Nick’s Pit Stop

Me encanta el pollo al carbon a Nicks Pit Stop. (I love the grilled chicken at Nicks Pit Stop). The staff are friendly, the food is fresh and comfort. Homemade horchata and homemade hot sauces make it even better. Gracias Nick’s.

We attempted to try it out; unfortunately, they happened to close early on a Saturday night.
That was ok with us. As we were about to turn around to find somewhere else to eat, the man (assuming who was the owner) came running after us and asked if we wanted whatever was left for the day. I used to work at food service as my very first job in my teenage years. With that being said, if they were to have any leftover, by law they need to discard the food.
Rosa J. hates to be wasteful and accepted his invitation to come in. He was SUPER kind to us, same with the young lady who rang us up at the register.
The food was fantastic. I would say it’s a Mexican take-​on American comfort food. We had lots of chicken, pita bread, pasta salad, mashed potatoes, and rice (courtesy of them… gratis). For a little more than $ 15, there was so much food.
Stupid Rosa J. I’ve been living in Albany Park for a year and half and never walked in to Nick’s Pit Shop. Did those yummy grilled chicken ever appear tempting to me? I must have been lying to myself that I didn’t want any chicken. From now on, No More Lies!

Tried the chicken with the mac and cheese and mashed potatoes and it was pretty decent and environment was pretty clean and the service was very good also.

Great food love the chix special eat here daily

This is some of the best food I’ve had in a while! And the people working here are the nicest people I’ve come across in a service setting in a loooong time. Nice, clean place. Amazing food. Great people. Highly recommended.

Chicken was thoroughly cooked and well seasoned. Very reasonably priced. The spanish rice was just ok. Friend had green beans and mac and cheese and that looked like a better option. Very friendly staff and plenty of seating.

The chicken were very very well cooked. The skin got nice crisp and the meat is moist and delicious.
The sauce they provide were very lack luster. The BBQ sauce tasted like it has a lot of ketchup in it. The spicy green sauce was good but didn’t quite go with the chicken.
The sides were okay, not bad but nothing spectacular either.
Despite the lackluster sides I’m still giving them 4 stars because the chicken, which is the main attraction of the shop, is done very well. Would definitely go back again and again when I’m in the mood for grilled chicken!

Grilled quarter white meat chicken… mmmm moist and perfectly cooked. Accompanied by warm tortillas and black beans and a soda. Fast, hot and fresh!

Best Chicken in town! Two people can easily finish one chicken. The red salsa is perfect, while the green one is SPICY has heck! For sides bf and I had cold pasta and rice and they were both pretty darn amazeballs!

Love Nick’s Pit Stop. Best chicken in the city, that and Chicken Planet but that is way down in the Loop.

I consider myself a food snob. I have traveled and lived in many places across the world. Hong Kong, London, Charlotte, Monterrey, etc. I can, confidently say without a doubt, this is the best chicken i’ve ever tasted in my life. The chicken with the spicy green salsa… Amazing.

We walked into this place because it was too hot to cook and we wanted to try something we hadn’t before. Everyone was sticky and crabby so if the place was a bust it was going to be a bad day. The baseball game was on, perfect for a sunny day and the folks behind the line greeted us warmly. As we sat down my husband ordered whole chickens (that’s the thing at this place) and a few sides. The food was delivered promptly, and the chicken was really juicy and flavorful. We had tortillas, corn, beans and mashed potatoes and while nothing was a revelation, everything was hot, reasonably tasty and a good value. We fed a family of five for about $ 25 and had much more substantial food than we might at a typical fast food joint. The bathrooms were comfortably clean, the décor is a little awful — bright yellow from floor to ceiling and a ton of classic Americana artifacts splashed all over the place — but it’s got some kind of personality, and the staff was very pleasant. Overall, a pretty good experience for a shot in the dark.

The first time I ordered from Nick’s Pit Stop in Albany Park was through delivery and the chicken was great. The first time I stepped into the restaurant, I was impressed. The person who took my order provided great service, great recommendations, and were fast. However, I ordered by delivery again yesterday and sad to say, I was very disappointed. First of all, the delivery guy could’ve been a little more friendly. He demanded that I give him a tip not knowing that I already included it with the bill and his body language was just unfriendly, and the woman who took my order through the phone did not tell me how much I had to pay after I asked her 3 times, the chicken was burnt and dry as if I got the worst of the bunch (usually their chicken is moist, tender, and flavorful, but this was just terrible), and the only thing from me not tearing this place apart is because of past service. I know for sure that I will not order delivery from them again if it’s going to be that ass who will be bringing me the food!
On the plus side, if you decide to order their sides, their refried black beans and mashed potatoes are good.
Hope I didn’t sound too mean…

I finally stopped on the way in from the highway and was surprised to enjoy very nice chicken and sides (black beans and green beans). I would say I prefer their chicken to Chicken Planet downtown. Everything tasted homemade. Service was good — there seemed to be a husband/​wife team running the joint.

We stopped here for lunch because I saw a woman making tortillas in the window and that seemed like a good sign. The name sounds like barbeque to me but it’s all chicken on the menu. The very friendly servers speak both Spanish and English but this isn’t exactly a taco place. Or a barbeque place. It’s mostly chicken with sides. I ordered a Regular Half which comes with two sides — I chose macaroni and cheese which was good and mashed potato and gravy which was okay. It came with four pieces of chicken so I took a lot of it home. And it came with tortillas! Which were not as good as I thought they would be but that’s me — I’ve only ever eaten factory made tortillas. My husband got a Chicken Pita sandwich with beans and rice. He said they were good not great. Horchata was good, a little sweet but I told myself the cinnamon cancelled out the sugar.
The nice man behind the counter said that he had taken some things off the menu to simplify it. That and the fact that I am first to review makes me think they are new here. The décor is a little dingy but that lovely mango color that you see everywhere in places like this is nice here. I won’t make a special trip back but I’d definitely go back if I was in the area again.

This location is so much better than the Bucktown one.
The staff is incredibly friendly, and even recognizes me though I only head out there once every couple of months.
The chicken and sides are all exactly as they should be — fresh, flavorful and warm.
On Saturdays and Sundays, they have a lady making tortillas in the front of the restaurant. They are without a doubt the best tortillas I’ve had in my entire life. It’s worth it for those alone.

I’ll admit it. I don’t get it. Why do I get pita bread and salsa with my BBQ chicken?
A friend who’s a regular brought this over one night and it was… alright. The chicken and the sides were fine… but it wasn’t anything to write home about. Certainly not with Brasa Roja so close to me (and half the price!)!
And then… I found myself staring… what do I use this pita bread for? To eat my green beans? Or my mashed potatoes? Do I put the salsa on it? What am I MISSING?!

A review of this place is long overdue, as I’m there almost every week. The staff is super sweet, and has your order ready in seconds. Their delivery is also really fast.
There’s really not much to say. It’s perfectly done grilled chicken. Moist and flavorful and soooooo satisfying. They leave the skin on, and it’s crispy and a delicious and just the right texture. But it’s great without the skin too.
I barely even need to bother buying and making chicken myself — I can go to Nick’s and get one that’s perfectly prepared for the same price of uncooked chicken in a grocery store.
I’d give it five stars — I mean hell, I seriously haven’t found better grilled skin-​on chicken, but I’m afraid Nick’s isn’t a full meal. It’s the star of a meal I’m making myself at home. They serve a bunch of unspecial sides ie corn that tastes like it’s from a can, beans, etc. You can either get tortillas or pitas with your chicken (and the tortillas are lovingly handmade by a lady in the window each week), but they don’t really have the fixings to either go middle eastern or mexican — no tomatoes, cucumber, parsley, cilantro — in fact, nothing fresh. I head to Nick’s on the way home from the grocery store.
So really, they only do one thing, and they do it perfectly. Flavorful, delicious chicken.

I haven’t eatin here but we always order a whole chicken to take home. Their whole chicken is the best, I would say it’s better than Boston market…

I have gotten delivery to work from here a few times and they have been all excellent experiences. Tons of food, moist and tender chicken, all at a great price. The chicken is really, really, good. You taste the natural taste of the chicken with the great char taste supplied by the pit.
The combo is the way to go. Comes with a side (which are all fan-​freakin-​tastic, pita/​tortillas, and choice of BBQ sauce (spicy and tangy) or salsa (rich and spicy). And all huge portions.
This is a great little hole-​in-​the-​wall on Lawrence. Worth a look if you are a big fan of char-​grilled Chicken like this reviewer is!