We haven’t had a restaurant review in a long time, so let’s remedy that by checking out Nick’s Grill on Memorial Drive in Danville.
Nick’s Grill is located in the former Blackwell Dodge building (544 Memorial Drive) on the outskirts of downtown Danville. The place has been open for a few months now so it’s time to check them out for a Friday lunch.
This building was the office building of Blackwell Dodge so a lot of remodeling had to be done to make it into a restaurant. Unfortunately, the remodeling that has been done makes it a very cramped atmosphere. There’s only 5 tables for dine-in and that’s just not enough. I overheard the employees and owner saying that they were going to add extra seating but based on the building’s configuration, it’s going to have to be outdoor seating or adding on to the building. I don’t see that happening.
The place looks to be still under construction with a drive-thru with 2 windows is being installed. Or supposedly, because it looks half-finished and there were no signs of any recent activity there. A drive-thru is nice, but this restaurant has much higher priorities for construction. Two big window air conditioners kept the place at a comfortable temperature, but generated a pretty good crosswind that could send napkins flying.
Anyway, that’s the looks. Now to the ordering and food. I was looking forward to trying the promised middle eastern foods and all that they had on the menu was butter chicken and gyros. Boo. It gets worse as an elderly woman came in asking about some Tabouleh salad, and the order taker said “What’s That?” Facepalm. Then she asked the cooks had they ever heard of it and got a “No” reply. Double Facepalm. Ok, fine. Other people are getting the Philly cheesesteak so I’ll go for that as a combo. It’s all hamburgers, chicken and fish. No real middle eastern foods on the menu.
Two people are doing the cooking from a clearly visible kitchen, and they’re hustling. They’re outnumbered by the multiple orders and it’s 18 minutes from order until I get my food. I’m OK with that, but that’s not going to work for people with a limited time for lunch. It’s definitely not going to work for a drive-thru. There needs to be more than two people in the kitchen and a lot more prep work done for the lunch rush. The drink machine is behind the counter and drinks are served in very small cups. Bleah. Self-service would have been better.
The cheesesteak is very good (not quite up to the level that the defunct Phi-lly Cheesesteaks used to have, but still good) and served hot. The fries are OK, but got better as the meal went along. The five table problem rears up again as multiple customers simply have no place to sit and have to wait for others to leave. Dessert is ice cream, but I had no idea that their ice cream freezer had anything in it because it was all covered up with cardboard.
Time to leave and I look for a place to dump my trash and there’s no trash can. As soon as I stand up, the order-taker flies out to wipe down the table as the next person gets lucky and gets a table.
Ok, let’s go to the numbers!
Service: The cooks are overwhelmed by the lunch rush. The order taker is friendly but now knowledgeable of the middle eastern foods that were promised to be on the menu by now. the owner arrived at near the end of the lunch rush and pitched in to help, but the lace needs at least 2 more people to get it to speed. No followup by the staff once you got your food. Score: 76 (C)
Food: What I wanted wasn’t on the menu. People were promised the middle eastern foods and they haven’t delivered on that yet. It’s clearly not good when you have customers leaving your restaurant with nothing. The food I did get was mostly good, but there’s a lot of room for improvement on the menu. I can go lots of places to get a cheeseburger combo. Score: 84 (B)
Atmosphere: It’s um… “there”. It still looks like an office building just with a kitchen area in the middle. Five tables are clearly not enough and that should be the place’s highest priority to fix. No decorations. The giant doors where the used to push cars in and out were weird-looking. There’s nothing special at all nor anything eye-catching. Score: 74 (C)
Intangibles: The place is located at a busy enough intersection ,but the lack of eye-catching signage can make you not notice the place until you’ve passed it. There’s not any “buzz” about this place around town yet and the lack of the promised food items that would make this place special just hasn’t happened. It’s just a generic restaurant. Score: 75 (C)
Overall: I was a “number” when I walked into a “generic restaurant” and I got my food after hovering around for a table to become vacant. Eight weeks after opening is enough time for a restaurant to find its groove. It’s also enough time for the ownership/management to become self-aware on the shortcomings and start to fix them quickly. Sure, I’ll try Nick’s Grill again and let my readers know about the next visit and I’m going to suggest that you give the place a try when you can. Nick’s Grill has potential, but I thought that the restaurant would be much farther along then where they’re at now.
Overall Grade: 79 (C+)
I can’t lie, I went past it a few weeks ago when I was in town and had no idea a restaurant was in there until this review. So… yeah. Advertisement needed.
Ditto to Matt Bell’s comment. I past by the old Blackwell Motors almost daily, and have not once noticed “Nick’s Grill. My wife & I are always ready to try new eating establishments, but I’m going to give them another month to improve. If by then it passes the mustard, (no pun intended), we will put them in our mix of eateries.
I went there a week after they opened, Air Conditioners were not working, and was one of the Hot Days We had………They had a Big Trash Can holding the big door open and more flys inside than outside.
Got take out Hot Wings, didn’t seem fully cooked so didn’t eat them. I give it a D-.
Another generic restaurant up by Nor Dan —Rickys,— where Dominos used to be, same Menu. Was there for Cheeseburger , was a Pre Packaged Patty, not good, ……
Glad you checked it out. I’d been meaning to mention it to you so you could review it. I want to try it, but I think I’ll give them a little more time to get with the program!
Thanks for the heads-up… Been thinking about trying them out, now I know better………………………
I’m definitely not saying to avoid the place. I’ve just relayed my experience there and given my review and my grade. Other people may find things different and I encourage their reports here too.
sounds like there is potential –needs some fine-tuning—opened too quickly from Bruce’s interior description. We need this of food with our Middle Eastern citizens and to add to our options and variety of food eateries. AND where is city council and economic development with the restaurants proximity to the renowned RIVER DISTRICT????? the THI restaurant is much further north.
My Iranian coworker was bitterly disappointed because the promise in the newspaper was Persian food. She thought her Gyro wasn’t bad, but it’s not Persian. I think our experience which was I think 3 Thursdays ago or so was in line with what Bruce has reported. I do think the location is a great one for the food, and the neighborhood it is in seems to be enjoying it so far. The current configuration of the building and its limitations just aren’t working well.
Danville is a hamburger town! Bring back Duffys and Kellys, the Ranch. All will be good.
Well considering that Duffy’s is now Leonard Buildings, Kelley’s was torn down and replaced by Taco Bell and the Ranch is now a consignment store…it seems unlikely.
Ricky’s Grill on Nor-Dan Drive, it appears he at least put a great deal of work into the building itself. Have no idea about what he offers, prices or anything about it..some advertising would be a good idea or else no one is going to go.
As for Nick’s, it’s not the most inviting looking place.
After just getting back from Nick’s, my sentiments are very close Bruce’s, although I ate before any sort of dinner rush. The cheesesteak was great. The owner is very nice, and seems to be building a good rapport with customers. I’ll definitely be back.
I totally agree that both the service and the atmosphere weren’t ideal. The young lady taking orders when I was there did not have the personality needed in a service position. The wait for food was a little longer that it should have been BUT they do have a mean cheese-steak!! I will eat there again. I learned never judge a book by it’s cover and even though it’s a diamond in the rough, given time and attention this place offers a pretty good meal for a decent price.
Sorry, It does not “look” appealing enough to get me to stop by. Just the way it is. These type of places come and go. I read the article about the owner always wanting to do this and finally he got the opportunity. Some people are not mean to run restaurants….That is just a reality. Wanting to do it, and being prepared to do it are two different things. I hope that we are not giving incentives to everyone with “a dream”. Used to be if you had a dream, “you” made it a reality yourself. Now if you have a “dream” you ask others to help you pay for it!