After a long, hot afternoon at the Belmont Car Show, my husband and I wanted a cocktail and something light to munch on. We happened to be very close to Nick’s on 2nd (which we have heard a lot about), and we thought we would pop in and give it a shot.
Right when we walked in, we were impressed with the design; the bar set up is very modern but still has an upscale feel to it. I loved all of the orange and the fact that the bar is in the center of the restaurant. One complaint that my husband had was the TV size and the fact that they only had two, but we then realized this was a much nicer restaurant than we were expecting.
The host was very nice, and after having to spell out our last name a few times, we were seated right away. Our server came over with waters and greeted us by using our last name; this was the first place I have ever seen anything like this. It was cute, and maybe unnecessary, but I like the idea of it. She went over the menu with us, and a few things that she described really stuck out. Had we been hungrier, I’m sure we would have ordered the Fried Deviled Eggs and the Prime Rib Dip.
I, as per usual, decided to start out with a Bloody Mary ($11). Nick’s is made with an in-house tomato juice mix and Grey Goose, along with a fried blue cheese olive. My husband ordered the Nick’s Honey Blonde ($5 and our server told us that Nick’s doesn’t actually brew their own beer; they just have someone make theirs for them). Both drinks were very refreshing and exactly what we wanted. My Bloody was spicy with just enough horseradish, and I was very excited about the fried blue cheese olive. It’s too bad that it was awful. It must have been fried hours before, because it was soggy, and the inside of the olive looked brown and like it was going bad. They brought me regular green olives instead, and those were much, much better. Maybe not all food needs to be fried.
When it came time to choose what to eat, it was easy to decide. My husband and I love wedge salads, and theirs are made with campari tomatoes, Nueske’s bacon, red onions, and buttermilk blue cheese ($7). The lettuce was crisp and fresh, the bacon was crunchy and warm, and the dressing was creamy and topped with fresh blue cheese. All in all this salad had everything that we wanted from it. Next time I would try the California ahi salad, ($15) but we just weren’t hungry enough this time.
We did decide to split the Seafood Enchiladas ($18); the fact that they had lobster in them is what sold me, plus anything that is served with black beans and rice has to be pretty satisfying to share. The enchiladas arrived, and the presentation was beautiful, and even though the actual enchiladas seemed a little small to me for the price, I noticed a pretty large chunk of lobster and forgot about the size right away. They were also filled with Mexican prawns and had a poblano cream sauce on top.
My husband and I had to agree that we enjoyed this dish, but nothing really popped. There was no spice that we could really point out, and while the lobster was juicy, the prawns seemed a little bland. I think that if I were to go back, I wouldn’t order this again, but I would suggest it to others if they were looking for a dish that was mildly flavored and light. The rice and beans were actually pretty flavorful (I love when white rice has carrots chopped up into it).
As my husband and I left the restaurant and headed across the street for a beer at Murphy’s, we both agreed that the service was top notch, but we might have to head back soon to see if the food actually does live up to all of the hype.