FOOD REVIEW: Tasty barbecue will make your mouth water

DESTIN — This Southern barbecue chain has been on the Emerald Coast for years.

Now, its larger location in Destin has replaced the one at Baytowne Wharf to serve more people hungry for barbecue cooked low and slow, a tradition Jim N’ Nick’s has prospered on for 25 years.

A relatively small chain with 27 locations, all of the food is prepared inhouse, from scratch. From the baked macaroni and cheese to pies, it’s obvious from the first bite.

The food
Chicken, brisket, pulled pork, turkey breast, hot links — the choice is difficult. But, of course, like most barbecue joints, there’s a combo plate for the undecided. All meats are cooked for 14 hours over low-heat hickory coals. Beforehand, the meat is rubbed with a concoction of nine spices.

While sipping on sweet tea and deciding what to order, our waitress, Bethany, was nice enough to bring us a basket of cheese biscuits. They are like mini-corn bread muffins with cheddar cheese baked in. Some freshwhipped honey butter accompanied the biscuits.

For an appetizer, we ordered the smoked pork hot links. It came with two hot links and some homemade pimento cheese with saltines. I’ll just say now, these pork links were so good, I wish I had ordered them as my meal.

I ordered the Pig in the Garden Salad for my meal. This was pulled pork on hand-cut lettuce, croutons, cheddar, smoked bacon, almonds and grape tomatoes.

My lunch date ordered the barbecue chicken plate, which looked good, but, really, I couldn’t get those hot links out of my head.

One thing that really brought the flavor of the hot links together was the sauce. I chose the Hot and Spicy sauce.

It was a darker sauce, the color you would associate with a sweeter sauce. This sauce had sweetness, but it also brought the heat. A perfect combination.

Jim N’ Nick’s also serves burgers, soups and a variety of sandwiches for those who aren’t in the mood for barbecue.

At the end of the meal we were stuffed. However, Bethany was able to convince us to split a piece of coconut cream pie, which like the rest of the food, was homemade.

The atmosphere
I’d describe the interior as modern cowboy. Jim N’ Nick’s celebrates the barbecuing tradition with old timey pictures of families barbecuing.

The service
Our waitress, Bethany, was awesome. I’m sure that also had to do with the fact we were about the only customers late on a Sunday afternoon.
After I’d pretty much overdosed on sweet tea, she jokingly asked if I wanted a cup to go. I politely thanked her, but the thought was nice.

A final taste
Jim N’ Nicks’ new location is bigger and better. Try the hot links.