Nick’s Pizzeria and Ice Cream

Great thin crust pizza, love Ouaho Hawaiian pizza. Family oriented with lots of tv’s and a game area. Good service and our current favorite order to go place.

We took our family to Nick’s Pizzeria a couple weeks ago. The kids loved their pizza and the arcade, and it was nice that the restaurant was so large that the tables weren’t crowded together. It was a nice place to take the whole family. It was reasonably priced, so I’m sure we’ll return!
I’ve also been to two of three business meetings during the day in their party room and would recommend that as well. It’s comfortable, private, and will accomodate a lot of attendees. It’s convenient location near Target at 119^th & Blue Valley Parkway which makes it an easy location to find!

I hate to bag on a place that honors firemen; however, this place is absolutely terrible. The pizza’s are bready and flavorless. They claim to have the best taco pizza you’ll ever eat. It was… cause it was the first I ever ate. Save your money and order a Costco pizza across the street.

Have been wanting to try Nick’s for a while now as we love a good pizza joint. Went tonight and was very impressed. Having read some of the reviews others have posted I can see from where they’re coming from why they might have given less stars but for what we were looking for (a good family dine-​in pizza place with good food and great service), Nick’s rated very high!
First of all, if you read the background of where Nick’s is coming from (firefighter longing for a pizza joint like he went to when he was a kid) something I’ve been wanting for some time as well), he has nailed it. Nick’s is sparkling clean, very nice (not overdone) décor and the staff is fantastic. Game room for the kids, party room for larger events/​parties.
Four of us, me, my wife, our two kiddos. We ordered the app sampler; the garlic cheese bread was great, the moz sticks were perfect and the breadsticks were simply AMAZING! Could there have been more of each in the order, sure, but for $ 5.95, come on. The whole point is to sample each. It def gave us a good taste of each and next time we can get specific orders of what we want (will def be ordering the breadsticks again; soft, cooked to perfection, great marinara sauce and just the right amount of seasoning on top); prob the BEST breadsticks we’ve ever had.
For pizza we ordered a cheese kids pizza for the kiddos to split; plenty and they loved it. For us we ordered the 14 inch (larger sized Med) Special which included pep, sausage, burger, mushrooms, onions and peppers. Now mind you, I’ve been just as guilty as the next person the last few years when I order pizza, thinking that more is better, need a super special unique creation to «wow» me, the perfect thin crust, stuffed crust, sauce and cheese inside every inch of crust, etc, etc, etc. That being said, why we loved and really appreciated Nick’s is because (again, true to what Nick wanted to accomplish) they chose to just do regular pizza and do it right. That is a compliment btw. The crust was cooked to perfection (think medium crust you ate as a kid if you grew up in the Midwest); not super thin cracker crust from a wood burning oven, not deep dish, not NY style; just good crust, cooked perfectly. The sauce was very good and toppings were solid. I’m in agreement with one of the other reviewers in that I prefer fresh mushrooms over canned but it wasn’t a deal breaker. Basically the more we ate the more we enjoyed the pizza and appreciated the simplicity of it. (again, a compliment).
The service was outstanding, very friendly, we didn’t wait for anything; drinks refilled in timely fashion, food came out fast, and Nick stopped by the table to check in and chat for a bit (a huge thing for me if the owner takes the time to check and make sure everything met expectations; very rare these days).
Was this the very best pizza I’ve ever had in my life, no but if I add up everything we look for in a restaurant, good food, great service, clean, locally/​family owned and a good story; Nick’s fired on all cylinders! Bonus, free scoop of ice cream for everyone after dinner. This place is not overpriced, appetizer, 3 drinks, kids pizza, Med/​Large specialty pizza w/​6 toppings, ice cream, total bill was $ 44. We’ve spent way more than that for food/​service that wasn’t ½ of what Nick’s provided. It’s not Dominos or Little Caesars; you’re not coming here for mass produced $ 5 pizzas to take home after work.
In a nutshell, if you’re looking for a great locally/​family owned pizza place for a wonderful dine in experience with your family that will remind you of the pizza joints you went to as a kid (if you grew up in the Midwest), I highly recommend Nicks!

I had heard some things about Nick’s Pizzeria and Ice Cream, so this week, instead of making my usual homemade pizza or going to one of our usual pizza restaurants, I took the family to Nick’s. The restaurant occupies a former sports bar near the Super Target off of Blue Valley Parkway and 119^th Street in Overland Park. Nick is living the dream by recreating the family-​oriented pizza parlor he used to love as a kid (read Happy Joe’s here), hence the offering of pizza and ice cream. Although there is still some sports bar motif and atmosphere, there is also a kids room with games, etc. The emphasis here is on family.
Back to our visit. We were seated at a booth right upon entering the restaurant. Our waitress was friendly and the service was good throughout our stay. After looking over the menu, we decided to give this place the full treatment and ordered up an appetizer of cheesy garlic bread, salads for the Mrs. and me, and my 2 standard pizzas: a Hawaiian style (called Oahu here) and a sausage-​n-​mushroom.
The salads were a do-​it-​yourself at the salad bar. Although at first glance this did not look too promising, all of the ingredients looked fine, fresh and were actually quite good. In fact, the dressings were well above what I had expected. I suspect Marie’s or some other good commercial-​line of salad dressings. The cheesy garlic bread was good — basic Italian bread with a nice buttery garlic flavor and a decent amount of cheese. Hard to mess up, I know, but I have experienced bad garlic bread on rare occasions.
Now to the main attraction. Other reviewers have been less than kind to Nick’s pizza, and I begin to have some understanding of where they are coming from. First, the good. The cheese is fine, a blend of mozzarella with a little bit of cheddar, and I suspect a touch of provolone as well. The sauce is okay — it needs a little something, but I can’t quite put my finger on it. It is a little on the sweet side, but Nick’s does not overdo it on the sauce, so you know it’s there, but it doesn’t overwhelm. The crust needs help. I did not ask anything about their dough preparation or cooking equipment (deck oven or those horrid conveyor pizza cookers), but something was not right. It is a typical Midwestern thin crust, but rather limp, not crunchy or crackery at all. I think it has promise, but it needs some work. The toppings were even more lacking. I agree with Joe H. who said Nick should try getting his sausage from Scimeca’s or Mendolia’s. Also, canned mushrooms always put me off. Are fresh sliced mushrooms really that much more expensive? The Hawaiian pizza was better, saved by the pineapple, but the tiny ham bits reminded me of something from a frozen pizza, not from a fresh pizza served at a restaurant. I think if Nick’s would start by just getting better topping ingredients, that would elevate the pizza a significant notch or 2.
Last but not least, Nick’s does also serve ice cream, as the name implies, and in this case it is Breyer’s, which is quality stuff.
Final comments: I didn’t think the prices were too high, especially at what pizza costs have risen to these days with the increased price on wheat flour. Sure you can get cheap pizzas from Dominos or Pizza Hut, but you get what you pay for, too, which is to say, garbage. I think the atmosphere is good, the host and his staff are friendly and trying to do their best to win your business. The food overall is pretty decent, but the main player on the menu needs some work.
Nick is a nice guy and I wish him good luck. When or if I am in the area again, I would stop by and try Nick’s once more, perhaps a sandwich or their lunch buffet, and I encourage you to give the place a shot if you happen to live in the area. However, I probably would not go out of my way to drive there.

First, there is the ⁹⁄₁₁ special. Even if Nick was directly involved in 9/​11, I still think that monetizing a national tragedy is utterly insensitive. I am sure that Nick was bringing this idea from a good place, but that doesn’t mean everyone will take it as an homage. Furthermore, 9.11 for a slice of pizza, salad and a drink isn’t such a great deal anyhoo.
It seems as if the owner, presumably Nick, has his kids serving as waiters. When my family went there, there were three busy tables. The kids had a hard time keeping up with this paltry amount, and got our drinks and pizza wrong. Furthermore, when we tried to use a coupon, the waitress forgot to run it and was rather nonchalant about it.
We won’t be coming back.

Overpriced! Pizza is ok, but the app sampler was a joke. There is only mayb 5 games but i think there is a pool table. I miss the bar :-(Cool concept though. That patio is always fun!

I THINK YOU SHOULD GIVE NICK’S A CHANCE!
(sorry for yelling)
That said:
I did make it back to Nick’s on a day that I was less nasally challenged, and I have to say it still wasn’t great. I really believe they have potential, but they need to get higher quality toppings. I think the crust is pretty good as is, but the rest… well, needs a revamp. I’m not talking a Domino’s style «We changed it all» when, in my mind, they changed nothing. They need, again, Mendolia’s or Scimeca’s Italian sausage and not pre-​cooked frozen crumbles. For their convenience here are some links
Also, the pepperoni could use work. Perhaps there is a local purveyor that they could use… play up the «we source local». I also think Nick should publicize the fact that he is a firefigher more. They are heroes after all… Look at Firehouse subs.
As I stated previously as well, a blend of cheeses would help add more flavor too.
I will say: I didn’t find the sauce as cloying on this visit, but I do think they should work on that as well. I have a feeling this may be some canned sauce that they just slap on there. There is nothing really wrong with using a pre-​made sauce but doctor it up a little to add a signature flavor. High quality oregano, some onion powder, a little garlic, maybe some basil, etc. Don’t overpower it, but make it your own.
Despite the negative tone of this review, I don’t want to discourage you from going to Nick’s. In fact, I encourage it. Perhaps contradict my review or talk to the owner and let him know what you think!