Jim 'N Nick's Bar-B-Q — Restaurant in Trussville

I, due to my mobility difficulties, am usually a "Drive-Through" Customer. Let me begin with the "GOOD" about their "Drive-Through Experience"... Alrighty, moving on to the BAD... Parking Clash, if your in need of parking in the closest to the door Handicap spot, beware, the Drive-Through "wait" line WILL be blocking you in whenever you get ready to go. Hint: put your car in reverse and actually back up a few feet so that the cars blocking you as they sit, waiting, in the drive through line can see that you're trying to leave and they might take pity on you and allow you to back out and exit the line.

Let's see... More BAD... AFTER you have wound your way around ALL the cones, fought with the parked Handicap parked cars trying to back out and leave, and "Yielded" to EVERY single customer/pedestrian that has come or gone to Jim 'N Nick's since your wheels rolled upon their asphalt, you finally make it to their menu sign and "order box"! Hint: even if your car is stock/quite, turn it off when you get to the menu sign, or you'll never hear them, and they'll never hear you!

OK... Order time! I strongly suggest you be willing to just "take it as it comes" irregardless of what you order, because, if you present them with a "complicated order", then there's no telling what you'll get. For example, I'm a Burger Guy, and their "Original J&N Burger" hits my sweet spot! But, sometimes I want just the flavors of the meat, cheese and bun, so I order it just that way "meat cheese bun, with everything else "on the side". Just the shear number of possible combinations of understanding and comprehension" that an order like this creates to those in their kitchen, is amazing. I ordered just that way, along with my wife's usual "Brisket Plate" and when we got home and opened our sack of scrumptious food to be, all we could see was a sack FULL of "Styrofoam "Clam Shell" containers. Opened the first one and there was a lettuce leaf inside, second yielded a pickle slice, so did the 3rd and 4th, the 5th Clam shell was safeguarding a dollop of mustard, next, was the Clam shell with a single, raw onion ring, I had asked for some ketchup for my fries, and that was in the next clam shell, 1 dollop of ketchup. Then we found the top bun, then a single, grilled, hamburger patty, then a cheese slice was in the next 2, then a bun bottom, followed by another grilled patty, and lastly, the 2nd slice of cheese. ALL IN INDIVIDUAL STYROFOAM CLAM SHELL CONTAINERS! There was like, 20 of these containers, felt like I had gone to the "Build-A-Burger Workshop". Oh, sorry, forgot, there was one Clam shell container with about a shake and a half of salt, and another with an equal amount of black pepper. The only thing I can say is they gave me exactly what I asked for, literally!

I can't speak of the "Inside Dining Experience" because it's been years since I went inside this location, but I would imagine that it's close to the same experience you get at the "Drive-Through...

My family lives in Southern Alabama and we do not have a Red Robin or a Jim 'N Nick's. It was an hour+ wait at the Red Robin so we decided on Jim 'N Nick's where it was only 15 minutes. We are so glad we did! The atmosphere was great, nice and cozy with the smell of barbecue wafting through. The prices were decent and the staff were very nice. We started with onion rings and their cheese biscuits. The cheese biscuits were excellent, a lovely mix of sweet and savory that we were super excited about. The onion rings were great, the others in my party especially enjoyed them. I didnt mind them, I thought they were good but I'm partial to the battered-style onion rings. For an entrée I got a burger as I'm not a huge fan of barbecue and I loved it! Fries were nice and crispy as well. Another in my party got soup and salad and she enjoyed both. The soup was the Briskett and Chilli which had a little bit of an unexpected bite in the spice department but was not unwelcome. And the last in my group got the Briskett sandwich that he thoroughly enjoyed, and got some extra barbecue sauce which he also liked. The barbecue sauce also had a bit of a bite which he was happy with. We were sad to be so full at the end of the meal, as we really wanted to try the banana pudding. Any self-respecting southern family loves a good banana pudding. Our waiter had no problem packing it to go for us! Though we had to try a bite before we left and it was SO good! We can totally understand why it was so packed, and more amazed that they were getting us into a table in a suitable amount of time, being served quickly, and not compromising quality or service. Sadly we do not have a Jim 'N Nick's in Mobile, AL but we definitely know where we'll love to stop when we're...

I've been the lone defender of Jim 'N Nick's in my circle of people for so long. I have told people that one could thread the needle on their menu and actually make a specific meal that was outstanding, even when compared to actual bbq places. Yes, you have to make a somewhat specific series of requests, such as, " CHOPPED BRISKET, PLEASE." and " can I please have one of those monkey bowls of ranch?". They've never had bbq sauce, despite pretending to serve bbq. What they do offer is a red sauce that's a lot more like a red pasta sauce, and a white sauce. Now that turns out to be ok, because their ranch is outstanding, and if you get a bowl and mix in a little of the habanero sauce, it's truly worthy of the homemade and delicious onion rings. Now I have to ask for ranch, which I rarely get on the first time asking. The habanero sauce that used to be on the table now has to be hidden away because of who knows why. The chopped brisket sandwich was outstanding with JNNs buns and house made pickles. Now, they've changed their buns to potato for some reason. The pickles were changed, both in kind, and quality to our, the customers, detriment. The staff situation... I can only assume the spry young eager people who used to be so good found better opportunities (onlyfans?) when the world shut down in 2020. Now it's frustrating. I'm sad about this. I'm sad for the awesome food option I lost. I'm sad for the other customers. I'm sad for the employees who are putting in real effort. I'm sad...