Niko's Steakhouse — Restaurant in Corpus Christi

I have been to Niko's many times. I have to say that before 2020 this was a restaurant that did not disappoint. However, since covid they have gone down hill & every time I try to give them a chance they fail me. I went there back at the beginning of Dec to celebrate my son's going away. When our server first greeted us he seemed confused as to how to swap out vodka for tequila. That is understandable. However, after our party of 6 had been waiting for 40 min to order our food, another server came to assist us. She ended up helping us and making sure to check on us regularly. The food came out and the bake stuffed shrimp included the shrimp being luke warm and overcooked as if it had sat out for a while. Today, despite that last visit, I decided to give it another shot. Again food came out luke warm as if it was sitting for a while. We ordered 3 Bellini martinis but with tequila instead of vodka, like we did last time. I understand that some servers may not be knowledgeable when it comes to liquor and how to charge. However, we were charged specifically for Don Julio which is not the well that should have been charged. When we brought this up to the server he told us the bartender told him to ring this up and that after meeting with the Manager, Douglas, that he also agreed that this charge was correct. When our server tried to call the manager over who was on his way to the restroom, the manager waived his hand up as to say he didn't have time for us. We waited, then Douglas came over to apologize but then blamed the server who he said told him we asked specifically for Don Julio. I have served and bartended in Corpus for multiple restaurants and bars and know this is incorrect. When a customer asks for a a swap out of liquors, the assumption is to charge well not a premium unless the customer specifies this. We were charged $40 more on our ticket which also included a birthday charge. Now I understand the birthday charge. However, $4 for a cup of ice cream is ridiculous. Douglas corrected the charge after he saw we were not going to just walk out without saying anything. We are unsure if the server, bartender, or the manager lied. However, the whole evening celebrating my mother-in law's birthday was ruined by this. Niko needs to educate their servers and also teach their managers that customers come first. At first we felt Douglas was trying to ignore our complaint. Although he corrected it, this should not have been such a big issue. The server not apologizing after or saying a word to us after also made us feel maybe we were wrong to defend him as he may have just been the one who lied. Either way, this was the last time we will give this place a chance. The amount they charge is not worth it especially if the food sits out. Another thing, we were annoyed by gnats at our booth which was not near the bar....

Me and my friend’s love going to Niko’s so we decided to have a friend’s birthday dinner here. I arrived an 1.5 hours before anyone was supposed to arrive so I could check us in since we were a party of 10 and I knew there would be a wait. Short hostess with square glasses told me that it would be a 2.5 hour wait because I did not want the round corner booth. I said that it was fine and I would wait. I knew it was a lie to get me to say that I would not wait that long. So like all the other times I’ve been to Nikos, I sat in my vehicle with my buzzer, because why would I sit in a waiting area for 2.5 hours, right? After an hour waiting I realized I needed a table for 11 not 10. So I called from my vehicle only to be told that they were looking for me 30 minutes after I signed in. I explained to them that my buzzer never went off. He (not the guy in the square glasses) told me that their buzzers were not working and that my party could come inside and I would be sat right away. So I did, only for the guy in square glasses to tell me “well you weren’t here so we gave your table away. So it’s going to be 40 minutes to an hour.” I explained to him that my buzzer did not go off and he said “well they don’t reach to the parking lot.” Which 1. Is a lie because like I said we always wait in our vehicle and 2. Once I was sitting in the restaurant they were calling customers names out meaning the buzzers weren’t working. So of course at this point I am irritated because I arrived early to make sure once my friends got out of work they could just head to the restaurant and not wait. We were finally sat after the extra 40 minutes of waiting. So I arrived at 6:45, and was not seated till 9pm. All because that guy told me it was going to be 2.5 hours but in reality it was 30 minutes. You can not tell me that he did not lie to me just go get me to choose somewhere else. I would have given this review 1 star if it wasn’t for our server Cody (I hope I remembered his name correctly)!! He is always a great server and brought so much fun and laughter to our dinner! The hostess is the first interaction a customer has with a restaurant, I’d say some brushing up on customer service skills is needed in that area. Thank you Cody for turning our...

Service was excellent from the waiter. The apps were just Ok. I'd revisit the recipes if I was them for those, but the steak...EXCELLENT. It was tender and flavorful and an all around great steak. The biggest reason for the low rating is the Manager. He's not meant for customer service. We had a large group for a friend's birthday. We knew that we could be put at two separate tables and called ahead to make sure that we could get two together at least. They didn't take reservations but said that a party of our size was no problem. One of our party got there about 5 minutes ahead of the rest of us and let the manager know that we had a party of 12 and had called ahead to make sure that was fine. The manager acted like she had gone to the bathroom on his podium. Very put out and snapping about how someone had told us wrong, etc. He acted angry at her for his staff's passing of misinformation. He then let her know that he couldn't start the seating process until her whole party was there. That's fine but while he couldn't start the seating process he could start making sure that two cleared tables were close to one another. But he didn't. Once we all arrived and were filing up his waiting area, he acted even more put out. The birthday girl spoke to him and asked for tables that were close together. He put half at a table up against a wall and the other half around the corner. No way to communicate with the other half of our group unless we got up from the round inset table and went to the other table. As our meal went ahead, the manager came by to check on us and his animosity dripped off him like sweat. No one asked him to come check on us. Our waiter was doing just fine. The problem was the manager and his attitude. I'd be glad to go back if I knew for a fact that he wouldn't be...