Nico Kitchen & Bar

I would not recommend this place… Service is slow and food is less than satisfying as far as taste. I ordered a vodka gimlet and apparently the filter broke off of the pourer which looks like a clear Lego piece and was in the bottom of my glass… Luckily I was using a straw, otherwise I could have swallowed! I definitely recommend checking out some of the other restaurants in the vicinity.

Disaster. I had read reviews that this place is a hot mess on performance nights and that is absolutely true. We had tix to an 8:30 show this past Friday, so I made a 6:30 dinner reservation. Knowing that they only offer prix-​fixe menus on those nights, I assumed it would be no problem having a couple drinks and finishing our meal in time for the show. Never assume anything!
The first red flag was that it took 30 mins for our drinks to materialize. When our server first arrived, we ordered the drinks and our food selections, in order to expedite things. When the drinks finally came, our server asked us to confirm our food selections, as he hadn’t put them in yet. Keep in mind, the prix-​fixe menu is 3 courses, so I was a bit nervous upon hearing this. As soon as our first round of drinks was delivered, we ordered a second round, anticipating another delay.
30 – 40 mins later, our starters arrived. We got the pâté and the asparagus, both of which were ok. I lost count of the delay, but I’m guessing around 45 mins after ordering them, our second round of drinks came. These were delivered by who I assume is the manager, and he was apologetic, offering to comp them. This was appreciated, but at 8:10, having been seated for over 90 mins and still without our entrees, I was really getting anxious, and angry. The diners on each side of us were having similar experiences. In fact, one table right next to us said, «If our food doesn’t arrive in the next 5 mins, we’re leaving and we are not paying.» I acknowledged that we felt similarly, and I guess that lit a fire in the kitchen.
Unfortunately, they clearly rushed our orders out because my medium rare steak was basically raw, save for a quick sear on the outside, and my wife’s medium salmon was very rare. At this point, we didn’t have time to send anything back and we were starving, so we ate what we could and left the rest. With about 10 mins before show time, I asked our server to forego dessert and adjust our bill, but he said he couldn’t do that since it was prix-​fixe. The sad thing is, he was sincere and earnest about it, which is a telling commentary on the lack of experience and training of the staff here. I chose to let it go. Magically, one of our desserts appeared moments later, which we quickly polished off as we demanded the check. Dessert #2 never made it to the table. As a gesture, they removed 3 of 4 drinks from our bill which was a move in the right direction, but not quite enough in my opinion.
Nico has potential. The food, although overpriced, is decent. The problem is that the kitchen and the front of the house are completely disconnected, and the bar situation is a shit show. In general, I’d say they need a major management overhaul and their staff really needs to be trained properly to handle the volume they get on performance nights, and the pace required to pull it off. The advantage of prix-​fixe menus is that they help streamline things for the kitchen and cut down on prep time, allowing for faster execution. Nico is getting it all wrong, and as a result, the customer is losing out big time. I may return for drinks prior to a show in the future, but I would not return for dinner. It’s a shame, as the space is tasteful, but they really need to get their act together.

We went to Nico before a concert last Friday. Pre-​concert you get 3 courses for a $ 42 prix fixe price. Two of us started with the Duo of Fowl which was really good — a few «coins» of duck sausage and a couple of tablespoons of chicken liver «foie gras» which was pretty convincing. My wife ordered Duo of Tartare which involved salmon and tuna, both more or less not recognizable, didn’t enjoy.
For entrees, I ordered the Tagliatelle with short rib ragout. Good texture but too tomatoey. My wife ordered the duck which was very tender but the bread pudding was dry and tasteless. Our friend ordered the salmon which was the winner, crispy outside, very tender inside, and rich in flavor. We will return but will order different dishes. This was the first night for their winter menu and there are many choices that look intriguing. We ordered all three desserts and none were worth mentioning.
Corkage is not allowed — why not? Frog and Peach allows it for $ 25 per bottle. Anyway the wine list runs toward a low end of $ 35 and higher around $ 80, with some super high end choices. I ordered a NZ Pinot Noir which was very primary but OK with the food.
Would have given 3.5 stars for service, we were ignored for nearly 30 minutes but we did make the start of the performance at 8:00, and once we got started the service was good. I posted pictures of our entrees.

Great service, food was ok. It was a prix fixe ($ 42) menu before the show. By the way, they only serve prix fixe menu only during show nights, so don’t go if you want to be limited with what’s on menu. Buy a parking ticket online for $ 15, park on Lot A, it’s beside the theater building. I will probably skip the kitchen and just have a drink before the show, or try other great restaurants in Newark area.

The restaurant is really fabulous but the service, as rendered by Khadijah, was beyond reproach. She is the best and made the whole meal, indeed the experience, worthy of 5 stars.

This is an awesome restaurant!!!
Nico is Newark’s Best fine dining restaurant. This is one great restaurant in the entire Metropolitan area.
Nico has a wonderful lunch menu:
–If you enjoy fish, I’ve had the Blacken Yellow Fin Tuna sandwich ($ 16.00) on several occasions. The fish has always been extremely fresh.
–For those Burger lovers, their cheddar cheeseburger ($ 12.00) is excellent. Their meat is definitely high quality beef. You do have a choice of a side salad or fries. I opted for the very fresh green salad.
–It’s great to go during lunch, because the food is quickly prepared and done to perfection. Therefore, leaving you time not to have to rush your lunch to get back to the office.
–Bar service is excellent for drink and food.
–They have a great wine list. I recently had a lovely glass of 2013 Bordeaux ($ 10.00).
–Customer service is always super friendly.
The restaurant is very easy to get to as it’s right off of McCarter Highway (Rt.21).
Nico is located right in the New Jersey Performing Arts Center.
Looks like Newark is starting to have its «Heyday Again» with wonderful restaurants like Nico!

We made 6:30 reservation for a 7:30 show. The service was very slow, which we think was attributed first to not having a server assigned to us. We waited for half an hour before being given menus. Our waitress was very friendly and helpful, so we did not think that it was her fault that the food service was very slow and as a result made us late for the show.
We ordered from the 3 course menu, and what we ordered tasted very good. I am a vegetarian, and so there were few options for me, which is generally expected anywhere, but there was only one vegan option in the main course and desert sections, but not the first course menu.
We both found the food more decorative and over the top than filling or wholesome. We did not see a correlation between the quality of the food and the amount of time they needed to prepare and serve our food. It definitely tasted good, and was innovative cooking, but this was overshadowed by how rushed we felt and how little there was to satisfy our appetites.
We ended up being forced to cancel our desert course, because we were finally running late for the show. Our wait staff accommodated us on our bill as a result of this change, but we felt like we were leaving a bit hungry and sad to miss out.
We were one of four tables that had to deal with the same slow moving service, and we somehow ended up having the conversation with 3 other couples as we tried to get our checks and get into the theatre.
My advice would be to make an extremely early reservation if you plan to dine before a show, because even though you can walk out of the restaurant into the theatre, they didn’t seem to know how to work with theatre-​goers punctually. Otherwise stick to the bar or go somewhere else locally to eat.

I tried NICO’s once more and was not disappointed this time around. I was seated promptly by a friendly & courteous host at a very spacious booth. I ordered the scrumptious Gnocchi again which had slightly more portions this time and also the delectable spicy miniature drumsticks. I was then able to exit the restaurant and enjoy my concert. Just wish I would’ve ordered some dessert to go, next time.

So we came to this Resturant for lunch service was very slow. The food not amazing by any measure. My wife and I had the crab cake sliders both which were dry the pork belly pizza was load with fatty pork belly chunks… The French fries were good. That’s about it! The general manger Keys did apologize and comp our meal. He welcomed us to come back and try the «succulent food «again.

Surprisingly great meal before a show tonight! My wife had the wedge salad, short ribs and nutella desert. I had the crusted tuna, roasted duck, and chocolate pretzel tiramisu desert. Everything was fantastic. When my duck came, it was cold and although I didn’t want to complain, our waitress could tell something was off and when I alerted her to the temperature, she took it back and gave me a new hot one. The manager then came over and apologized and offered us two glasses of wine on the house along with a free additional appetizer, which was way more than generous and we told him it wasn’t necessary but he insisted. Everything we ordered was great, the duck being the best I had ever had.
Will definitely come back again.

Just okay, happy hour good drinks, bar food was just ok. Would not come for dinner or when it’s busy!

Arrived on time with a 6:45 reservation before an 8 p.m. show at NJPAC. We were given our menus and placed our orders. Then we discovered that we had received different menus — my husband ordered from the 3-​course, $ 42 prix fixe menu, and I ordered two appetizers from the a la carte menu I’d been given (not realizing that only the prix fixe menu was supposed to be available). I went to the hostess and explained that I had received an ala carte menu, told her what I ordered and that I expected to pay the menu prices ($ 11 and $ 12 for two appetizers, not the $ 42 prix fix price for 3 courses). She proceeded to give me an argument and told me I had to take the prix fixe meal, and to pick from that menu and basically re-​order my meal and spend the $ 42. Just as the steam was about to spew from the top of my head, a manager came along, listened to my story and told me they would charge me only the ala carte prices.
Well, eventually the food came to the table. The presentation was lovely and the food was OK, though portions were minuscule («fiddlehead ferns» in the spring salad= exactly 1 fiddlehead fern). Bread was requested and never arrived, though plates for it did, and sat empty. Dessert and coffee were rushed in order for us to make our 8 p.m. show.
In checking the bill I discovered they had charged for a more expensive wine– rather than the $ 32 bottle we had, they charged us $ 36… requiring a correction and more wasted time.
Fortunately for us we really enjoyed the show. Nico’s… not so much.

My date and I stopped by to get dinner before a concert starting at 8 at the NJPAC. We got there around 6:45 and we’re immediately seated and offered the pre-​fixe menu ($ 42 for appetizer, entrée, dessert, non-​alcoholic drink) We had the asparagus crostini and polpette di Carne as appetizers. Very tasty. Entrees were Roasted Chicken Breast and Scottish Salmon. Dessert was the Chocolate Bread pudding. Service was impeccable. At one point when the waitress checked in with us and my date mentioned the salmon was a little dry, she offered to take it back. The presentation was beautiful and the food was delicious. All this and we finished just in time to get to our seats at the concert. Great experience!

Great NJ PAC Jazz Brunch with old friends. Buffet of collared greens, fried chicken and Mac n Cheese. Other (much slower line) had an omelet chef. Food was tasty but not my first choice.

I read a lot of mixed reviews before going here but it was the most convenient for attending a show at NJPAC in Newark. From the mission statement of the owner, I thought we were in for a real treat. We where stuck in traffic and called to let them know we would be late for our reservation. They said no problem… but when we got there the hostess tried to say they didn’t even have a reservation at all (even though I had gotten an email and phone confirmation). The hostess had a terrible and unprofessional attitude. Manager wasn’t much better. Insisted we couldn’t be seated when we were staring at at least five open tables. When I made a fuss they could suddenly seat us but told we could only order a la carte when our reservation was for a fixed price menu. Because we didn’t want to miss our show we just stayed. The high point of the meal was our wonderful waiter. He was so pleasant and efficient. He took our order and served our appetizers and meals promptly. All restaurants need more waiters like this one. As for the food, we were disappointed in the size of the apps and entrees for the prices. Presentation was nice but dishes were skimpy, especially the appetizer at $ 10 a piece for «salads». My salad was a few cut up beets with some greens on top. Wine was $ 9+ a glass. The salmon was $ 23 for a small piece over rice and was overlooked and somewhat fishy. (Can get a bigger piece at market for just $ 6 and make a better dish). The cauliflower steak had a lot of good flavors and a decent portion. The dessert pastry was average. All in all the only reason I would return here would be convenience for a show. There was absolutely no reason I could recommend this place, nothing I would want to order again and it was a limited menu. With so little on a menu, you should at least do it well. I would rather save $ 100 (for 2) and have one of the sandwich wraps in the lobby. I might stop for drinks in the bar area before a show but won’t give them top dollar for a mediocre meal again. You can get both food and drinks in the lobby of NJPAC cheaper (wine $ 8 per glass and you get more). They really need to look at what they are charging for what you get-​not good enough to charge $ 15-​$ 28 an entrée. Taking advantage of location in a big way. I say Skip it and Grab a wrap and a drink in the lobby before the show and save yourself big bucks!!! There are plenty of places to eat in Newark within 5 blocks of the NJPAC. Repeat customers are what make or break a place, they might want to keep that in mind.

Our main reason for going was the convenience after attending a show at NJPAC. Reviews looked OK but menu was limited. We decided to try it anyway.
We had reservations at 5:00 PM after a 2:00PM show. I was a little surprised that only the Price Fixe menu was available since we were 3 hrs before the evening performances. I had read about the Price Fixe menu for those attending a performance but thought this would not apply due to our timing.
The menu was limited but included a number of items that seemed interesting. The service was excellent and the food was well prepared and presented beautifully. The setting was attractive and all the people we interacted with were courteous and efficient. In summary, all of us were pleasantly surprised and thoroughly enjoyed the meal. There is no doubt we will visit Nico again.

Before our show, Home for the Holidays, Featuring Anthony Hamilton w/​Mint Condition. We decided to have the prix fix dinner they offered. Everything was wonderful from start to finish, hostess and the waiters. Friendly, they talk to us a little, sharing their favorites. I recommend this place before any event. Well worth the money. I really enjoyed everything. Kudos to the Chef!

Amazing food and superb service. I had the Gnocchi from the lunch menu and my friend had the Chicken Milanese salad with shrimp which I tried as well. Chocolate beignet was heaven. It was all so delicious! Our server was very attentive, I think his name was Sean.

Pre fixe – $ 42–
Crab stuffed aracini— wow! Fried rice balls with crab with two sauces. Delicious! Braised short rib slightly over cooked and the white carrots were under cooked. The au jus was tasty.
I didn’t get to my desert and coffee course due to poor service. I expressly asked to make sure I could get my meal in before the concert. I arrived at 640. The concert next door at NJPAC started at 8.
THAT BUMMED ME OUT.
I will say the seating and ambience were great.

Man oh man, is this place a mess! We were seeing a show at the performing arts center and wanted some food and drinks beforehand. We sat at the bar right before everything got crazy. There was a new bartender that knew nothing. There’s a difference between: I’m a new bartender, but I’ve tended elsewhere and I know what I’m doing, and I’ve never bar tended ever, and I don’t drink and I don’t go to bars.
The dinner rush came, and it seemed like EVERY waiter was ignorant about the menu when they came to the bar to pick up drinks. Asking tons of questions about everything.
THE FOOD WAS AWFUL! I ordered some chicken dish and it was very bland. The presentation was awful and it looked like a piece of boiled chicken thrown on top of some carrots.
My husband got the short rib, which was also very bland and COLD. We would have complained and sent it back, but service was few and far between.
AND when there’s a show there’s NO happy hour, even though they advertise happy hour with no disclaimer.
Do yourself a favor and go anywhere else before a show.
There’s some sort of buffet/​bar upstairs that is the same restaurant, so I have no idea how their food will be.

I will have to say that I think predominantly the reviews on here that are LOW are for service, and the HIGH ones are based on food taste and quality. I have to agree.
BUT, I will say, that EVERY single item I put in my mouth was delicious.
While service was not bad, it was indeed slow. For a full meal, at lunch on a Friday, it took about 1 hr 45 minutes. It’s a bit too long for people who need to get back to work. Maybe a FRIDAY lunch and not another weekday when people actually do things, or have meetings to get to.
Mushroom pizza, calamari, blackened tuna… homemade ice cream with pecan chocolate biscotti– great food!
But, really, its a shame that the slow kitchen staff or service cant just be trained right.
The food is really excellent, and a REAL treat for Newark… give it a chance! Impress clients/​coworkers, just hope for good service, or let them know you are in a hurry and you need to return at a certain point.

Check in and get a free drink! What a fun surprise =)
Keys the bartender makes one damn good cosmo! Definitely order that. Other than the great drink the rest of the bar is pretty nice. Wish I was able to try some food — maybe next time.

Came here the first time for a Unilocal event. I liked what I ate at the event and really wanted to try their lobster macaroni and cheese. I decided to order take out since I wasn’t in a mood to actually eat there, but when I called I was told they only had a limited menu that evening and did not have the lobster macaroni and cheese.
I somewhat accidentally ordered the «Fascino Ricotta Gnocchi» (when she told me the items on the phone, I meant to see «the third one» but said «the second one» or something of the like). After I got off the phone, I realized she had confirmed my order as the gnocchi and was a little worried as gnocchi can sometimes be tough or heavy.
I was pleasantly surprised with what I got. The take out was served in a plastic bowl that looked nice enough and was super functional (no leaking sauce, etc.). The gnocchi were soft and soooooo delicious. The ricotta was perfect– I don’t normally like gnocchi much but I loved these. It had this really tasty sausage bolognese sauce with the right amount of cheese, a lot of meat (but not too much), and a bit of basil.
My food was about $ 15 including tax and tip which is a lot less than I expected for the location and quality. Also, this dish is actually from Fascino which is the owner’s other restaurant and there it costs a bit more so that’s another reason to come here.
I definitely want to come back to eat here in the restaurant or try their happy hour (described on their website, seems like a good deal). If I do so, I will definitely update my review accordingly but 4 stars for now!