The Low & Slow Show Review: Jim ‘N Nick’s Community Bar-B-Q in Hickory

The Hickory Metro’s newest barbecue restaurant opened in November. Since then, I’ve driven past Jim ‘N Nick’s Community Bar-B-Q to visit a favorite, independent BBQ joint up the road a few times. The parking lot always seems full. Social media marks are high.

However, it took a winter storm, a celebration, and a whim to send me toward the latest outpost for an expanding restaurant chain officially born a mile from my birthplace.

And when I got there, I found an Alabama flavor flashback, a reliably solid meal performance, and a bit of a barbecue surprise.

In this Low & Slow blog we explore:

• What is Jim ‘N Nick’s Community Bar-B-Q?
• Jim ‘N Nick’s in Hickory.
• Our Low & Slow Barbecue Experience.
• The Brisket Surprise.

What is Jim ‘N Nick’s Community Bar-B-Q?

Jim ‘N Nick’s Bar-B-Q started in 1985 at a reclaimed Pasquale’s pizza parlor on Clairmont Avenue in Birmingham, AL. After countless hours spent mastering low and slow meat smoking techniques and recipes, 19-year-old Nick Pihakis and his father, Jim, occupied the brick building in the city’s Lakeview district.

Central to the business foundation from the start: fresh food, prepared fresh, and never frozen. “No freezer. No microwaves.” is still a binding motto for Jim ‘N Nick’s.

That first BBQ joint in Birmingham led to many more. Today there are 18 locations of Jim ‘N Nick’s Community Bar-B-Q in Alabama, and more than 35 more across North Carolina, Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, and Tennessee. Prices and menu options vary by location.

The Jim ‘N Nick’s Community Bar B-Q brand is owned by Atlanta-based Roark Capital Group, while Nick Pihakis is the founder and CEO of The Pihakis Restaurant Group. Portfolio restaurant brands include portfolio Rodney Scott BBQ, which has expanded its Alabama footprint in recent years.

Jim ‘N Nick’s Hickory

Jim ‘N Nick’s Community Bar-B-Q opened its 6,296 square-foot Hickory location in November 2024 at 1687 U.S. Highway 70 SE. Original building permits filed in April estimated construction cost at $2.5 million.

Hickory’s Jim ‘N Nick’s is open 7 days a week from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. The restaurant features dine-in seating and a drive-thru. The business offers catering and online ordering for to-go and delivery.

The Hickory location is Jim ‘N Nick’s third in North Carolina.

The Low & Slow Barbecue Show Experience at Jim ‘N Nick’s Community Bar-B-Q

Birthday barbecue lunch is hard to beat. And I was casually pining for Hickory Metro’s newest barbecue joint. Add a Friday snow day for students, and it was a perfect time to take a son for a mid-day outing. When asked “left or right,” his decision sent us left and toward Jim ‘N Nick’s.

At first look, parking was tight, but we found plenty of open tables inside. The crowd grew as the lunch hour continued. Those patrons enter the front door, form a couple of lines, and order off a large menu board above the cash registers.

• My order: Mr. Jim’s Combo Plate: 3 meats + 2 sides – classic pulled pork, turkey, jalapeno + cheese sausage, baked beans, and slaw. Starter: deviled eggs.

• The kid: Chicken tenders and macaroni & cheese.

Jim ‘N Nick’s Cheese Biscuits and Deviled Eggs

If you’ve heard just one thing about Jim ‘N Nick’s, it’s probably about the cheese biscuits. They’re good. Light and fluffy. I could eat 50. We received four and showed great restraint in saving one for the wife. The deviled eggs (4) were OK – solid performance.  

Jim ‘N Nick’s Community Bar-B-Q Combo Meat Plate & Sides

The pork was covered in sauce. Initial annoyance faded fast when a couple of quick bites stirred up barbecue memories of my upbringing – even though I was never a JNN regular in my hometown.

Yet, the sauce, the tender inside pork, and lots of crunchy flavor-packed bark … it all echoed with the original Golden Rule BBQ in Irondale, Gus BBQ in Rocky Ridge (long gone), or any number of other Birmingham barbecue joints cooking with equal parts independence, tradition, and spicy heat.

(Note: the menu says the “Classic” pulled pork is served with sauce; the “Carolina-style pork” is tossed in “vinegar-based sauce.” If you try the Carolina-style, let me know what you think.)

An ample serving of the turkey revealed great flavor. It paired nicely with the white sauce (served on the side). JNN’s white sauce has a warm spicy kick. Sausage was a solid performance. Nothing fancy, just good.

And the baked beans – right in my sweet (and also a hint of heat!) spot. Chunks of meat and tiny jalapeno pepper pieces intermingled in the beans. Top-shelf.

The slaw? Didn’t happen. In fact, I forgot about it until I was miles away. Simple oversight. No big deal … not like they were, did you say out of brisket?

The Brisket Surprise

Despite my Carolina BBQ preference, lately, I often order brisket as a barometer for a modern barbecue experience. I won’t order brisket at Skylight Inn or Lexington Barbecue, mind you, but when a barbecue palace like Jim ‘N Nick’s opens with fanfare, I want to try the brisket.

“Sorry, we’re still out of brisket.”

Wait, what? It’s one thing to run out of a protein on a busy day. I get that. But “still out of brisket” implies an ongoing thing. A brisket shortage is conceivable. Food procurement isn’t a cakewalk. Stuff happens. Still … “still out of brisket” was disappointing.

If you visit Jim ‘Nick’s Community Barb-B-Q in Hickory and try the brisket, let me know what you think, lowandslowbarbecueshow@gmail.com.

The Low & Slow Barbecue Show Perspective on Jim ‘N ‘Nick’s

You can depend on Jim ‘N Nick’s Community Bar-B-Q to produce quality food. The flavor is good and everything is prepared well. Some menu items or tastes may not be for everyone, but there is something for everyone. (Tenders and macaroni and cheese received high marks. Also: salads, soups, spuds, and burgers are on the Hickory menu.)

Credit Jim ‘N Nick’s for doing something well and replicating it. As with any chain, there’s always going to be a little bit of variation between locations. Everybody has an off night – or a “still out of brisket” – but ultimately, expect Jim ‘N Nick’s to be reliably good, whether you visit in Hickory, Birmingham’s Southside, or one of the dozens of other locations.

Truth be told, my preference is always for the independent BBQ joint created by hard-working meat smokers with a dream – like the original spot opened in 1985 by teen-aged Nick Pihakis and his dad, Jim.

But if you’re looking for a solid barbecue experience in cities across the Southeast, Jim ‘N Nick’s Community Bar-B-Q is a good bet. Especially the cheese biscuits.