Nick's Italian Cafe — Restaurant in McMinnville

After enjoying my recent experience here, just read through some of the reviews - sounds (reads) like it is a love it or hate it place/experience. Called around 5, on a Friday eve to see if we could get in before the more popular, dinner hour, but couldn't get in the dining room until abt 7:30, which would be a more popular time, especially on a Friday. However, I was told, by the VERY nice, pleasant person that there is a "back room" which was not full @ the time. Had heard good things about Nicks from good friends who have been here often. Got a table in the back, our server, Melissa, could NOT have been any nicer, helpful, attentive, personable or kind. Walking through the "dining" room area, we weren't dressed, as I would have been comfortable with, had we have been seated in there. However, the back room was very comfortable, casual, and even "homey", in my opinion. Water and bread arrived almost immediately, and we had taken the last available table (this area does not take reservations). Melissa handed us menus, offered to take drink orders, but since this was the 1st visit, I needed to peruse the wine options 1st. Very shortly after my companion had finished looking at the food menu, and I was trying to decide between a couple of different wine choices, she returned to tell us about the dinner special, asked about drink choices and after asking about the 2 wines I was considering, shared with me her favorite, then promptly offered a taste of each, which were presented w/i minutes. Before I finished either taste, she returned to ask my preference, upon my answer, which just so happened to be the same as her favorite, the glass arrived in the same, short, time frame. I hadn't yet made my entree choice, so she offered me more time as though there was no rush at all to get us out of there in order to "fill" the table. As soon as I had made my choice, she returned to take our order. The special had a cream sauce which I'm not fond of so asked if I could get it with a red sauce and there was no problem with my request. Salad arrived shortly thereafter, then dinner. I agree, w/some other reviews, that the entree portion was not large, however, for me, it was perfect. Melissa suggested the chocolate mousse, if we wanted desert, included the fact that, in her opinion, it is the best choice. We shared the mousse, which was a good size for 2, and it was fabulous. I didn't see the check total, however seeing the menu prices, it's not a place I could go to every week. My experience with some other restaurants, especially on a Friday or Saturday evening, is hurried as they want to turn over tables as quickly as possible. This was, most definitely, not my experience that evening. We were there, occupying a table for 4 (there were 2 of us), easily 3 hours. NEVER felt or sensed any type of rush. Enjoyed great, very friendly conversations with Melissa and she treated us as though we were long time friends. When, not if, we return, we will ask for her, and if necessary, w/wait for her. IF I leave ratings for any business or service, they are not this lengthy, however, after reading some others, I felt compelled to share my experience. I'm sorry that others experienced poor service, but that couldn't be more different than my experience here. Thank you Melissa, you w/not soon...

Well, my wife and I finally decided to try Nick's. We made reservations for our 22nd anniversary dinner and we had waited nearly 16 years to try it. (I'm not really sure why, but I think it had something to do with small kids and the prices we had heard about) We had always heard good things about Nicks and we're very excited to go. We made reservations that morning. Actually both of us called at nearly the same time, somewhere around 10:00 AM. I got an answering machine and she actually got a real person. (According to their website they don't open until 5:00 PM). Reservations were made by my wife, I finally received a call back at 4:30 PM for reservations at 6:30 PM. I thought nothing of it and cancelled the second set of reservations. We show up a little late, 6:40 after driving around downtown McMinnville for 15 minutes looking for parking. We walk in and get seated at the crappiest seat in the restaurant on top of the front door, nearly on the sidewalk. About 5 minutes later our server takes our drink order. 10 minutes later, it arrives. Drinks are OK, pretty tough to mess those up right. Order an appetizer, have some wine and chat for 10 minutes while we decide to order. Server makes his way back to the table and takes our order. Evidently I order the house special. Dungeness crab lasagna. My wife orders the hanging steak. 20 minutes pass and the meal finally arrives. Mine looks like a single portion Russell Stover's lasagne, period. Mind you this is a $27 dinner that can fit in the palm of my hand. No bread, no salad, nothing. Hers is maybe 6 oz sliced steak with potatoes that are thin sliced, nearly raw and have a strange mint taste to them. We both look at our plates and decide there's probably enough for one and decide to order a plate of bread to go with the a-la-carte selection. I'm not really sure what's in the bread, but I'm sure it's missing something, like, I don't know, salt or something. I can't quite put my finger on it, but we try and try and try to make it work, but it's like eating baked play dough. No flavor, no character, nothing. Overall this place is overrated. We ended up spending $160 on a meal for 2. Don't get me wrong I'll spend twice that for a great meal and I have before, but I wouldn't waste my money here. Very underwhelming Italian food. Poor wine selection, horrible bread, poor portions and overall a distasteful dining experience. I'm not sure how this place is still in business except for all...

Botched reservation; didn't get a chance to experience the food or service.

We've lived in McMinnville for more than 30 years. Although we'd never been to Nick's, we knew it was supposedly one of McMinnville's finest restaurant. We decided to give it a shot for our 33rd wedding anniversary dinner.

My wife called at 5PM to make a reservation for 7PM. No one answered, so she left a message with the details per the instructions. (reservation for 2 at 7PM, our phone #, etc.).

No one called back to confirm, but we showed up at 7PM anyway. It was busy, but there was an open table in the main dinning area.

One of the hostess' met us and asked if we had a reservation, which we confirmed that we called. Hostess: "Oh, I was going to call you because I needed to know how many for the reservation." Me: "That was in the message." Hostess: "Ok. Would you be ok sitting at the bar?" Me: "No. We'd like a table please." Hostess: "Ok, let me go see what we can do."

She leaves to go check. Then, another couple arrives and is met by another hostess. They recognize each other, and the couple recognizes another party in the restaurant. She asks if they have a reservation and they say "No". She says that she needs to go talk to the other hostess to see what they have available.

I can see them speaking to each other near the bar. Our hostess come back and says that they "have a couple of seats at the bar, and this other table that needs to be cleaned, but I'm not sure who they will be for. We also have some seats in the lounge in the back."

While she is talking to us, the other hostess comes and seats the couple that didn't have a reservation. arrived at the restaurant after us.

After I tell her that the bar and lounge are not acceptable, and point out that the other couple got seated after us AND that they did not have a reservation, she proceeded to say that she "didn't know anything about that." ...