Not Your Average Joe's - Glen Mills — Restaurant in Chadds Ford Township

I don't know what it is with this place. They're shooting for a unique, home cooked, flavorful style of cooking with a fun atmosphere but you won't get that experience if you go more then once. The food is definitely not typical chain restaurant food, which should be enjoyable, but they just miss the mark. We've been here at least 10 times and it just gets worse and worse.

The hostesses are pretty unfriendly and couldn't care less if you're unhappy waiting 45 minutes for a table when there are 4 available within view. They all act like its sooo stressful keeping track of open tables and the names of 4 families waiting for one.

The waitstaff is typical for millennials. They want to do as little as possible for maximum tip. There is even one who is the friendliest person on earth! You know what I mean fam? Just demanding 20%, but not producing a refill halfway through. No, you won't get a drink refill without asking. The extra bread and olive oil (the best food item which isn't even on the menu) you asked for won't show up because the waiter is hoping you'll forget you asked by the time you entrees are delivered.

The food is definitely unique but typically not prepared well enough. The shrimp tacos are $15+, you get 2 and they have 2 cold, chewy shrimp on each and a tiny bowl of soggy flavorless rice and beans. Not acceptable, they should be cooked to order and fresh for that price. The meatloaf is consistently good. The beef choices they have are low end cuts. I guess they're going for the depression era method but at $22+ a plate I'd like to have tender red meat, something swallowable. Maybe add 10 hours to the cooking time. Besides the meatloaf, not a lot of food for the cost. Unfortunately they had one phenomenal meal on the octoberfest menu which only lasted a month; very frustrating. Whoever said the menu is huge hasn't been. Most items are repeated. 10 items repeated 3 times doesn't make for a huge menu.

Why have we gone 10 times? Because of the bread and oil (mostly) and the hope that it'll be like the first time we went, or maybe they'll change the menu, or maybe the last time was an exception, or maybe its october??? I believe most of these positive reviews are from hipsters who can be deceived easily by decor, atmosphere and allergy friendly gluten free options so their little tummy doesn't hurt. I'm here to eat......

Well first off, we love this place and always get great service, but I felt especially motivated to write this review regarding the great service given to us yesterday by Robert Valentine at the Glen Mills Location.

My wife and I went out for dinner and a movie last night, though we reversed the order. So, we arrived at NYAJ around 10:15pm. Now I used to work in the restaurant industry and when someone came in pretty near to closing we’d be a bit frustrated. Well not Robert; He seemed happy, welcoming and chipper and seemed pleased to seat us.

While he was seating us he remember that he met my wife and I a year ago and even remembered where we were sitting and some of our conversation. If that wasn’t enough to already make us feel special, he then included some very kind compliments as to why he remembered us.

Already off to a great start and we just got seated. Anyway, since I have a load of allergies I tend to take a while to order, but still not an ounce of frustration from Robert. He was super happy to help and double checked everything along with his manager.

About midway through our meal, my wife and I realized that we were the last people at the restaurant and asked for a box and our check. I could see that Robert was keying in on our behavior and replied “I’m happy to get you both whatever you need, but please don’t feel the need to rush out of here. we still have more work that we need to take care of and I really want you two to enjoy your time here”.

This guy seriously couldn’t be a better server. Not only did we feel welcomed and special but he was extremely thorough in checking everything and made sure we had a great experience. Robert is seriously one of the most hospitable and kindest servers we’ve ever had. Please make sure Robert Valentine is recognized for his great customer service. It’s people like him that keep us...

Good service. Nice atmosphere. Terrible food.

Dinner for two was a vegetable spring roll, the ahi rare tuna entree salad, and chicken mona lisa entree salad.

The spring roles were largely rice noodles with a stray vegetable or two wrapped in rice paper. On the plus side they were served with a tasty peanut sauce. That sauce, however, wasn't enough to overcome the disappointment of paying more than $8.00 for rice noodles wrapped in rice paper.

The ahi tuna salad was approximately 6 servings of 3 inch x 1/2 inch pieces of what appeared to be excellently seared rare tuna, a few tablespoons of seaweed salad, the random vegetables that should have made an appearance in our spring rolls, and a giant hand full of crispy noodles. The salad was off balance and the quality of the tuna was not what I expected for $18.00.

The Chicken Mona Lisa, described as: parmesan-crusted chicken with balsamic marinated strawberries, fresh mozzarella, pickled red onions, romaine and organic greens with creamy basil dressing - was effectively a large order of chicken fingers piled on some overdressed lettuce. There were a few huge strawberries thrown in, but considering it's February and based on the rest of my meal, I decided to forgo the strawberry experience. Another disappointing entree.

Add in a martini served in a champagne glass, an overly sweet old fashioned, the fact that 2 hours later I feel awful, and an almost $60.00 bill on top of that and you have guaranteed that I won't be coming back.

On the plus side, our waiter was attentive and friendly. I'd love to see him again - but not in...