'Trying time' a 'tremendous opportunity' for Jim 'N Nick's

DESTIN, FL - If you think this is the wrong time and the wrong economy for a new restaurant to open in Destin, Tom Rice disagrees.

Rice, one of the co-owners of the Jim ‘N Nick's Bar-B-Q restaurant chain, said that opening a Destin Jim ‘N Nick's right before Memorial Day - in a former Ruby Tuesday's building in the Walmart shopping plaza - was too good an opportunity to pass up.

"All the times in our lives, trying and other, will present opportunities," Rice said. "This is a trying time for those who've invested in real estate, but there are tremendous opportunities. When this property became available and we understood what we could buy and the price we could buy for, (we knew) we could purchase it for a tremendous value and have a full-offering Jim ‘N Nick's."

The original Jim ‘N Nick's opened in Birmingham in 1986, Rice said, and the Destin location is the 28th and newest location. Rice said that while Jim ‘N Nick's already had a drive-through in Niceville and a small place in Sandestin, he and other owners, several of whom live in the area, have wanted a "full offering" restaurant on the Emerald Coast for a long time.

Rice said they'd had to redecorate and redesign the former Ruby Tuesday's restaurant building for a barbecue look: "The biggest change - the change customers wouldn't see - was in the kitchen. We had to install smokers, put a wood pit in - the pieces of equipment we need to make barbecue."

Rice said that opening in Destin is only part of Jim ‘N Nick's current activity. This coming weekend, the Birmingham restaurant's pitmaster, Drew Robinson, visited New York as part of the Big Apple Barbecue Block Party, which showcases cooking from 15 of the country's top barbecue restaurants.

"It's a big deal for our style of food," Rice said, "This is the first time we've been invited."

A restaurant news release said Robinson showcased Jim ‘N Nick's smoked pork hot links and fresh-made pimento cheese.

"When it comes to our food we are absolute purists," Robinson said in the release. "Nothing is frozen. Everything is scratch-made. To us, the extra effort is our way of paying respect to the traditions of the South and showing respect to our guests who have come to appreciate more."

Rice said that when he and the other owners attended the Charleston Food and Wine Festival, they met Kenny Callahan, the owner of the Blue Smoke barbecue restaurant, which hosts the New York event. Callahan, he said, is the man who actually selects the restaurants for the event.

"Part of being in Destin," Rice said, "is that he felt we were such a gateway to the country, because so many people from so many cities visit here and interact - that was another driving force. By having Jim ‘N Nick's there, we had Destin there, and everybody that comes through and knows Destin."