Nick’s Diner

Had a great experience here at Nick’s Diner. There’s great artwork all over the walls. Full of retro references and a gun vibe. I ordered coffee and French toast and bacon. My meal tasted like it came out of my granny’s kitchen. The coffee came in a mug large enough to give an elephant the caffeine jitters… which is a great thing haha. The waitress was dressed like a cat (Halloween/​or just how she rolls) either way I liked it haha She was very accommodating when it came to substituting out items to make the meal to my liking. All of this and the meal was like $ 6.00!!! Definitely stop by if you’re in he area.

I love nicks!!! The people that work there are great, and make the experience better! But let’s not forget people, eggs and potatoes are cheap, and nicks uses the cheapest you can get.
The2.99 $ special is great! If you don’t feel like making eggs at home, 3 eggs your style, bacon, and buttery (very very very buttery) home fries and some cheap toast ! I enjoy the special often, but keep in mind the quality of food used.
The bacon can be a hit or miss, depending how greasy it is that day. The skillets are not bad, just don’t take them to go– cheaper food does not taste good cold. The burgers taste good but don’t make you feel good .
The interior is very cool! They recently remodeled (thank god) and have interesting art around the walls. The staff is great, I have seen them handle a packed place with speed.
Like I said, the price goes hand in hand with quality.

I’m not picky about breakfast, especially when I walk into a dive diner., but the coffee was awful and the overcooked eggs and sausage were even worse

DISGUSTING. i asked for a bacon egg and cheese and they put unmelted cheese on the side and expected me to put the sandwich together. Not to mention the waitresses were cursing like sailors, they were hitting each other, and the lady didnt have gloves on when she made my toast. its a dive, truly, i work right around the corner but will never ever be back.

Just had what happens to be the most disgusting salad and soup I’ve had in my entire life (See pic). Should have gone to the place down the street. My bf’s eggs, hashbrowns, and toast weren’t horrible… Service is really really slow. Took us 20 minutes to get our check when we were finished. Overall atmosphere is crummy and filled with crap.

My review is only about the one waitress and does not reflect the quality of service you get from the other waitresses or the quality of the food which is excellent! Was sorry to hear Cathy is no longer there. She was a bright spot on the days the two worked together.

I can’t believe I’m just getting around to reviewing Nick’s Diner.
I’ve lived in OHC for about 4 years now and still go every Sunday. Why? Because it’s actually cheaper for me to go out and get two breakfast specials each week rather than making it at home myself. Not to mention, I literally sit down, order, eat and pay all within 15 – 20 min. (I am a fast eater, but still).
That being said, this review is going to be mixed because of the recent remodeling. From what I understand, the current owner was a previous owner who moved to NC and became partner. When they returned, they bought out the other share; so it’s not ‘changing’ per say but it’s definitely under new management.
Nick’s is a difficult place to explain. I don’t want to call it a dive, because it’s no Big Egg, but it’s definitely not great. You’re not going to go here and be wow-​ed. Originally, I would have said the atmosphere, servers and cheap breakfast are what make it. However, they recently remodeled– painting over the original graffitied wall by Cleveland artist ‘The Sign Guy’ and replaced it with hand-​me-​down badly done paintings and old broken 3D posters.
The servers are now expected to wear all black uniforms– which seems insulting to some of the girls who have been serving me for years. They’re more than efficient at their jobs; never writing down my $ 2.99 breakfast special– 3 scrambled eggs with cheese, extra crispy hashbrowns, extra crispy bacon and a side of wheat toast.
They still serve the $ 2.99 special, although it is not advertised outside of the front banner. I loved taking friends from out of town here. It was a solid OHC staple. Now, without the funky vibe and environment, it’s just a cheap breakfast place. I’ll continue to go here because it’s decent and close to home but it won’t be what it was.
So, like I said, with my mixed review I have no idea what star to actually give it. I want to give it a 5 because of my loyalty to the past but if I was a stranger visiting I’d probably give it a 3 now.

Review Edit ½/​2015: My original review and reviews before Dec. 2014 are for the «old Nick’s» — While driving by one cold December night, I glanced through their window and saw… what. a huge chandelier? Nick’s? With a chandelier? My first thought was OH MY GOD. I actually went home, grabbed my son and we drove over to take a look. Sure enough, there was a painting crew inside and gone were the wall murals, gone was the kitchy, local artwork for sale… gone was… Nicks? We actually spoke with the owner who assured us that the menu and the vibe would remain intact, but when I drive past now and look in the windows, all I can envision on my plate is the taste of sadness. I honestly don’t think I can return, knowing what it once was to those who knew and loved it.
Recently moved back to Ohio City, a visit to Nick’s was on the bucket list. Why? This morning we found it bustling with people of all ages, locals and obvious out-​of-​towners. We looked to sit at a booth that had cracked and buckled seats covered in various shades of duct tape. Ah, there’s a better booth yes… our waitress with her lively pink hair took our order and provided much-​needed coffee. Wait… this last sip looks kind of sludge-​y, are those grounds in my cup? *shrug* Our order came: My hash browns? Not extra crispy as ordered. My son’s toast turned out to be wheat instead of his requested rye and on a refill, they gave him regular coffee instead of decaf. Did we object? Did we send things back? No.
Because Nick’s isn’t the kind of place you do that.
Nick’s is the kind of place where your plates don’t match and one piece of toast might be burnt and the other might be flaccid. But that’s part of the charm. If you don’t understand that, if you’re the type of nit-​picky, make-​it-​right for my damn $ 2.99… then you should take yourself down the street to one of the newer Ohio City French-​Press-​Organic-​Scones places or better yet, stay home and make your organic, non-​GMO, fair trade blah blah blah, and leave room for more people who love Nick’s for what it is — a true neighborhood dive that keeps it real.

This is a nitty-​gritty kind of place to grab breakfast. It’s not your fancy schmancy breakfast place with cappuccinos or lattes. Here you get breakfast straight up, the ‘bang for your buck’ kind of deal. My friend I came here on the weekend, thankfully it wasn’t too packed when we arrived. I ordered their breakfast special, and a coffee. As we waited for our dishes to come out. We spent some time looking around all the art collections they have, I’m guessing they are from local artists around CLE. It’s quite entertaining seeing all the random decorative pieces they have, and album covers. Our meals came out literally 10minutes later, wow that was fast! The meal was solid, no complaints from my end. When the bill arrived I couldn’t believe how little our meal ended up costing. It has been a while since I paid so less while dining out, and for the amount of food you get it’s amazing! Thanks for the fast meal, Nick’s Diner!

$ 3 breakfast includes 3 eggs (any style), 3 pieces of meat (sausage or bacon), toast, and hashbrowns!
Need I say more?
ok I will… the diner was such a cool, laid-​back, art-​filled environment to enjoy a simple, yet satisfying meal at. This will be on the list next time I’m in Ohio City.

Planning another trip to Cleveland, I tried to find the outstanding diner we ate at in August. I recalled excellent Unilocal reviews and it was reasonably priced. Corn beef hash was tasty and homemade. Servers were polite and food was served quickly. Not recalling the name, I looked at photos to find the memorable art work. Finally, I matched the photos with my memory of our outstanding breakfast. However, ratings had slipped significantly. Here’s why — 5 diners on 9÷6÷14 wrote terrible reviews. Obviously, they were from the same party. This was the first review for 4 and second for 1. It’s sad that these 5 had the power for this great diner to lose a star. Read their commentary — it’s immature and overly dramatic. We will try Nick’s again and pay particular attention to the cleanliness, food and service.

If you like rude servers and average food cone to this hole in the wall. One of the servers here actually came and took one of the condiments off my table without asking if I was done with it and took it to another table. They really need to get better servers in this place if they expect repeat business.

This was bad. I’m in fetal position in my bed now. The server was nice but everything was filthy from the menu to the dishes to the interior. Eggs weren’t cooked, hash browns weren’t cooked, the skillet thing I ordered looked and tasted like garbage disposal.

This place is awful.
I went with some friends and we sat in a booth against the left wall.
There is a ridge/​shelf on the wall that looks like it has NEVER been cleaned. It is completely covered with dust, spider webs, and dead bugs.
We should have known to just leave. The menus are DISGUSTING — falling apart and covered in slime. There is dirt packed into every crevice and area where the lamination is peeling off.
There was old food crust on the coffee mugs.
Our toasts came out at least 15 minutes before the rest of our meals. My toast was burnt black, my friends’ toasts looked like they didnt even get in the toaster.
When the rest of the food came out, most of our eggs were still kind of raw — even in the omelette and the scramble…
My «homefries» were raw, while the person next to me had theirs burnt…
Someone ordered a burger and fries — their burger was way over well done, while their fries also appeared nearly raw.
I really wanted to like this place, but it’s just not going to happen. I’d like to say «you get what you pay for,» but there are other diners in the ohio city/​gordon square area with super cheap, under $ 3 breakfasts that are very clean and have food that is actually cooked.
I hope the health department reads this.

Charmed when I walked in.
Unusual décor. Funky and cool.
No complaints about the cheese sticks.
Timely delivery of food.
When I ordered the $ 2.99 breakfast special,
However inexpensive, as
Only an idiot would have done,
Reality set in.
Eggs scrambled with cheese, please.
But the eggs were pre-​made,
And the sign said otherwise.
Great toast. Bland home fries. Bacon OK.
What I couldn’t believe,
And I’m not kidding,
Is that the cheese was not melted.
The cheese was actually sprinkled on top.
Really?
Even though I asked them to fix it, just
Scramble the damn cheese in,
Scramble it and melt it,
Bitch said «no.» She
Even came back to make fun of me.
This guy– this paying customer–
This man likes his cheese hot.
Eggs should never be lukewarm
Regardless of the price.
When I left, my friends were upset.
And I was ready to
Throw down with that nasty lady.
Crummy old diner wench
Has no idea how to treat a guest.
Otherwise it was great. I was
Unimpressed with the food and service,
The experience, however, was memorable.

I was really excited when I found all of the rave reviews for Nick’s — so I was a bit disappointed in my experience.
Came in early for breakfast. Let me first say that the staff were very friendly and nice.
I ordered an Omelet with mushrooms, spinach, bell peppers, onions, and swiss cheese and a side of bacon and an orange juice. I asked for tomato juice, but they don’t offer that as an option.
The execution on the Omelet was lacking — the bell pepper consisted of huge strips and chunks of bell pepper — some dicing would have made them sauté up or cook through more evenly. As it was, much of the bell pepper was close to raw. The spinach taste and texture makes me think they thawed out a bag of frozen spinach from the store and just threw a wad of it in the omelet — the vegetables would have tasted a lot better had they first been sautéed before throwing them into the Omelet.
The hash browns that were served with the Omelet were disgusting. They were overdone and tasted like they had been pre-​cooked and then left to sit and then served up as needed.
The bacon was excellent.
Service was also very good. I loved the décor of the place.
Even though the place is a diner, it could use a good, thorough scrubbing from top to bottom.
I’ll give this place another chance next time I am in Cleveland and hope what I experienced was not an anomaly.

Classic diner with the best breakfast in Cleveland. And it’s cheap.

We stopped here after the wait at Grumpy’s was a little too long. We sat down at the table next to the door that doesn’t shut on its own, so we had to get up and shut it every time someone left because the draft was terrible. I ordered and egg sandwich and my boyfriend ordered the corned beef hash and eggs. It comes with three eggs and he asked if they would only give him two and the very rude waitress heavily sighed and replies «No, we can’t do that. We’re really busy and the cooks won’t stop to read the ticket. Just throw the egg out». After about 20 min, toast arrives at the table and nothing else. We sat and watched as all of the people who sat after us got their food. After about 20 more minutes the waitress comes over and said the kitchen is «slammed» and she doesn’t know when our food is coming. I asked her how that was possible since it wasn’t that busy and others were gettin food that ordered after us and she threw her hands up and said «I DONT KNOW» and stormed away. At this point, we decided to leave. So, I can’t comment on the quality of the food since we never received any but I will not be going back.

The breakfast special is the best reason to come here.
Also if you sit around long enough on quiet weekdays around mid morning, some of the most interesting people walk in. I feel like This American Life could do a full show on the stories of the people who come in and out of there and who work there.
I wish I loved anything as much as the waitresses love calling everybody «Honey» and as much as they love refilling your coffee.
Sometimes the eggs are WAY greasier than they should be so I’m knocking a star off for not being consistent there. Otherwise, good to go.

Since the business changed, I believe one of the co-​owners relieved him/​herself of their piece of the pie so to say, it has not been the same. Structurally sound employee staff seemed to turn into… I dont even know what? To the eye, I loved the Superhero paintings and comic book effect it had, now, its just a dark place. Food quality has stayed relatively the same, but I need more and better if youre going to change the whole scene like that.
Like I said I cant judge the business on looks, but the corn beef hash is out of this world!!!