Mr. Nick's Sub Shop — Restaurant in Fort Lauderdale

I would like to state my disappointment here.

I'm a 20 year plus customer of Mr. Nicks.

In the recent months Mr. Nicks has been sold and the product standards have dropped considerably.

I went from being a weekly, sometimes more, costumer to maybe a once a month costumer.

Today, I went in and I'm considering if I can go back. Because what I've consumed there today has made me feel awful. When I'm done writing this I'm going to try and sleep it off.

The reason I used to eat there so much is because of how good I felt after having good fresh food and a nice fresh ice tea.

Unfortunately the new ownership insists on cheapening the product and doing what main stream fast food chains do. Everytime I've spoke with him he tells me how he's saving/making money. I don't think I've ever had that type of discussion with the old owner or any of his staff. They were just good people making a good product at a good price. And any conversation was friendly and genuine. Was nice.

Only once, in twenty years, had I had a discussion with the old owner about his business when he tried a new bakery for his bread. All his costumers complained about it, including myself. It was terrible. It single handedly ruined his product.

He thankfully went back to the regular bread he'd been using forever. That was probably 12 or 13 years ago. The bread is the base. It may be the most important part of the sub. Good job on his part for listening to his loyal customers.

And by doing so he managed to keep his costumers and myself for 13 more years. And continue to grow.

And Mr. Nick's costumers still came even when he had to move his business. His customers still came even though he had to raise prices. His customers still came even though they had to pay to park at the new location. His customers still came even though the location was busier and the ticket times were slower. The customers still came even though it smelled like urine outside because of the huge homeless population outside the door.

His costumers complained, but they still came back. Because the staff and product was consistent even through the move. Not a lot of businesses can survive that. Look at New River Pizza. They tanked.

The new Nicks staff seems inexperienced, less personal and unhappy like fast food employees. (Just my perception)

A business that has prospered for 20 plus years probably knew what they were doing. They weren't owned by their distributor's. They cared about their end product. They formed a regular base of loyal costumers who loved and supported their product. My 'regular' friends that have been supporting Nicks have long gone. I've held out. But I think I'll frequent Laspadas, Zona Fresca, Ceilito Lindo, Lil Red's and other local places that have maintained their product over the many years even more now that my favorite local business is slowly slipping into a hole.

They're basically becoming a McD's. Reminds of that movie "The Founder".

RIP Mr. Nicks. 1975-2019

Thank you for the last 20 plus. :) Maybe I'll see you next month. Maybe. .

Update: Change is inevitable. It's the one thing we can count on in life. But the hope is for the better. It's been a couple months. I've been back twice. They've either changed the bread or It's not fresh. It's like chewing on rubber. And the wait after you order is about 20 minutes now. So put more money in the meter. Also hope you like kettle style chips cause that's the only style they serve now. Zero variety. The only thing that hasn't changed is the name. Total disappointment in my opinion.

I wish the new owner had just started a new "sub shoppe" from scratch instead of using a good time tested brand like Mr. Nicks as his platform. It's like taking a beautiful tree, cutting out it's roots, and expecting it to strive.

I hope one day it will again.

If anyone knows of a quick, quality place to eat,...

Listen, this place is great. The food is great, the employees have awesome personalities, and overall the general atmosphere is just welcoming. Being an college student and having to make a long commute through I-95, and then going through all my classes, Im wiped. This place, being located under the parking garage is just so convenient.

Let's talk about the food. If you like to try new things, this place has a pretty wide selection of mostly subs, but there are also some other interesting options like their wings and burgers. All taste great.... but one thing for me has captured my affinity.

Look, the pizza steak is great. So are their wings, and their monster burger... all great stuff, but I am not a hot dog person. I always have such bad experiences with the food. Either it tastes too processed or suddenly I find myself proposing to the toilet at midnight for the next 24 hour marriage while my digestive system recovers. But this place, I dont what they're doing, but their hotdogs are good. Like really good. Good flavor, they're not trying assassinate my digestive system, it's genuinely worthwhile. Right now, the Loaded Hot Dog is my favorite, but I have yet to try the other slew of hotdogs, and Im looking forward to it.

Is this a healthy endeavor? No, absolutely not. I should not make my college diet just these hotdogs. Definitely wanting to try out some of their other subs... but do I recommend the Loaded Hot Dog? Yes absolutely, go get it.

My major is Graphic Design for FAU, and so because of that, I'm going to be taking most of my classes in later time at FTL. So... Im gonna be a regular...

I have eaten here for years. It’s close to my work in Downtown Ft. Lauderdale, affordable and delicious. The staff is generally friendly but in my experience, if there is any issue, Mr. Nick’s does not typically assume responsibility. For instance, I ordered from them for a second time in a day (this was lunch for 5 people) and didn’t receive my soup or 3 orders of French fries. When I called to see why, I was told that I didn’t order that many fries and that I needed to reorder them if I wanted fries. There was no apology or attempt to make it right. Just “do you want to pay for the extra fries or not?” I got my soup pretty quickly and the delivery driver apologized and was friendly.

Outstanding service seems rare in South Florida anyway and this alone will not stop me from going back, but be sure that you have your order repeated back to you and be willing to accept that dealing with what you got, if different from what your ordered, is easier than trying to correct it.

Overall: Great food Good price Average customer...