Monday, June 22, 2009

Checking out Nick & Sam’s Grill in Dallas: What’s the big deal?

By Teresa Gubbins

Updated 11:01 a.m., June 22, 2009

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Comments (22)

Marc Lee

Nick & Sam's Grill exterior. Note revolving-door effect of blondes in, blondes out.

Restaurants in Dallas haven't had an easy time of it in 2009, but Nick & Sam's Grill, the cheaper sibling of Nick & Sam's, has been an exception. Since it opened in February, it's been a madhouse, whether you're trying to grab a table at lunch or looking for a seat on the patio at 7 p.m.

Its success defies not only our downer economy but also a location that's had its share of turnover. The last occupant was Strong's Everyday Tavern, and they had the same goals of casual atmosphere, strong bar component, and overtly "affordable" food, yet they didn't survive.

So what's the deal? Well, it sure as hell isn't the food or service. Aside from a few exceptions, the menu had the same trite staples you find everywhere -- calamari, meatloaf, sliders. Items sampled didn't possess the kind of ingredients or preparation that would make you die to have them again. And service seemed laughably, deliberately bad, with young staffers who were both aggressively upbeat and pin-headedly oblivious. (A young woman, for example, who was not our server walked by and, spying the semi-empty bowl of white bean soup, stopped to interrupt the conversation at the table and say, "Don't you LOVE that soup? It's so goooood, I really love it.") It truly seems like whoever's in charge of service training is perpetrating some twisted joke.

Part of the deal here is the ostensible low prices; however, given the $8 martinis everyone's ordering, these obviously are not budget diners. Instead, there is the perception of value. While entrees are in the relatively low $8 to $14 bracket, by combining that with their use of the Nick & Sam's name, they cannily convey the sense that you're getting the cachet of the more-expensive original (though hardly the same dishes) at a discount.

The real draw is as a watering hole -- but with the veneer of restaurant. This is a page from the book of Consilient and, by extension, Neighborhood Services. Going to a bar and snacking on bar food isn't cool anymore. But going to a restaurant, making a big show of eating a little something for a small amount of money, and drinking three martinis, is.

Here's a blow-by-blow:

Nick & Sam's Grill girl with martini. Doesn't this look like an <a href="http://emptyeasel.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/12/chopsueybyedwardhopper.jpg">Edward Hopper painting</a>? Yay, Marc. On this random weeknight, the restaurant's patio was Absolutely Packed with groups of girls: lotsa "girls' night out," or two girls with one guy, or double dates.

Marc Lee

Nick & Sam's Grill girl with martini. Doesn't this look like an Edward Hopper painting? Yay, Marc. On this random weeknight, the restaurant's patio was Absolutely Packed with groups of girls: lotsa "girls' night out," or two girls with one guy, or double dates.

Marc Lee

Nick & Sam's Grill complimentary house-made potato chips were pretty good: light on the salt but thick and flat (unlike, say, the icky-curly-tiny-fingernail-size sweet potato chips at Twisted Root. Not to knock Twisted Root, but their chips are gnarly, and not gnarly-good in the way that Jeff Spicoli used the word in Fast Times at Ridgemont High).

Marc Lee

Nick & Sam's Grill "grown-up" grilled cheese sandwich with salad and tomato-basil soup was one of the better items, both because it had a lot of bang for the 9 bucks and because it's hard to argue with Comte cheese -- a semi-firm cheese from France -- melted between two slices of grilled bread. The sandwich also had smoked ham and pears, which were very good. The "salad" of mesclun greens (left) was inedible, though, because the greens had been drowned in an overdose of bitter, mustardy dressing.

Nick & Sam's Grill sliders, served with semi-pointless shoestring potatoes. Who doesn't have sliders? But the Nick & Sam's people <a href="http://www.pegasusnews.com/news/2009/apr/25/nick-sams-restaurant-dallas-throws-10th-anniversar/">seem to really</a> like them.

Marc Lee

Nick & Sam's Grill sliders, served with semi-pointless shoestring potatoes. Who doesn't have sliders? But the Nick & Sam's people seem to really like them.

Marc Lee

Nick & Sam's Grill grilled vegetable sandwich with white bean soup. The soup had lots of flavor -- lots of harsh, basil flavor -- but points for any restaurant that'll offer a bean soup. The sandwich was another matter. That ciabatta-esque roll was a toothless version with an airy fluffy interior and a thin-shelled "crust." Most people in Dallas don't like hard bread, I get that. But the innards of the sandwich consisted of long sheets of eggplant just undercooked enough to make it impossible to tear off a bite. Mess. A bit of red pepper provided Vitamin C but otherwise the sandwich had the usual assortment of empty calories (i.e. zucchini) you always get on veggie sandwiches in Texas. Ah well; at least they had one on the menu.

Marc Lee

The story with these two photos is awesome. Marc was shooting the exterior from the window of his car. He likes to get "perfect" photos so he was taking his usual sweet time by aiming, focusing, gazing, zzzzz, whatever it is he does. The gals seated on the patio were definitely able to spot that photos were being taken. Initially, I thought they were getting mad; they seemed to be coming back with pointed stares. But instead --

Marc Lee

-- they all started "preening." It was an amazing thing to witness. I love those public-television shows that talk about the biological basis of attraction, and that's what it reminded me of. Like birds. Like, all of a sudden the arms were up and the hair was being stroked. If you notice, all three of these gals in the foreground all of a sudden have their hands on their heads. Wild. Anyway, that's Nick & Sam's Grill for you.

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Comments

Russ Vandeveerdonk Verified

Teresa Gubbins, this is a very well done review, I like your approach. By the way, that is a good location, it is the "last stop", the "northern tip" of downtown and the McKinney avenue strip scene. While I was there this week-end, I saw the George Michael-Kenny Goss place has closed or moved away.

4 months, 2 weeks ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )

Teresa Gubbins Staff

wow, Russ Vandeveerdonk, is that true? we did walk by the Goss spot, but it was after hours and so i didn't expect that it would be open. (thanks for your comment)

4 months, 2 weeks ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )

luniz Anonymous

>When did martinis get hot among women in their 20s?

when they replaced gin with vodka and doubled the price.

Russ you kinda give TG short shrift, good review yes, but even more interesting social commentary. I guess it goes to show that good branding can overcome bad location, service, or anything else in Dallas.

4 months, 2 weeks ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )

alexander troup Verified

It's.... a Mad,Mad,Mad World these days in the Naked City, while the Goss foundation is having to move around....Nick and Sam's are out of hot water..interms of obscurity..while the Stoneleigh Hotel exspansion is going Chapter 11...it's a Mad... Mad World....A/T, Bring me that shovel,I might find some cash...

4 months, 2 weeks ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )

Chris Kidd Verified

I enjoyed this review, it was more like Mutual Of Omahas Wild Kindgom than Foodie and with good reason. I always found the human animal an interesting beast when it comes to their habits of mate attraction and socialization...

4 months, 2 weeks ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )

alexander troup Verified

Especially on Cedars Springs and Fairmont street.....I agree Chris, while I observe the Marc Lee head and shoulders shots ...their will always be a social scene and swagger in this area....scene or not to be seen....A/T, Love that Joker....Big D...

4 months, 2 weeks ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )

Kirby Anonymous

What a great review!

Teresa Gubbins and Marc Lee should team up and do a methodical survey of all the "hot spots" in town. They're as much fun as Dorothy Parker and Edward Hopper after Happy Hour at the Algonquin.

4 months, 2 weeks ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )

burlyqueen Anonymous

The Michael-Goss gallery is still there, by the way.

4 months, 2 weeks ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )

alexander troup Verified

That is what I thought Burlyqueen...but they are into the summer thing and I did get an invitation from them last month, the area is weird...mad....moody...bi polar....you cant really trust 2009,but you can pull the load it will leave behind and let go of it at any given moment.....while lets hope the good get what they got comming...A/T, Hollywood and dime....

4 months, 2 weeks ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )

lakewoodhobo Anonymous

Thank you for pointing out the bad service. We were meeting a friend for brunch there one Sunday when the place wasn't even half full, and the hostess said she couldn't seat an incomplete party. SERIOUSLY? Of course I understand that policy when the place is full or even almost full. So we waited at the bar instead of one of the dozen empty tables, where we could've ordered an appetizer.

4 months, 2 weeks ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )

Billusa99 Anonymous

Great social networking food review, TG. 99 met a friend there for lunch a couple of months back and never again.

And major congrats to Marc on those 2 pics. In all my years in Dallas I have never seen 3 bulbous-chested boobies in one location. And the female of the species, no less. He needs to contact The Audubon Society with those shots!

4 months, 2 weeks ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )

pepper Anonymous

Awww...reading this review makes me miss TG and her fun perspective.

4 months, 2 weeks ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )

burlyqueen Anonymous

I went over to N&S Grill for dinner with my girlfriend a couple of weeks ago after attending some event over at the Michael-Goss gallery. I ordered the grown-up grilled cheese dish and I do not remember the pears in the sandwich. It was okay. Frankly, the menu is a bit too gimmicky for my taste. Captain Crunch coated French toasts. Ummm, no.

4 months, 2 weeks ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )