Not Your Average Joe's

Every time we visit Boston we always make sure we always go to NYAJ. It is always a great place to eat and super friendly staff. We crave the bread and oil/garlic/parmesan dipping . This time however the food was ok, not as great as it used to be sadly. The Mangoes on my plate and daughters plate were not ripe at all and hard as a rock, they actually gave a bitter taste to it. The pizza good but too "bready" and the kids pasta was ok. The restaurant was also extremely hot, unsure if AC wasn't working or simply the table we were sitting at near window (even with blinds shut). We will go back next time we are in town to visit as it was still good and we perhaps just got a bad day. As always staff was super friendly .

Well it didn’t hit the mark tonight. My boyfriend and I came for a casual dinner on a Wednesday. Not too busy, sat right away. Our service was good. However our food just wasn’t great. We ordered chicken dumplings and steak egg rolls to start. They were both sub par for the price. We both personally didn’t love that the egg rolls were served with mustard rather than a marinara sauce, but that’s personal preference. For our entree I got the Mustard-crusted Chicken and my boyfriend got the Ahi Tuna Poke bowl. The chicken was just eh, I honestly couldn’t taste any mustard flavor. I also ordered steamed broccoli for my side but they smothered it in butter.. Not sure if that’s the norm but I wouldn’t have ordered a healthier side option if I knew they were just going to dunk it in butter. My boyfriends Poke bowl was gross.. it was drenched in soy sauce which not only made it soggy but also extremely salty. He ate it anyways but was not happy after the fact when he realized it was $22.

Where do I start? The staff, amazing. The location (Reeds Pond) awesome. My experience? Crazy. Entered and chose the bar area. Was greeted, ordered wine...all was going well. Ordered food, came out quick... Mine had to go back because it was cold. Not like luke-warm, I mean cold. As mine went back, my table mate found a hair in the fish. A long dark hair (we're both short gray or white haired). That plate went back. The new first dish came out and it was cold again. Determined it had queso that was cold and causing the whole meal to be chilled. Mgr said how about nachos. Quick, easy... I'll get it right out. Ok. Nachos came out. With no chili or jalapenos. Table mate's plate came out with broccoli instead of spinach. Nachos go back. Clam chowder, I think. And.... The clam chowder was excellent! So was the side of sauted spinach that made it out after awhile. The mgr was apologetic and really worked with us. This would have been a zero, but I felt like I was listened to and the problems were obvious. The majority of my food reviews are positive, and in the midst of all this crazy, a huge shout out to Khia (I'm sure I spelled that wrong), who was grace under pressure and an example of a staff member that Joe's restaurant should make sure they're keeping happy -- she is the face of your service and she saved your arse with our experience. So she gets 5 stars. 🙂

An old favorite, we decided to stop in for lunch today after not dining out the last couple of years. The buffalo chicken pizza was tasty with a nice blend of spicy and just a little bit of sweetness. The burger was large and cooked properly. The service staff was pleasant and accommodating. And of course the complimentary bread with the oil/cheese dip was as good as ever.