I ate here March 17, 2018 after attending the big St. Patrick's Day parade in nearby Savannah, GA. I rode down there on a party bus from Atlanta and after the parade they decided to stop by Tybee Island. When we got off the bus, most of us split up with some people wanting to hang out at the beach and others looking for a place to eat. I didn't know anyone on my party bus so I kind of separated from the others and ventured out alone.
Nickies1971 is only about a block from the beach and I decided to stop here since it didn't look as crowded as some of the nearby restaurants. When I walked in, I kind of felt like Eddie Murphy in the movie 48 Hours. Do you remember the scene where he was the only black guy in the redneck bar? It was kind of like that for me when I first entered.
I want to make it clear that the word redneck doesn't always mean something bad. There are some rednecks who're just proud to be from the south and there's nothing wrong with that. There are also some rednecks who can be prejudice and they let their inner feelings come out once they have a few drinks in them. Most of the patrons there were of the former but there was one guy who was of the latter description and he had something to say to or about me most of the while I was there lol. He looked like he may have been in his 50s and was wearing a baseball cap and wore a white mustache that made him look like a walrus. And he was drinking a beer.
"Are you lost?" he said. I told him I was looking for a menu and then he said he didn't work there but I should ask the women at the counter "if you're not scared."
The two women working at the counter seemed nervous at first but they were nice. Both appeared to be in in their early 40s or late 30s. One was a blonde southern belle type and the other had reddish brown hair and wore a shirt that had tight see-thru sleeves. The designs on the sleeves made it look like she had a lot of tattoos on her arms from a distance. I ordered the shrimp basket on their menu which consists of 12 pieces of shrimp, hush puppies and fries. It cost $13.95.
The restaurant is very clean on the inside. Most of the furniture is wood tables and chairs. They also have a couple of pool tables and outside, on the other side is a patio area. I sat at the bar where they were taking orders and there was a huge tv behind it showing the NCAA basketball tournament. As I waited for my order, the guy with the walrus mustache had more to say.
"Hey...you know I have some black friends. Whoops, I said that wrong, didn't I? Hehhehheh." I just shook my head, laughed it off and said, "No, you didn't say it wrong." I was trying to keep watching the game on tv. I did notice a younger guy sitting at the bar who seemed embarrassed by what the guy was saying.
Then he said, "I got arrested earlier this week. It was because I was wearing my NRA hat. I guess that's too much for some people these days."
There was a married couple who had also been drinking and they had a huge, but well behaved dog with them that was sprawled out at their feet while they drank. They were nicer than the other guy and started talking to me while I waited. The woman was asking me where I was from, etc.
"He don't talk much. Oh, he'll talk to you but not to me," said the guy with the walrus mustache to the woman.
And so it went until I got my food, which was maybe 20 minutes after I ordered. Everything was well done, with the shrimp being a little overdone but it was still delicious and it was a huge helping too. It was so much food that I couldn't eat all the fries. By the time I left, the guy with the walrus mustache had wandered out to the patio area with his beer and I didn't see him again.
Looking back on it, the experience there was funny to me. The guy was harmless and probably just wanted to talk to somebody. Tybee Island is very small and if I return there I believe I'll eat at Nickies1971 again. I recommend it based on the cleanliness of the place and the quality of the food. Four stars. read more