Nickel’s Pit BBQ

Had a pulled pork sandwich. Ermagheerddddddd it was delicous. Bbq sauce was really tasty, husband had smoked wings, meat fell right off the bone. Neat little place.

After a long day of wine tasting this was a good BBQ spot to grab dinner. We started with the fried pickles which were good. We got to try the local beer from Rooster Fish. For my meal I got the classic pulled pork sandwich. I chose this because it was unsauced and I could add my choice of sauce that was on the table and I could add as much as I wanted. The meat was tasty and I added the Hot BBQ sauce. The roll was served cold and it was dry. Overall, it’s a good place to stop in Watkins Glen.

Nikel’s had good beer from RoosterFish (the Belgian Gold was amazing), solid barbecue, and a really friendly waitstaff. The wings were crispy and perfect and the sauces delicious, I recommend the Hot BBQ. The sides were honestly nothing fantastic but the meat is more important and they delivered there completely. The brisket, the pulled pork, and the bacon were all great. I’d gladly come back the next time we’re in Watkins Glen.

Stopped in here after visiting the Watkins Glen Park. I love bbq and I’ve had a lot of great bbq in my life, but this place barely passes for good bbq. They would get 3 stars, which is what I’d give a lackluster but not *bad* place, but they neglected to tell me that they don’t have any ribs or brisket until AFTER I’d already ordered a beer. That was basically exactly what I cared about ordering here. It is a BBQ place after all.
Food quality was uninteresting but not bad. Pulled pork isn’t particularly juicy but goes well with their house sauce. Kielbasa is completely unnotable. The beer selection is nice. Food was served in record timing, I almost assumed they had the wrong table it came so fast. My gf liked her sides.

Best Jalapeño Fries!

A Meat Lover’s Dream! Great selection of a variety of meats. Everything was very flavorful and fork-​tender. Loved the make your own combo idea! Only addition to the sauce selections would be to have a wider variety of mustards for the kielbasa. Also, I would suggest including cornbread as a side option. Service was speedy, friendly and attentive even for a busy lunch on a Saturday.

I’m an avid BBQ lover. Every time I go to a new town or area it is the first cuisine I start searching for so I was excited after a long motorcycle ride down the lake to find a BBQ joint in the Glenn. We arrived there on a Sunday evening and I put in an order and had a few beers. The beer selection is all local crafts so I was happy to see that.
Next I put in an order of onion rings and I have to say they are HUGE. Unfortunately though I think due to their size and the way they are cut it causes the batter to not fully cook thru during their fry. So while the taste was great it was kind of disgusting when you bit into the middle and a mouthful of raw batter spills out. Sorta lost my appetite to eat those after that.
For our main meal I ordered the Nickel’s Split BBQ for my wife and I which sounded awesome because it pretty much gave you a sample of everything they have! Well unfortunately they were out of ribs and keilbasa so that killed that idea.
Instead my wife ordered the Brisket Burger which came out cold and she wasn’t a big fan of the flavor. She also ordered the fries which other people said were amazing but we both thought they were terrible. They were so entangled they were difficult to eat and they tasted like they had been cooked several hours ago and had almost no seasoning on them. Definitely not freshly cooked.
I ordered the Brisket and Pulled Pork combo. The sauce they had on the table was a Carolina sauce and both my wife and I thought it was very very good. The pulled pork was cooked well and tasted pretty good. It wasn’t dry and it wasn’t mushy… it was just good and had a decent bark. The brisket on the other hand… was not up to par. It had hardly any smoke flavor despite having a decent ring and I could tell it wasn’t fresh. My guess is that it was frozen and reheated. Very disappointing. It was sliced way too paper thin and I also noticed they cut the brisket with the grain. How any decent BBQ place could make mistakes like that I don’t know. Needless to say it is not a BBQ place I would recommend.

BBQ ribs and a few ice cold beers is a great way to cap off an amazing day at Watkin’s Glen. On the the drive atop the picturesque Seneca lake in the morning, I was already salivating at the sight of the many nearby local wineries and brewers.
This place does great barbecue. Despite the meats being a little on the dry side (for my liking), it was still plenty flavorful nonetheless. The variety of in-​house barbecue sauces will definitely help with the dryness and they taste great! The smoked wings definitely stole the show. They were smokey, tender and the skin crackled and crisped like Lays potato chips.
Definitely wash this all down with a beer from their local brewery. The beers are fantastic!

This is probably one of the best BBQ places I’ve ever been too! I’d highly recommend it.

Restaurant was clean and the atmosphere was good. In and outside dinning in the summer. The Barbque was good and worth coming back too but not southern or Maryland good. Thier sauces aren’t bad, the Carolina was perfect. Worth the visit if in the area, but wouldn’t wait or travel as an end destination.

The best thing about my dinner was the beer.
The food was not that great. I’m from NC and doesn’t come close to BBQ I’ve had. The pulled pork was dry and not very good. The kielbasa sausage tasted good however the roll it was on was dry.
Service was good.
If I had to come back to area this would be last on my list.

Decided to ride over to Watkins and hit up Nickel’s Pit BBQ. I love the whole open air ambience and feel of the establishment, especially on a warm sunny day like yesterday. My 1^st review of this place was a 4 star mainly because of the poor hostess service we experienced. I actually felt a little bad because the food and our waiter were excellent, as was the bartender. But I rated the entire experience as a whole, and the hostess experience was just awful and disappointing.
On to my updated review… The place was pretty crowded so we found a couple seats at the bar. The bartenders were friendly and attentive. There are so many things on the menu that sound amazingly delicious that it’s hard to choose! I like that there is a variety of choices, yet not such a large menu that it overwhelms you. We also enjoy the craft ales brewed on site by Rooster Fish Brewery. I ordered the salad with the brisket and crumbled blue cheese — the brisket was tender and flavorful and the salad delicious. I also liked that they used assorted greens and not iceberg lettuce. My lunch mate had the Buffalo Pulled Pork Sandwich which he said was awesome. The side of Jalapeño-​Peppadew Mac n’ cheese was unique and different — we loved it!
The dining area is small, so probably not the best venue for large parties — great for parties of 4 or maybe 6. Harder to gather parties of 8 or more unless they aren’t busy and can find 2 or more tables to push together, as most or all of the tables/​booths are set up as 4-​tops.
I highly recommend Nickel’s. The best BBQ I’ve had in this immediate area hands down.

About the best that can be said about Nickel’s Pit is that the bartenders are friendly and the beer (brewed by Rooster Fish) is semi-​decent, meaning you don’t have to choke it down. So if you’re going to sit at the bar and enjoy a few beers, you can do much worse.
However, the food and general management of the kitchen is completely off-​the-​rails. A couple basics of kitchen management are being completely ignored here: 1, that you actually have fresh food ready and available during business hours, and 2, that you provide table service at «around» the same time to each customer at the table.
For 1, I ordered a pulled pork sandwich and was served dry pork that was probably yesterday’s reheated. I don’t know how else you dry out pulled pork like that. I shouldn’t have to drown it in sauce just to swallow it. I can understand not wanting to waste leftover food from the day before, but at least mix it in with today’s meat so I don’t feel like I just got shafted. We also tried to order beans after our friends raved about them, but «they aren’t ready yet» well into the lunch service. I guess someone didn’t make it in early enough to cook the beans properly?
For 2, we had a group of 4. 2 of us got our plates at least 5 minutes in advance of the 3^rd person, causing us to sit there awkwardly picking at our fries while everything else got cold. Then the 3^rd plate comes out, and it was easily a full 10 – 15 minutes until the 4^th person’s meal came out. Just a bad situation all around.
I would skip this place in the future. The beer’s not that good, the food’s pretty bad, and the kitchen is being badly mismanaged.

Pros —
–Great ambience and awesome live music
–liked the grilled chicken (full bird in 4 people)
— tomato soup was delicious
Cons–
–they seemed to be out of most chicken and ribs by evening
–the cornbread was below average
–street parking

Been here a few times and I love the food! They turned an old firehouse into a microbrewery/​restaurant. The only thing that is kind of bad is you walk in and you have to order your food and pay before you sit down. You can drive by in the morning and see they have the smoker going so that is always a great sign in a bbq joint.
I have had the ribs and the pulled pork both were smoked well and had great sauce! The meat was tender and moist which is key in good bbq. The sides were all solid and tasted good. All in all a great place.
On a side note most of the reviews that said they ran out of food early were doing their opening period so you have to cut them slack and take that with a grain of salt.

Stopped here for dinner with a party of four. One of us being a bit of a BBQ aficionado. The building is a super cool old firehouse. Very comfy but the tables should be bigger because the food is so good you will just want more and more. .
The combo plate is a lot of food and perfect to try it all. The coleslaw is good but spicy. The French fries are a must. SO GOOD I ordered them twice.
All the meat was tender and not dried out. They have 3 sauce types and 2 rubs. Carolina being a favorite at our table.
The staff was really friendly and the service was great.