Review Archive/June 2010
Updated June 1, 2010


Niki's Food Shop/Charlotte, NC
Home of the Niki Salad!

By Jay Whipple/Trend Magazine Online™

I received the 411 about this place from a former lady friend; no, her name is not Niki – smile. It was Betty Boo – Just Kiding. Her name is really not important now because she turned out to be a bit psychotic but that is a different story.

This place sits along the Beatties Ford Road corridor which connects Interstate 85 to Uptown/Downtown/Center City Charlotte. The road is named in honor of Mr. John Beatty who was one of the early Scottish-Irish land owners that starting migrating to the area in the mid 1770’s. Today the corridor is known as the heart of the Black community in Charlotte and is home to historical sites such as Friendship Missionary Baptist Church, the United House of Prayer for All People, West Charlotte High School, the Excelsior Club, Mechanics and Farmers Bank, and Johnson C. Smith University. You can see and learn more about these sites and others on the Charlotte Black/African-American Heritage Tour presented by Queen City Tours and Travel.

My former lady friend requested a Niki Salad from Niki’s one day as I was in a giving mood and wanted to treat her to lunch. I then asked, “What is a Niki Salad?” Man she then perked up, her eyes became wide open, and she began to describe the salad as most women would describe a day trip to the spa, salon, shopping, dinner, and dancing while frolicking around in a chauffeured limousine.

After listening to her Niki’s Salad five minute promotional speech, I was just as excited about this salad as she was and I did not mind driving across town to secure one for her and myself. The restaurant is located in a terribly small shopping plaza and the parking stinks. Their restrooms are small but were clean and my take out order took about ten minutes to complete. The service was not very friendly, they only accepted cash, and I had to ask for a receipt.

The meal on the other hand was worth the trouble as it proved to be indeed something that I had never experienced before in a salad – or I should say a Mega Salad. The serving is so big that it is actually a meal within itself with room for left overs. It comes with of course garden fresh salad, huge chucks of grilled chicken, bacon and get this – several whole hard boiled eggs. Yes, I said “Whole boiled eggs!” Yummy! The price tag was $7.70 with tax and well worth the cost. I have since turned other folks onto one of Charlotte’s best kept clique secrets and now you are part of my clique.

Niki’s Food Shop is located at 2200 Beatties Road, Charlotte, NC, 28216, near Interstate 85. Their phone number is 704-398-2638. Tell them that Trend Magazine Online™ sent you!

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