Not Your Average Joe's - Reston — Restaurant in Reston

First visit today President's Day 2023. I was blown away by the atmosphere along with the look of this place. It leaves a little to be desired outside but is beautifully warm on the inside.

We came for Lunch just after 12:30 of course it was a holiday but the restaurant was about half full and we were quickly sat. Our Waitress "Sierra" was super friendly.

We didn't order a large meal but the GF got kid's chicken fingers with a side of Broccoli and I got their Appetizer of Sheet Pan Nachos. Again I cannot stress to you how very lovely it is inside of this place. It's super warm and inviting but still feels familiar.

Once our food arrived it was love at first crunch for me. My Sheet Pan Nachos were perfect. I asked to have the Pico de Gallo and the Jalapeños removed and instead replaced with diced tomatoes and black olives. Sierra said it was no problem. So the Nachos have fresh, cooked today chips, shredded lettuce, melted cheese(not sauce), shredded seasoned mild chicken, my added diced tomatoes with authentic black olives and their Chipotle sauce drizzled on top.

The chips were crunchy and easily broke in your mouth, hardly any of the chips loosened no matter how many toppings they had on it. Each chip, had for me the perfect blend of everything and I wasn't even able to finish my plate. The GF's Chicken Tenders were crispy on the outside and moist inside, her steamed broccoli glistened from the butter spray on it, and it was truly green and vibrant

I asked Sierra to speak to the Manager to congratulate him and their staff on what a marvelous establishment this was. He told me everything is made from scratch this includes their brick oven pizza which is front and center when you come into the restaurant.

The only thing that stopped me from giving it 5 Stars was that they charged my GF $5 for her small side of Broccoli even though her kid's meal came with a side but it was shown as canceled on the receipt and then re-added $5 side of Broccoli which made her meal cost $13-$14, which in my opinion is ridiculous. I didn't however speak to the Manager but may call. Our waitress lead us to believe that the Broccoli was included. Lastly they don't serve Sweet Tea. They have unsweetened that I could add sugar too according to our waitress. I know we're way up north here by DC but we're still in VA and Virginian's need their sweet tea.

We will definitely have...

I come here often enough when I'm looking a solid restaurant, good location and free/easy parking, reliable service, nice cocktail options, with a regular and seasonal menu that accommodates most of my friends' varied dietary needs (GF, vegetarian, pescatarian, etc.). It does not disappoint.

We had a painkiller and a watermelon cucumber margarita as our cocktail options. Both are very good. My margarita had a little too much ice and not enough drink IMO, and when I ask for a salted rim can you salt the whole thing rather than one square inch of it?

They give you delicious focaccia bread over a cheese/red pepper flaked dipping oil that's to die for. Be careful because it's so easy to fill up on it, it's so addictive!

We tried the whipped feta appetizer. Recommend that you get it for the table to split because it's definitely on the large side. Didn't care for the "sesame crisps", but the cucumber slices and pita bread paired well with the whipped feta, and the garbanzo bean topping was tasty.

We had two of the newly unveiled Oktoberfest options--pork Schnitzel with red cabbage and potato pancake for me; drunken bratwurst over mashed potatoes for my friend. The schnitzel dish looked lovely, but it honestly lacked any kind of flavor... not the potato pancake, and not the schnitzel breading or meat. The best part about it was the red cabbage in my opinion (I'm a fan.)

Service was prompt, and we had no problems getting a table at 5:45 PM on a Thursday. By the time we left at 7 PM, it had started to get busier; so if you have a large party, or you just don't like to wait long for your food, go on the earlier side of the...

This restaurant was honestly pretty MEDIOCRE and OVERPRICED. I don’t usually leave negative reviews, and I actually feel bad writing this, because our waiter DJ was really friendly and helpful.

For drinks, we ordered a pomegranate drink and a strawberry lime drink. The presentation was nice, but for something labeled a SPECIALTY, the flavor just wasn’t there. The complimentary focaccia bread and garlic cheese oil at the start was actually PRETTY GOOD.

I ordered the BBQ pulled pork-style mac and cheese, and it was a disappointment. The cheese sauce was WATERY and BLAND, nothing like the “four cheese” it claimed to be. My family also tried the May Special seafood pasta, which one of the servers said was the “best”. It cost a staggering $32 and tasted just OKAY. It was mostly basic spaghetti with barely any seafood.

Most of the food was just FINE, but not memorable, and overall lacked flavor.

One thing that really bothered us was the fact that there were THREE FLIES flying around our food and table the ENTIRE TIME. My brother managed to swat one, but the others kept crawling around. It honestly made us uncomfortable.

I was hoping dessert would save the experience, but unfortunately, it made it worse. The key lime pie looked PRE-MADE, like it was just cut from a box and dropped on a plate with some strawberry sauce. The crust was FROZEN, and the pie was WAY TOO SWEET. The chocolate mousse cake actually tasted decent, but it was lazily piped into a plastic cup.

Overall, I’d say TAKE YOUR MONEY...