South of Nick’s

Great for dinner with friends! My husband and I come here all the time. We’ve had almost everything on the menu. Carne Nortena is my favorite meal. I recommend the enchilada with the chipotle cream sauce. The only thing I haven’t loved is the grilled portobello mushroom burrito.
This place knows how to make yummy margaritas. I usually skip margaritas because I’m picky but the bartenders do it right.
Do yourself a favor and get the warm butter cake dessert. Doesn’t sound like much but just trust me. You’re going to love it. And if you don’t, you must not have a soul.

Best Mexican resturant I have ever tried; Great food, good service, nice environment.

Love everything about this place! My favorite is the Sonora Dog with beans and delicious Mexican corn. Yum yum! And the guacamole and salsas are amazing!

I crave their albondigas soup, even on hot days. That’s how tasteful it is. I will go here every chance I get.

This place is situated in downtown San Clemente. We only stopped by chance in the area. We were on our way up to Costa Mesa. The traffic was horrible as usual on a Sunday afternoon. My kids were getting hungry, so we Unilocaled what was around the neighborhood and this Mexican restaurant came up. We typically like to go to Old Town San Diego for Mexican Food. This place was an absolute delight. They had Etch & sketch les for the kids to draw on. Right when we sat down, they had fresh warm chips and fresh salsa for us. The chips were quite delicious.
We ordered fresh guacamole for go with the chip and salsa. Since they made it to order, we could request no jalapeño, since the kids can not handle spicy foods. The kids ordered combination soft tacos and quesadillas which they all devoured. We ordered the sea bass which came out very tender and moist. The kids ended up eating most of my sea bass, so we had to order another one.

Me and my boyfriend come to south of nicks every Friday and the food is amazing! Hayden has been our server the last couple times and he’s the bomb. He’s professional, knowledgeable, and always has a smile on his face. Best service ever! Yummy food… always leave happy!

Great atmosphere with a great employees and chefs! The restaurant is located in the heart of San Clemente and the Mexican food is amazing. The entire restaurant is very elegant but has a laid back vibe. They have plenty of seating and a bar with a Tv in the center of the restaurant.
Items ordered: Queso Dip, Chicken Flautas, Butter Bread
I came here with a party of 4 celebrating my girls Bday! The staff was very attentive and provided great customer service! We first started with a plate of Chips and Salsa. The chips were freshly homemade and the selections of Salsas were fire! We then proceeded to order a Queso dip with homemade tortillas. Hands Down the BEST Queso dip ive ever had in my life. The cheese was nicely melted and very rich in flavor. It also contained small pieces of carnitas meat. To top tings off, the tortillas were amazing! I then ordered the Chicken Flautas. Great Decision. They came with 4 pieces topped with guacamole and pico de gallo. Everybody in our party was stuffed, but we knew we couldn’t leave without some Butter Bread. The BUTTER BREAD is a must try for everyone. Is it absolutely delicious! The ice cream on top of the warm butter bread is out of this world.
Overall, great place to attend for a Bday Celebration. The food was worth our 1 hour drive to San Clemente. The area is beautiful, so everybody can plan a great afternoon with Nicks and a walk to the Beach! My GF was a happy camper, so we will definitely be back.

We are visiting and we are so happy we stopped here! The service and food were all amazing. We are picky eaters and every dish was great!

OK. It’s been awhile since I gave a restaurant 5 stars. This place is so fantastic and runs so well, it deserves 5 stars. Seriously, 4.5 star average from Unilocalers, I am only affirming everyone else’s stellar reviews.
From being greeted, seated and served, the total experience was like a high-​end restaurant, yet with a down to earth price point. Needless to say, food was fantastic, and the bill was reasonable.
Our server Sara not only had a beautiful smile on her face, she really seemed to enjoy her work. Sara and the bus staff came by our table often and were never intrusive. Look forward to our future visits.

I am not a Mexican food snob. I enjoy good 99 cent tacos and great hole in the wall, family-​owned places. But if you feel like being fancy, South Orange County is quite the mecca of high-​end, gourmet Mexican food places. Javier’s, Red O, and South of Nick’s are three such places I can think of that I have been to. For me, South of Nick’s is the only one I will go out of my way to drop some cash at to eat.
We were greeted by a friendly host who chatted with us as he sat us in a open bright dining area. Our server asked if we had visited before and told us about the restaurant and some of the menu options. We were brought a bowl of complimentary chips and three salsas of varying spiciness. I love guacamole, so we got an order of that to go with our chips and salsa. It was tasty and I mixed some salsa on my plate into it for added spice. I had been told by friends about the awesome margaritas and cocktails. I am a margarita girl and enjoy coconut, so I opted for the Coconut Margarita. OMG. It was so magically delicious with toasted coconut on the rim and frozen slushy coconut goodness inside.
Looking over the menu, there were many choices of appetizers, soups, combo plates, house specialties, seafood dishes and since, it was the weekend, brunch options. Decided to get an appetizer of the Shrimp Ceviche. This was shrimp mixed with citrus juice, onions, tomatoes, jalapenos and paprika chips. So fresh and yummy. We also ordered the El Jefe Burrito with spicy ground beef as the meat choice. This thing was ginormous and packed with mixed cheese, refried beans, rice, pico and served with red sauce on top. This was awesome. I also ordered the Shrimp Taquitos off the appetizer menu. I think this was my most favorite thing of the day. Blackened Mexican prawns fried up in taquito form with chipotle ranch and avocado salsa. These were fantastic. I will order two orders of these in the future as my entrée :)
The restaurant is beautifully decorated. Staff here is awesome. All the people I encountered here were friendly, enthusiastic, helpful and attentive. For me, if you are going to charge higher prices at a restaurant, I would hope you have great ambiance, great food and great staff. Our meal at South of Nick’s had all these things. I will definitely be back.

I went to South of Nick’s last night with friends, and I will definitely be going back! The food here is amazing! The menu consists of coastal — Mexican food such as fish tacos, enchiladas, guacamole, chicken tacos, nachos, etc etc… there is so much to choose from! The restaurant is very clean and also has a bar with an endless amount of drinks to choose from. Very nice ambiance, friendly staff, and incredible food! South of Nick’s is the place to go whether you are touring downtown SC, with friends, or on a vacation!

So delicious! Great service, ambiance and food. Try the seafood chile relleno. It’s amazing! Their salsas are the best I’ve had, nothing here is not the best. If you’re A mezcal fan, try the Granada cocktail

The time has come to write a review after countless tinder dates and endless black out nights… This ain’t no cheap date but if you’re looking for great food and hot waiters then this is the place to be! (shout out to Brett and Theodore) Anyway, chips and salsa are endless orgasms and their food is like Chris Hemsworth watering. I ain’t lying. Best restaurant in town and best food to hit that g-​spot that’s never been hit before. Try it out for yourself (photo for reference)

OMG YAAAAAAS. I’m obsessed, literally obsessed.
Move over Javier’s, South of Nick’s is here to stay and they may have just kicked you out of the gourmet mexican market! :O
I came in with my family on a Tuesday evening. We decided to just walk in even though the hostess on the phone said they were fully booked and may have a long wait for walk-​ins. The two hostesses and host were so nice and hospitable while we waited. They said it may be a 30 to 35 minute wait so we walked around the town for about 15 minutes and got a text right away saying our table was ready! They got us in quick, were pleasant and so welcoming!
Our server was so nice too, he gave us some great suggestions and had our water cups full all night (we said the salsa was super spicy so maybe he got the hint and figured us gringos needed water… which we did hehe).
The food: AMAZING! I had the lobster and prawn enchiladas, my mom had the chicken enchiladas and my cousin had the gringo taco salad. I tried all of them and it was seriously the best gourmet mexican food I’ve ever had and I’m hispanic!!! My mom and I shared the chicken tortilla soup. sooo good. It was creamy not like the watery chicken tortilla soup at Avila’s.
Next up — DESSERT! YUUUUUUM. The fried ice cream was delish! I ate almost all of it by myself ;). My mom and cousin shared the banana flan (which was more like a banana cheesecake flan). It was good too!
I highly suggest trying out South of Nick’s… WAAAAAAY better than Javier’s ;) hehe

My husband & I were ‘beyond’ impressed with the ambiance, the staff & incredible food!!!
Started w/​the complimentary fresh warm tortilla chips & amazing salsas. Shared the Pork Empanadas appetizer as we sipped from our bottle of bubbly that we brought. *Bonus: NO corkage fee! Way to go Nick’s!
Moved onto the delectable Chilean Sea Bass made with the chefs special ‘beurre blanc sauce.’ All made to perfection! Finished off with the most decadent Butter Cake that we’ve ever tasted. Save room for THIS!
TIP: Always be sure to make a reservation.

I’ve been here before but that was before I started Unilocaling so I have two experiences at this restaurant.
I went again last night for my sisters birthday and we had a wonderful time celebrating at this location. We ate about three baskets of chips that’s all good and addicting they were!
I ended up drinking the mango tea and ate the chicken Flautas. I enjoyed both and would recommend them to anyone who is checking out this restaurant for the first time. The server and manager were both very friendly and professional.
This please definitely gets five stars from me!

Very lovely. And big!
Sat at the bar, played some cards. Had a traditional margarita (delish) and shrimp ceviche. Very nice.
Bartenders were friendly and attentive.
Pretty atmosphere and really comfortable seating everywhere.
Bar stool have backs which is always nice.
I honestly only came in to get the vibe, grab a margarita, and munchie. Glad I did.
Next time, I’m coming back starving because everyone’s dishes around me looked and smelled fantastic.

Absolutely delicious. The service is very attentive as well. This place gets packed on the weekends so be sure to make a reservation. The guacamole is a must for an appetizer and although they have some fun margaritas, the classic one is my favorite. Oh! Make sure you save room for that butter cake. My god… it’s amazing.

The food here is ridiculously good! I ate the carnitas and they were up there with the best I’ve eaten! They also have a great alcohol selection! I will go back there next time I’m in the area for sure! Thank you for the experience!

To be honest I’ve only been a couple times and wasn’t super impressed in the past probably because I ordered more traditional Mexican meals. Why go and pay a premium, right? But tonight I strayed from my normal Mexi tried-​and-​trues and decided to go for it.
We shared the Seafood Enchiladas, which seemed to be a recurring theme as I perused through Unilocal.Absolutely Awesome Actually! Even the black beans and gummy buttery white rice stood out as their own little pockets of flavor to mix it up with. The medley of seafood in the sweet and creamy sauce just works. I don’t remember all the different mariscos involved, but it leaves you with the lingering taste of lobster.
Speaking of lobster… If you’re going big, go for the Tierra y Mar, translation: center cut ribeye and lobster tailS (notice the big S). Be very specific about your meat temperature and I recommend rare/​medium rare, which = medium rare. Pink and juicy on the inside enveloped with a noticeable charred flavor was balanced nicely (on the second try). The tailS weren’t huge, but there were two of them. The meaty parts of each were fairly plump, like getting a pair brauts in a crustacean bun. The puddle of creamy buttery sauce is so incredibly yummy that you have to slather your lobster in it. Whatever’s leftover of that sauce, it would be a sin not to drag that gummy white rice through it to finish it off. If you’re staying away from carbs, take the night off. Enjoy it, you’ll thank me.
Too full for dessert.