Massachusetts-Based Not Your Average Joe's Expands Footprint with Westwood Restaurant

Massachusetts-based restaurant brand Not Your Average Joe’s announced today that it will unveil its creative casual cuisine concept at University Station in Westwood, Mass. on February 22, 2016. The restaurant will be the brand’s 17th in Massachusetts and 26th on the East Coast as it continues to deliver quality food at affordable prices in an expanded footprint. With more than 4 new openings planned for this year, Not Your Average Joe’s continues its 20 percent year over year growth trajectory.

In keeping with the brand’s concept evolution, the restaurant will emphasize communal gathering space, and features an open floor plan, exposed kitchen, expanded bar area and outdoor patio with a fire pit, much like recent openings in Waltham, Mass.; Bethesda, Md.; and Reston, Va. Each restaurant, however, boasts unique design details as Not Your Average Joe’s customizes its locations to the evolving needs of the community, its guests, and the architectural integrity of the building. The Westwood location’s design will feature an inviting California industrial-style look and feel, incorporating contrasting materials such as brick, wood, metal and quartz throughout. The 6,500 square foot space will be lit with metal and glass industrial fixtures with vintage-style bulbs draped from the open-air ceiling, drawing attention to exposed beams and duct work.

“I can’t wait to share Not Your Average Joe’s casual dining concept with the Westwood community,” said Not Your Average Joe’s CEO and founder Stephen Silverstein. “While the heartbeat of our 21-year-old brand remains focused on serving quality food at affordable prices, each new restaurant showcases our evolution with new and different elements designed to bring a welcoming, city-like dining experience to the suburbs.”

Guided by Not Your Average Joe’s executive chef Jeff Tenner, the Westwood restaurant’s head chef Luciano DaSilva and his team will create their made-from-scratch dishes in an open kitchen, which is framed with 25 feet of brick proscenium in the center of the dining room. In accordance with Not Your Average Joe’s mission to serve creative cuisine at competitive prices, the culinary team creates seasonal dishes using, fresh never frozen ingredients and are hypersensitive to food allergies and diner preferences. As a result, guests are encouraged to make special requests to meet their dietary restrictions or taste preferences.

“Our goal, is to bring a memorable and fun dining experience to Westwood,” said Tenner. Like all of our restaurants, we’ll provide the community with dishes that are made from scratch with only the freshest ingredients that are never frozen, offering a quality dining experience that won’t break the bank while exposing our guests to trends prevalent in the nations’ top dining destinations.”

Highlights on the winter menu include Romesco Cod (captain’s cut cod, pan seared with an almond-red pepper romesco sauce, hand formed chic pea fritters, black olives and arugula) and Molasses Braised Pork (shank slow-cooked to fork tender, served over smoked gouda white-corn polenta with a tart apple relish). Favorites that remain on the menu year round include Mustard-Crusted and Rosemary Skewered New Bedford scallops. The Westwood kitchen also boasts a theatric stone-hearth pizza oven that bakes hand-stretched dough at 700 degrees to create the restaurant’s specialty pizzas.

With the kitchen at the heart of the restaurant, offering views of the chef at work from every angle, the 1,300 square foot dining room seats 210 and projects a welcoming vibe with the contrast of dark metals and glass along with warm grays and mint green accents that are highlighted by pops of brightly colored artwork. The restaurant also offers 500 square feet of private dining space that can seat 28 or accommodate 60 guests for a cocktail reception.

The restaurant’s 1,400 square foot bar area offers 21 stools along a 20-foot U-shaped white quartz countertop with wood planks, metal strapping and exposed fasteners on the bar’s interior. The bar area also offers 68 seats for more casual dining.

Behind the bar, Not Your Average Joe’s experienced team will serve inventive cocktails, 45 bottles of wine, including “Smokin Joe’s Bottles” – a collection of high-quality, competitively-priced wines including selections from award-winning winemakers such as Cakebread, Veuve Cliquot and Jordan, all available by the glass. 30 beers on tap will include a rotating selection of Massachusetts-made “Backyard Brews” from breweries such as Blue Hills Brewery (Canton), Slumbrew (Somerville) and Jack’s Abby (Framingham).

Keeping with the brand’s commitment to the communities in which it serves, Not Your Average Joe’s will partner with local non-profit Foundation for Westwood Education (FWE) as the beneficiary of its grand opening festivities. All proceeds raised during the two-day preview celebrations and VIP opening party will be donated to the community-sponsored organization, which supports high quality education in the town’s public school systems and enhanced learning opportunities for all Westwood residents.

Since 1991, FWE has awarded $1,000,000 to support high quality educational programs in all seven Westwood public schools and many community organizations. FWE grants have enabled countless Westwood students and adults to benefit from enriching educational programs that might not otherwise have been available. These programs support both the excellence of the town’s schools and the quality of life in the community. FWE has funded a variety of programs in the areas of math, science & engineering, visual & performing arts, parent education, culture & social studies, literacy, technology, and professional development.

The Westwood restaurant will continue to support FWE through March with its ongoing “Not Your Average Cause” program, which provides 15% of proceeds to a selected cause every Tuesday.

Not Your Average Joe’s at University Station is located at 70 University Avenue, Westwood, MA 02090. For information and reservations call 781.355.4400 or visit http://www.notyouraveragejoes.com/westwood.

About Not Your Average Joe’s

Not Your Average Joe’s is a restaurant concept predicated on a dynamic trifecta: made-from-scratch dishes, affordable pricing and customer-driven service. Founded in 1994 by CEO Steve Silverstein, the brand has expanded its culinary footprint to 25 locations along the East Coast. Specializing in creative casual American cuisine, Not Your Average Joe’s also boasts an award-winning wine list and impressive beer selection all designed to meet customers’ needs and budgets. More information on Not Your Average Joe’s is available at www.notyouraveragejoes.com and via the restaurant’s social media channels; follow on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Media Contact

Jonathan Fine, Elevate Communications, jfine@elevatecom.com, 781.248.3963