Not Your Average Joe's

Tuesday night my husband and I went to our local Not Your Average Joe's. Like I said before, I try not to go to chains because it's the same generic food you can get anywhere. However, this time, I had a birthday coupon. Not only did a get a free dessert, but I also got a free entrée!!! That's unheard of! Not only that but I was not limited to a specific dollar amount. I could order the most expensive thing on the menu and it was free for my birthday! I was beyond excited.

I chose a Tuesday night to go because I thought it would be less crowded than a weekend. Boy was I wrong! I used open table to make a reservation for 7:15pm and it's a good thing because there was a huge wait when we got there.  There were people everywhere waiting, inside and out. This is usually a good sign for a restaurant but I was annoyed that it was so busy on a Tuesday of all days.

Anyhow, I was browsing the menu and we were seeing a lot of entrée salads. I guess it's because everyone is trying to be healthier. Well, I'm not nor do I want to order a salad out. You can get that at home. Needless to say there was a limited menu. I was cruising the seafood but there wasn't much to choose from. I originally went there ready to order a pizza, yes pizza. It was my free birthday dinner and it's my favorite!! Then I figured with an unlimited dollar amount I should go straight for the steak as that tends to be more money as opposed to the $10 pizza I was looking at. The waiter recommended the special of the day which was a steak so I went with it.
www.notyouraveragejoes.com
They say you should trust your gut and always go with your first choice. Silly me. The steak was a flank steak which I have never ordered out. Mistake number 1. Usually, I order filet which in my opinion is the best cut. The meal came with Spanish rice which was actually really good and corn on the cobb. The corn was garnished with a chipotle aioli and sprinkled with some Mexican cheese which I still don't know what kind. That was delicious too. I want that aioli on everything, yummy!! It's a good thing that the sides were good because the steak sucked. I ordered it medium rare as I do all my steaks and it didn't seemed cooked. Mistake number 2. It was seared on the grill but not enough to get color and really pink on the inside. I think they flash fried it. Not good. And it had this burnt grill taste but not in a good way. I had that taste in my mouth all night even after my dessert!! Thank goodness for the unlimited supply of raspberry lemonade that is made fresh daily and has free refills. I needed something to wash that awfulness out of my mouth.

I took my leftovers home and they are still in the fridge. My husband didn't even want it and he'll eat anything leftover.

I chose a molten chocolate cake for dessert. At least that couldn't get screwed up. I was right, it was delicious but you can get that on any chain restaurant's menu. No fireworks there.

Aside from the bread which is a focaccia of some sort that they have you dip into parmesan cheese and olive oil, it is not worth going back there again until my next free birthday dinner comes in my email.

Thumbs down.