Nikos — Restaurant in Durham

We came to Nikos over the Thanksgiving holiday and it was the highlight of our trip outside of the holiday with family itself so that tells you how special it was.

Atmosphere- the decor was thoughtful, cozy and nice. It’s a great place for an intimate date night with fab food.

Service- OUTSTANDING. From the minute that we walked in the door we had spectacular service. The wait staff that was on the floor was always nice and friendly, but our favorite person of the night was our bartender/waitress Anastasia.

Cocktails- Anastasia is your cocktail master. We asked her to make several drinks, bartenders choice, and each one that she created was fantastic. There were also a few seasonal ones on the menu that were also great. Outside of her great cocktails she was very warm & personable. If I lived in Durham, I would definitely make her bar my CHEERS..

Food: Absolutely fantastic I cannot express how much I loved Chef Rodriguez’s food to start. He’s a James Beard recipient and your mouth will fully understand why.

I had the octopus carpaccio. I actually had two servings of it because it was so good. It had a hint of sweetness along with garlic and the blistered tomatoes just set it all off. We also had the Spanakopita. The pastry was light and flaky. It just melted in your mouth. The Eggplant was a unique little dish. The pomegranate seeds gave it a unique touch.

Outside of the food my favorite part was the chef greeting us. We happened to ask who the chef was because the food was so good and as we were googling Chef Rodriguez and reading his impressive background, wallah he appeared. He was so friendly and we were honored that he took the time out to come speak to us.

Anytime we are in Durham we’ll definitely make it a point to come visit Chef Rodriguez and family so that we know that we’ll have a proper meal while there. Thank you for...

My friends and I have been going to Nikos after work since they opened. Last Thursday my friend and I had just got off from working a long shift at the hospital. We wear scrubs but have to take them off once we leave the hospital. So normally we’re in sweats or jeans or simple casual clothing. I have had the best experiences going there after work and on the weekends when we’re able to dress up. The waiters/waitresses/hostess are so kind. Well this particular day, the hostess seemed fairly new and a woman came over (she was in all tan clothing) to help her assist where we would sit. She told us that there were only 2 tables available for 2. One in a private room, and one table sitting in the cut behind shrubbery. The restaurant was basically empty. And there were multiple tables available that could sit two. We didn’t completely understand but we went with it. We decided to sit in the private room. My friend and I were still uncomfortable once the waitress told us that a party of 6 would be coming in 30 minutes to sit in this private room. Their private room is super tiny. We then told the waitress that we didn’t want to sit there. So she took us to the table that was basically hidden. We were still uncomfortable. We looked online prior to coming and there multiple reservations available. The lady in the tan clothes told us that reservations were reserved and that is what the tables were for. My friend and I have made multiple reservations and NEVER do you get to choose what table we sit at, it’s only either outside or inside. But we don’t get to choose what table number we sit at. We were so disturbed that we left. The energy was off coming from the lady in tan. I am disappointed. It felt like the lady did not want us sitting in the main area of the dining area because we did not fit the aesthetics of the...

Let me start this by stating that I do not understand why Georgio’s restaurants do not put servers through more training than they do. Nikos is not the first restaurant in this chain that I have been to in the last six months. In Nikos they take care in asking servers to wear matching outfits that look Greek, why don’t they take care in having each trained to go along w this attitude? Case in point, our server on Saturday night, 7:45pm in the middle of the restaurant. I don’t know what we did to piss the server off but it was apparent we must have done something. They would not speak up (even after asking), actually they stood sideways next to our table and asked over their shoulder about dessert, they broke a glass right next to me and never even apologized. The manager apologized but that was it. Glass went everywhere. I had to lift my feet while they were sweeping. They never came back to ask if we wanted another cocktail and would only fill our water up after it was completely drained. We ordered Vensanto dessert wine after our meal and a very pleasant person brought it to our table. Our server completely disappeared. The experience we had with that server was nice but they were not our server. It really wouldn’t take much to train all servers the same. Customers are willing to pay pretty hefty prices for food, wine etc you’d think the servers would care a bit more (or if not, get another job where you are happier). I honestly don’t think I’ll be going back. In all honesty, if the restaurant had been busier (I figured a Saturday night in December would be busy) but it wasn’t that busy. There were no lack of other servers on the floor. The food was ok, you can get about the same thing at Kipos. The service there isn’t...