NELSON'S Neighborhood Grill — Restaurant in Dallas

I’m not even waiting until I get home to share that I just had the most delicious ribeye here at Nelson’s. My husband and I were craving something/somewhere different. I found Nelson’s and saw the good reviews, so we headed out even though they were going to be closing soon after we would arrive. (We did call ahead.) We were a little worried coming in. It was very empty. Just 2 other customers and one was paying out. The decor was … non existent? I mean, it’s very clean, but the shades of gray and white are cold and uninviting. We decided to stay because we were hungry, the reviews were good, and it wasn’t ridiculously priced.

We started with drinks. My husband had wine-Decoy merlot, $15 a glass. A little more than I’d expect for Decoy, but not bad. I had an Italicus Spritz ($9). I’d never had one and never seen it on a menu anywhere, so I was curious. It was so refreshing! I immediately looked up Italicus at Total Wine so I could buy some for summer spritzers.

My husband got a shooter of lobster bisque. He’s not a big soup guy, but he really liked the bisque. He said a shooter was just the right amount for him, so it’s great that they offer that. We shared the spring mix salad. The dressing was a bit spicy, which we really liked. It was also unique in that it had whole olives, cotija cheese and capers along with all the usual ingredients in a dinner salad. It was really good.

I’m a big eater, so I ordered the 12 ounce ribeye. It came with mashed potatoes and asparagus. The potatoes were just ok, but the steak was so flavorful! It was a thin-ish cut and was a bit on the medium side (I ordered it medium rare), but I ate every last bite. It was just what I wanted. My husband got the bison meatloaf. It also came with mashed potatoes and asparagus. He said the meatloaf was very good. He said the gravy was the best he’d ever had in restaurant. He finished my mashed potatoes with the last of his meatloaf.

Being a Saturday night we were very surprised there weren’t more people there, but I suspect they do great business on weekdays and for happy hour as well as brunch.

We’ll definitely be back for the food. Maybe I’ll donate a large piece of art with some bright red, yellow, and orange color to perk up the dining room. Or maybe not, but they really could use a little color and something to soften the atmosphere. The food though is everything we were...

We've been coming to this location since it was Hook Line n Sinker. When that left/closed, it's taken me a while to convince my wife to give it a try. Let's start with the good things first. They've done a nice job remodeling the restaurant. It was clean. We were properly greeted at the door, promptly shown a table and had exceptional service from Morgan. The menu is somewhat diverse, but we both wanted to try their fried fish. The catfish was properly prepared and very tasty and portion size was good. The fried shrimp were also properly prepared and tasty. Here is where they lost us. I ordered a cup of gumbo. The rue was copper in color, that's okay - it's the way some do it. It had plenty of shrimp in it, but it was like pudding and the taste was just okay. If they need a recipe for real gumbo, let me know. I married a woman whose family is from southern Louisiana. The rue is black and it is soupy. Never like pudding. But that's not the worst., We asked for cocktail sauce and tartar sauce for our fish and shrimp. I have no idea what the heck they served us but both were awful! Cocktail sauce tasted sweet . . . . no! no! no! And the tartar sauce was something else. I think that it was made from yogurt,. We both just ended up using catsup. At least they had Heinz as opposed to some budget brand. Portions were good. Price was fine. Service was exceptional. The accompanying condiments to complete the meal and the...

My wife and I have wanted to try Nelson’s in Plano for seafood and today we had an opportunity to do so. We planned to run some errands after eating so I had a plastic bottle of water with me ... and not wanting to leave it in the car since it was 80-degrees, I brought it into the restaurant. (For the record, Nelson’s is not a five star restaurant. It used to be called “Hook, Line, and Sinker” and being generous, it is a catfish joint.) Almost immediately the manager came to our table and told me I was not allowed to bring water into the restaurant. (We were the only customers in the place.) I’ve been eating in Dallas / Plano restaurants since 1971. In hot weather I always set my water on the table just to keep it cool. Never in all those years has anyone in any restaurant objected. It was such a petty issue that at first I thought he was kidding; he wasn’t. The manager made a bottle of water, which I was not planning to drink in the first place since restaurants bring you water ... anyway, he made it an all or nothing issue. ‘Get rid of the water or leave.’ I left and I will never darken the door of that place again. We went down the street and had a nice seafood meal in a restaurant that welcomed us and my bottle of water. If pettiness is Nelson’s plan for customer service, they will be out of business in a month. If you like being treated like a child by a petty, jerk for a manager, you’ll...