Nicki’s Omelette & Grill

Had the Popeye omelette with biscuit and gravy. It was delicious. Our waitress, Jean, was very friendly. The place is very busy, but the girls kept up with the pace. Recommend for a really good breakfast.

Good food at great prices

On the way home from convention and tried this little place. We got lucky Sunday morning seated in 10 minutes.
I had Popeyes revenge which was delish. Cinnamon raisin bread everyone else raved about I wasn’t empresses with– the biscuits were a different story! Yum!
Husband had chicken fried steak which was very good. Other couple with us also enjoyed their meals as well.
30 minute wait when we left — line into the parking lot. Parking lot is tiny!

It has been almost four years since I reviewed Nicki’s on Unilocal,so I’ll just drop by and say they are still going strong. I like to go early, 6−7am, before it gets real busy, especially on weekends.
Omelets are my usual order. Hash browns are crisp and not greasy. The home fries are also tasty, and I usually get them with onions.
The homemade bread rocks. I get white but they have raisin too.
Anyway, they are always friendly and efficient and I’m glad they are thriving after 15 years or so.
Full disclosure: There’s a laminated Tampa Tribune clip on the wall by the door. It’s a rave review from the year they opened, and I wrote it.

THE MOST OVERRATED RESTAURANT IN TAMPA BAY.
This place serves dog food and people here give it 4 stars?
I am clearly living in the wrong city.
1. If you like cream in your coffee, don’t go here. They only have chemicals («Coffeemate») or milk.
2. If you like butter on your pancakes, don’t go here. They serve Country Crock.
3. If you like good service, don’t go here. Unless you like your waffle to arrive 15 minutes after your eggs, as happened to me.
4. If you like food that has flavor, CERTAINLY AVOID this place. The hash browns, the eggs, the white toast were all tasteless. In addition, they have no idea how to toast bread and the waffle was chewy.
5. If you like to go to crappy restaurants, go here immediately.

The Man of Tampa Meals — Mark H — reminded me of this place when I went to Unilocal looking for somewhere to eat breakfast. I had been there before and remembered it was decent.
Place hadn’t changed at all in two years. Traditional looking breakfast spot. Comfortable. Booths and tables.
Waitress approached quickly and took my drink order.
The coffee was ok. Sort of grew on me.
Had a western omelette. It was ok. Liked the hash browns.
Service was good. Price was reasonable.

Service was great, food came quickly. All of our omelets were excellent, home fries were very good. The cinnamon raisin toast was very yummy too!
I haven’t been here in a few years, but decided to stop in after an early morning pickup from the airport. Still as good as it was then!

We just love this local hidden gem. The food is always out fast, and it’s hot and it all tastes soooo good! A must try if you are in Tampa!

Some say this place doesn’t stand out and that they drive by all the time without even noticing it. I say … What the hell ??? This place sticks out to me like Santa in July. The parking lot was almost full (limited parking) but not real busy inside. Maybe 50% capacity on wednesday morning. Smells clean which is important to me. I was able to sit anywhere I wanted and I chose the bar. I was tag-​teamed by Gwen and Carolyn for non-​stop great service !
I order the «biscuit debris» and it took under 10 minutes for my food to arrive steaming hot.
2 fresh amazing biscuits open faced covered with heaven like gravy scattered with sausage bacon and ham then covered with 2 eggs over easy and peppered with shredded cheddar cheese. On the side was a huge order of perfectly cooked hash-​browns. Golden brown crispy on the outside and well cooked on the inside. This was a flavor loaded plate of goodness !
I could only manage to put down half of the plate before I had to throw in the towel.
Under $ 10.00 for a meal and iced tea. Incredible. I recommend this for ANYONE and EVERYONE.

The name sums it up… omelettes. Nicki’s is nothing fancy, but the food is delicious. My husband usually orders a non-​omelette breakfast, and has never been disappointed. In dozens of visits over the years, I’ve been consistently satisfied. Nicki’s is still my first choice for weekend breakfast near home!
This morning, we somehow beat the rush & only waited a couple of minutes for a booth. We usually come on Sunday mornings, and find the parking lot terribly crowded. But today, around 10:15am on a Saturday, we found a spot right in front. However, upon leaving, i noticed quite a crowd waiting to be seated, and in the parking lot, a couple of large vehicles had parked in non-​spots, partially blocking the driveway, instead of parking across Hillsborough Ave in a shopping plaza lot (which is permitted, & I noticed a new-​to-​me sign on the door requesting patrons to use spots that were not close to the businesses in that plaza — only courteous, but frankly, dashing across 6 lanes of Hillsborough Ave at any time of day is not my idea of cardio & must be ridiculously unsafe).
Our server was efficient, and mostly attentive — I was never out of coffee but had to remind her about my side order of grits. H ordered his ground chopped sirloin rare, but sent it back for another minute as it was a bit TOO rare, even for him. It came back perfect (he should’ve requested it medium rare). Everything we ordered was amazing. I ordered a create-​your-​own omelette with spinach, bacon, ham & Monterey Jack cheese. And they do NOT skimp on the toppings! H & I shared our potatoes, and I think, today, I preferred the hashbrowns. Sometimes, though, I like the home fries better! We also split the grits, and enjoyed their perfect creaminess — not runny & not chunky. H chose biscuits & gravy as his bread, and I think he could have made a meal of that. He had a little gravy left, and insisted on bringing it home, so it must have been very good. Our server later offered my last cup of coffee to-​go, and as usual here, I was delighted to have half my omelette to bring home for a late lunch. I say «late lunch» because I am so stuffed that I won’t be able to eat again for many hours!
Of course, we’ll be back.

First time here and I enjoyed the breakfast. The staff was friendly and the food was very good. We were in a hurry and I let the waitress know before hand and she was great. They were able to get us in and out rather quickly with no fuss.
I had the sweet potatoes pancakes and all I can say is YUMMY…
The prices are very reasonable compared to a few others and it was the first place I seen that served the sweet potatoes pancakes. I wish they had the pure maple syrup or organic honey, but you get what you get and I will return if in the area again for breakfast.
A bit of advice. We came in at a not so busy time and parking looks to be limited so on a busy day that could be an issue. Hope that helps the next person.

Don’t laugh at this. But I read reviews before going here and figured I’ll give it a shot since it had good, almost perfect 5 stars on Google search and Unilocal.
When I first walk in I almost walk out because it smelled like an old folks home or smelly restroom. It wasn’t bad but noticisable for me. With it being an older building I let it slide.
Our waitress Peggy was on us like white on rice. Lol! We had drinks in no time and our order was taken when we stop staring at the menu and wondering what dish to order.
I ordered the deluxe chicken club omelet with fruit and sweet potato pancakes and my cousin ordered the meat lover’s omelet with home fries and regular pancakes.
Both only took about 10 maybe 15 minutes to make it to our table after ordering. But when they did, a silence took over and happiness begin. Probably the best paid for breakfast I’ve had. Both omelet had amazing taste, the fruit was juicy, the sweet potato pancakes were mind blowing good.
Will definitely be going back if ever back in town.

Good food, straightforward breakfast, nothing too fancy. Service was prompt, but not extra friendly. Pretty good value for the price. I really enjoyed the raisin toast, it is very similar to a place back home called Jimmy’s Egg.

Great food, great prices, great times.
This place is a gem. It is one of those feel good diners that you can get a hearty breakfast. It gets pretty full, so parking can be a beast, but luckily there are tons of other lots around so you can always park somewhere else and just walk on over.
I love this menu. It has a ton of omelets as well as all of your other favorite breakfast delights. You can add cheese and onions to your hash browns. Although I do love this concept, it costs a $ 1 extra, which they didn’t tell me, and I don’t think it is worth that.
The omelets are large and delicious. I got the corned beef omelet with hash browns and homemade bread. Can you believe they make their bread in house?! I could definitely taste the difference and that difference was delicious.
I would definitely suggest this as a place to check out. If I lived closer I would come here more often!

I’ll admit it-​I was pleasantly surprised by this place. I have passed by it a million times and never thought to go in, thinking it would be like a Denny’s (or worse). But it wasn’t; it was homey and snug inside, and our experience from start to finish was very good.
We went on a Sunday morning around 11:00 am and I expected to have to wait forever, but the hostess said it would just be about 10 – 15 minutes. She was correct, and after about ten minutes called our name and led us to our booth. Our waitress was very efficient, and we had placed our food and drink order in no time.
What surprised me the most though was how quickly our food came out. Seriously — it was out in under ten minutes. When the waitress showed up at our table, we were like — how could that be our food already? But it was, and it was hot, and very good. I just had eggs, bagel, and lox, so it wasn’t fancy, but it was tasty.
I love knowing that I have a good, quick, breakfast place nearby that I can rely on.

As I enjoyed my omelette today for lunch, virtually each of my friends unsolicited asked, «What is that? It looks delicious? Where is that from?»
When I told them it was from Nicki’s, the reaction was «Ok, that place has been there forever and it is always packed.»
That pretty much tells you all you need to know about this little spot, and also why I always call ahead for take-​out and NEVER on a weekend or holiday.
For under $ 10, I get a fantastic omelette, side item and choice of bread and I appreciate how they allow me to make subtle changes to an ingredient or two. (Like subtracting ham and additing tomato to the meat lovers version.)
I’m big on something that tastes good and does not fall apart or become messy when being eaten. Their omelettes are damn near perfect in this department. Even the melted cheese does not even leak out of these fine creations.
While the small dining areas and limited parking are well-​documented, the food and friendly employees are all that matters. So, I don’t mind that they add 10% gratuity to any take-​out order. Honestly, that takes the guesswork out of it for me and they generally have my order ready in about 10 minutes since I only go on a weekday.

This easy-​to-​miss diner near the airport is one of the best kept secrets in the city as far as breakfast goes. This is especially true if you’re like me, and like eating breakfast not just in the morning but for brunch, lunch and dinner.
At first glance of the menu, it looks no different than any other standard restaurant that serves your basic American food. Pancakes, salads, steak, burgers, etc…
But the section where they have the all the different omelettes is where they really separate themselves from the rest of the pack. It’s here that the legend of Nicki’s grows to monumental proportions… hence the name.
There are 18 signature omelette’s for you to choose from (I counted) or you can create your own custom omelette by mixing n’ matching 19 different ingredients.
And you get a lot of food for the money you spend! For approximately $ 7-​$ 8 you get a huge omelette the size of your whole plate + a giant hash brown of equal size + your choice of a biscuit/​toast/​English muffin.
You can also get an additional side of sausage links or bacon for $ 2.75 and they’re pretty good as well.
My recommendations: «Popeye’s Revenge» and California Omelette
This is a place you can leave spending $ 12 or less with tip and feeling totally satisfied with the food you ate. In fact, you should come here on an empty stomach or you won’t be able to finish it all.
Great food and great value: a rarity these days.
Having given them lavish praise, there is only one thing I would change: the décor and lighting. Its very dark and drab in my opinion.
Whoever owns this restaurant should definately renovate so that its look and feel matches its awesome food. Changing the lighting to make things a little brighter would be an inexpensive first step. It seems like this place was built in the 80s and hasn’t been redecorated since so it’s definitely management should look into.
However, that shouldn’t disaude you one bit from going. If I had the choice between a nicely decorated restaurant w/​average food at high prices or an older less aestically appealing place w/​great food at really low prices, I’d choose the latter.
Note: if you’re doing low carb and don’t want the hashbrowns or biscuit then say you won’t the «Atkins omelette,» and the price is lower.

Nicki’s is located in the Town and Country area along Hillsborough Ave. Nicki’s omelette & grill serves up diner style food.
I would say that my review should be 3.5 stars, but the service was great and food came out quickly. It’s a diner and you get just that. diner food. I did the build your own omelette. Ham, onions, mushrooms, and swiss cheese. It was a little bland, so I’m not going to hold it against Nicki’s since I didn’t spruce up my omelette. It was in need of salt and pepper though. Oh, and Salsa. now I think of it. :P
My kids and husband both got pancakes. If I am ever in the area I would give Nicki’s a try again.

Many of my Unilocal buddies had written reviews on this place so I decided to give it a try.
Nicki’s is pretty close to my place so I was surprised I’d never had it before. The place is small, slightly divey, but very clean and welcoming. There was a wait to get a table, but luckily, there were 2 spots free at the far end of the bar. I ordered the California Omelette with the hashbrowns and a side of pancakes while the other member of my breakfast party had the Biscuit Debris. Both were exceptional. The food came out much faster than anticipated and was great. The portions were definitely generous and were a great value for the price.
The service here was friendly, quick and welcoming. One thing that made me smile was on the back of my check was written «please join me for the Hunger Run 5k.» I love the fact that someone working in the food industry would also have a sense of purpose when it comes to helping feed the hungry around the Tampa Bay area. I immediately checked my calendar and would have joined had I not had a trip scheduled that weekend.
The reasons for a non-​5 star rating were the small venue which caused a wait, and the poor parking situation. No one likes circling the parking lot stalking leaving customers like a great white stalking some tuna.

Located on Hillsborough Ave, convenient to/​from airport. Plain diner like atmosphere with plain food and easy on the pocket.
Don’t come here expecting fancy and you won’t be disappointed. What you may find will be crowds of hungry diners in search of simplicity.
Usual breakfast items, omelettes of course, pancakes, waffles, eggs. I chose a veggie omelette with hash browns. Choice of sides are fresh fruit, home fries, grits or hash browns. Nothing out of the ordinary.
Food was tasty and they do a good job of getting you in and out pretty quickly. Server was pleasant and left satisfied.