Jim ‘n Nick’s Bar-B-Q

We loved the big seating areas, the great service, the delicious sweet cornbread cheddar muffins, the pulled pork, the deviled eggs. My daughter didn’t like the homemade mac and cheese but I ate it up. Good beers. Good prices. Meter parking hard to come by, but the food was worth it.

This has been a place I have always loved until now and I’m so sad about it. I came to eat at the downtown Birmingham, AL location about an hour before closing and sat at the bar. By the time our food arrived the bartender started cleaning behind the bar… As I get a few bites in I look and there are 5 roaches running around on the bar top all around my food. Of course I freaked but made no scene. They bought my food (of course they should have) but not liquor and did not give me anything to go home with or anything to eat. I left freaked out and starving. The bartenders comment was, «well, sorry guys but what can you expect? We are downtown…»

Excellent service. Great selection of beer including local breweries. Ordered a potato at 1430 & was barely warm. Manager got me another but it was no better. Too bad cause the brisket on top was very good. A small microwave would have fixed it but there were none on the property. They offered to replace with something else on the menu but I wasn’t in the mood to wait or go through the bother. Great atmosphere & not too loud. This is my 2^nd time here but won’t be my last. They could’ve offered to comp the meal or buy me a beer which would’ve been the RIGHT thing to do.

Bar service was slow for how many people were there. Food was half decent if you prefer bbq sauce on everything. Menu is not deceptive enough of what you actually get.

Where do I begin? This trip to Jim & Nick’s was not as pleasant as I had hoped. I was looking for something fairly light and really wanted a salad. I knew I wanted to get back to my office, so I decided to call in a to-​go order. Christy was really helpful on the phone and told me everything would be ready in 15 minutes. I arrived 20 minutes later to pick up my lunch and was overwhelmed for Christy. She was clearly swamped and looked as if she needed an extra hand to tag team the orders coming in and going out. I patiently waited for her to ring up my order and take my payment, when she printed the receipt the amount was much higher than I thought it’d be (dinner portion vs lunch), but I didn’t question it.
I stood back and started to pay attention to my surroundings, I noticed that several diners in the to go area were growing wearing and impatient. One lady finally got up and asked for her food NOW as she’d waited for an hour. When she got her order, something was missing. On another note, two ladies obviously placed a large individual order probably for the office and after receiving their meal, one whole meal was missing from the bunch… all of this happened while I was waiting for my food.
40 minutes later (total time), I received my food and decided to check it to be sure. At the same time another lady stood up claiming to have a salad. As I was checking my order, I realized I had the wrong order and almost dug through my neighbors salad. Thankfully I caught myself and Christy was able to recognize her mistake and correct the order. After waiting much longer than anticipated and receiving the wrong order, I decided to revisit bring overcharged. She got a manager and electronically fixed the mistake without me having to resign. That made me a bit uncomfortable, but didn’t have time to recheck and recheck. I’ll just keep my receipts and follow the bank statements to crosscheck. Had I walked back to my office to the wrong order, I would’ve been upset.
All in all, this is usually a trusty place to dine. I have little to complain about regarding the food this time. In fact, the food gave them an edge up and added the third star. I won’t be rushing back to place a to go order, but the restaurant is not completely off my radar.
Do yourself a favor. If you call in an order, double check it when you pick it up (although you shouldn’t have it). Also, I encourage Jim & Nick’s management to have a designated employee to assist the to go area. It’s clearly not a one person job, at least not during the lunch hour 11 – 2. This way, simple mistakes can be avoided.

Since I work downtown I’ve been to this location a couple of times. Overall it’s pretty good, but each time I go there’s just one or two things off.
A couple weeks ago we had a waiter in training (but also a seasoned waiter to follow the newbie around) and he placed my friend’s order as the large dinner portion of her salad instead of the lunch portion… when we both clearly had the one-​page lunch menu out and pointed to what we wanted as we ordered. It wasn’t a huge deal, and the more experienced waiter cleared everything up.
Went back yesterday (with a different friend) and had a great meal-​the lunch pulled pork sandwich and chips. The pork had a few pieces of fat that I had to spit out, but i always have that problem with pork so it was no big deal. I ordered a sweet tea that came out not sweet at all and had to get the waiter to get me a new glass. Also not a big deal.
The waiter got our order correct and food came out fast and hot, but the guy was the softest talker ever. We could barely hear anything he said, he was almost whispering. And he was polite enough, but had no personality. He took our orders and asked if everything was good when we got our food, but didn’t crack a single smile the whole time.
Once again, not a big deal since he was still polite and did his job correctly. Just something my friend and I both noticed while we were eating.
Overall, a great addition to the eateries of downtown for those on a lunch break or business meeting. Lunch prices and portions are reasonable and come out quickly. I really like the homemade bbq chips that came with my sandwich, and the portion was the perfect size-​I ate everything on my plate and was full until supper.
My office also has gotten their catered boxed lunches for meetings, which turned out pretty good too.
Would definitely recommend this location-​just watch for parking during the weekdays… you might have to park a ways down and walk.

We are from Texas and although this is not Texas BBQ, it sure beats out its competition! The pulled pork was fantastic and so were the baby back ribs and beef brisket. Fair warning, the Hot and Spicy sauce does not lie! I am a mac n cheese lover and they are not worth the calories, however the mashed potatoes and brown gravy were… Our waiter, Noah, was delightful and very helpful with area activities.

While on a business trip, the instructor recommended this place for lunch. Wow! This is some of the best BBQ you will have in Birmingham.
I wanted to try a few different things, so I got the three meat with beans and mac n cheese.
The baby back ribs are absolutely amazing; lean and tender, came right off the bone. They have excellent flavor. Yummy!
The pulled pork was perfect! You didn’t even need sauce. It was moist and succulent. This would make an awesome sandwich!
The brisket was wonderful, chopped and bringing plenty of flavor! This would also be good on a sandwich. It was very lean with perfect flavor.
The Mac N Cheese was excellent. The beans were fabulous.
Before your meal arrives, they bring some little cheese Biscuits to the table for free! They are magnificent! Hot, fresh, and light. They fell apart in your hands.
The staff was excellent! Friendly and very professional.
If you are looking for good BBQ, this is where it’s at!

Stopped for Sunday lunch with a party of 8 at the restaurant on 280. They were very busy and told us it would be a 30 minute wait, they had us seated within 15 minutes and drink orders on the table 5 minutes after that. It took 30 minutes for our dinner orders to arrive, sorry but this is BBQ, everything is cooked for hours so it only needs to be plaited. My order of pulled pork and French fry’s arrived at room temperature.
I will make sure to stop at Full Moon next time.
Defiantly not worth the hype.

I will say that I am by no means a BBQ connoisseur, so I can’t speak that much to theirs. I think the BBQ is OK, but have enjoyed other local options a lot more. I will say that I love the cheese biscuits, and would probably just assume come in for a few drinks and gobble up a basket of those! Their burgers are pretty good, but again I like other local places a lot better. I do like the smoked turkey though, and go to it if I don’t end up getting a burger. The service is generally OK… nothing to write home about and sometimes can be slow. The place seems to stay pretty busy, so apparently some people really like it… so check it out if you are really into BBQ!

Let me preface this by saying that I’ve probably eaten at this restaurant maybe 50 times. It is very good. I recommend the grilled catfish… Superb! But tonight, the door host of all people was a complete ass. We asked to be seated in a booth in the bar area (which we always do). Only one booth was seated, so we knew it wouldn’t be a problem. But the host was clearly exasperated. He said he’d «see what he could do» and walked away shaking his head.
I suspect we forced him to double-​seat our waiter, Christopher (who was awesome). Not my problem. Bad attitude? I DO have a problem with that. SO, if you show up and there’s a smarmy door host with a beard and glasses and a ton of attitude… Be warned!
Oh… You should definitely eat here, BTW… The food is excellent.

Terrible terrible terrible. Had the pulled pork with brisket combo with fries. What i got was a dry sandwich with very little flavor. If they had put in more bbq sauce, that would have fixed it. But without the sauce, you could taste the meat, which wasn’t well seasoned and a bit bland. The fries are thin cut and came out completely soaked in oil– really disgusting. Put them on a napkin and watched it soak up so much oil. Only ate a few fries before i gave up.
If you order takeout and ask for extra sauce, you’re not going to get it, so be sure to check your bag. Customer in front of us complained that his extra sauce wasn’t in his bag and when we got home, same thing. Called the manager to ask why the extra sauce was not on the receipt nor in our bag and was told they don’t put it on the receipt. Asked how the server is able to check and make sure it’s included if they dont put it in the system and got a vague response. (The manager was the one who took our order and most likely the other customer’s order. Very sloppy attitude).
Aside from that, the food is what i came for and while i’ve eaten at jim n nicks for years, it’s always been just south of mediocre. Dreamland has much better food (both fries and bbq) that puts jim n nicks to shame. This will be the last time i eat here, sadly.

I’ve died and gone to BBQ heaven! Being from Lexington, NC BBQ is life, and Jim and nicks’ bbq has made me love it all the more. Riblettes are smoked to perfection and the brisket will melt in your mouth! I had two cheddar biscuits and trust me you will need more than that! Mac & cheese, and beans are full of flavor. If you can make it past their large portions, their banana pudding is to die for! Good southern food at its finest!
This particular location has the most amazing staff! I was only there for a pickup order but the manager Mark deserves much more than a raise for his excellent customer service!!! I WILL be coming back very soon!

Always enjoy the friendly service at this location! I usually sit at the bar and notice my order arrives super quick.
Great BBQ and good drink selection!

The cheese biscuits were really tasty. I had the fried catfish was excellent. The sides of slaw and BBQ beans were very good. My wife had the pig in a salad which was really good, too.
The only negative was that they were busy and short handed.

Southern food prepare fresh, hot, and delicious. The cheese biscuits are addictive! Southern atmosphere and barbeque like granddad would do. Waiters are excellent.

I wanted some good southern food and was happy a friend recommended Jim And Nicks! Good service, clean friendly environment, and great service!

I don’t understand how this place is rated less than five stars!!!
The bread and butter of this place is their cheese biscuits (quite literally). I kept munching on them, and they just kept coming. I ordered one pound of ribs which came with two sides. There was a thick glaze of BBQ sauce shining of a rack of five ribs. I was not a big fan of the collard greens but the Mac and cheese was a mix of buttery and cheesy goodness in a sweet little bowl. The sweet tea had a taste that I could not put my finger on, but pleasantries were all that filled my mind.
The waitress was extremely friendly, and just a delight to be around. I felt as though she was the favorite family aunt that I had the pleasure of visiting.
I loved this place, the atmosphere, and the people. I’d highly recommend it!

I have seen a lot of mixed reviews of Jim n’ Nick’s. But I assure you, it is worth the trip. This particular location is very nice and spacious. I have never had a bad experience. I have had an empty glass a few times (which is a huge pet peeve of mine), so the service can be relatively hit or miss. But nothing absolutely terrible.
I think the key is what you get. I would give this place a 5-​star if everything I have had was up to great standard. It honestly is on my mind right now as a 4 because of the last trip. The ribs I got we just a little tough. The flavor was pretty good though.
The cheese biscuits… OH THE CHEESE BISCUITS! They are incredible. I am pretty glad they don’t constantly bring more of these. Because I would eat them all. That is another part of the service. If you don’t bring me those biscuits, I might go a little crazy. It has happened and had to request.
Their brisket is really good and I like their pork. A go to is the double decker that has both on it. It is one of my favorite bbq sandwiches of all time! Their fries are also really good and fresh tasting. I have also thoroughly enjoyed their hot links. They are very good and something people might not normally order.
Like I said, I have had some issues among my many, many trips to Jim n’ Nick’s. But overall it is a GREAT bbq experience. Especially this location.

It was ok…
I’ve always enjoyed the Southern Chopped Salad. They offered a smaller portion for lunch at a lower price. I requested hot buffalo sauce on the chicken tenders. Our waiter brought out the cheese rolls and my colleagues inhaled them – hungry workers! One of the girls requested more rolls, but I had to request them again halfway through our meal and then at the end of our meal, our waiter finally brought some out. I was full from my meal, so my colleague was excited to take the rolls home with her. My salad was ok, but disappointing from what I remember it being. There were items missing from the salad description on the menu. It was awkward asking my waiter to bring out those items, but I appreciated that he didn’t sift through my salad to see if those items were there. I guess they were missing some people on the line in the back… therefore, my salad was subpar.
I go to Jim N Nick’s when other people request it, but it’s not one of my go-to’s.

My boyfriend and I are visiting from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania so we figured we had to find a real southern place to try out. This place was a good choice. Excellent laid back atmosphere, large open room with a welcoming bar, and the bartender was very friendly and personable. The food was fantastic. The BBQ pulled pork was on point, as was the cole slaw, and the pickles. The only problem we had was I had to ask to get a water 3 times and never got it lol, and he gave us biscuits while we were waiting for our food and he offered to get s more when he saw the basket was empty, but then never returned with more.
Either way it was excellent.

This place was horrible. I have eaten at Jim and Nicks near my home in memphis several times and enjoy it. This location over charged $ 1 per plate from what the menu states. Waiter completely for got to place our appetizer order and then brought out all food except for mine because it was given to the wrong table. will not visit this place again.

I traveled to Birmingham for three days for work and each day I had some cheesy biscuits. When planning trips, I always spend much time researching THE best places to eat and I kept seeing Jim and Nick’s SO many times, especially the cheese biscuits. Parking in this area for Nick’s is TERRIBLE, especially around the noon hour and at such a popular eatery. I eventually found street parking near the fountain and headed to Jim ‘N Nick’s for a bbq beef salad and of course, cheesy biscuits.
The first time I got them, I took my meal to go because I wanted to pick up some SAW’s bbq for a comparison. Big mistake. While cheesy biscuits are still delightful lukewarm, these little babies are absolutely heavenly hot and fresh! If it’s your first time, do yourself the favor of grabbing one right out the basket and enjoying it immediately. These are life changing. Like I said, I had them each day I was there and took several bags of mix home. lol. Aside form the biscuits, the meat was good. I love bbq, but I wouldn’t say this is the best of the best. They did let me get half beef, half pork on my salad with bbq ranch, which was an excellent way to try it without all the heavy sides. The pork was my favorite.