Dish Rating (3.5 / 5)

Wanting to review the very best Nick and Jake’s has to offer, we asked our waitress to recommend a best-selling entrée off the “Nick’s Favorites” menu, and the Chardonnay Chicken made the cut. However, after trying the dish ourselves, we have no idea how this dish became so popular.

At first glance, the entrée appeared to be fairly standard. Covered in chardonnay sauce, a good portion of chicken sat atop a bed of gnocchi, artichokes, blistered cherry tomatoes, spinach, bacon and jack cheese. The pop of color by the tomatoes and spinach were positive additions to the plate due to the actual entrée’s bland hue. 

In terms of taste, this dish was severely lacking. While the tender, juicy meat was cooked perfectly, its flavor was nonexistent. The chardonnay sauce was also somewhat lacking in this area, but the generous amount of butter, cream and spinach in the mixture was just enough to bring flavor to the dish. However, after a few bites, we were already starting to grow tired of both the chicken and the sauce. 

The secondary components of the dish were slightly more satisfactory; like the Irish Nachos, they reached the baseline satisfaction standard by being well cooked and containing sufficient flavor. If one enjoys gnocchi, artichokes and tomatoes dipped in average chardonnay sauce, then the dish isn’t a total let down.  

All in all, the dish was good, but failed to meet our high expectations.