Review: Jim 'n Nick's Goes Beyond Barbecue

810 Montgomery Highway (just south of the Galleria)
733-1300
www.jimnnicks.com

 

By Evan and Deborah Lockridge 

For years, we did not go to Jim 'N Nicks. The only location we had tried was the one in Lakeview, and while it always smelled enticing from the outside, the food and service the couple times we tried it left something to be desired. So perhaps it's not surprising that location is no longer there. But there are new locations springing up each year, even a few in surrounding states.

So when we were looking for a quick dinner in the Galleria area one evening, we swung by Jim 'N Nick's Riverchase location. We were amazed at how many people were there on a Monday night, usually the slowest night of the week at most restaurants.

We were quickly shown to a table and provided with a couple of crayons and a special coloring placemat for our 2-year-old daughter. The fact that the floor, and therefore the table, had a noticeable slope to it was a bit disconcerting. It was also rather warm, and it would have been nice if more of the ceiling fans were going. The decor was casual and basic, with lots of wood and fascinating old black-and-white prints on the walls.

We were impressed that they had quite a good beer selection -- nearly 30 kinds in the bottle plus half a dozen on draft -- and they were appreciated on this hot evening.

Our waitress asked if we wanted to start off with an appetizer. Selection include fried onion rings, spinach-artichoke dip, barbecue quesadilla or nachos, chicken tenders and cheese biscuits. But since we were in a hurry, we went straight for the main course.

We both ordered the "Pig in the Potato Patch," ($6.99) advertised as a huge potato topped with butter, sour cream, cheddar cheese, real bacon, hickory smoked pork, and Bar-B-Q sauce. It lived up to its description, but huge doesn't really begin to describe it. This was a huge potato and a half -- literally! Jim 'N Nick's has a sauce that's on the sweet side, but with a nice vinegar twang to balance it out. The meat was tasty and tender, but unfortunately had some large hunks of fat that had to be pulled out and set aside.

From the children's menu, we ordered chicken fingers, which came with fries. These arrived with the chicken on top of the fries in a metal basket, rather like a colander. They were extremely hot, fresh out of the fryer, and had to sit and cool before they could be eaten. These weren't fingers, but rather half a boneless breast each. They were nicely seasoned, moist and tender on the inside and crispy on the outside. Some of the best we've had. The fries were good, too, with some of the skin still left on. They tasted like fresh potatoes, not like the over-processed excuse for fries you find at many fast-food chains.

On a subsequent lunch visit, we had to search for a parking place at a quarter after 11 and had a short wait for a table, a handsome high-backed wooden booth in a corner by the bar.

We started out with an order of wings, available in mild or hot. It took a little while for the hot wings to arrive, but they were worth the wait. Plump wings, mostly the little drumettes, were fried to perfect crispy tenderness and covered with an orange hot sauce with just the right balance of heat and vinegar. It came with a few carrot and celery sticks and ranch dressing, which we thought was a bit thin and bland.

The weather was cool and damp on this visit, so one of us ordered a bowl of Brunswick Stew ($2.99). This is like a barbecue vegetable stew, with lots of finely shredded pork, tomatoes, corn, lima beans and potatoes and a lot of pepper. It had a hearty homemade taste and was very filling.

Along with the stew, a small smoked chicken sandwich ($3.99, or $5.49 with fries) showed that barbecue doesn't have to be pork to be good. The chicken, breast meat that had been pulled off the bone, had a nice smoked flavor, served with barbecue sauce on a basic small hamburger bun with several pickles. Perhaps the best non-pork barbecue sandwich we've had. This small sandwich is also available in pork, beef or turkey, and there are larger versions of the sandwich, as well.

Our other entree was a half-slab of spare ribs ($12.99), with french fries and cole slaw. Jim 'N Nick's ribs are slow-roasted and smoked, so the meat is almost fall-off-the-bones tender but still has a little bit of that satisfying resistance when you bite into them. They were good meaty ribs, and baby back ribs are also available. The cole slaw was the basic creamy type, a nice contrast to the stronger flavors of the barbecue, and the fries, as on our first visit, were good.

On another visit, a smoked turkey breast platter ($9.99) was a nice option for a diner trying to watch the fat and calories, with its smoky, tender sliced meat. For sides we ordered mashed potatoes and a house salad, which our server thoughtfully offered without the more fattening toppings (bacon, egg and cheese).

One night, we stopped by for a to-go order of pigs in the potato patch and were impressed by the friendly service, which even included carrying out the order to the car, parked in one of the several to-go-only parking spots near the front door.

Jim 'N Nick's offers a lot more variety than the typical barbecue restaurant. If you're hankering for barbecue, you can get spare ribs, baby back ribs, pork, beef, chicken, turkey or smoked sausage, or a combination. On the other hand, if you've eaten barbecue for the last three visits in a row and want something different, no problem. There are sandwiches such as fried catfish, burgers and grilled chicken; platters featuring pork chops, fried chicken, grilled rainbow trout, fried catfish and ribeye; and main dish salads such as the Greek chicken salad, the Southern chopped salad, Club salad and Chicken Caesar salad. We haven't tried the desserts, but you can get several varieties of pie by the piece or the pie, as well as homemade brownies. There's also plenty of to-go options for families or parties, and if you're serving 20 or more they handle catering, too.

Published February 2005

Editor's Update, 2007: We continue to eat at Jim 'N Nick's regularly. Favorites still include the pig in the potato patch, chicken and pork barbecue sandwiches, the house salad, and their potato salad, which has a little spice to it. The place is loud, though, so we often do carryout. We've also heard their fried catfish is quite good.