Rob P.
Yelp
Driving down Main Street in Lapeer, you'll see many fast food places, with family diners interspersed. You'll be excused for thinking this is a diner, since it has that look. But, E.G. Nick's is far more than that. The selection and quality set it apart from the eateries that surround it.
There are a dozen excellent beers on tap; a 20 ounce Upperhand IPA, a powerful Michigan brew, only costs $8. The Moscow Mules are strong yes smooth, for $9.
While a diner may offer a bread basket (as rare as those are these days), E.G. Nick's provides freshly-baked breadsticks without you having to ask.
While a diners have a variety of soups, the quality here is far beyond any diner. The minestrone soup is like a chunky, savory stew, light on the noodles and heavy on the vegetables. We ordered a quart to go before we finished the bowl, and decided to order a second quart before we left.
Tacos are available with either chicken or fish, and fried, baked, or blackened. The blackened whitefish is flavorful and light. One good thing that E.G. Nick's kept from their diner roots is the massive portions. You get 2 large tacos with a mildly spicy ranch, and a mountain of crispy, Rally's style fries. I would normally save half of a big plate like this for another meal, but it was so good that I ate all of it.
Coleslaw was served with the tacos. This is how all coleslaw should be: not too sweet, not too creamy.
The salmon in the salmon salad is baked with a brown sugary glaze, and it's substantial. The salad
Itself is also massive, with surprisingly mild blue cheese and dried cranberries. When have you had any of that at a diner?
The Black Tie Pasta is a huge bowl of creamy bow tie pasta with tortellini and blackened chicken. The Alfredo sauce is excellent, with a nice roasted garlic flavor. I honestly can't think of many places with a better Alfredo sauce (and no, Olive Garden, I'm not thinking of you).
The service was prompt and friendly, and the food arrived at the table not long after we placed the order. The whole experience is so good that it's easy to forget that this isn't an upscale, trendy restaurant. But, who cares when the food and the service is this good?
