An Interview
B-Metro: When you began working in the hospitality industry, did you have a vision of what you wanted your career to be?
Nick: I did. When I was 19 years old, I was fortunate enough to get my first job at an independently operated restaurant that was a friend of my family’s. I learned a lot from that experience, including how to bartend, but most importantly, it solidified my desire to be in the restaurant business. Growing up, I would also go to Miami to visit my cousins, and one of our favorite activities was riding our bikes past the Fontainebleau hotel and seeing chefs cooking bananas foster table-side, wearing those iconic tall chef hats. I just knew I wanted to be in this industry – I didn’t know where things would end up, but I’m so glad things happened the way it did.
B-Metro: Did you envision an enterprise like your current company?
Nick: When I was working at the now shuttered Birmingham restaurant called Rossi’s, I kept trying to get the owner to open a second location – I always had this innate sense that growth was important. I knew there were opportunities to grow a business and see it flourish.
In 1985, we opened Jim N Nick’s BBQ, and a few years later in 1993, I was fortunate enough to team up with some partners in the multi-unit restaurant business. The partners loved what we were doing with Jim N Nick’s, and they had that multi-unit experience, which is so different than independent restaurant experience. That really got me to the next level.
Most importantly though, I believe it’s paramount to give opportunity to our young people, so they can grow, and we can grow. Developing people has become a huge priority of mine, and it’s been rewarding to watch them develop that sense of pride and ownership in their positions, which ultimately allows them to thrive. When you have growth, you don’t lose people, and if you don’t expand, people will go elsewhere. We have based our entire company on opportunity, and that creates a completely different experience.
B-Metro: You seem to create restaurants with ethnicities (Italian, Greek, etc.) in mind. How important are such food traditions to you?
Nick: When I started in the restaurant business in 1977, every restaurant in Birmingham was owned by independent families from all over the world. There was a big population of Greek and Italian families in Birmingham, and there still are. When these folks would travel over from Europe, they would bring family members with them, like their nephews, and once they got established, they would then bring their spouses and their children over. It was an interesting way to grow the businesses.
