Nick's on 2nd

Considering it was a Monday. This establishment was fully booked and had a waiting list of around an hour and a half to three quarters of an hour. When I called earlier and learnt this. I was in no doubt that this restaurant was a good one.After only waiting 5 min for an open bar seats for my friend and I.The service was on point , professional, courteous and friendly.The margaritas were perfectly balanced. The food was exquisite. Rib eye burger and fries were delicious as was the steak with walnut salad that my friend had. Definitely recommend this place for any occasion. Specially date night .

The food was wonderful EXCEPT for a few things:1. Their strict limit of 15 minutes for them to hold a reservation.2. The lack of parking or valet service. 3. The wait to check in which would have caused an issue IF I did not have someone else from my party get to the restaurant in time.4. And the noise.Let me explain: Noise: I grew up on Long Island and spent a ton of time in NY Metro restaurants. They are known for being loud. I somehow did not expect to have a similar experience in a Wednesday night in late February. We could barely hear each other, let alone the waitress. She had to repeat each special description more than once and trying to hear what we ordered, well that was an experience - thank heavens that we could point out what we wanted. STRICT 15 MINUTES RESERVATION HOLD:I am glad that I made a reservation but a 15 minute grace period is tight. I called the restaurant to explain that our arrival time would be late because the usual 20-30 minute drive from Huntington Beach was now estimated at 45 minutes. I asked IF there was anyway that the table could be held and I was told "No." That is not what I expected for a restaurant that DOES NOT have parking or valet service.Certainly NOT the response I was expecting but I reached out to others in my party to please get there so we would not lose our reservation. WAIT TO CHECK IN:Then when we arrived, I had to find a place to park luckily I found something on the same part of the block on 2nd. But the wait to check in.... IF I did not make the SOS call to others in my party to hold the table, we would have lost that table. My suggestion is to staff the restaurant with enough upfront staff so that the line is not out the door. VALET OR PARKING: If you are going to have a line to check in and a strict policy of holding a reservation - you should have a VALET or parking available for patrons.

The food here is wonderful. However, their rules on how you get your food, the food you pay for, is ridiculous. I ordered a Thai spicy chicken salad and requested the dressing on the side, as I don't usually finish the salad and take the other half home. If there is dressing on it, the salad gets soggy and I cannot eat the remainder of the salad, so getting the dressing on the side takes care of that issue. I was told they cannot put the dressing on the side, they can only do light dressing to keep "the integrity of the dish." I'm keeping the integrity of the dish, but I'm choosing to determine how much of the dressing I put on it. Seems asinine to me that you would tell a customer they can only get the fish they want if they get it with the dressing on it. Aside from this issue, the food here is good and so is the service. Just disappointed in their lack of concern for customer satisfaction.

I've been here so many times, I'm surprised to see that I've never written a review before now. I haven't visited the Manhattan Beach location, but the Long Beach location is relatively small, so I highly recommend making a reservation as the bar fills up quickly. For this visit, I got the blackened fish sandwich- the market fish this day was Mahi Mahi (although I was hoping for Halibut), but the sandwich was amazing. I wanted the market vegetables as my side but they advised that they couldn't make them without butter, so I opted for the fries. I wish they would bring back the Salty Pear martini :(

One of my favorite restaurants on Belmont Shore in Long Beach. Food is always consistently good and service is friendly and attentive.The lighting is somewhat dim which makes for a romantic ambience perfect for a date night. My favorite dish is is the Chilean Sea Bass, always fresh, flaky on the outside and buttery on the inside, just perfectly cooked. My hubby loves the deviled eggs and filet mignon. The star of the show is their heavenly signature warm butter cake with crystallized sugar crust , topped with vanilla ice cream and garnished with berry compote. We love coming here!

The best.com. forget how amazingly delicious this place is. Every dish we had for lunch tasted amazing! From the butternut squash soup of the day, to the Scottish salmon that was perfectly cooked and seasoned, spinach and potatoes were yum, the kale and quinoa salad tasted so good, and the blackened fish burger was tasty. Each bite of our meal was amazing. We finished everything. Already thinking of when I'd go back to try other items. Complimentary birthday cake was also tasty. Friendly service, very nice ambiance. Sat outside in the patio enjoying the sun and people watching. A favorite restaurant indeed! Thanks for the warm hospitality and amazing food, team! Hats off to the chef!

I've always wanted to try Nicks on 2nd. It was perfect timing that my friend who lives in the marina area invited me out to celebrate my ongoing birthday.I'm so glad I'm here and it's such a pretty day!Hosts and staff right off the bat so friendly and courteous. I'm a fan of the old fashioned if you didn't already know so enjoyed their fig old fashioned. Yes! Perfect. We started off with another favorite of mine, spinach dip. It's a large serving and comes with salsa and sour cream. A bowl of chips were brought out before we hit the bottom of the first serving. Chilean sea bass was on my radar. Cooked perfectly and was flaky and buttery. Garlic sautéed spinach and mashed potatoes were good. My friend had the friend chicken and raved about it. I'll have to come back for that since I was getting full.Birthday treat came out a beat after we were done with our meal. The timing of the food coming out was perfect. The restaurant seems a bit dim but I think because it's so bright outside - windows all the way around since there is patio seating. I would love to come back in the evening for the experience of its night service.Parking can be tricky. I found parking in the neighborhood which was free but there's also street metered parking too. Will definitely be back here soon!

Finally got to try Nick's on 2nd! I attempted a few weekends ago to snag a spot without a dinner reservation and was told the wait would be about an hour. Flash forward to today, I came in tow with reservations and was seated within 5 minutes of arrival. Our server, I think his name was Thomas, was thorough and pleasant, explaining the menu in detail and cracking jokes throughout the dinner service. He also came with great food recommendations, which we considered and ordered the "fun to eat" deviled eggs, prime rib dip, and bistro plate. Every dish was perfectly cooked, truly no complaints. However I think the dishes showcased the skill of the chefs making them, I think if the chef were given more creative freedom to make some new dishes, it would be an absolute game changer! Can't wait to come back to try the other items on the current menu.

Amazing service from the initial phone call to ask about wait times and reservation, Nicks staff went above and beyond during our dinning experience. We had an outaide table, they pulled the shade to block wind and sun. Our sever kayla was awesome, just right amount of details and attention. Food was on point.... Bread out of this world... Havent had garlic bread soo good in a while.... The asparagus fries were good too!! Our toddlers also sample a few items as we celebrated their first birthday... They loved every spoon we fed them :)Thank you Nicks on 2nd for amazing time!

I visited Nick's on 2nd on a Saturday afternoon. The restaurant was quite crowded, as expected, and parking in the area was a challenge. I parked in the residential area behind the restaurant. For appetizers, we ordered fried devil eggs and spinach and artichoke dip. I never seen the bottom of an egg deep fried for devil eggs before but it was delectable. Spinach artichoke was also another hit. It was really good. For lunch, I ordered the Bistro Plate, which included a petite filet mignon, a petite bistro salad, and the soup of the day (French onion). Unfortunately, the steak was poorly seasoned and had an odd taste. The salad was just okay, but the French onion soup was too salty. After two spoonfuls, I couldn't eat any more. Luckily, I don't have high blood pressure because the sodium was extremely high. My brother ordered the center-cut filet and found it similarly disappointing, describing it as bland. However, my father ordered the ribeye melt sandwich, which he absolutely loved, calling it one of the best he's ever had.For drinks, we selected bottle service and went with the Cabernet, Impetuous, which was enjoyable.I ordered their butter cake for dessert to go. However, I had their ice cream and compote there. I usually don't like compote but it was very good and sweet. I warmed the butter cake at home. While the top layer was just average, the bottom layer of the cake was really good. My brother ordered desert wine- Taylor Fladgate. I took a sip and it was actually good. I'm not a fan of sweet wine but it was enjoyable. Overall, the experience was a mix of hits and misses. While the ribeye melt sandwich and dessert stood out, the steaks and soup was not appeasing. Nick's has potential, but the inconsistencies in food quality would make me hesitate to return.