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My husband and I love Mediterranean food! So when we were in GA for a few days last week, I checked out Yelp reviews and decided Nicola's was our best option!
We were tired when we arrived - after a long day driving through the Chattahoochee National Forest - and had an early flight home the next morning, so we did not get the enjoy the full experience of dining here...namely, the dancing that Nicola was so eager for us to participate in!
As far as the building goes, it's bit off-putting (smells like an old building). But the food is great and Nicola gets at least 100 stars for being such a warm, hospitable and gracious host! He's a joyful man, who loves to dance and greet his customers. Frequent customers received hugs as they entered. Those who spoke Arabic received kisses and his grooviest hip movements. And you really do want to hug Nicola before you leave!
I had the lamb shank, which was not gamey at all. My digestive track can't handle a lot of garlic, so it took me a few days to recover, but the flavor was great! I believe my husband had the Mediterranean Delight, which was also very good.
We left very full and very happy!
This is the best middle eastern food I have ever eaten, period!!
Coming from NYC, land of the street meat and belligerent Zagat reading taxi drivers this place easily takes the cake. My brother and I opted for a family style meal, the hummus/babagadontcare to spellit are amazing.. Falafel wasnt too fried or greasy and had a light sauce that will make you order more. Salads here were good, definitely opting for the feta laced mediterranean Salad next time. Our three main entrees left us perfectly satifsied and not too full.The baklava was small, portion wise, not the best I have ever had but tasty and sweet. It was nice to know I didnt need a crane to carry me out of this place, after paying the bill. Speaking of which the family style meal ran 17 bucks per person including desert. The fact that they give your extra portions along with multiple refills make this a terrific bargain. Service here is impeccable, our waiter switched dishes to meet our needs, brought out extra hummus at no charge to have with our main entrees as well as refilling our drink close to 9 times. My brother and I are animals and certainly dont hand out free reviews on here. Honestly this was the best meal I had in a longtime. Yes the outside of this restaurant does resemble a trap house/high end meth lab.. You would pass it and not think twice. Except for the fact there are Zagat stickers all over the front door and usually a slew of high end luxury vehicles in the parking lot.
Our waiter is extremely friendly, this dear Mexican gentleman helped make this a meal to remember. All the food was served hot and came in a timely manner. There was a chef/owner not sure who he was who seemed to know everyone in the joint who was eating on a first name basis. I will definitely go back to this place when I am back in Atlanta. El pollo in browntown, Strokers in Planet of the ape town & Nicola's in Harvey Milk town all make for the three must do's when in A-Town!
I've been living less than a mile away from Nicola's for 6 months now, and I can't believe it took me that long to wander it and check it out. It was great! My wife and I went on a Tuesday evening around dinnertime. Despite the large retirement party taking up half the dining room, our server was very attentive.
We originally ordered two of the sampler plates, but upon finding out this was our first visit, Nicola himself made sure that some extras were added to make sure we could sample as much as possible. The hummus and baba ghanoush were much more garlicky than I've had in most other places, but that's a good thing! All the other food was top notch as well. While waiting for our food, we amused ourselves by watching Nicola entertain the guests at the retirement dinner.
After dinner, Nicola turned the music up, and got every patron in the restaurant up to dance in a big circle. Everyone was pretty apprehensive at first, but Nicola's enthusiasm is contagious and soon everyone was giving it their all.
If you're looking for a quiet, romantic date at a fancy, decorated restaurant, this probably isn't the place for you. If you want some fantastic (inexpensive!) Lebanese food and don't mind making a dancing fool of yourself, GO NOW.
This is my favorite place to eat in all of Atlanta. Simply put, the food and the service are incredible. The price is unbeatable. The Decor... well, who cares about the decor! I highly reccomend the family style dinner. Its essentially a sampling of the menu and each time i came the staff offered more portions of any plate you liked. In fact gave my friend an extra serving of both baba ghanoush and hummus along with a bag of pitas to take home! No extra charge... Now that is how you earn repeat customers! The customer service of this place makes the Four Seasons look like arby's.
Even if your looking for a date spot, this place serves as a "Mario test" for women, if they cant see past the shoddy buildout and modest attempt at decoration, and appreciate the awesome food and service here then you should kick em to the curb! This place is truly never let em see ya coming. And I love it!
I celebrated my 30th birthday at Nicola's and it was the best birthday party I have ever had! Nicola is the most joyful man I've ever met, who has a sensational zest for life and for people! He danced the night away with the whole restaurant and made me feel extremely special on my birthday. Not to mention, the food is incredible! I highly recommend this restaurant for a night with friends or family and for an outstanding meal!
Nicola is seriously one of the nicest people I've ever met. I haven't been to the restaurant until recently, but whenever my work has some sort of lunch/function, we almost always get our food from Nicola's. The salads are delicious, and the baba ganoush is seriously the best I've ever had. I wish I could find out their recipe! I can't speak on the meat dishes, but have never heard any complaints from my coworkers.
On Friday, we had a big lunch with our board, and Nicola opened the restaurant for us, taught everyone his (amazing!) dance moves, and just made everyone leave with a big smile on their face. It was by far the best experience I've had in a restaurant in some time.
mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm mediterranean food. This place is so awesome, I only wish I could go more often. I always get the vegetarian plate.
the owner is the nicest man ever - you want to give him a big hug by the time your meal is over. its totally family owned and operated, and its great.
sometimes they have really neat live music, and belly dancing - woohoo!
try the rose water. yummo!
Talk about a hidden gem. Apparently this place has been around for quite a while, and numerous of my chef friends here in Atlanta once worked here as teenagers washing dishes and such... the food is fresh and bountiful.... which all makes me wonder why it is never busy.
Nicholas has become part of my exercise-extravaganza days, theres nothing like a huge bowl of tabboule to perk you up. The way to go is to stick to the family style options, the first is a sampler of apps and salads (Mezze), where $28 gets you five apps and four salads, all FULL portions and plenty to feed four people. Another cool aspect is how everything is bottomless, they will literally keep bringing dishes out until you ask for the check - hard to find these days. For dessert we always end with the baklava, which is not to bad at $1.94 a person... if your lucky, request the Rose petal variety.
The place heats up on Fridays and Saturdays with belly dancers and live music... and yes, Nicholas himself dances around the restaurant with a glass of water balanced on his head (if you celebrate a birthday here, this is how your cake is presented as well), but I prefer the joint on its off nights (Tuesday-Thursday), the service and quite atmosphere makes it feel like my own.
This is definitely one of Atlanta's hidden gems. I've lived in Atlanta all my life, and I've just made my first visit to Nicola's Restaurant. It's true that the decor of the restaurant is rather ordinary, but the food and the fun? Out of this world!
We didn't even have water on our table before Nicola had me and my husband dancing like maniacs. Then Nicola danced over to us with my husband's open, full bottle of beer balanced perfectly on his head. He danced, he shimmied, and he didn't spill a drop! When we finally sat down to our meals, they were spectacularly savory and ample portions. And if the fun and food wasn't enough, our dinner for two with drinks and dessert was $38!
Nicola's is--hands down--the most fun, most delicious, most affordable evening in Atlanta.
TIP: Go on Friday, Saturday or Sunday. Arrive by 7:30 p.m. and eat before the dancing begins at 8 p.m. If you have a group of 5 or more, call ahead so they can reserve a table. Enjoy!
My husband and I went to Nicola's with friends on a weekend night about a year ago. Somebody was having a birthday party there, and the place was PACKED.
We ordered a hummus appetizer, which came out fairly quickly, but without any pita. Our server seemed a little rushed, which was understandable given the crowd. We weren't too perturbed about waiting for pita as there was a bellydancer performing and we were enjoying the boisterous, happy atmosphere.
However, our pita problem was soon solved as a man (who I believe was the owner) marched up to our table, noticed the hummus sitting there, and yelled, "WHERE IS THE BREAD?" (Note: it was friendly yelling, not scary yelling.) We smiled (how do you NOT smile at that?) said that we didn't know. Pita was delivered to our table posthaste. We are still laughing at this story. And the hummus was delicious.
The rest of our meal was good, and we really enjoyed the show (and watching the other customers make merry). Just a word of warning... if you don't like loud, clubby-feeling bellydance music, stop by on a weeknight instead.
Went here for her birthday along with 18 of her closest friends and we all had a BLAST! I'm strictly going to review the restaurant though since I want to review the belly dancers separately so the review isn't lost on them as well!
The place is small, squat and almost unnoticeable unless you know what you are looking for. We walked in and were some of the first people there. We got seated promptly (I had called ahead to make them aware we would be a party of 20) and the servers immediately came over to grab our dinner tickets and get our drink order. This is where things got a little hairy.
The servers were overwhelmed. After we were seated is when the majority of the people for the show started showing up. There was mass chaos at the door and people were all crowded around and waiting on tickets and to be seated. This probably could have been handled better but in the end, everyone was seated and everyone (eventually) got their food. The waiters seemed a little rough around the edges with a large crowd but ultimately got the job done.
Nicola, the owner, is a hoot! He ended up dragging her and one of the other party goes out on the floor and dancing with them. He was balancing all sorts of stuff on his head, dancing with all the women, and even took some of the little girls out on the dance floor and danced with them. It is a nice change to see an owner so involved in his business but having a good time and making sure his guests are well taken care of.
We all had a blast and I would like to go back to try more of the cuisine since I'm sure what we were served was just a sampling. The babganoush and hummus were top notch! I ended up feasting on the leftovers of my sister and her husband since they didn't care much for it.
Definitely, definitely, definitely try this place out!
The dancing show by Jahara-Phoenix was the highlight of the evening but Im going to give them their own review since they were so good!
Wow, who would have thought that a squat building you could fly right past at the corner of Briarcliff and LaVista could hold that much taste and charm. We just went here for a friend's birthday party and I have so say, I will be back.
They have so much going for them:
1. Nicola himself. That man can dance, can joke, can get you involved and let you make a fool out of yourself while having an incredibly good time. And he is a man...at 60 something he is allowed to flirt with the best of them, and get away with it too. Oh, did I mention...HE CAN COOK!
2. Veggiesaurases welcome here. I eat meat, on occasion. But I elected to eat the veggie meal at the function we were at, and it was phenomenal...best Spanakopita I have ever had. Be aware that he uses RAW garlic in his hummus. So you are safe from Vampires for at least 3 days. The Babbaganoush was so delicious. Ahhh eggplant. sigh...in memory heaven as I type.
3. Belly dancers. We were here for the Jahara Phoenix Spectacular, but they have dancers frequently. And definitely a good show, and as others have written...REAL SEXY WOMEN'S BODYS! Not fake.
Thanks for a memorable evening
My friend from Morocco wanted to have dinner at Nicola's to celebrate his 30th birthday. He and his wife frequent the restaurant and have always spoken highly of it. When I walked into the place I wasn't impressed, but as soon as 8:00 pm hit there was a straight up Lebanese house party in the middle of the restaurant. I'm not sure what the food arrangement was (never even saw a menu), but we had a steady stream of small plates of garlicy goodness coming to our table. We sampled all the appetizers and they were FABULOUS. All of the entrees were very tasty also.
Perhaps the best part of the evening was Nicola himself. He danced around the restaurant for 2 solid hours with various things balanced on his head (including my friend's birthday cake).
Nicola's is a great place that feels very homey. Learn how to belly dance before you go and score a couple of dollars tucked into your pants.
Nicola's Lebanese Restaurant, located near the corner of Briarcliff and LaVista, looks kind of seedy and run-down from the outside, and, to be honest, its interior charms are neither architechtural or decor-related. Dinner at Nicola's is, however, hands down the most affordable, best time you can have in Atlanta.
First, the food. Nicola is an incredible chef, but don't expect anything fancy. It kind of feels like he's invited you over to his house for dinner. They serve all the middle eastern appetizers you can think of, and the entrees are all fabulous. The lamb shank is out of this world, and, at $12, the most expensive thing on the menu. It does come with what appear to be frozen mixed vegetables on the side, but who cares? It's delicious. Bottles of wine are also around $12-15. SERIOUSLY. Of course, the "wine list" involves a choice between white or red and between a small bottle or a big bottle, but, again, who cares? It's drinkable.
Second, they have bellydancers -- great dancers with real women's bodies. None of that Imperial Showgirl shit.
Third, they have Nicola. Nicola is freaking amazing. He is in his sixties, short and round, but DAMN can that man dance. I heard once that he was a member of the Lebanese national dance team in his youth. He is funny, sassy and a one-man show all by himself. But the best part is that he makes the entire crowd get up and dance with him and the professional dancers. He has a hilarious personal version of the Macarena that he leads everyone in, and as hokey as it sounds, I have never left Nicola's without having a rip-roaring good time.
It's just so infectiously charming and wonderful and homey. If you haven't been, get a group together and go. I had my birthday party here last year, and *everyone* from my dad and my in-laws to my friends to a 2 year old had a fantastic time, all for like under $25 a person. Including wine. Lots and lots of wine. I think they have dancers on Thursday through Sundays, but I'm guessing that the other days of the week are pretty darn fun too.
Web site: http://www.nicolas-res.../
Okay, I hate to be the odd one out here, but we didn't have a very good time at Nicola's. It sounds like it was an off night, but I feel like I should share the experience.
My husband and I went on a Friday night late last year, and soon after getting there a loud table of drunken idiots (a nice way to describe them) was seated next to us for some sort of celebration. They screamed and yelled the whole time, and repeatedly used racial slurs, including the n-word, throughout their drunken tirades! I am white, and my dining partner was black. It was highly uncomfortable for both of us.
My dining companion's meal was inedible (some sort of combination plate), and mine was okay. Both seemed as if they were microwaved. Neither of us even ate half of our meals, and Nicola (the only saving grace of the place!) apologized and mentioned that there was something wrong with the cook or kitchen that day, without us even complaining about the meal. I could see it being a fun experience, but beware: it depends on where you are sitting!
Nicola's dancing with the glass on his head and the belly-dancing gave the place the two stars!
But due to the food and crowd neither of us will be back.
As a big fan of Lebanese food, I decided to give Nicola's a try while in Atlanta recently. I dragged 4 other friends with me and was worried they wouldn't enjoy it, as they preferred more upscale places. We got there and the interior was very plain looking with a few middle eastern touches. There was a belly dancer there, who put on a very nice show without being pushy. The owner, Nicola, was also there. He was a riot. The meze appetizer plates we got were delicious, worth at least the four star rating, but my main course wasn't nearly as good. Next time I go I will stick with the meze or order something else. That being said, the atmosphere of the place, thanks to Nicola and his staff, more than made up for it. Were it not for their attitudes, I would have probably rated the food alone 3 stars. Nicola was dancing around with full wine glasses, bottles of beer, and water goblets filled to the brim. He never spilled a drop and showed a level of energy that belied his ears. Everyone in our party was laughing and clapping and enjoying his antics, and by the end of the evening, we were up and dancing with him. One highlight of the night was when a customer, who could really dance, did some fancy moves, then a waiter took off his apron, and they had a dance off. It was straight out of the South Park dance off episode with shouts of "it's on!!" and "ooh you got served!!" They went back and forth for a while, each round outdoing the last, to great applause from the diners. It was like dinner, drinks, and a show for a very reasonable price of about $27 per person. I would happily return. (note: they only serve beer and wine)
There is a reason this place has been around for so long. Fresh, honest, tasty (the hummus/tabouleh are perfect) Lebanese food served by friendly staff at affordable prices. Given the shortage of Lebanese options in the Atlanta area, I am surprised that Nicola's almost always has a table open. The family style dinner is the way to go - for 15 bucks per, you get 4 apps, 2 salads and 2 entrees. A great way to sample much of the menu. Bonus points for being really nice to my 2 small children.
I should be ashamed of myself for not writing a review of Nicola's yet, since I "work" there on occasion (as a belly dancer) and eat there frequently! So I'm a little biased because Nicola and the rest of the staff are kinda like family... but I want to encourage you Yelpers to go there. Food-wise, I prefer to stick with the appetizers or the vegetarian "dancer's plate" listed on the back of the menu (which is named after my teacher, Aya). Their hummus is great, fattoush salad can be lovely, the spinach pie is rich and buttery, the taboulleh is better than most, but my favorite thing is the fried artichoke hearts. I tend to skip the baba ghanoush -- it's very garlicky. But aside from the food, this is just a wonderful place to go. Nicola is absolutely committed to making sure each guest has a great time. On weekend nights, he'll get everyone in the restaurant up to dance. Sometimes it's like a high school dance party in your friend's basement... nothing ostentatious, no dance floor or fancy lights or stereo -- just all sorts of people dancing and having a great time. It's my happy place... and it could be yours too!
Atlanta, GA
Category: Lounges
Neighborhood: Buckhead
Category: Moroccan
Atlanta, GA
Category: Mediterranean
Atlanta, GA
Category: Sushi Bars
Neighborhood: Buckhead
Category: Greek
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