with a bunch of work colleagues for a weekday Happy Hour. Overall, we enjoyed it but there wasn’t any particular thing that stood out to me.
I will make the disclaimer up front that I don’t think we gave them a full opportunity to shine in terms of their food. The bread that they put on the table combined with the oil /​cheese /​pepper combination was an awesome way to start our time there, the only bummer was that since some of my friends got there before me, they ate most of it. Honestly, I think I would have been happiest with a Happy Hour option of unlimited bread and olive oil (if only that existed) instead of ordering off of the menus. We ordered the buffalo wings, the sliders, and a couple of pizzas. The best way to summarize the food we ordered, ironically for a restaurant called Not Your Average Joe’s, is a bit average. There’s nothing wrong with average, I’m just using it as a descriptor when comparing it to other restaurants. The wings did not seem to vary significantly from standard bar fare, the slider patties were well seasoned but my friends commented that they had enjoyed burgers /​sliders from other Bethesda restaurants more, and the pizzas were certainly a step up from pizza chains but not quite at the level of the pizza joints in the area. They did a thinner crust pizza, but their topping flavors were nothing to write home about and the pizza dough texture was a bit tough, instead of being crunchy yet easy to chew. It’s hard on a kitchen to offer and excel at making so many different items, from pizzas to burgers to a whole dinner menu full of appetizers, entrees and desserts. Based on my experience, I’d say that they fell into that trap a bit.
It is a nice place to spend time with friends and hang out and if someone suggested going, I wouldn’t have reservations about returning. I think as a place to come, have a few drinks, and eat bread, I would have no reservations about rating it even higher than I did. I just think that the food that we had was all a bit average, despite the restaurant name daring us to think otherwise.

Pretty good overall. I’m obsessed with the bread. Good service. Good drinks. Good food. Free and easy parking. There does tend to be a wait/​need reservations.
I’ve dined here four times. Will be back again.
FYI, their online reservations do not work. At least they didn’t last week. I called and they said that they weren’t working so I wasn’t able to get a reservation at the time I had gotten online.

Service: A+ service from my waitress Vy! I was taken here by a few friends last week and I’m glad I was! Vy was super helpful in explaining the dishes and for that reason, I love this location even more so than the Gaithersburg one. Food was out in less than ten minutes, and I was able to order three single malts in an hour… very elegant service.
Food: I ordered the wings as an appetizer and then the Jambalaya as my main course. Both items tasted great and were downed in about 7 minutes give or take a couple.
Environment: Compliments the hustle and bustle of the typical Rockville/​Bethesda resident’s work week. Fully stocked bar and trendy interior design make the restaurant a refereshing space to visit. Will definitely be back.

Not Your Average Joe’s is exactly what it claims not to be.
We stopped by recently around 6pm to grab a bite to eat, initially the front hostess was rude as she saw us walking in the door but turned around to talk to someone before acknowledgement of us. That didn’t sit well with me and it went downhill from there.
We were seated and it took close to ten minutes before our waitress came over. Once she got there, she remained inattentive the rest of the stay. We had water refills once and that was it.
The food was very average and definitely nothing to write home about. In fact, it was so average that I won’t even bother going over it here.
Basing how many times a month I eat out at restaurants on the law of «averages», I would estimate that I more than likely will not be back to patronise this place.

I live in Arizona but was pleasantly surprised to see this restaurant go into the old Hamlet. I visit here in the summer. My sister loved this place up in Boston before she died of cancer and it brings me fond memories of her by going here. Ever since it opened though, last summer I’ve had trouble ordering to go. Each time they have forgotten something and when you have two young children under 2 it isn’t so easy just to go back. I’m in from Arizona this past week and the first order I made here, they left out the soup. They are nice when you call and tell but get it right the first time. It wasn’t that busy.
I like the food but brainless service makes it hard to keep wanting to come back.

I was taken out to lunch here with a colleague at a firm nearby. My experience here was decidedly mixed. On one hand, the chicken enchiladas were fantastic and I’d order them again and again. On the other, we spent over an hour here, most of it waiting for our server.
We walked in and were promptly seated. I used the restroom and when I returned, the server still hadn’t stopped over. With only a few tables full, it wasn’t overwhelmingly busy. We finally ordered drinks, waited another 10 mins for them, then another 10 mins for said server to take our orders. Food was delivered promptly, then the waiting game began again. We sat, plates empty, for 20 minutes before we could flag server down to get our check.
Given the location near office buildings, it seems odd that the lunch service wasn’t a bit more expedient.
EDIT: the manager has kindly and promptly reached out and gone above and beyond to make this right. I’ll definitely be back given this level of service.

2.75 stars now.
Came in the other day and had beer spilled all over my shirt and pants. I get it, things happen. But my now I have a beer stained shirt, and you guys actually charged me for my drinks.
Happy hour was the best food feature here until today… Prices went up. See the attached pics for before (chalkboard pics) and after pics (the menu).

I was craving a steak & was too tired to cook so I decided to give this place a try.
I ordered the New York strip steak which came with potatoes & Brussels sprouts. The steak was 14 oz. and I ordered it cooked medium. The entire meal lacked flavor and I thought that the steak was cooked too much.
I’ve been to other locations for this restaurant & most of the food is decent. I will not order a steak from here again but would go back and try something different.

A buddy of mine had a nice dinner at Not Your Average Joe’s last Monday. The vibe of the restaurant is much more relaxed early in the week, making for a much more enjoyable experience.
We were seated in one of the booths in the bar area and our server, Alexander, took very good care of us during our meal, keeping tabs on us throughout the evening to make sure we had what we needed. I discovered a new favorite on this visit, the mustard-​crusted chicken BLT. I’ve had the mustard-​crusted chicken as an entrée before, but turning it into a BLT? Genious. The only problem was that my French fries came out cold. Alexander was on it, getting me a fresh order, but it took about ten minutes to come out, by which time the BLT was long gone. Maybe cook the fries to order next time rather than hope folks don’t send ‘em back, Joe? No one likes cold fries. no one!
All in all, a good night deserving a solid three stars, with great company and an attentive server. Also, while I’d strongly recommend going on an off-​night, if you’re planning on going on a busy night — especially a Friday or Saturday — hop online and make a rezzie. (They don’t use OpenTable, one more site to have to have an account on… hmmm…)

Bf and I finally decided to check this place out. From the exterior, it seems as though this place is just another bar, but to my surprise, it’s not! I came in thinking it was a bar, but it actually has a pretty nice interior fit for a nice dinner/​lunch.
For our visit, we immediately went for the entrée. First I have to mention the drink. I got the mango lemonade for my bev. I immediately regretted my decision. It was too sweet because of the mango syrup. I wouldn’t recommend it if you do not like sweet drinks. Since I already ordered it, I used my straw to transfer water from my glass of water into my mango lemonade — just to help dilute it. I ended up transferring half of my water into my mango lemonade. If you want to try it, I would suggest asking for an empty glass with ice and pour half of the lemonade in there and pour some water in.
For the entrée, I got the
Chicken Piccata: My dish was pretty good. I really enjoyed it. The chicken was nice and tender, and the sauteed green beans had a nice crunch. One thing I would adjust is the lemony cream. I think it was just a too lemony. I love lemony, citrus-​y, sour food, but this was a little too much for me. The diced tomato was a nice touch, it absorbed the lemony cream sauce and other flavors.
The bf got the Smokehouse Jambalaya: He said it was savory and spicy, but it was nothing special. He said he could have made it at home with a can of hearty tomato soup, rice, and spice and meat/​seafood thrown in the mix. He would have liked it more if it had less tomato paste/​sauce on it. It was more like tomato soup with rice, but it was still delicious — lots of flavor.
Overall, I liked it. Service was great, interior is nice and food was good.

Gotta admit this place was really hopping last night (Thursday) when I rolled in.
The first thing I noticed is that this place was super packed. The second thing I noticed is that I was on the younger side of the crowd. No bother in that. It was great everyone was mingling and having a great time over food and cocktails or beer.
I took a seat at the bar after waiting for a patron to vacate. The happy hour menu is a steal. I intially ordered the wings (6 in lemon rosemary) and the nachos, but later after trying the wings and realizing the flavor wasn’t for me to getting the cheese burger (3) sliders instead.
The sliders come in burger, veggie, or turkey which is wonderful because that offers everyone a little bit of something versus the standard beef patty option. They were good a filling.
The nachos were solid. You’re not getting a basket of nachos though. You’re getting a dainty portion of nachos with a special type of pico de gallo salsa and cheese on it. I LOVED the salsa. It isn’t your standard pico de gallo. It had corn and a lot more substance in it.
The wings were fine as far as the wings themselves. I didn’t like the kind of flavor they were dipped in. They do offer buffalo style, but I wasn’t sure if I could handle the heat hence why I ordered the latter. Opted to not eat the rest and returned them since I wasn’t fond of it.
As far as the restaurant — it’s massive! Lots of tables, outside patio, bar seating, high tops and lots of tvs with various games on. It’s very busy with neutral tones throughout.
As mentioned this is a very mixed crowd with primarily business folks 35−50+ crowd. Everyone is there having a good time and I didn’t feel out of place being on the younger part of the age genre. I’d definitely return if I am in the area.

This is the first Not Your Average Joe’s I have been to in the Maryland area. This location has a nice location — restaurant is spacious, bar is against a wall, and dining area is multi-​level.
For drinks, we ordered an Arnold Palmer and a Raspberry Piña Colada. They had an interesting way of serving the Arnold Palmer, which consisted of a nice blend of freshly brewed black iced tea and homemade lemonade, in the glass rimmed with sugar. The Raspberry Piña Colada consisted of pineapple juice, cream of coconut, and raspberry purée and was served in a tall, skinny hurricane glass. It was foamy at the top and garnished with a fresh raspberry. The Roasted Tomato Basil pizza consisted of garlic infused olive oil, cheese, sliced garlic, roasted tomato, and basil. The Waldorf Salad consisted of fresh romaine lettuce, tender pulled chicken, chopped Granny Smith apples, dried cranberries, red grapes, candied pecans, and smoked mozzarella lightly tossed in a creamy sherry vinaigrette. I liked how the dressing wasn’t as tart as previous Waldorf Salad’s at Not Your Average Joe’s!

Too often, it can be difficult to find a place to entertain not only your palate and mood for the day, but with other dining partners but this place was is perfect!
It seemed they were still in their opening stages but service was still impeccable! Phil Song was our server and he was so enthusiastic, knowledgable, and so on point, it really added to the dining experience. I usually try to save my stomach for my apps & meal HOWEVER the fresh baked focaccia and oil/​cheese/​spice dip… im drooling right now. Can i just get bread & oil to go? Can we make that happen?
I don’t often recommend dishes but get the nachos! So perfect to share, it makes you feel good with each bite bc you know you’re getting a piece of chicken/​cheese/​veggies in every single bite. This comes from a lukewarm nacho eater so take that how you want.
Edamame wontons were good but wish I had a bigger spoon to soup up the light broth with it :)
Had some other stuff but… just go!
I love the open-​ness of the place but don’t really like all the bright lights– why! Let the beautiful & huge sash windows allow in the natural light! :)