Nik’s 202

I like the variety of food, and the wait staff was friendly. So far, I have enjoyed the grilled Mac and cheese, and the apple pie pancakes!

I have to agree with most of the people who posted here. My husband and I went to dinner there last night. Figured we would try something new. Have to say the food was below par. Not just ours. Saw other plates going back to the kitchen barely touched. I had a greek salad that was ok, nothing great. hated the taste of the dressing. My husband had a burger. He said it was very dry and not that good. No plans to return unfortunately. Don’t see this place making it either. This site has not had much luck with restaurants.

I ordered the turkey sandwich and was very excited to eat it until it arrived the the bread was too thick to eat. I ended up needing to cut it with a knife and fork. While it was tasty, it couldn’t be eaten as a sandwich. The bathrooms were very very dark and creepy to use. It was hard to see. The servers were lovely though– very attentive and friendly.

Stay away … Grilled cheese was barely toasted, cost a fortune. My kid hated the pancakes … How can you mess up pancakes? Is this location just cursed? I mean how can IHOP not survive there? It’s bad when IHOP is better food than an «upscale diner» will never return. Place was empty & service was horrible.

Awesome place! Nicely done interior super friendly service and accommodating. Kitchen. Menu is not exactly on the healthy side but upon request I received a super delicious all vegetarian wrap with kale tomato veggies and avocado. Delicious and yum!!! Friendly
Highly recommend

Stay away from this one, I think Nik is just trying to pump out restaurants at this point and not focusing on quality.
Service was painfully slow, food was bland, and a hair found in the sandwich.
The nail in the coffin is the high prices. I’ll take a good old fashion diner over this «finer» diner.

over the last 15 yrs this Restaurant has been a failed Indian/​Ihop/​Ihop without the name/​Asian & now Niks 202 Diner. This morning we went there for breakfast, Horrible under cooked food covered in oil & Service to match. If they are now pretending to be a Jersey diner & they can’t even get Bacon & eggs right, its all down hill from there. Unfortunately, like every previous restaurant at this site, its doomed to failure.

Don’t waste your time and money. Food and service is terrible. We ordered breakfast sandwiches. Taylor ham egg and cheese and bacon egg and cheese. None of the sandwiches had egg on them. Also ordered a turkey club. The turkey was dry and they used challah bread to make the sandwich. They advertise milk shakes then tell u they don’t have the machine to make them. Really a diner that doesn’t have milk shakes? We ordered coffee that was bitter and 2.50 a cup lol and they don’t offer you sugar. You have to ask for and of course they never bring it. We barely ate the food and demanded our check and that it be adjusted because they charged us for egg sandwiches that we did not get. Took them like 15 minutes to give us our check. Was over 31.00 dollars and we didn’t even eat. Do your self a favor save your money !!’ Go some where else !!!

As I walked in I expected great staff and food to go along with the finer settings provided. The hostest looked befuddled as I walked in with my family. As they finally took us to our table after waiting for 5 minutes while there was no line.
When we opened the menu the options were almost endless. This was also a worry of mine. Too many options, with little effort going into each meal. The prices are ridiculously high. We ordered simple diner dishes, including breakfast sandwiches and a turkey club. We also ordered a milkshake which was listed on the menu, but they didn’t have the machine to make the item.
When the dishes arrived the breakfast sandwiches that were suppose to include eggs did not include them. Also the turkey on the turkey club was dry. The bread along with all the meals was too much and very dry.
The staff took a long time to provide us with our meals. The coffee was bitter and we were charged $ 2.50 a cup, this is a diner not a barista.
There was also run by teens and people in there early 20s. I Will not be returning.

Good service, nice looking place but the food was not that good. Kids Mac and Cheese tasted sour, we sent it back. Steak and eggs were ok but the hash browns were soggy and the steak had some type of funky seasoning on it which I did not care for. The waffles were average but the side of sausage was gross. I’d maybe go back but honestly I think your average Somerset county dinner may have better tasting food. I hope they step it up, I hate to see another small business go belly up at this location.

Food was served cold and lacked flavor. Coffee was ok but expensive for $ 2.50. Also the breakfast plate was pricey for poor quality meal. It was $ 13 for two eggs, chorizo and rice with beans. I’ve had better breakfast in other diners. The only thing worth sharing is the service was good and server was attentive. I wouldn’t go back to eat or recommend it unless they make changes.

I love the modern look and feel of this restaurant. Me and my fiancé had a very pleasant experience and will definitely be back. Their food was made with the freshest ingredients and even though some people complained about the price maybe they are used to low grade food products so they don’t mind. I myself enjoy quality food and as being in the service industry for almost 20 years I know what’s good and what is not. I feel that the sign says it all «A Finer Diner» for a reason, they may not want the trash that walks in a regular diner and being that I’ve worked at diners before I very much do know that crowd. I wish only the best for this new edition on 202. Also, our waitress Alaina was very helpful and knowledgeable as I like to ask a lot of questions.

Ordered Alabama Fried Chicken and expected something thick and crunchy but they’re using some Soy-​Canola mix of oil to fry and it came out thin and flaky. Chicken itself was bland. $ 16.00
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Calamari tasted frozen and rubbery. $ 11
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Penne Vodka w/​Chicken cost $ 18 which is insane
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Marinara sauce was thick and more like a paste

I went to Niks today and order this awesome banana split waffle! The waffle was delicious and the portion was amazing, not to mention the great presentation.

They aren’t off to a good start. Went for breakfast on a weekend. One order was incorrect but we didn’t send it back because it was still good but we did tell the server. Coffee wasn’t good. Had an upset stomach afterward. The French toast and pancakes were good. Prices are high. I’d love to see improvements in the service and prices because we need a reliable diner here.

‘A Finer Diner’ my hiner.
This place is in serious trouble. I have to wonder what kind of actual market research was done on NJ Diners before they opened.
I know they just opened, but we ordered with our waitress who was very soft spoken to the point I could hardly hear her, which will frustrate and anger a lot of people (READ — Older gentler folks who come out for breakfast a lot.)
Our coffee took, well, longer then usual for refills and we had to ask for sugar, I have never, ever been to a place where you had to ask for the basic coffee accouterments. Most fancier places are quick to bring them once you’ve ordered the coffee.
And they were not ‘crowded’
Overall it just felt as if there were not enough servers, and/​or a serious lack of attentiveness.
‘Finer Diner’ or not — the food was good, but how can you screw up scrambled eggs and microwaved sausage (such high quality ingredients oh my, so fancy) So no, for me the food was nothing special, and the atmosphere was overly grandiose.
Let me break down the prices next, because believe me, based on the prices alone, forgetaboutit.
I ordered :
Coffee — $ 2.50 (really? REALLY??? THIS IS A NJ DINER IT AIN“T NO STARBU… ok ok, let me calm down a bit… but still, it was just ordinary bitter diner coffee)
2 Eggs Over hard, with extra crispy fries plus Sausage added on — $ 7 (eggs and potatoes & toast… erm ok.) + $ 3 (sausage, a la carte) = $ 10
So my meal came to $ 12.50 before tax, just for a simple breakfast.
HOLY $**T NO, No thank you! THIS IS NOT HOW NJ DINERS DO!
At the nearby two diners, and two others just a bit further down the road, this meal would have cost less, considerably less, as things here are largely a la carte which I observed after asking for a regular menu, just for a look see, for example, they wanted $ 9.50 for a basic burger (I mean Applebee’s offers $ 6.99 burger & Fries deal on Mondays are you kidding me?!?1?) No, just no.
And $ 13 for chicken finger basket, I’m laughing here, really, see … Hah Hah Hah Hah!
So yea,
The Phoenix Café (Love this place great deal, only does breakfast & lunch): $ 7.25 (if you get the special, which INCLUDES a third egg & the sausage & your coffee)
Time To Eat Diner: $ 8.10 (again, breakfast specials, you get a package deal)
Bridgewater Diner: $ 9 ($ 6.99 eggs with meat & $ 1.99 Coffee)
Sunset Diner: $ 10.90 (and this was assuming I’m paying full price to add on the sausage, which I know for a fact I would not as they have, ya know, breakfast specials? Couldn’t find their specials online, but heck, I know they have em and that’s what matters most here.)
DO YOU SEE A TREND?
Bottom line — If you are going to call yourself a Diner, be a diner. Don’t try to fanuck it up into some weird concept. This place wants to be a Fine Eatery or Dining Establishment — those terms evoke a totally different look and feel and $ range from a place that calls itself a Diner.
But please, all us Diner hicks as some reviews have implied, let’s go elsewhere. Goodness forbid we order what we like verses what other people say we should like. (I see you up there on your high horse Ricky J, you and your suspicious connection to the culinary industry, riding off into the sunset)
This location is thoroughly cursed though.
Do the new owners know the history?
Are they aware of how their parking lot will flood in the spring and summer and stink of fetid swamp sausage?
Do they know how they will loose all the traffic across Miltown road because there isn’t a cut through, you need to turn onto 202 and drive up through a red light and make a u-​turn just to come back for some overpriced diner food?
Honestly, there is just no love for this location.

So my wife and I were there Saturday late morning. They met my expectations in the quality of food and service. The décor is style forward, mature and substantial with a city vibe. The choices include some healthy options with emphasis on Kale. The portions are generous. It’s just a bit pricey as you feel nickle and dimed when putting together a meal. Many extras have up charges. Good experience every once in a while.

Average food at best… WAY over priced for what they offer and extremely slow service! $ 15 for a salad with chicken…$ 4 for a cup and in this case a micro sized cup of matzoh ball soup. matzoh ball was SO dense!
$ 60 for 3 salads with chicken and 3 soups! Will not be going back!

Just had lunch there today. Have been to other Nik’s locations and they were pretty good. This one not so much.
Service was awful. Slow and I felt like the most experienced person working there was a freshman in college.
Ordered chip and dip appetizer. Chips were stale, guacamole was brown and the «cheese dip» looked like mayo and it was cold. Sent it back. The waiter took it off the bill.
Next took a long time to get our next course. Ordered matzoh ball soup, it was salty and the matzoh ball was as hard a golf ball and the center was cold. Gross.
Finally kids had grilled cheese, cheese was velveeta like and barely melted
Husband and I had sandwiches that sounded great but we’re huge and tasteless. I had the thanksgiving melt and he has turkey BLT. Bread was huge and dry, cheese not melted, turkey was thick and disgusting.
Sigh… When I went to pay the bill, girl at register asked how everything was and I politely said not too good. She said «awe, I’m sorry. That will be $ 47.»
Not going back.

I was excited to have a diner in Branchburg and was glad Nik’s finally opened. We went New Year’s Day for dinner and ordered calamari and two burgers (jersey and bacon cheddar). Figured it was pretty typical diner food.
The calamari was very oily and a bit on the soggy side. It seemed like the oil wasn’t hot enough. The fries that came with the burgers were the same, unfortunately. The burgers themselves were just OK.
The prices are a little higher than nearby diners, which is what I expected given the fancier décor, but I’m afraid I’d have to say I’d make the extra 10 minute drive to Bridgewater diner next time.
The staff was pleasant though.