The neighborhood is full of casual beach bars, and NICO is the exception - an upbeat oyster bar running French cuisine through a wood-fired oven, with a raw bar that Chef Nico Romo curates himself from the best oyster farms on the coast. Romo is the youngest-ever American member of both the French Culinary Academy and the Master Chefs of France, one of 66 Master Chefs in the country, and he runs the room like it's a French brasserie that happens to sit next to the water. The food is Lowcountry seafood done with European technique: swordfish, flounder, a dozen oyster preparations, and a beef tartare on grilled cheese with fried capers and a sprinkle of caviar that shows up in the Post and Courier's review as the dish to order.
The crowd is a genuine mix of locals and tourists, which the Post and Courier specifically called out as the room's best quality - solos and pairs at the two bars, regulars at a table, and the chef coming over to talk to people who don't know who he is. There are weekly specials (half off oysters Monday, $40 a pound crab legs Tuesday, an oyster class Wednesday), a Sunday brunch, and a happy hour that makes the weekday afternoon the easiest way in. It's not the most expensive thing in the neighborhood, but it's the most interesting, and the oysters are the reason people drive over from downtown.