NICO | Oysters + Seafood — Restaurant in Mount Pleasant

We are from out of town but came here about six years ago and had such a great experience that I have been looking forward to coming back ever since. This time was such a disappointment. We ordered their equivalent of a seafood tower, which was very mediocre. We are raw oyster lovers and enjoy all varieties and sizes of oysters all over the east coast. This was the third night we had oysters in the Charleston area (two other amazing experiences), and Nico’s oysters just were not good. Not terrible, but very very sub-par. They had run out of the oysters that were supposed to be on the tray, which is fine, but didn’t tell us until after they served the dish. The lobster was mealy, the shrimp were just edible. The cocktail sauce was the worst I’ve ever had, maybe just personal preference but closer to BBQ sauce. The “mignonette” seemed to be only vinegar.

We did eat all of the seafood, other than the crab legs because I prefer them with drawn butter, which was not served (neither were utensils to crack the crab). When I asked for drawn butter, what was brought to us was some sort of oil that was really quite nasty, and definitely not butter. So we asked for the crab legs to go so we could enjoy them at home.

Our waitress was absolutely delightful and helpful. When she asked how everything was, we told her our honest opinions. She said she would have the manager come speak to us, and that “he is great and very understanding.”

We saw through the window our waitress speak to him, but he didn’t come out. The hostess came over (maybe she’s a manager too, but that wasn’t how it was presented to us). We gave her our feedback, she was phenomenally disinterested, and actually said regarding the butter that the waitress “must have misunderstood.”

Up to this point, I was not upset, not asking for any money to be taken off (and I very clearly stated this upfront); we ate our food and had every intention to pay for it. We didn't ask for a single thing other than to give our feedback, and of course had the expectation that it would be appreciated.

Well it wasn’t, and what really got me was that she tried to blame the waitress, who was hard working and attentive and had nothing to do with the quality of the food. After the hostess left, the waitress offered us a free dessert, but why would we want more mediocre food?

We had a late reservation (arrived 10 minutes early) and we were some of the last patrons in the restaurant. I used the restroom on the way out and could overhear the staff talking about our complaining. Which we didn’t do-AT ALL- we merely gave feedback. As I exited the bathroom, the hostess who spoke to us was sitting right there—we made eye contact, she looked away, didn’t smile, didn’t say goodnight, didn’t say please come back, didn't say thank you for your business, nothing.

We had paid our bill in full with a tip for our server. Again, we asked for nothing and expected nothing other than respect.

Any restaurant who isn’t interested in feedback and then gossips about the patrons who give it should take a really good look at...

Experience: I have come here for several years and my latest experience was lacking. The server rushed through the specials and had to check with the kitchen on sides. She was constantly interrupting our table conversation, too, to ask if we were ok? so bizarre it happened like 12 times. Even though there were many empty tables, the whole experience felt like they wanted us to leave as soon as possible. Also, I was surprised the kitchen would NOT do a side of a vegetable. It wasn't even a substitution. I just wanted an extra vegetable. "non! dit la cuisine" ( The kitchen said no) If they're going to be rude, at least they should hire all French, wait staff, it would be more of an experience. Food: Red snapper was soo delicious all the other times we had it in the past, but tonight it was just terrible, mushy inside and super burnt on the top. Strange flavor maybe they are using a different oil?? The ratatouille was also very bland and was basically thick cut zucchini with chunky tomato sauce and more bland cheese. The octopus was also burnt. (I'm pretty sure they're getting it from Costco.) The cheese was bland as well, not expecting poor cheese selections from a French chef. Also had a small salad, basic salad Dijon dressing was very good. (This is one of the stars) I also had The Onion soup, which was very good (saving the French-ness of this french restaurant) (this is the other star) Also had oysters, but this is Charleston, y'all. Everyone has oysters, nothing to note above or below the average. Atmosphere: What on Earth is up with the music??? It's like a strange mix from the 90s spanning all genres: hip-hop to grunge to name two. Soo odd! Also watched our waitress do a crème brûlée table side (not mine, praise God) that had us looking for the fire exits. Giant propane tourch with a huge flame. The propane smell was overwhelming. In my experience this is normally done with a very small torch. Conclusion: This place used to be fantastic IMO, but has recently become just average no longer justifying the cost. We spent over $300. I hope they, take steps to improve and get back to the...

We have visited many times over the past few years. 22 of our closest friends and family come for oyster festival, family vacations and just along weekends at the beach. We are always sure to visit Nico’s and have had a pleasant experience. This time we made reservations weeks ago for 10 people 4 being elderly. The person who took the reservation indicated we would be outside. I asked if it would be too hot because we have elderly people and the response was they have cooling machines that keep it cool and many people sit out there, so I agreed to keep the reservation. We went this past Sunday and with the extreme heat it was unbearable. I understand the cooling machines would have difficulty keeping up, but I feel as though we should have been notified to have the option of sitting inside or if there was no room due to reservations, we should have been giving the option to cancel our reservation. Unfortunately, very few people enjoyed the experience and I believe it was due to the heat. I called today and I asked for a manager and the person who answered wanted to understand why so I explained to her our concern and she said so what do you want? No apology or I understand because it was hot. She actually was unprofessional in her response. When I did speak with the manager he kept saying he couldn’t move us in because he had other reservations, but again I said ok then someone should have notified us ahead of time to give us an option to cancel our reservation because their machines weren’t able to keep up. He finally apologized after several minutes. But unfortunately it will be a while before we return based on the response of today’s conversation. A simple, my apologies and I agree maybe we should give people a heads up about the heat outside would...