Uncle Nick's greek fried chicken
grandview (columbus), ohio
Columbus, Ohio, for decades has been sort of a food incubator. We have the fortune of being home to several nationwide Market Research firms and due to the large base of college students from numerous Universities located within a 40 mile range of Central City, in addition to the vast proverbial melting pot of several different cultures, we are recognized as a test market for products, ideas, brands and more important to the core of this review, Restaurants!
On any given day, whatever your taste buds yearn for, you can literally pick from handfuls of restaurants to please whatever dish you desire! Want Seafood? No worries as your choices run the gamut from Ocean Club to Kai's Seafood and about 40 places in between! Oh your more looking for Thai? Say no more as the Upper Arlington corridor alone has 15+ choices! What is that you say? You'd rather have some good ole Fried Chicken? Well you can find that all over town, From KFC (don't do it!) to the two most prominent establishments, Hot Chicken Takeover and The Eagle!
But a little known location that is bursting at the seams with flavor and prime to become a major player is "Uncle Nick's Greek Fried Chicken"
Located in Grandview in a nondescript strip mall that you could easily walk right by if it was'nt for the smell of fried chicken waifin thru the air is Nick's. A small eatery with about 6 tables for eat in dining and a menu that covers everything from Baklava and gyros to pizza and the reason i'm here... Chicken!
Upon entering I was greeted by Drew, honestly, i'm not sure if he is an owner but as attentive as he was he should be if he isn't . You generally don't see people that are as outgoing as this on a Sunday morning (As I was the first customer on Easter, my family was out of town and I had to eat right?)
I ordered the 3 piece dark with Mashed Potatoes (Hey Dan Quayle!) and Macaroni & Cheese. After a short 10 minute wait my food was ready!
Did I say 3 because I meant 4 pieces, (Sorry I'm eating as I write this!) But nonetheless it came out looking great! Golden brown with just enough crispiness to it that it balanced out the moist meat underneath. A lot of chicken establishments tend to focus on just seasoning the skin, leaving the actual chicken indistinguishable from the next restaurant. After tasting UNGFC however, there is definitely a difference as the whole piece is a perfect balance of seasoning vs. natural flavor.
The Macaroni & Cheese I would honestly do without as it taste like commercial grade stoffers oven baked. Some real cheese baked in may help but it would be best to just avoid this.. Now a forsure bet however are JoJo's.. What in the world are JoJo's? well I will tell you they aren't simply potato wedges but they ARE addictive as the chicken I promise you that! As you can see I will always give my honest opinion.
The Mashed Potatoes however are a winner as they taste whipped and have a good consistency. The gravy had me believing that someone's Grandmother was in the back sweating over the stove and honestly you can't tell me Gma isn't!
Another thing that I liked about UNGFC actually occurred before I even left my house. Seeing that it was Easter Sunday I wasn't sure if they would actually be open, so when I looked them up on Google, I noticed that right on their Google listing was a chat button.
I clicked the button and begin to actually chat with the restaurant without having to make a call!
I'm sure this may seem minor to some, but I actually thought it was pretty cool how this small business integrated technology into the customer experience.
While waiting on your food, take a moment to look at the "Wall of Fame" and you'll see a who's who of once local and in some cases, now world wide celebrities.
One signature that lead instant credibility to Uncle Nick's was none other than former Ohio State and current Dallas Cowboys Running Back, Ezekiel Elliott.
Now the credibility doesn't come from the fact that he played for Ohio State (Go Blue), or the fact he's a Cowboy (Geaux Saints), but because all he does is "Eat, Eat, Eat" on the field, So to see that he eat's here solidifies it for me!
I definitely recommend that you swing by UNGFC and give it a try! The location and food are a perfect match and with the weather finally starting to break for the better, the outdoor seating area provides a great opportunity to relax and enjoy a comforting meal. Also, UNGFC has partnered with several delivery companies such as Amazon, Uber Eats and GrubHub to name a few, so you really have no excuse for NOT giving Uncle Nick's a shot!
