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- Hours:
Mon-Thu. 10:30 a.m. - 9:00 p.m.
Fri-Sat. 10:30 a.m. - 10:00 p.m.
Sun. 10:30 a.m. - 9:00 p.m.
- Attire:
- Casual
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Take-out:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- Yes
- Alcohol:
- Full Bar
9 reviews for Jim 'N Nick's Bar-B-Q
My wife and I live just around the corner from Jim 'N Nicks, so we tried it out a while back. Since the Steele Creek area is mostly new development, most of the nearby restaurants are your typical Fridays/Applebees chain restaurants. I realize Jim 'N Nicks is a chain, too, but it's not as ubiquitous as those other places.
Now, here's what you have to know about this experience. My wife doesn't like barbecue anything. At all. So she wasn't thrilled about the prospect of eating here. The smells that I'd been a-smellin' from the Harris Teeter parking lot were driving me nuts, though.
We had a little bit of a wait to get a seat the Saturday night we went, which seems typical for restaurants around here. Once we were seated, we were served by an extremely helpful young lady who did the following things, in no particular order:
- kept the cheese biscuits coming
- made sure our lemonade glasses were always full (and seriously, you've gotta have the lemonade. Soooooo good)
- helped my wife pick out something on the menu that a non-barbecue eater would like, and
- when my wife wasn't sure about her selection, she brought out a little sample of the item so she could taste it and see if it was something she could eat a plate of.
The place isn't perfect - the food can sometimes take longer than what would seem necessary, but in their defense I'll take that over we-got-this-out-quicker-because-we-made-it-45-minu tes-ago any day, and the one time we got to-go food, it took even longer. Their drive-thru window could use some help, too. But other than that, it's a fantastic place to take out-of-town guests, something we've done twice now to rave results.
Alright look, I'm a california girl. I don't know much about authentic BBQ really... but I do know what tastes good.
IDK what it is about the beans here, but they are like crack. I would come here and just eat the beans. Wholly mother of god they are good.
I had a pulled pork sandwich that was good. It lacked spice but I fixed that right up with their habanero bbq sauce. That sauce was so damn good I just wanted to put the bottle in my purse. Then I realized I couldn't take it on the plane... so I held back.
We had six people (well, 5 and a bebe), and the bill was only $80. Not bad. Service was awesome. Just don't serve me that sweet tea when I order tea, OK?! If I don't use words like, "y'all" when I order, then understand that we west coasters don't get down with that sugar water. Blehhhhhhchh.
When I put a little of the habanero sauce in my beans it's like, OMG, this might just be the best thing eva. EVAHHHHHHHH
Pretty darned good! For a "chain" BBQ place, Jim 'N Nicks still has a lot of the taste of a hole-in-the-wall. If you're looking for casual dining ala Friday's/Tuesday's/Applebee's, but with BBQ and a full bar, this is the right place!
My sliced brisket plate had a great tangy/smoky flavor and the meat was perfectly tender. No knife needed here. The 'tater salad was crisp and cold, well mixed up with a few pieces of potato in there. The baked beans are clearly not straight from the can. They have a BBQ zing to them as well as pieces of meat and onion - yummy.
The sweet tea needed nothing, though the staff kept refilling my glass and pouring in more and more crushed ice.
Would I come back? You betcha!
I took 8 people to lunch and had another great BBQ experience. Killer food, everyone was impressed and the service was great. The group had the brisket platter, BBQ Chicken, salad with pulled pork, brisket sandwich and pulled pork sandwiches. All got a thumbs up.
1 Previous Review: Show all »
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5/28/2009
Please disregard the low ratings on this restaurant. They are not fair assessments. This place… Read more »
Jim 'N Nick's BBQ is such a great place to experience- When you see things like 'Kitchen Sink Nachos" and "Pig in The Garden Salad", you know you're in for a good meal. Definitely try one of their burgers- they are cooked perfectly and the fillings barley fit in between the buns!
I left with a smile on my face, a huge to-go bag and a FULL belly.
Carolinians, you no longer have to go to Charleston for your Jim N Nick's bbq.
Cost to worth it ratio: 3
Eve award: best cheese biscuits--move over Red Lobster
Highlights:
- Cheese biscuits: more like a muffin actually--soft, fluffy, cheesy, with a bit if sweetness and complete with a crunchy outer layer. You need at least a few baskets of this when you're here--the rest is just filler.
- Pig salad: not just iceberg but romaine and spinach as well topped with the mother size of all croutons, plenty of shredded cheddar, charred meaty bacon, succulent grape tomatoes, and my favorite clincher: almond slices. You have a choice of meat and beef brisket is always mine. Solid salad.
- Beef brisket: my fave is still in Texas, but this is pretty good outside of that. Thick but tender pieces with inherent flavor. Not quite cuttable with just a fork, but close.
- Drinks: they have a full bar and impressive beer and wine list. I don't expect great wines at places like this but they touted glasses of honig sauvignon blanc and seghezio zinfandel. Also they make great cocktails with fresh squeezed juices. I had a peach tea which used their lemonade and even though it was on the sweet side, it was great. Big score for a casual spot with great food and drinks!
- Atmosphere: Open, comfy, roomy, and woody. Love the booths against the wall.
- Service: fast, friendly, and attentive.
Midlight:
- Bbq sauce: I like a buffet if options and you get 2 choices here. Regular was tomato based but a bit too light and vinegary for me. I was a bit scared off by the habenero, but I prefered this sauce, as it was a darker mollasses-like color and didn't have an unmanageable kick.
Lowlights:
- For some reason I think it tasted better in Charleston where I was completely blown away, but don't get me wrong--it's good stuff.
Excited to have this location relatively c
I believe that you sir, are mistaken.
in fact, chances are pretty good that you got your meal during the "friends and family" period and am neglecting to mention that it was FREE.
Any new restaurant will go through some opening pains. that is what you experienced. you might want to consider "lightening up", especially if it was free or just after they opened for real.
I also visited during the first week they opened and grabbed some take out for my family. My wife was sick and couldn't make lunch. We lucked out and got some takeout family style...
It was fantastic. and not just because it was free. If I owned a BBQ place in Charlotte I would be glad that J+N's was in such a crappy location, for now.... it may become a destination and here's why, the menu was great, the decor was strong. The staff, tho very green, was eager to please and energetic. Assuming that they stay motivated, excellence is possible.
Plus you can't beat the price... Lighten up buddy whaddya want for free?
Me and a co-worker came here for lunch today to try this place out since it just opened recently. When we pulled in the parking lot was really crowded, which meant it was pretty packed inside too. We sat in the bar so we didn't have to wait for a table. Placed our orders and then our waiter brought us a basket of bread. We ate those right up and then sat there for about 5 minutes, hoping our food would be coming soon. It still wasn't ready (we both ordered pulled pork sandwiches with one side) so our waiter offered us more bread. Still waiting, no food, no bread. Our waiter comes back and says the bread was still baking and that our food was almost ready. Finally, about 10 minutes later, our bread came, and then about 5 minutes after our food arrived. They mixed up our orders (I had my sandwich on a bun with mac and cheese, my co-worker had his on sourdough with mashed potatoes. My sandwich was on the plate with mashed potatoes and his sandwich on mine.) Anyway, we only had to swap our sandwiches so that wasn't too big of a deal but it was a little annoying especially since we had to wait a little long for what I would imagine wasn't a difficult thing to make. So, the pork was good but a little dry in parts, I had to add more bbq sauce to each bite so that I wouldn't have to chew so much. The mac and cheese was a little too creamy for me, not the best. Our waiter asked if we needed more water once but never did fill it, we had to ask another worker to get it. I did finish my plate but it wasn't anything I'm dying to go back for!
I easily would have given my first visit here (through the drive-thru) an easy 5 stars as the food (6 piece chicken strips w/ Habanero BBQ Sauce on the side) was PHENOMENAL!...however, I had to wait close to 10 minutes to get it. Now, I must say it was piping-hot, fresh, and damn delicious when it finally came out, but service needs to be in-place to make the experience worth 5 stars. After ordering, paying, and proceeding to drive up to the second window...I waited 1 minute to have an unfortunately dirty-looking guy tell me (nicely) that it will be a couple minutes before the food comes out. Okay, no problem, right? Well, that was the last I saw of him until he handed me the food 8 minutes later with no apology, or any further explanation as to why it took that long when they are clearly trying to offer drive-thru service as a means of getting their incredible food. Perhaps a sign is needed (Drive-thru) telling potential customers that food may take awhile! We don't know what's going on in there! Of course we want fresh and hot food, but don't leave us guessing that our food might be being neglected for whatever reason! At least put a sign up if the food usually takes 10 minutes through drive-thru! That was some fine-tasting chicken strips, however! Huge! And that habanero BBQ sauce (which I didn't see listed on the menu) is incredible if you like spiciness! I will go back!
