Nick’s: Serving Seafood Needs Since 1963
7585 Highway 20, Basin Bayou, Freeport, 835-2222
By Bruce Collier February 23, 2006 Issue


If you’ve driven that stretch between Freeport and Niceville that seems to go on forever, with houses on one side and Choctawhatchee Bay on the other, you have passed Nick’s. There’s an unobtrusive sign, lit by a single light after dark. The low-slung building faces out on the bay, with a row of window-side seating, inner tables, and a bar. The decor is casual, with an emphasis on family photos and shots of “the old days.”

On entering Nick’s, you will be greeted and directed to “sit anywhere.” Before you do, check out the specials handwritten on a board opposite the bar. The night we ate there, one could get ‘gator, catfish, amberjack, mahi, and swordfish, none of which are on the regular menu.

The two-page menu says it all. Nick’s is a fish-house, the kind that your kids will tell their kids about when boring them with tales of childhood vacations. There’s chicken, steak, a hamburger and a grilled cheese sandwich, but surely most people come for the seafood, served grilled, steamed, or fried.

Oysters are back, following post-hurricane and red tide shortages, and Nick’s has some of the best. I ordered a half-dozen on the shell. The kitchen sent out seven, shells well scrubbed, with crackers, lemon, and do-it-yourself ketchup and horseradish sauce. The oysters were small-to-medium, which are the most flavorful, and reminded me yet again why I don’t live in Ohio anymore.

My friend started with a specialty of the house, fried green tomatoes. Nick’s doesn’t skimp on portions, and we couldn’t finish the plateful. The tomatoes were sliced thin, fried crisp and very hot, and came with a ranch sauce that I eschewed in favor of my cocktail sauce. I could eat cocktail sauce on pretty much anything, except cereal and dessert.

Other starters include seafood gumbo, cheese sticks, snow crab, and fried or steamed crab claws. Crab was a popular item that night, both as appetizers and main courses. Our server seemed a little rushed at first. We asked her to slow things down so we could enjoy what we had, and she did so. The kitchen held off on our main courses until we were ready.

My friend chose grilled shrimp, and I splurged on the seafood platter, a fried extravaganza. My friend’s shrimp came on skewers, and she found them a little chewier than she usually likes them, but tasty.

My platter contained about 20 tiny scallops, a fish filet, stuffed crab in the shell, oysters, and shrimp. As a health measure, I ordered boiled potatoes instead of my usual french fries. They were buttered, but what the heck, I tried.

Nick’s serves a lot of fried seafood, and they do it exactly right. It’s hot, crisp, and greaseless. A little lemon, a little more of that cocktail sauce, and you couldn’t ask for anything more Gulf Coast.

Other menu choices include sandwiches, platters of fried shrimp, scallops, and oysters, fried or grilled grouper, soft shell crabs, and combinations of the above. There’s also steamed shrimp, crab legs or claws. You can get most of the above with fries or a baked potato. If you must have vegetables, there’s cole slaw and a nice tossed salad.

Nick’s offered four desserts the night we were there. They are not on the menu, so you have to ask. We chose key lime pie and a chocolate cake. Both were reasonably sized, and the pie had a crunchy, nutty graham crust. The cake was moist, with a thick layer of icing, and would have been good with a glass of milk. My friend wanted decaf, but they don’t serve it at Nick’s. Please write or call them about that. Together, we can make a difference.

Nick’s is such a casual place, and so well known, that its address entry in the telephone book simply says “Basin Bayou, Freeport.” It’s one of those “get on the road and drive, you can’t miss it” kind of restaurants. People have been finding their way to Nick’s since 1963, and unless the Gulf runs out of fish, that should continue indefinitely.