FOREST HILLS, NY – Forget the hockey player from Pittsburgh, the Italian video game character from Donkey Kong, and the former governor of New York, the real Super Mario is Mario Savvas, restauranteur extraordinaire from Forest Hills, because the hits just keep on coming at Nick’s Greek Bistro. Now Mario, Uncle Andy, Singh Jerry, and all the gang at Nick’s, have just added a whole new dimension with their brunch menu and fresh fish specials, and grateful Queens foodies are racing to Metropolitan Avenue for a table.
Hear that? ***Cricket! Cricket! Cricket!*** Things just got a lot quieter in Astoria, while Greece just got a half a World closer yet again.
“What a menu!” beamed one grateful diner as he dove face-first into a three-deep stack of chocolate chip pancakes thicker than Oprah Winfrey’s thighs. “These are so good, they’re practically their own food group!” he added, looking blissfully to the sky as if devoutly praising Heaven with every bite.
Actually there are five different styles of pancakes offered including traditional and blueberry and at a recession-busting $9, they’re a bargain all day long.
“They do move like hot cakes,” quipped the quick-witted Mario, “but actually our two best selling items for brunch are the ribeye steak and eggs with home fries ($16) and the blueberry cream cheese stuffed French toast ($11).
Indeed, all conversation (and drinking!) comes to a halt for a moment when the kitchen door swings open and Jerry or Singh sashays in with either dish. Eyes pop and mouths water as one patron tears into the thick slices of Challah bread stuffed with plump blueberries and fresh cream cheese, “plus a few secret ingredients to make it really special,” Mario confides mischievously. Then all eyes turn again as a huge, marinated ribeye smothered in home fries and eggs any style gets served next.
“I just want to look at the menu and say ‘okay’ and try one of everything!” says patron Maria Carlos. “It’s so good, it makes me feel Greek for the whole day.”
Indeed the menu has an eclectic Greek spin. The Greek omelet ($9) features spinach, feta, and olives and is every bit as savory as traditional LEOs (lox, eggs and onion omelet, $14), or Eggs Norwegian (Eggs Benedict with lox, $12.5). And, of course, you can’t beat the price. For an additional $5, you can add drinks like mimosas or bloody marys.
For those that prefer something more akin to a lunch or dinner entrée, you can choose from such staples of the Nick’s repertoire as broiled tilapia with any of Nick’s famous side dishes ($13), stuffed filet of sole ($14), or your author’s favorite, filet mignon Philly cheese steak with peppers, onions, and either American, Mozzarella, or Asiago cheese ($13). (Psst! Go with the Asiago!)
Yet as they say in the infomercials, “But wait! There’s more!” Now Nick’s is adding even more of the freshest, sweetest fish in the sea to their already deep and broad menu.
“My cousin Nick is a tournament-caliber fisherman, and he’s presently defending his title in a big event in New Jersey,” Mario explains proudly. “He’s after blackfish right now, so we’ve made two different styles of soup – one a tomato-based chowder and the other a fish consommé – and he also caught a huge sea bass we made into fish moussaka.”
For those of you scoring at home, Cousin Nick is not only defending champion, but he’s in the tournament lead, and is poised to angle not only great fish for you, but a $4,000 prize, unlimited fishing on the winning boat, and $400 in brand new fishing gear. So “Stin-iamas!” (Salute!) to Cousin Nick.
“We’re ready to make more soup!” says Mario.
That’s great, because we’re ready to eat more soup…and it’s only $5 a bowl, (and a deep bowl at that!) You can’t beat that with a stick! Heck, we ought to call him Souper Mario!
But that’s Nick’s Bistro: terrific food at an even better price, whether it’s the specials like Greek lasagna with feta, spinach, onion, and tomato rolled in lasagna over a Greek Bolognese sauce made of pork and beef (it’s the pork and a hint of cinnamon that makes it Greek), or the bronzini that’s the talk of New York City. They go through two cases a week. It’s a personal favorite of cousin Gus who can be found on weekends liberally sprinkling it with lemon and olive oil amd savoring every morsel.
How do you really know a restaurant is great? When other restauranteurs eat there. And no less a dynamic duo than Vesna Denic and Jeannie Gmerek of Q Thai Bistro fame pop in frequently for late night octopus appetizers and sangria.
“Oh we love the sangria!” Jeannie proclaims, and well she should. Mario makes it with “a ton of blackberry brandy,” enough to tempt even Maria Carlos into being Greek again for another day.
Nick’s will be open Christmas Eve and New Years Eve during their normal hours. They’ll be closed Christmas Day, but will be open for New Years Day at 2 p.m.
