In 2018, Nick's added two bathrooms near a small patio, which had to be torn down to make way for plumbing. This led us to further extend the patio. Before installing the small heated patio, Perkins said wait times were typically about two hours on Fridays and Saturdays. There is almost no waiting time at this time of year.
Nick's has been a neighborhood staple since 1949. Perkins said he bought the restaurant in 2009 from the daughter of founder Nick Marabazos. After working in the restaurant industry intermittently, he says he always wanted to own a restaurant. Even when he worked full-time as an engineer for 15 years, he continued to work part-time in the food and beverage industry because it was his passion and what he wanted to do.
Perkins is proud of the changes he has made since acquiring the restaurant, including giving it a new look and introducing higher-quality ingredients.
“There aren't many places that have been around this long,” Perkins said. “I’m very proud of that because it has stood the test of time.”
As a Xenia native, when I think of Nick's, I think of their award-winning wings and chips. The wings are twice-fried for crispiness, and the chips are hand-sliced and soaked overnight.
Two popular sauces that I love are Nick's Famous Sweet Hot Damn and Nick's Awesome BBQ Sauce.
Other customer favorites include:
- Sexy Crab (sliced ham and turkey layered on a pretzel bun with bacon, lettuce, tomato, American cheese, and Swiss cheese)
- Walleye pollack (fried pollack on top of rice pilaf)
- Big Nick (over half a pound of grilled Black Angus beef, cooked to order and served on a freshly baked bun)
- Stir-fried vegetables (your choice of fresh mushrooms (breaded or sautéed), zucchini, cauliflower, pickle spears, or hand-battered and golden-fried onion rings)
- Spinach Dip (warm, creamy, cheesy spinach dip served with homemade pita or tortilla chips)
Perkins said the restaurant has a lot of regular customers, so they have special menus, some of whom eat there six days a week.
“Everything we do is built from scratch, so there are a lot of moving parts in this place,” Perkins says. “We do a tremendous amount of preparation every day, day and night.”
He believes the combination of atmosphere and quality of food and service is what sets them apart. He said the food is as good as ever so far because the kitchen staff is solid.
At 58 years old, Perkins said he is far from burnout.
“This is a lifestyle, it's not just a job,” Perkins said.
Learn more
Nick's Restaurant is located at 1443 N. Detroit Street. For more information, visit www.gotonicks.com or the restaurant's Facebook page (@justwingitatnicks).
