Nic & Norman's Greenville — Restaurant in Greenville

A small group (6) of us had reservations for a Saturday evening. We were seated quickly upon arrival, in a side room connected to the main dining area. Our servers were very nice and attentive - there were two of them, a male and a female, and they did a very good job of covering our table and bringing out our drinks and plates. They were both knowledgeable about the menu, and helpful when we had requests or questions.

The food was average, nothing to scream about. It was similar to something you'd get a Chili's or Applebee's. A couple in our group had the green beans with their meals, and said they were cold. My Nic-n-Chicken was a bit tough, but edible, and the mashed potatoes were good, and they were hot. I didn't see many sauteed onions in the topping, though there were mushrooms. The corn side was good, but not great. Again, just average food, like you'd see at any chain restaurant. The sauce tasted like a mustard-based barbecue sauce, which I enjoy, but it didn't seem like anything special.

The worst part of the evening came after a large group of 8-9 was seated in the room with us. Their table was across the room, but they were already visibly drunk when they arrived, and they were quite loud. We couldn't even have a conversation at our own table because it was drowned out by the noise that they were making. Eventually, they were joined by another couple or three people, and there was a round of everyone jumping up and hugging and squealing like they hadn't seen each other in years, more loud yelling across their table and more loud laughter. I'm usually not too fussed when people are enjoying themselves, but they were REALLY loud and REALLY obnoxious. One of our group even tried to approach the manager to ask him to intervene to see if they could be convinced to keep it down a bit. He refused to say anything to them, telling her that there was nothing he could do, and we resorted to yelling across our own table things like, "I'm sorry, what??? I can't hear you!!" whenever someone in our group tried to speak but was drowned out by the other group. It was too bad, because we actually could have sat in the main (entirely open) dining area and it wouldn't have been nearly as loud and grating as sitting in the room with these people. Management fail. Not sure I'll be going back there...

Update: after more visits, be warned of this. The flatbread I had did not have a crispy crust. Kinda soggy and the sauce was a bit spicy. As delicious as the burger was, the fries were very undercooked for me. And I totally don't recommend the Mac n cheese. It's more like liquid cheese soup with pasta in it and some shredded cheese dripped on top. Again, also a bit spicy for me.

On a whim, we decided to try Nic & Norman's as we were walking past. Wow. So glad we did! We had such a great experience all around. It blows away any meal we had at Smoke on the Water, which used to be located in this spot.

The place was clean and organized. Our server, Ky, was super friendly and helpful. He answered all our questions concerning what's "good" here. We ordered the brisket nachos for an appetizer, although it's not really "nachos" and more homemade chips. EXCELLENT! Full disclosure: I really am not a barbecue person, but their sauce was excellent! I'll definitely be getting them again on a return visit. Our salads were excellent and a perfect size. (small.) The burger was very good with a nice fresh roll. My fish and chips were excellent! Unlike most fried fish, this was breaded, not battered. But the haddock was cooked perfectly and the piece was rather big. Not a fan of tarter sauce, but N&N's was very different and delicious. It reminded me of a ranch dressing for fish. Instead of fries, I substituted the mac n cheese. Another excellent choice! It almost seemed to have some pimento cheese mixed in. Too full for dessert, but the menu had a few great looking items.

We loved it so much, we're going back next week. 5 stars all around!

----edit---- We actually went back a few days later, but this time brought some friends. Service again was excellent! The pork sliders were delicious, but I can't recommend the margarita flat bread. The dough was soft and thick. It seemed undercooked. Plus, I DON'T like spicy and, although the tomato sauce didn't seem to have anything "spicy" in it, like Cayenne pepper or the like, it had SO much garlic in it that it was actually hot. I tasted garlic in my mouth all evening. I definitely don't...

The overall atmosphere was very nice and aesthetically pleasing. The hosts were very kind and helpful. Our server was very nice and efficient. I had the Spiked Raspberry lemonade that was very refreshing and had house infused raspberry. My fiancé tried their Peach Lemonade that was tasty, as well. We splurged on the Fried Mozzerella appetizer that came out quickly and was amazing. For our dinner options, my fiancé ordered the Pimento Bacon burger with sidewinders, which was delicious. I ordered the Turkey Avocado burger with sweet potato fries. The fries were perfectly crisp and tasted great. My turkey burger however was bleeding all over the plate and when I cut into it, the middle was cold, mushy, and very rare. I was hesitant to send it back, but did because I did not want to spend $16 on a burger that would make me sick. The server understood immediately and took it back. We were then approached by a manager who informed me their burgers were just cooked that way and I should have been previously informed because overcooking it would make it “too tough”. But they said they would prepare me another burger that was cooked slightly more. The server approached afterwards and said he was under the impression we had a Lamb Burger and that’s why he said it should be cooked that way. She said she would talk to him and bring my burger out soon. The manager never came back over after the encounter and I received my remake later. This encounter and the manager’s reaction made the entire dining experience afterwards feel very awkward and uncomfortable, which ultimately soured the evening. I know there may have been a miscommunication about the type of meat, but turkey burgers should never be served at an internal temperature less than 165 degrees. This tells me someone is dropping the ball when it comes to quality control. However, I understand mistakes happen and maybe this is just a hiccup due to them still being a new business. We plan on returning in the future to try again so we’re looking forward to seeing how...