19307 Promenade Drive (Lansdowne Town Center), Leesburg, VA 20176
571.333.5637
www.notyouraveragejoes.com
I had attempted to eat here before, but the power went out all over Lansdowne, all the way to Leesburg. All I had at that point was some of their foccacia bread and dipping oil. I should have quit while I was ahead and taken the power outage as a bad omen.
The restaurant itself has good atmosphere, and lots of outdoor seating for warm weather. It’s right on the main street in the new Town Center area of Lansdowne, where there is plenty of competition already. NYAJ is a small-ish chain that is primarily up in New England; this is their first, and only restaurant right now, outside that area. I took my daughter, Syd, and my mother-in-law here for dinner while SQ was out of town. The MIL and I split a pitcher of Sangria, after eyeballing another table of ladies sharing some. It was good, not great, but we were enjoying it. Syd and I also split a Mozzarella Tomato salad for a starter. The mozzarella was a bit tasteless, and the beefsteak tomatoes were not fully ripe yet. Also, the first batch of foccacia we were served was so hard I thought I was going to pull a tooth out trying to bite into it. Too bad…the dipping oil with grated cheese and red pepper flakes is really yummy. Syd and I then split the Chicken Carbonara for dinner. This too was rather bland and tasteless. MIL seemed to like her dinner, the Tuscan Shrimp. I didn’t have any of hers so I can’t comment on that dish. I do always like to give someplace new at least two chances, so I’ll come back another time to give it another try.
Rating: 1/2 out of 5
Would I return: probably not if it wasn’t nearby, but we’ll give it another shot
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