Niki’s Restaurant

On a road trip passing through Birmingham, I picked Niki’s for the convenient location and favorable reviews. My dad and I were beyond satisfied with the service, quality/​selection of food, and taste. The staff were all very welcoming, and our waitress was particularly kind and attentive. I loved the fried chicken tenders and macaroni and cheese. We would definitely come back here on another trip to Birmingham.

I came with my Mom and Mother in-​law and we all enjoyed it immensely. I talked to George at the register and he said everything is made from scratch. Even the green beans were amazing!
It wasn’t greasy and you could tell all the sauces and gravies were made with love.
We got the:
Fish and rice
Beef Liver and onions
Collards
Green beans
Yams
Lima beans
Tapioca pudding
Christy served us and she was very attentive and fun to talk to.
This is a must stop for Birmingham’s great restaurants!

I ate lunch there recently with my daughter. I had a nostalgic interest as I ate there frequently in the 80’s (so the facility is old and not updated) We arrived around 1:30 post lunch crowd so the foods looked a little picked over. The flavor was good and the staff was friendly. For a meat and 3 it was adequate but it has lost something since the 80’s. (Or I’ve just gotten pickier, but I doubt it as my opinion of a similar restaurant was more favorable.)

the food is very well seasoned and just good southern fare! The fried green tomatoes are the best anywhere, sliced thinly and crispy. My favorite meat and three.

After reading some less than appealing reviews, I was hesitant to eat here with my parents who have had their share of tasty vegetables. However, I was pleasantly surprised! All of our food was DELICIOUS. The Greek chicken was moist, squash perfectly seasoned and yams just right. I almost didn’t get the yams because I’m pretty picky about those but they did not disappoint.
My parents enjoyed their meals as well. Snapper, broccoli casserole, cabbage. Their only complaint was rolls that were cold and hard.
If you are looking for great «home cooking», this place is for you!

Extremely disappointing after reading all the great reviews. The service was amazing but the food was hit or miss.
THINGS WE TRIED:
chicken fingers (for the kids) (decent)
Macaroni and cheese (not great — no flavor, mushy)
Fried green tomatoes (amazing)
Liver and onions (not good — not enough onions and gigantic serving of liver chunks)
Chicken kebab (extremely good — would come back for just that)
Buttered carrots (good consistency and flavor)
Mashed potatoes with gravy (highly recommend)
Fried okra (inedible — tough, chewy, worst I’ve ever had)
Cornbread (burnt and hard)

This place is dear to me,
So many countless meals of fried snapper, mac & cheese, mashed potatoes and those green beans… OUF! Those green beans!
The head line lady is gem. She always knew my order and was a lift to any bad day. I can’t wait to get back to Bham and eat at one of the city’s best meat & 3s

DEElicious! They have a good selection of meats and well seasoned veggies. Collard greens the way they should taste. Homemade yeast rolls. And desserts to satisfy the most discerning palate (I’m partial to the Buttermilk Chess Pie). The décor may be a little dated, but it’s clean and bright. The staff, including the long time owner, are super nice. If you like Southern cooking you should go to this tasty Second Avenue landmark.

It’s been more than 10 since I’ve been here. So it tells you a lot that I return to Nikis before any other restaurant in town after 10 years. It’s a blast from the past but in a good way. Don’t let the idea of a meat and three scare you or it rougher exterior block you. The people are wonderful nice and welcoming. The good is fantastic, not the typical meat three lower greasy quality. Birmingham is a distribution point for a very large seafood distributor so the fish is better here than in many parts of Florida. If it weren’t for all of the Bama and War Eagle fans, well I can’t hold that against the restaurant. I highly recommend Nikis.

No complaints. Hot food. I had they snapper which was cooked to order. Mixed veggies were hot and moist. All the flavors held their own. Corn sticks were a little flat with not much flavor. A heaping dab of hydrogenated soybean spread helped it out. I have had consistently good food here.

Drive past Niki’s on 2^nd and you might not even notice it. The place has all the curb appeal of a German pillbox.
Oh, who am I kidding? From the street, it looks as if they could be selling auto parts.
And that’s a shame, because all those unsuspecting folks driving past on the way to some chain don’t realize that they’re driving past a cultural icon, the veritable Holy Grail of meat-​and-​threes. Sure, Irondale Café has the marketing machine behind that aw-​shucks atmosphere. But after three consecutive visits, I’m totally convinced Niki’s is the real deal. They make everything there with loving hands and it shows in every single bite.
Get your happy butts down there, and soon.

If you like «meat and three,» cafeteria-​style southern food this place is the gold standard, in my opinion.
There is some confusion with this place and Niki’s West, which is located on Finley Blvd. and is arguably more popular. However, I much prefer this restaurant. Originally, both locations were owned by the same folks but this one changed hands in the 1980s. The owners of this establishment are always up front and are extremely nice guys.
So let me outline the differences between this place and Niki’s West. When you enter the cafeteria line at Niki’s West, you’ll likely be behind thirty folks. Don’t fret though, at West they prod you through that line so fast you’ll feel like cattle. You’ll probably just order the first few things you see because they don’t let you dilly dally. It’s a total «Soup Nazi» experience, if you’re familiar with the Seinfeld character. As for the table service, its polite but curt.
At Niki’s on 2^nd or Niki’s Downtown, whichever you prefer, is another experience. The menu is somewhat smaller, but still more than ample. The ambiance is much more laid back and the service is hands down better. The servers on the line are patient and genial and once they decide you’re a regular they will treat you like gold. The table service is no different.
A lot of people will say the food at Niki’s West is better, but I believe that has more to do with groupthink than anything to do with their respective mac and cheeses, banana puddings or fried chicken. Also, the portions are a bit bigger at Niki’s Downtown, if that’s your thing, and the fried eggplant, green tomatoes and squash are always fried to order.

Friday lunch and a group of us were going to go out and decided on Niki’s for a meat and 3 experience.
Had heard great things about this place, but with this and Niki’s West I was confused which one I had heard about this. It is in a very run down older part of downtown Birmingham. Half the patrons were in business suits and the rest were from casual to construction workers. The inside is like stepping into the 50’s but was clean and staff was very nice.
Got the fish special with Mac n Cheese, fried okra and corn bread. I was the first to go through the cafeteria type line and when the rest of my party got to the table I noticed they had gotten Banana Pudding, I asked the server who got our drink order for one and she happily got me one.
The fish was very good with the homemade tartar sauce, the mac n cheese was good, the fried okra was ok, seemed a little to fried for my liking, but edible. (i did eat it all) but the banana pudding was great.
Would return.

Never again. Yuck. Gross. Eww.
Friendly staff, though. That is all.