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NELSON’S Retools

By on October 3, 2006

Nelsons

One of the traits of a great sports coach is his or her ability not just to prepare their team, but to make in-game adjustments. Sometimes one misinterprets the qualities of the team they face. It happens all the time in sports, but it happens in business, too.

When NELSON’S opened in April, the focus was on high-end seafood with an "American-European Haute" flair. The refit of the old Foster’s location looked exquisite, and the restaurant was ready to wow Raleigh.

Summer is a strange time for a restaurant in Raleigh, especially when it seems to cater to the inside-the-beltline crowd that can handle a menu pushing the price envelope. All of those people are usually at the beach! The restaurant opened with good food reviews, however the restaurant’s prices seemed to be the focus of its reputation.

With new drink and oyster bar specials and a fully revamped dinner menu (.pdf file), it seems that NELSON’S is changing their gameplan a bit. They’ve almost gutted to the old menu, and dropped the average price of dishes anywhere from 8% to 10%.

The appetizer section is almost wholly new. Gone are the caviar, shrimp cocktail, and Calamari tattoo, among others. On the menu now are fried calamari, fried green tomatoes, spinach & artichoke dip, a lobster/crab dish, grilled shrimp, and eight other excellent sounding appetizers. The soups are the same, but now are joined by a butternut squash soup (the fantastic She Crab thankfully made the cut). Additionally there is a warm chicken salad.

The entree section shows the staff has been hard at work reinventing the place, too. The addition of some tantalizing seafood dishes conveys a slight shift away from straight up seafood dishes in favor of "seafood-prepared" dishes. With the non-pasta dishes, most are replacements for similar counterparts on the old menu, however there are few more entrees below that sensitive $20 price point in Raleigh. The entree accompaniments and the raw bar are largely unchanged.

The restaurant also features a Main Bar and Skyline Loft menu (.pdf) with twenty items, all focused around about a $10 price point. The bar is currently running several weekly specials such as Tuesday’s 1/2-off wine bottle night (October only) and Thursday’s $4 martinis. NELSON’S is also one of the few good restaurants in Raleigh which serves an excellent Sunday Brunch (.pdf).

It’s good to see NELSON’S adjust their gameplan. The owners are passionate about offering a first rate dining experience, and are offering a type of restaurant unduplicated in Raleigh. There are riskier chefs around, but it seems there is always a niche for seafood that isn’t overpowered by its fellow ingredients, especially when everyone is back from the beach.

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Posted in | 20 Responses

  • http://www.PermissionToSuck.com/ Bruce DeBoer

    “The owners are passionate about offering a first rate dining experience, and are offering a type of restaurant unduplicated in Raleigh.”
    Unduplicated? Ok folks – give me an elevator pitch on what differentiates Nelson’s.
    IMHO – we haven’t seen the last repositioning of Nelson’s.

  • http://www.PermissionToSuck.com Bruce DeBoer

    “The owners are passionate about offering a first rate dining experience, and are offering a type of restaurant unduplicated in Raleigh.”
    Unduplicated? Ok folks – give me an elevator pitch on what differentiates Nelson’s.
    IMHO – we haven’t seen the last repositioning of Nelson’s.

  • Dana

    Bruce,
    You might be wanting my comments to say something they are not. I didn’t say unsurpassed, I said unduplicated. I can’t think of another restaurant in the area who has a menu like this, outside of a private club. Most of the other restaurants are focusing on newer themes like fusion, southern, french, etc. instead of a classic kind of fare.

  • Dana

    Bruce,
    You might be wanting my comments to say something they are not. I didn’t say unsurpassed, I said unduplicated. I can’t think of another restaurant in the area who has a menu like this, outside of a private club. Most of the other restaurants are focusing on newer themes like fusion, southern, french, etc. instead of a classic kind of fare.

  • http://www.PermissionToSuck.com/ Bruce DeBoer

    Nope – I meant undifferentiated. Give me an elevator pitch that differentiates Nelson’s from their competition.

  • http://www.PermissionToSuck.com Bruce DeBoer

    Nope – I meant undifferentiated. Give me an elevator pitch that differentiates Nelson’s from their competition.

  • Lindsay Bolton

    I think nelsons is going the way 86% of restaurants go….out of bussiness. They ar reinavating because they are losing money buy the way. I have heard the owners have had to find new investors and are dropping a 100k a month into the place

  • Lindsay Bolton

    I think nelsons is going the way 86% of restaurants go….out of bussiness. They ar reinavating because they are losing money buy the way. I have heard the owners have had to find new investors and are dropping a 100k a month into the place

  • Roger

    I agree with Lindsay. And if what she say is true, i see a few more changes and then a new onwer/business. i wonder what would be good for that space

  • Roger

    I agree with Lindsay. And if what she say is true, i see a few more changes and then a new onwer/business. i wonder what would be good for that space

  • Raleigh Born and Bred

    This was bound to happen. The place takes years to open, was hampered by a million $ law suit with Harris Teeter (something about Teeter’s freezers leaking into the space), and a million $ + revamp of the place.
    So they open up with pretentious notions of every ITB snob clamoring to pay $40 a plate. (with valet service too…how droll…I can park my own car in Cameron Village, thanks…) In classic Raleigh fashion, they build it, people come at first, are underwhelmed and overcharged, and now they are scrambling to save it by currently charging the prices they should have charged in the beginning. I won’t even go into, or libel myself with talking about the almost folklore-like reputation and folly of the owners themselves.
    To be fair, I ate there once when they first opened and although my wallet screamed, it WAS pretty good and we had excellent service. I tagged along with the same friends on a second visit recently, just to have wine and apps and the quality of food and service had dropped dramatically. And the place was nearly empty despite it being 8 PM on a Saturday. I’d go there for some wine again…sit in the Loft bar and chill. But I doubt it will be open much longer.

  • Raleigh Born and Bred

    This was bound to happen. The place takes years to open, was hampered by a million $ law suit with Harris Teeter (something about Teeter’s freezers leaking into the space), and a million $ + revamp of the place.
    So they open up with pretentious notions of every ITB snob clamoring to pay $40 a plate. (with valet service too…how droll…I can park my own car in Cameron Village, thanks…) In classic Raleigh fashion, they build it, people come at first, are underwhelmed and overcharged, and now they are scrambling to save it by currently charging the prices they should have charged in the beginning. I won’t even go into, or libel myself with talking about the almost folklore-like reputation and folly of the owners themselves.
    To be fair, I ate there once when they first opened and although my wallet screamed, it WAS pretty good and we had excellent service. I tagged along with the same friends on a second visit recently, just to have wine and apps and the quality of food and service had dropped dramatically. And the place was nearly empty despite it being 8 PM on a Saturday. I’d go there for some wine again…sit in the Loft bar and chill. But I doubt it will be open much longer.

  • leslie fincher

    I would like to say that I am a frequent customer at Nelson’s Restaurant and people should really go check it out and form opinions for themselves. It is the perfect spot to go and grab a glass of wine with the girls and eat from the newly renovated bar menu that has something for everyone’s palate. It offers everything from crab dip, tuna, and a scrumptious grilled cheese with tomato bisque. Or if you are celebrating a special occasion, their formal dinner menu is out of this world. Live music thursday, friday and saturday nights and you can’t beat their martini menu at $4 a drink on thursdays. We hope to see you there!!!!

  • leslie fincher

    I would like to say that I am a frequent customer at Nelson’s Restaurant and people should really go check it out and form opinions for themselves. It is the perfect spot to go and grab a glass of wine with the girls and eat from the newly renovated bar menu that has something for everyone’s palate. It offers everything from crab dip, tuna, and a scrumptious grilled cheese with tomato bisque. Or if you are celebrating a special occasion, their formal dinner menu is out of this world. Live music thursday, friday and saturday nights and you can’t beat their martini menu at $4 a drink on thursdays. We hope to see you there!!!!

  • David

    Although I cannot plug Nelson’s from the perspective of a manager/owner/waitress, (ahem), my wife did go there and enjoyed everything about it. Maybe I need to find out how much she spent there…

  • David

    Although I cannot plug Nelson’s from the perspective of a manager/owner/waitress, (ahem), my wife did go there and enjoyed everything about it. Maybe I need to find out how much she spent there…

  • new in town

    We live near Cameron Village and have tried Nelson’s a couple of times. Though the drinks were good and the menu looked appealing, on both occasions, the staff was rude. The first time was just after opening. We had ordered drinks in the loft bar. My boyfriend ordered the Guinness float off their drink menu and the bartender proceeded to carry on about how disgusting that was and he couldn’t believe someone ordered it. After about 10 minutes of waiting we asked again and he advised us that we would just have to wait because he didn’t have the ingredients at the bar. We ended up waiting for about 15 minute for the drink. If we had ordered something unusual that would be one thing, but it was a drink on their menu. Last week we stopped in to see how their brunch looked. We walked in and asked to see the brunch menu for future reference and we immediately advised we couldn’t be in their in shorts. We had told them we were just checking out the menu. The host was sitting on a stool and never got up. When I asked him the price of the brunch, he just pointed at a sign. With the above recommendations we may give them one more shot, but I am really skeptical. I was honestly hoping for their success due to the lack of interesting locally owned places in Raleigh.

  • new in town

    We live near Cameron Village and have tried Nelson’s a couple of times. Though the drinks were good and the menu looked appealing, on both occasions, the staff was rude. The first time was just after opening. We had ordered drinks in the loft bar. My boyfriend ordered the Guinness float off their drink menu and the bartender proceeded to carry on about how disgusting that was and he couldn’t believe someone ordered it. After about 10 minutes of waiting we asked again and he advised us that we would just have to wait because he didn’t have the ingredients at the bar. We ended up waiting for about 15 minute for the drink. If we had ordered something unusual that would be one thing, but it was a drink on their menu. Last week we stopped in to see how their brunch looked. We walked in and asked to see the brunch menu for future reference and we immediately advised we couldn’t be in their in shorts. We had told them we were just checking out the menu. The host was sitting on a stool and never got up. When I asked him the price of the brunch, he just pointed at a sign. With the above recommendations we may give them one more shot, but I am really skeptical. I was honestly hoping for their success due to the lack of interesting locally owned places in Raleigh.

  • Justin Porter

    Tonight my wife and a few of our friends went to Nelsons in Raleigh. It was our second try as our first experience was less than good. Upon our arrival, our table was ready and we were sat in the side dining room. We were unlucky to be there on a night where a friend of the owner of Nelsons and a group of about 10 of his friends were dining adjacent to us in the dining room. The acoustics were awful. The people were drunk and screaming the whole night. We politely asked them to settle down a little and their response was, “We are spending more money than you so who cares if we are loud!” Well at that point I felt it was time to involve a manager. We asked that the manager to say something and we were assured it would be taken care of as we were not the only ones complaining. Well nothing happened for about 20 minutes. Finally after we were DONE with our entrees the manager came out and asked us if we would like to move. We asked for the check and felt that we should be compensated in some way for the bad experience. Well they not only did nothing again, we were offered not even a free iced tea. We were never acknowledged again and we left with no apology from the management. Our server Kelly was very apologetic but her hands were tied. It was a management issue and nothing was done. We were insulted, belittled, and treated like second class by the “friends” of the owner so I will never eat at Nelson’s again and I suggest you don’t either. The owner should be ashamed of himself for allowing behavior like this from his “friends”. The steaks and seafood are just as good at any other restaurant in the area with alot less attitude. Diner Beware.

  • Justin Porter

    Tonight my wife and a few of our friends went to Nelsons in Raleigh. It was our second try as our first experience was less than good. Upon our arrival, our table was ready and we were sat in the side dining room. We were unlucky to be there on a night where a friend of the owner of Nelsons and a group of about 10 of his friends were dining adjacent to us in the dining room. The acoustics were awful. The people were drunk and screaming the whole night. We politely asked them to settle down a little and their response was, “We are spending more money than you so who cares if we are loud!” Well at that point I felt it was time to involve a manager. We asked that the manager to say something and we were assured it would be taken care of as we were not the only ones complaining. Well nothing happened for about 20 minutes. Finally after we were DONE with our entrees the manager came out and asked us if we would like to move. We asked for the check and felt that we should be compensated in some way for the bad experience. Well they not only did nothing again, we were offered not even a free iced tea. We were never acknowledged again and we left with no apology from the management. Our server Kelly was very apologetic but her hands were tied. It was a management issue and nothing was done. We were insulted, belittled, and treated like second class by the “friends” of the owner so I will never eat at Nelson’s again and I suggest you don’t either. The owner should be ashamed of himself for allowing behavior like this from his “friends”. The steaks and seafood are just as good at any other restaurant in the area with alot less attitude. Diner Beware.