Nick's Pasadena — Restaurant in Pasadena

We were celebrating a special occasion and made reservations at Nick's in Pasadena. DO NOT GO WITHOUT RESERVATIONS!! The get slammed early, and it stays this way most nights. We were set up in the 'Dining Experience' room which has two tables that seat 8-10 people per table. The problem with this room is the loudness. The place is very nice, super clean everywhere; however you will need a hearing aid as the other table will more than likely overpower your senses as the volume of speech is sooooo loud, you really have a hard time speaking with your own table. This also goes for most of the restaurant. It is deafening. So if you are looking for a special romantic place, Nick is not it. The dining experience room is even louder as everything echoes, and when you have a table just a few feet from you and have had a bit to drink, the noise is truly unbearable. Nick could easily dampen the noise very creatively if they really wanted to. Anyway, the establishment is super clean.

From the bathrooms to the table. Impeccable cleanliness. Also, having the open kitchen right there as you walk in is very interesting to watch. The staff who meets and greets you are very friendly and polished. You would think you were in 90210 in how the house host handled themselves. Very professional.

We had to wait a few minutes, so I got a couple of cocktails for folks as I was the designated driver. One item to know, there is no 'Happ Hour.' None, zippo. Full price all day, all night and this is where you do feel like you are in 90210. The price for the drinks, bang for the buck is inferior. A small Margarita cost $16.34 into your hand. Also, this was not top shelf. A Moscow mule $14.12 into your hand. Needless to say, unless you have the cash to burn, stick with water as the bill adds up very fast.

We ordered our meal very swiftly because we were told we only had 2.5 hours to sit at our table. We were never told this when we made the reservation. The waitress apologized; however, she could not stop making a point that we need to be out at a particular time. One time was enough, not 3-4 times to the table. Needless to say, the way this was handled put a damper on everything along with the tremendous noise coming from the table, we were starting to get frustrated.

The food did come and make up for some of our disappointment. The buttermilk fried chicken is two pounded out breasts served with mashed potatoes/gravy and corn n the cob. Delicious at all levels. The bistro plate was perfection. I like my Filet medium, and normally no one can nail it. It usually comes out well or rare. However, on this occasion it was a perfect medium, and I wish I had a bit more of the garlic butter as that was outstanding. I was also very very surprised at how tasty the bistro salad was. Simple but my taste buds were jumping all over the place, and I wish I had a more substantial serving -- one of the best salads I have had. The prime rib dip was cooked well, and the portions were fair as well.

The pricing on all the food was fair for the quality. The overall service has some room for improvement, and Someone should really look at the dining room experience as honestly, it is not worth it when you cannot hear yourself think depending on the table next to you. The pricing of the drinks is what keeps the food pricing fair as the pricing of the drinks is very high.

However, the quality and the taste of the food is absolutely terrific!!!! I wish I could rate it higher, yet on this visit, too many things went a bit sideways for a special occasion. Perhaps at a standard table in the main dining room, it would have been better. However, for the food, I highly recommend it, but make those...

Ok, let me start by stating what is probably obvious: as an upscale restaurant in Pasadena, the food here is not cheap. So if you're looking for a budget meal, try looking in an entirely different city. For a party of 6, our total came out to around $240 (without any drinks). Again, not cheap but also not the most expensive.

Price aside, the food & service at Nick's is excellent. The service is actually some of the best I've ever received in any restaurant. As an example, my brother-in-law walked in with a Starbucks drink. Our server informed him that the restaurant has a no outside food or drinks policy, but rather than forcing him to throw away his drink, she transferred his drink to a glass cup and threw away the Starbucks one. I thought this was a very classy move.

Pros: -Can't go wrong with any of the dishes. Their prime rib dip is probably their most popular dish, but they always run out. -Incredibly friendly service (some of the best service I've ever experienced) -Great ambiance, very clean -The bar has TVs with sports -Free parking behind the restaurant (even though the signs say there's a limit, I've never seen this enforced)

Improvement: -The restaurant isn't very large and you should expect a long wait. I came with a group of 6 at 5pm on a Saturday and waited 1 hour & 45 minutes. -Their burger isn't the greatest. There was nothing memorable about it.

Recommendations: -Prime rib dip: I've personally never had it, but my family members who have say it's an amazing sandwich. There's a reason why it runs out every night. -Fried chicken: It was a lot of food and was enough to be split with another person. The chicken was delicious and the dish came with a massive pile of mashed potatoes. The only thing they can improve is the gravy. I thought it was bland. -Bistro plate: You get a petite filet (6 oz), salad, & soup for $23. It's not a bad price for someone looking for a small steak. -Butter cake: It was amazing! This is their most popular dessert. You won't regret getting it. -Key lime tart: This was a nightly special and it was also amazing. Half of my party liked the butter cake more and the other half liked the key...

An Overheated Plate and an Underwhelming Experience at Nick’s Pasadena with the Frozen Food

Pasadena has no shortage of polished dining rooms promising modern American comfort fare, and Nick’s is among the more popular names to surface in local recommendations. But during a recent dinner, what I encountered was not the polished execution of a seasoned kitchen—but a troubling lapse in both culinary standards and basic safety.

The issue began the moment my entrée arrived: a ceramic plate so searingly hot it could not be touched without risk of injury. This wasn’t the gentle heat often used to maintain a dish’s temperature—it was oven-hot, to the point of being dangerous. Yet, curiously, the food atop it was only lukewarm.

This mismatch suggests what no guest hopes to confirm in a restaurant of this stature: that the dish had likely been pre-cooked, then reheated—plate and all—just before service. The flavor and texture of the meal did little to disprove that theory. What should have been a fresh, composed dish arrived with the unmistakable uniformity of something frozen, then revived without much care.

Such a method not only compromises quality, it raises serious questions about kitchen practices. A plate capable of burning skin, paired with food that fails to reach safe or satisfying temperatures, is not merely an aesthetic failure—it’s a food safety concern.

To be clear, my disappointment lies not in a single off night or an overcooked element, but in what felt like systemic shortcuts. Reheating food in this manner is more typical of a cafeteria line than a restaurant positioning itself as a neighborhood staple with chef-driven credibility.

Dining out is about more than just nourishment—it’s about trust. At Nick’s Pasadena, that trust was eroded by a meal that felt neither thoughtfully prepared nor safely executed. Until the kitchen reassesses its preparation methods and commits to the standards diners rightfully expect, I find it difficult to recommend a...