Not Your Average Joe's Donating to Watertown Youth Coalition During May

Use the certificate and dine out on Tuesdays in May and part of the check will support Wayside and the Watertown Youth Coalition.

Dine at Not Your Average Joe's in Watertown on Tuesdays this month and part of your check will be donated to the Wayside Youth & Family Support Network and the Watertown Youth Coalition. The groups are this month's Not Your Average Cause recipients. The restaurant in Watertown Square will donate 15 percent of the lunches, dinners and take out orders on May 8, 15, 22 and 29. You must present the certicate for the money to be donated to the Wayside Youth & Family Support Network and the Waertown Youth Coalition. The certificate can be found on the right.

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Watertown Restaurant Booth Dedicated to Long Time Diner

Not Your Average Joe's honored a Watertown resident for her loyalty to the Watertown Square restaurant.

Sonia Boyajian dines regularly at Not Your Average Joe's – at least once a week since the restaurant opened in 1998 – so the restaurant restaurant gave her a booth of her own. On Wednesday, the Watertown Square eatery honored Boyajian by dedicating the Sonia Boyajian Booth. "It’s only fitting that the booth where she spends so much time be hers in name as well as in spirit," says Steve Silverstein, founder and CEO of Not Your Average Joe’s. "This is the first time we’ve ever done a seat plaque so it’s quite a honor for me to be a part of this." CEO Steve Silverstein dedicated the Sonia Boyajian Booth and a toast to the honoree. Guests and friends of Boyajian attended the celebration at Not Your Average Joe’s. It was also an evening when …

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Watertown Restaurant Owes Back Wages to Underpaid Employees

Not Your Average Joe's is one of the 34 Boston-area restaurants that owe $1.3 million in back wages.

The U.S. Labor Department has found that 34 Boston-area restaurants owe more than $1.3 million in back wages to employees, including the Not Your Average Joe's chain – one of which is in Watertown Square – along with Fresh City in Newton Upper Falls and The Metropolitan Club in Chestnut Hill (Brookline).  According to a press release issued Thursday by the U.S. Labor Department, officials found violations relating minimum wage, overtime and record-keeping. The approximate $1.3 million is owed to 478 employees at various establishments around Boston.  During the investigation, the Labor Department found that some restaurants were paying flat salaries for all hours worked and not including any overtime pay. Some restaurants were also paying …

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Living in Watertown

Garlic Gone Wild

Hold the garlic, please.

Last week I went out to dinner at Not Your Average Joe’s in Watertown Square. Imagine my surprise when I found that there was nothing on the menu that I could eat. The reason: I can’t stand garlic. I don’t believe I’m allergic to it but its taste bothers me so much that I cannot eat any food that it taints. I’ve even had situations where someone at work heated a garlicky dish in the microwave, and after she returned to her desk with her lunch, I had to leave my desk because I physically felt that I would get sick. When I was at Joe’s, I inquired about several items on the menu that interested me and I found out that garlic was involved in every one of them. The manager came out to talk to me and he told me that if I knew the restaurant, I’…

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