Nick’s Laguna Beach is one of those places so many of my friends have raved about. After much pondering, Priscilla of She’s Cookin’ and I went for lunch, and boy did we choose a great day to go. The weather was absolutely gorgeous, clear blue skies and a nice cool breeze. It was precisely this perfect weather that we chose to sit on the patio.
The restaurant is bustling and there is no shortage of patrons walking into this place. Our server Justin was patient and knowledgeable and answered every question we posed to him.
I’d heard so much about the Fried Deviled Eggs ($5) and there was no way we were leaving without having some of it. Boiled eggs are coated with breadcrumbs and fried on the outside. Once halved, the yolk is mixed with various ingredients and the creamy result is piped back into the fried egg white shell and sprinkled with bacon bits. Bacon makes EVERYTHING taste great!
It was really quite delicious and a unique new way to serve up a traditional favorite. I really like the crispy contrast brought on by the fried coating.
Our main courses arrived shortly: Blackened Halibut sandwich ($14) and House Made Veggie Burger ($11) and you get your choice of sides. We picked fries for one and slaw for the other.
I guess I should feel lucky I got to taste both these sandwiches. The halibut was moist and tender and seasoned well, enough for the flavors to stand up to the toppings and brioche it came on.
It was unfortunate I only managed a couple of bites because a minute or two later, a lady at the next table started choking. She stood up, faced me and coughed profusely. She then doubled over while her face started getting redder and redder until she stuck a finger down her throat to bring up whatever was stuck in her throat.
Water was spewed onto the floor beside us, a huge chunk of rib-eye (from her Ribeye Melt $15) flew out of her gullet and onto the floor, no more than a foot away from me.
I was stunned and aghast at the same time. My stomach churned and I tried to erase what I had just witnessed out of my mind, but to no avail. During this time, the choking woman’s lunching companion, in her effort to help her friend, backed her girthy backside into my half of the veggie sandwich.
Even if I had the appetite to continue eating, the fact that her butt had touched my sandwich deterred me from doing so.
Priscilla and I shook our heads in disbelief. Our lunch was ruined. The General Manager came over and introduced himself and asked how everything was going. SERIOUSLY??? A woman just choked on her food — of course, by no fault of the restaurant’s — vomited next to me AND her rear end touches my lunch, how do YOU think everything was going. I was mind-boggled. And when Priscilla told him we were there writing a review, the only thing he managed to utter was “oh”.
The icing on the cake came when he offered us complimentary desserts to somehow rectify the completely off-putting incident we had just endured. We couldn’t even continue eating the food already on our table, why would we want more?
I was speechless.
Priscilla and I were both ready to come back and give Nick’s another shot because the couple of bites I did have of the halibut sandwich was delicious, but after discussing, we decided we’ll stay away for a while.
Justin was a doll, trying his best to make the rest of our time there a little more pleasant. I was just surprised that it was the GM who was utterly un-savvy when it came to damage control.
I’m just glad neither Priscilla nor I ordered the Ribeye Melt!
Nick’s Laguna Beach
440 S Coast Hwy
Laguna Beach, CA 92651
Tel: 949-376-8595
The GM wasn’t the only person there who was “utterly unsavvy when it came to damage control.”
^well, it’s a good thing that the situation didn’t escalate any further, and that “damage control” of a different kind (i.e., paramedics) wasn’t needed. This whole thing sounds so unfortunate as the food looks/sounds quite good. This is a prime example of a time when dessert DOES NOT make everything better.
Yes it was really lucky that it didn’t get worse than it did. People around were trying to find a way to administer the heimlich on the poor woman, but she was…. very girthy…. and not one person was able to put their arms around her to do it. The server Justin couldn’t get her to stand up and he tried to put his arms around her, but just as well she managed to spew it up herself. Very unfortunate situation.
I’m sorry but how is this woman choking and the subsequent mess any fault of the restaurant?
I totally see why you wouldn’t want to return due to the horrid visual you now have due to what you saw and had to experience, but did you expect a free meal from it? I kind of get that from the tone of your ‘review’ and am flabergasted that you think the restaurant needs to make up for someone having such an unfortunate incident so close to you.
I had to give my niece the heimlich once due to a potsticker. Did I go back to Costco and demand my money back for the bag of food? Did I expect my sister to pay me for saving her child’s life? Nope. I just won’t ever serve my niece potstickers again.
I also am bummed that you mention the size of the women several times.
I realize a large person is difficult to heimlich and that is their own fault but the fact that her table mate touched your sandwhich with her ass? Even a skinny person could have managed that in a scurried panic.
Let me put it this way: You were there to review THE FOOD. Up until this incident took place you were having a fabulous time with your meal. Then several things managed to get in the way of you enjoying your food- NONE of them being the fault of the place you were in nor of the chef or wait staff. I guess I am asking one thing: will you not go back ‘for a while’ because of your visual association with the food now or because the management failed to comp your time up until the incident took place?
Laura: I’m sorry you feel this way and I think I did mention that the woman choking was of no fault of the restaurant’s. It would have been nice if they did comp, but it isn’t their fault. However they could’ve moved us to another table, cleaned up the mess immediately. Different people are affected by visuals such as choking and vomiting differently. I want to throw up just by seeing someone throwing up. I am sorry if that in some way makes me less of a person than someone who can continue eating and think nothing of it.
When my child was a toddler and we were in restaurants he has thrown up next to people who were obviously disgusted by the incident. No matter how I apologized I felt it wasn’t enough. I went up to the manager, took care of their check and quickly left the restaurant. I don’t expect people or restaurants to do that. Everyone has their own policies. I figure if I feel so nauseated by something like that, so would everyone else and I am sorry that my child caused this unfortunate experience for them.
Expectation always leads to disappointment, so there is usually none, but what I did expect was to have the mess cleaned up swiftly and not have to sit there watching this regurgitation by my feet, all the while hoping I myself don’t throw up.
I don’t think I can look at the food at Nick’s again without conjuring up memories of that day so that is why I will stay away for a while.
Hey Anita,
That was why I asked you a couple questions in my comment- I wanted to make sure I was wrong from what I read in your original story. It seems I kind of was. You did NOT note that they didn’t clean up the mess and that you had to sit there with it at your feet while deciding what to do. I, personally, would have gotten up and asked for a new table or just politely asked for my check and left.
As often as I eat out and have since I was a child, I have never had to witness anyone choking in a restaurant. I know the panic felt while I was giving my niece the heimlich was crazy and we were just family in our own personal surroundings. I can’t imagine what that lady was going through but if the GM was as you describe him, I agree he was very underreactive to what had happened. That’s too bad.
Laura: I would’ve gotten up except the area where we were sitting in was so tightly spaced, barely much room to maneuver when nothing was happening, let alone when there was a pool of stuff around. I didn’t want to move out of my space primarily because I didn’t want to take the chance of moving the mess on the ground into another area.
Note to self: do not sit at patio when returning to Nick’s in the future! The rest of the restaurant is very spacious, just not the patio.
I wonder how that prime rib she choked on tasted??? think it was good?? 🙂
Naturally, we were relieved that the woman was OK and was able to expel the choking hazard on her own. She was more embarrassed than anything and did apologize to us. Unfortunately, as much as we tried to avert our eyes – that piece of meat lay on the tile next to our table for a good 10 minutes before it was swept up, the liquid remained.
Oh my… luckily she was OK, but the GM’s response was unacceptable as well as the fact they theft the floor in that condition.
I am well acquainted with Nick’s and this is where I am very bothered by this scenario. Both you and Priscilla point out how you SAT THERE after the situation took place.
I am no reporter. I am not a food writer. I am really just a single mom who eats out a lot and ate out a lot as a child while growing up. If there were a crying baby sitting next to us, my Mom offered to take said child while the parents ate to entertain them so the parents could eat in peace. If we saw something that looked amazing we would ask what it was and order one. Sometimes we were the table people moved away from because we made so much noise. (ok, that still happens. Not much I can do…) In short- we were/are NOT restaurant shy.
BUT!
If someone ‘vomited’ next to me? (and this happened to me in the 4th grade. I got up and walked away) I wouldn’t sit there. I can’t see how this is even a plausible situation. Because I am the only Mom on earth who can’t even take care of their own vomit, much less their children’s, so I won’t sit ANYWHERE near it for more than a split second. I’m not kidding- I apologize to the TOILET when I am puking.
I would move WALLS (or jump them, at least) if it meant I could get away from puke. How this didn’t happen for you, I don’t know. Except that you mentioned, IN YOUR REVIEW, that it was ‘water’ she ‘spewed’ up. To quote: “Water was spewed onto the floor beside us, a huge chunk of rib-eye (from her Ribeye Melt $15) flew out of her gullet and onto the floor, no more than a foot away from me.”
You even referred to her mouth as a ‘gullet’. Classy. (not to mention the price point for what she was eating. =/)
Look, I respect that you had a bad experience at Nick’s but you write a food blog. The one prevailing point made when I tell the story about your writing this has been, “Yeah. It’s a food blog. But she wrote about someone choking. I don’t know why.” You don’t even start this saying you had an odd, out of place experience at a place you were trying to review. You started it as a regular review with a vague title. I had no idea it would end up being about a plus sized lady having to give herself a way to live because no one knew how to perform a heimlich on someone large. Then she had the nerve to touch your sandwhich with her ass. (you first wrote it was her friend, but eventually said it was the lady that was choking, so that is whom I refer to here and before…)
I tried to give you the benefit of the doubt but I will use the words of my twin: you are an asshole. Your reaction to this is irrational. Your friend commenting here backs that up. I will stop reading your blog because you are a jerk. Period.
I have to wonder what was more important- the fact that the lady was able to clear her own airway or that you had to deal with such an atrocious situation? (and the aftermath)
I have one bit of advice (from someone who eats out A LOT but doesn’t find it so important she needs to write about every experience): Stop being so egotistical. I have had issues with your previous reviews but haven’t said anything before. You are one chick and clearly (from what I see here) you have very little compassion much less sense (and writing ability). I wouldn’t base my eating out on your word any more than I would base my choosing a school for my children on the advice from a parent who has had a child kicked out of (or left any) school. This ‘review’ solidified my resolve.
Take care.
Laura: again, I’m sorry if you feel this way but the last time I checked, this blog is about my “food adventures” and this was certainly an “adventure” of some sort.
I don’t know how many times I have to reiterate that we sat there because of the pool of liquid by our feet which enclosed us into the little area we were in. And yes, it was her friend’s ass which backed into the sandwich — and yes they were both plus sized ladies. And yes the restaurant did not clean up the mess immediately and ……
I could go on and on……
I learned a long time ago I can’t please everybody and as a reader myself I don’t always agree with everyone’s opinions. It is your prerogative to think/feel that I am an “asshole”, a “jerk” and yes I am “one chick” — and this happens to be that one chick’s blog and it is my prerogative to write about my experiences.
I’m sorry my writing style doesn’t sit well with you. Your issues with my writing is duly noted and it is your prerogative to choose to stop reading, your prerogative to say I am an asshole, a jerk. There are millions of blogs out there in cyberspace. I’m sure you will find one that better suits your palate in no time.
Best wishes.
I do agree with Laura a bit on this—not that you are an a**hole, but you and your friend are both a little insensitive. You turned a food review into someone’s choking, which inconvenienced you. Your style of writing in this post was purely about inconvenience: from “gullet” to “fat ass”, etc. No compassion.
Also, I understand that you were in a tight spot, but I really don’t think they can hold you against your will. If you want to move, you have shoes, you can clearly get up and go. One piece of beef and water does not take up an entire area by which to move. If it is tight, then maybe one of you could have gotten up to get the manager, move the table, etc.
It’s about assuming responsibility yourself, not just blaming others.
I thought your review tasteless and horrible. Isn’t it great that the woman didn’t DIE!! Wouldn’t that have just ruined your day. you probably would never go back to a restaurant where such an incident would occur – how dare they allow such a thing!!! Do you go around and throw out comments like you are “writing a review” to get your meals free often??? Doesn’t saying such a thing bias your experience??
I am a veterinarian who put herself through school by waitressing in high quality, zagat rated restaurants for years. In one restaurant a diner had a mild heart attack. We did the best we could to stabilize him, helping him lie down, lossened his collar, etc. while the paramedics were en route. The gentleman was taken away on a stretcher from the middle of the dining area. Firement arrived first and then paramedics. It was a very small and cozy dining area. We did our best to ensure that the rest of the diners were not affected, but no meals were comped, (diners were offered a complimentary dessert or cocktail, but they declined) and our mature and sophisticated diners understood our predicament and were thankful that the gentleman survived and they all went on to enjoy their meals.
Should the restaurant go broke because of an unfortunate incident that had nothing to do with the service, food, establishment?
Please don’t reply if you are going to continue to defend your unpardonable behavior.
Nick’s sounds like a good restaurant and I would try it despite your nasty review and the fact that you were offered a free desert – how could they, those bastards!!!.
I never tell anyone I am there for a review — EVER — if you had read the review instead of glossed over it, you would have known that.