Nikki's Gourmet & Sushi — Restaurant in Carolina Beach

The food here is always amazing. Finding parking can be difficult during the summer season, and has gotten expensive but it's not the fault of Nikki's. Just giving a head's up that it's pricey to park anywhere now in CB. Although parking is limited I really do like the location of this Nikki's. It's in walking distance to the lake, the beach, and many ice cream or treat shops. Unfortunately I think like most establishments they're currently dealing with being understaffed. Although my husband, two kids, and I were able to get a table right away it took about 20 minutes to get our drinks, and an incredibly long time to get our food. We rarely go out to eat because eating out with a 2 year old is always hit or miss. Because of the amount of time it took to get our food I ultimately had to leave with our 2 year old and my husband boxed up my meal once it came. We were seated at around 6:15pm and were there until after 9:00. Even though I had to eat mine at home it was still delicious. I've never had a bad sushi roll, and my favorite go to meal is the yakisoba noodles with beef. They have such an amazing consistency and flavor. So if you aren't under any time constraints, a.k.a have children who turn into honey badgers who have eaten 10lbs of sugar when having to sit in a confined space for more than an hour, I honestly feel it's worth the wait while they deal with the understaffing issue that so many places are going through. The prices are reasonable, the staff is friendly (even when they're swamped), and the...

I am basing my feedback on a single experience, and a couple of my gripes may be beyond the establishment's control. I believe our server was new and made some mistakes for which she was apologetic and tried to remedy as quickly as possible.

I ordered steak and shrimp teriyaki with the steak cooked medium. The sliced steak was so rare when it arrived that I mistook it for a tuna steak in the low lighting outside. I always order my steak cooked medium, and so far as I know that means a warm pink center. I don't know if the cook didn't know what they were doing or if the server put my order in wrong. Once the steak was cooked more to my expectations, it really did taste okay.

My other issue was really with the establishment next door. Is it the Shuckin' Shack maybe? Midway during our meal we as well as other parties sere startled by the crashing of glass bottles right next to us when the bartender decided to empty the bin right behind us. Then some of the patrons next door decided to come enjoy some cigarettes and cigars outside, so it was as if we were smoking too. Gross! My health is pretty delicate right now, so this was completely unacceptable. I encourage Nikki's owners to negotiate with the other owners to see if you can reach agreement about where garbage /recycling is stored. If you can't negotiate the smoking, you may want to seal your plastic barriers and a/c the outdoor seating. I am not even sure the smoking situation is legal, I would investigate...

Perhaps it was because of the holiday weekend, but our experience was horrible.

First, our waiter told us that they didn't serve margaritas because it was a Japanese restaurant. This did not make sense because they do have a full bar. My companion was served a ginger salad instead of the Caesar salad she ordered with her entree. Then we waited almost 90 minutes for our food. We were told it was because I had asked to have avocado in my chicken wrap. The menu offered that option. Finally, we asked for our order to go. When we got back to our condo, there WAS no avocado in my chicken wrap. The chicken was tough, lettuce wilted, humus horrible. I finally unwrapped the thick soggy tortilla from the filling and ate what little was inside while I pulled soggy green beans out of thick soggy breading for snacking. (The wrap came with fried green beans) My friend's Caesar salad, which she finally got 'to go' did not have dressing on the side as it should have. Hence, the croutons were soggy. And her entree did not have the number of shrimp advertized on the menu.

I was a restaurant server for over 20 years. It seemed that our server had not been trained. On such a busy night, there should have been a manager present. When people sit at a table for as long as we did, waiting for our food, it's customary for management to notice and step in.

Sorry for the bad review, but it was a disappointing experience, and, lucky for Nikki's, we...