Nick’s Restaurant

Been a long time since I’ve been there but last time I was the food was terrible. Won’t be going back.

I just got back from a trip to my hometown, Anderson, Indiana, and thought I would review a few of my old favorites. Many have gone downhill, but there were a couple of nice surprises.
Nick’s was one very nice surprise. The old location was run down, stinky, and greasy – both the food and the windows. I can’t even imagine what the kitchen looked like in those days. Still, I loved their onion rings, even though they often made me queasy.
After a run of business spanning more than my whole life, Nick’s went out of business a year or so ago, only to reopen under different owners. I visited expecting the worst – at the very least I thought the food would be different. I was wrong.
I had the tenderloin and the onion rings. The onion rings tasted just like the old days, only less greasy. The tenderloin was the real thing – not a fritter in disguise. I would have liked more breading, but the flavor was great. My stepson had the chicken and dumplings off of the special menu. I took a bite and it was excellent.
The whole place is much cleaner, you can even see out the windows. It is also full service now. If I recall correctly, it was counter service in its earlier incarnation. What a great exception to the rule. So many old places in Anderson have gone out of business. Here is an instance where one of those places actually reopened better than ever.