Nic's Restaurant

Doesn't Recommend

anid5656

Joined 5 years ago

Not recommended for parties/groups!. Went to Nic's for my birthday recently...had a reservation for 16 and had 12 for dinner - they tried to charge us for 16 saying it was in some sort of contract I never saw/signed. Then they were rather mysterious about whether or not a tip was included in the total price. Needless to say it was supposed to be a fun and classy evening, but turned mortifying when my guests were nearly forced to overpay for their portions on a pre-fixe menu. To make it worse the service was awful (VERY slow with a VERY snotty waitress) and they refused bar service (no bar waitresses either ) at midnight, so we had to get up and get our own drinks from ONE veyr overwhelmed bartender (who had no clean glasses btw). The one redeeming quality was that the food was pretty good. I would NOT recommend this place for larger groups at all!

Doesn't Recommend

higgins1

Joined 6 years ago

Classic RIP OFF scheme. This place rips people off by adding a service charge to your bill, and then presenting you with a credit card bill that has the total and a blank line for a tip- but it doesn't say that 20% has already been added. Sneaky. I have no respect for a place that is so high priced and then tries to rip you off at the same time. weak.

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boyinbrooklyn

Joined 7 years ago

Nic's...the restaurant that brought S E X Y back!. I had one of the best dining experiences in my life at Nic's Restaurant this last Friday night. The food is amazing, the martinis... amazing, & the staff...well extremely amazing. I celebrated my 30th birthday here & it was such a wonderful experience. Major kudos go to Mitch Hunter & Brandon who welcomed my whole party of 15 through the bar and into our dining table. The staff from our food servers, bussers to the bartenders were all extremely helpful & nice. My whole party left on such a high that night, & that high lingered on to the whole weekend! So let me tell you about the food. I've traveled throughout the world, & have eaten at 90% of all the restaurants in LA, & Nic's is by far one of the best restaurants I have eaten at. For the price & value, I rate it higher than Asia De Cuba & The Ivy. The interior design is gorgeous, a great mix of LA & New York influences. The food is delicious. If you are a fan of gnocchi, & even if you aren't, the gnocchi here is tasty. Every person at the table had a bite of one, & all their frowns were turned up side down. Nic's is know for their signature oysters which are cooked & served with spinach, walnuts, garlic, they are to die for! That night I had the peppered and grilled organic salmon, which was cooked to perfection. It was served with a mango & spring onion which was delicious. The seared filet mignon served with blueberries just melted in your mouth. The service was great, one of the best staffs ever, nice, not one bit of attitude and very accomodating! I had to look around a make sure...am I really in Beverly Hills? I didn't see one person there with out a smile. I was surprised to see all our entrees out at the same time, all hot, & all consistent and tasty. One thing I really love about this place is the creativity. Finally an LA restaurant that did it right, this place has the cojones & own up to their creativity. For example their martinis are not your usual, try the "Where's my Effen martini!"

Recommends

psmgt

Joined 6 years ago

Wonderful Experience!. I have tried Nic's before, in the past & it was a nice experience. But something has changed. There's more life, more energy. We had dinner last Friday evening. I brought my fiance for the first time. From the moment we walked in, to the moment we left we felt very welcome and wanted. Which is rare in LA, especially Beverly Hills! For food we had the duck, which was recommended by our waitress, and the filet. We also had one too many martinis, but they were so good! I will be passing on the word and telling all of my friends to go! Our waitress was so nice and it wasn't the "fake" nice you can get at places like this! And the Maitre'd, the host, even our other server kept coming over and checking on us! Like I said, an overall Wonderful experience! Congrats to you for having such a great place!!! We'll be back!

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Contributor

Joined 10 years ago

It's time to raise a toast at Beverly Hills' favorite neighborhood martini bar and celeb hangout.. In Short
Nevermind those celebrity roast infomercials that promise to bring back the good ol' days of the Rat Pack when smoking was cool and wearing a suit all day was considered casual. The spirit of Dean Martin lives on right here at this Beverly Hills joint where the martinis flow just as freely as the conversations. A small couch-lined area plays host to the nightly happy hour and the occasional jazz band, while an ascending walkway leads to a more formal dining room with semi-circular booths and tabletop seating. A play on classic steakhouse cuisine, restaurateur (and host with the most) Larry Nicola offers everything from meaty standards like miso-crusted prime ribeye with wasabi butter to lighter fare like grilled Scottish salmon dressed in figs and apples. Of course, no visit would be complete without a visit to the VodBox, an exhibition walk-in freezer where guests can put on a faux fur and raise a glass from one of the more than 80 varieties of vodka. Oh, and don't miss the Dean Martin shrine. Seriously. Told you his spirit lives on.

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amyww

Joined 6 years ago

great place for a. i needed a really unique place to celebrate my boyfriend's work promotion but we were going out witth co-workers that i really didnt know. its so hard finding a great place that everyone is going to like and feel comfortable with, but Nics nailed it! i've been there before but no one else in the group had been there for dinner. The burger with the gooda cheese made the girls jealous, i was a little more daring and tried the duck w/pomegranite, ok WOW, please someone else needs to try this and share in my happy moment. we tried a bunch of the apps for the table, all really good but if its your first time in go for the steak skewers, total crowd pleaser. and you know, beyond all the food, the staff is just as much a part of the scene. everyone is "fabulous", in a good way, and very sweet. they helped warm up the group and our waitress was the one who got me to try the duck. :o) Oh oh, and DONT leave without desert. even if you have to take it to go, the waitress told us they are homemade, the lemon situation is freaking amazing. sweeet.

long story short, go for they hype about the vodka locker, stay for the duck. cheers!

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bluem

Joined 6 years ago

Best all around Dining experience!. This place is a true find in Los Angeles-especially in Beverly Hills! We were treated so warmly by the staff- from the guy at front door to Monike in the vodbox-this is a special place. Food was really delicous-not too saucy cooked perfectly. The menu is a perfect blend of classic American foods and ethnic twists. Martinis' rock-love the what a pear. Going to the vodbox was so much fun- had out of town guests and this took the night over the top.WHAT A BLAST we felt like royalty even though Ashton Kutcher and Demi were in the room too we got as much attention by our knowldgeable waitress. the scene is a mix of going to a friends for dinner with chic sophistication it's both warmth with cool/hipness. Definately going back to have my upcoming birthday there!!!

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junglecee

Joined 7 years ago

Examples: Best pizza anywhere, Avoid on Friday nights, Great customer service. Examples: Best pizza anywhere, Avoid on Friday nights, Great customer serviceExamples: Best pizza anywhere, Avoid on Friday nights, Great customer serviceExamples: Best pizza anywhere, Avoid on Friday nights, Great customer serviceExamples: Best pizza anywhere, Avoid on Friday nights, Great customer serviceExamples: Best pizza anywhere, Avoid on Friday nights, Great customer service

Doesn't Recommend

santiagolee

Joined 6 years ago

Worst restaurant on earth. This is one of the worst dining experiences in my life. Service was horrible. Their waitstaff is completely pretentious and tried to make us order certain things we didn't like. The waitstaff wasn't well informed about the menu and was inattentive. They seemed to be unconcerned with service there. I saw our waittress standing around talking to someone else when I had asked for something. I had to ask a passing bus boy to help me out. Their waitstaff was just incredibly snobbish. When the chicken came undercooked, I asked to take it back and was met with some fierce opposition by our waitress. That, is the sign of terrible service. She didn't apologize for the fact that it was undercooked, but rather gave a look of annoyance.

The atmosphere is WAY too loud for a good, respectable fine dining restaurant. The restaurant tries to be a bar/happy hour and a fine dining establishment at the same time. It's terrible. The restaurant is very small, so the sound from the bar area travels very easily to the dining room. I had to shout to my boyfriend over dinner just to be heard. NOT romantic at all.

The food wasn't very good either. It's not bad, but for those prices, I'd expect more than an undercooked piece of chicken rubbed with salt and pepper. My boyfriend got the steak and it wasn't much better than what you could make at home. It's just grilled and thrown in an oven.

I've also heard that they refused to pay people in the kitchen as well. I heard that a chef worked there for 2 months and wasn't paid. She said that the secret sauce that they have is just rosemary, thyme, sage, parsley, garlic and olive oil. They throw that on everything with some salt and pepper. I DO NOT support an establishment with terrible morals. What kind of an establishment doesn't pay someone for work done?

Support other restaurants with higher moral standards - ones who pay their employees!!

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susansmith90024

Joined 6 years ago

ok, this place is best find ever!. i just found Nics. i love this place! we needed a new lounge for girl's night, found it!! really nice, normal service, the martinis are strong and the servers are sweet. food is super tasty, we only tried the apps (but i saw a fillet cross our path...so good).. we will be back. viva the vodka ice box!