The Greenville location of Nic & Norman's sits on Augusta Street in the West End, in the building Smoke on the Water occupied for years. The name carries some weight: the small Southern-comfort chain was started by Norman Reedus and Greg Nicotero of The Walking Dead. The famous names get people in the door, but it is the kitchen the reviews keep talking about.
The menu leans Southern and casual without trying to do everything at once: handcrafted burgers, a few pizzas, weekend brunch, and comfort plates like Coca-Cola pork shank and St. Louis-style ribs fried and tossed in the house barbecue sauce. Shareable starters such as the pickle fries and Philly cheesesteak fries turn up again and again in the reviews, and there is a full bar with signature cocktails. The room stays low-lit and a little old-school, an easy fit for a long dinner or a drink before something downtown.
Several diners call the burgers some of the best in town, and portions tend to run generous. If you go, order the fried chicken pot pie, three tenders over a biscuit and pot-pie filling, the dish reviewers keep steering newcomers toward.