Taverna Nikos

Bad food, terrible service. Just traveling through and enjoyed the renovated mill. Ruined the evening with... more

Bad food, terrible service. Just traveling through and enjoyed the renovated mill. Ruined the evening with two really tasteless meals. I won't retu... more

Used to go to Nikos, regularly, for 16 years. Just moved back to Durham and couldn't wait to take friends out forfa special occasion on Friday night - 12/10/10. We went to Nikos and boy have things changed since I ate there last (2 years ago). \r \r 1) We were there when only 5 other tables were occupied at the restaurant, so they weren't busy. This is important to note, because we waited for 45 MINUTES from the time we were seated until our orders were taken. We kept asking where our waiter was. When he showed up, he said ""I thought you might want to visit for awhile."" HUH?\r \r 2) We were a party of five: Only four of our entrees came out to the table - we had to ask for the chicken entree to be brought to our friend (it was her birthday, no less), because our waiter never brought out her entree. Totally uncomfortable situation.\r \r 3) The Moussaka and the lasagna looked as thought it had been frozen and popped in a microwave to thaw. Definitely didn't taste very fresh.\r \r 4).We had to ask for my flaming cheese appetizer to be brought to our table, because our waiter never delivered it. When it came out, he dumped entirely to much liquor into the pan, before he ignited it - so it soaked the cheese and therefore it not only made the cheese soggy, but totally overpowered the cheese with a horrible alcohol taste. But who cared, anyway -- the best part was that the cheese was so burned on the bottom of the pan, you couldn't even pry a bite out of the pan!!!\r \r 5) The Nikos Salad was supposed to come to the table with olives and anchovies. We found 1 in the salad. and no anchovies! I think there was a tablesspoon of dressing on the salad - can't be sure, because it was so bad and dry\r \r We won't be going back. Service was atrocious and food was sub-par. My favorite restaurant no more!. more

We went to Nikos on a Friday evening. We had not been in a while but remembered that it used to be very good so we thought we would give it a try. We should have waited the 40 minutes to an hour to get a table elsewhere...\r \r First of all, the waiter was very arrogant and was a little condescending. We ordered a round of Mythos, which were flat. After the first round of flat beer, we ordered a bottle of wine, appetizers, a village salad, and a main course (the chicken stifado - or chicken stew). The appetizers came out and the food was ok - nothing to write home about. The portion sizes, even for an appetizer, were small. The village salad was pathetic - a few tomatoes, some onion, maybe 3 cucumbers and a couple pieces of feta. The salad came out practically dry - we had to ask for more olive oil. \r \r Now, let's move on to the wine. The waiter had a hard time getting the cork out and in the process it broke in two. When he finally got the remaining cork out of the bottle, he doubted the wine would be drinkable, so he took the open bottle away and walked back towards the kitchen, leaving the cork bits on the table. We thought he would bring out a new bottle. Much to our surprise, he brings the same bottle back and assures us the wine ""was fine because he tasted it"". Really - did that just happen? Isn't there some kind of health code violation here? And, doesn't that completely negate the reason for opening the bottle by the table? We couldn't even speak because we were all completely shocked.\r \r Next comes the main course - the chicken stifado. I've had chicken stifado before - braised chicken and pearl onions in a wonderful tomato-based sauce. The stifado that showed up on our table was nothing like what we had expected. What showed up on our table was a tomato soup, there were no pearl onions, and a tough, over-cooked, piece of chicken. It looked like a microwavable meal and it was painfully obvious the sauce and chicken had not been cooked together. The potatoes that came with the meal had a horrible texture and were absolutely inedible. Perhaps comparing it to a microwavable meal was a little too generous.\r \r To bring the ""meal"" to a fitting end, they charged our credit card twice. \r \r I would not recommend this establishment to anyone. It was NOT good. \r \r \r Cons: Too many to list. more

About 2 weeks ago I visited and the resturant was not busy at all . It was approximately 8:00 pm on a Saturday night. There was a band playing in Bright Leaf Square and very few people in the resturant. I was seated immediately, but it took near 20 minutes before a waitress came over. I had to got to the bar to get my drinks and the clown behind the bar was cluless and in the middle of serviing me, began serving patrons who came in from the outside to purchase beer only. The staff was calus and indifferent and I've never experienced that before at this location. ......I will never return nor will I recommended Niko's to business associates or friends. Went to Satisfactions afterwards and had a wonderful evening where the service and food was great !! Cons: The worst Service ever !! more

I returned to Niko's after several years and was so disappointed. My friend and I had had many nice meals there before it closed. The gentleman who greeted us was gruff. I ordered the Mousaka, one of their specialities. The waitress came back and informed me that they were out if it. And, it was only 5:45. So, I ordered the marinaded chicken, only to be told me friend had ordered the last serving. I ordered the chicken stew. The chicken was tender, but was on the bone. We were seated in a dimmer part of the restaurant and I kept getting the bones as I could not see them given the lighting and the stew sauce. At one table, 2 different couples were seated, but left without ordering. more

Excellent greek food. Great service and in a great location. The kalamari and lamb shank are a must. more

Taverna Nikos has always been a favorite. After closing for a period of time and reopening, they are back with some great changes. The new menu offers many of our old favorites, moussaka, the best calamari I've ever had, lamb, and many new things. The lemon chicken, new vegetarian options, and great seafood. The owners and the servers are friendly and helpful. From an intimate dinner for two to a big party, Nikos is your best bet!! more

This was my very first resturant with a new date. A Durham native showed me a wonderful time at Niko's . I was pleased with the service. The original waitor did not seem to understand English and another more experienced waitor picked up on it and immedialty and politely waited on us. I was much appreciative, as it was late and we both were hungary. The food was rather good and prepared in adequate time since it was later in the evening. I did not fee rushed to finish the meal or get an annoyed feeling when ordering from the menu Lamb was the speciality. I had a very good overall experince and highly recommend it for small group, couples in the evening hours. Pros: Atmosphere conducive for lovers or just close friends, Service is great! Cons: well the parking of course improved but it is ok. more

My friends and I do an ""Ethnic Dinner Night"" once a month. For Greek night, we picked Taverna Nikos based upon Citysearch's rating. Brightleaf Square is gorgeous, so the atmosphere and location were great! We even headed out for coffee and dessert at Amelia's afterwards.\r \r Taverna's food was great! I had the lamb, which was very tender, juicy, and delicious! Dinners are a little pricy, but not bad. Pros: Authentic, Great location, FOOD! Good for groups! Cons: Food prep seemed to take longer than usual more

As a patron of Nikos for many years, I have been nothing but delighted at the supurb food and wine, excellent service, and lovely conversations I've had with the owners and staff. Highly recommended!!! more

Simple authentic and tasty fare, conveniently located to Duke and the service was attentive and quick, the pricing is reasonable and the plae has good character. Pros: good and healthy fare more

I worked at Taverna Nikos several years ago before going into restaurant management. At first, yes I was a bit frightened by one of the owners because he can be a bit curt. However, upon getting to know him I now realize that he truly puts his heart into his business, food, customers, and staff. The best perk about working there was eating the wonderful food. I ate it everyday for months and never got tired of it. This restaurant is truly a Durham landmark and should be tried. Pros: excellent food, great owners, location more

Enjoyed both the vegetable plate and the calamari salad. Broccoli and spinach were sauteed with perfect amounts of olive oil and garlic, stewed eggplant and tomatoes were also good. The calamari salad is the reason to go there though. Light crips calamari the way it should be, alongside bean salad, tomotoe salsa and greens. Healthy and delicious. Cons: waiter-no English more

Always good food, you can never go wrong with the daily specials, Service friendly and fast Very good prices for fine dinning. Pros: good food, Inexpensive Cons: not easy to find more

Nikos has always been one of my favorite restaurants in the triangle. It is consistant in giving you excellent food, and great service. The owner knows how to run his business, and makes sure that you will be totally satisfied. I was appalled by some of these bad reviews, it is pretty obvious that the person had a little too much spare time. Nikos is a fantastic restaurant for all events, a guaranteed enjoyment. Pros: Excellent food, Excellent service more

I was very pleased with my dining experience at Nikos. As soon as we sat down, we were served a tasty bread with a lightly flavored whipped butter. The dinner just got better from there! Everything I ate was flavored just right - there were undertones of different flavors, nothing too strong, and they were complementary. The portions were generous. As a vegetarian, I was a little disappointed that there are only 2 vegetarian entrees (both pasta - one is vegan), but there are a few vegetarian appetizers and salads (which put together are more than enough to be a dinner). I'd definately go back! Pros: yummy, filling but not heavy more

Greek food is the best and this place really knows what they are doing. From service to right down to the food it is excellent. Pros: great service more

Reliable and high quality. Lunch is a bargain. Great Greek red winces, recommended by waiter--less costly than name Caifornia I had originally asked for. That's good service. Pros: beyond gyros more

Like most of the other reviewer's I have to say the food here is wonderful. On the other hand the owner definitely needs to take some people skills classes. I've never known anyone in the restaurant business that's managed to be so rude to his customers and to his staff. If you have a large group I recommend you keep looking before making reservations, as this seems to particularly upset the man. Pros: good food Cons: rude owner, startling behavior, owner mean to staff more