Nik-n-Willies Pizza-Deli has a cute slogan: “Friends Don’t Let Friends Eat Franchise Pizza.” Celebrating its 20th anniversary in South Reno, this rustic, family-owned restaurant is located at 1485 Geiger Grade (NV-341), about a mile east of The Summit shopping center.
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| Westbound Geiger Grade (NV-341), heading toward The Summit shopping center |
The countrified dining room at Nik-n-Willies isn’t the best spot for a marriage proposal.
Yet a Little League team or Scout troop would be perfectly comfortable here. And in fact, photos and plaques on the walls reflect the restaurant’s support for nearby schools including Brown Elementary, Damonte Ranch High School and Galena High School.
At dinnertime on a recent Saturday, no one was eating-in at Nik-n-Willies but the teens in the kitchen were engaged in filling a steady stream of carry-out orders.
Several customers knew the employees personally and shot the breeze with them while waiting for take-and-bake or hot-to-go pizzas.
The take-out menu for Nik-n-Willies emphasizes that its “hand-tossed dough and savory sauces are homemade and our selected cheeses are grated daily.” There are long lists of Nik-n-Willies Favorites pizzas with regional names like Comstock Lode, Sierra, Washoe Zephyr and more, plus loads of individual ingredients for Build-Your-Own Pizzas, in sizes from small to extra-large.
Calzones, chicken wings, salads and sandwiches are on the menu, too. The description for the Hot Meatball Sandwich ($5.95) reads, “Our signature sandwich will not leave you hungry! Zesty meatballs marinated in red sauce, with a generous helping of melting mozzarella cheese. IRRESISTIBLE!”
Well, if something is labeled a “signature dish” — at a neighborhood restaurant that’s been around for 20 years — that means you have to try it.
The Nik-n-Willies Hot Meatball Sandwich is indeed a hefty and delicious “knife-and-fork” kind of sandwich, big enough for two people to split, as my hubby and I did.
It had the made-from-scratch quality you’d expect from your grandma’s kitchen.
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| Nik-n-Willies Hot Meatball Sandwich |
Other eye-catching options, to possibly try on a return visit, include Hot Italian Dip or Hot Pastrami sandwiches ($5.50 and $5.95, respectively).
Since pizza here is the main event, of course, we tried a couple of those, too — a small sausage pizza ($8.50) and a small Earthborn pizza ($12.50) topped with mushrooms, black olives, green peppers, red onions, artichoke hearts and tomatoes.
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| Small sausage pizza at Nik-n-Willies |
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| Nik-n-Willies Earthborn pizza (with parmesan and crushed red pepper) |
We didn’t know, until after we’d ordered our pizzas, that thin-crust pizza is available at Nik-n-Willies. We’ll request that next time, as the medium-crust pizza was “bready” for our tastes. I really liked the abudance of fresh veggies on the Earthborn pizza, however.
Nik-n-Willies seems very keen on pleasing local families and frequently mails out coupons urging South Renoites to discover the difference from franchise pizza. (By the way, please note that Nik-n-Willies on Geiger Grade is not affiliated with a similarly-named Nick-N-Willy's chain in Colorado).
While the pizza at Nik-n-Willies is not gourmet — at least not by my Chicago pizza standards —we try to help local businesses and would surely choose Nik-n-Willies over a chain like Papa John’s.
To order from Nik-n-Willies, call (775) 851-4400. To view the menu, visit http://www.pizzanik.com/menu.html .
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