Guests can select their cut from the display board. | Photo by Lisa Jennings
On a random Wednesday night in September, Nick & Sam’s steakhouse in Dallas was packed.
The bar was bustling. Private rooms were fully booked. And in the dining room, servers weaved briskly from booths to tables, sometimes laden with large display boards of raw beef, ready to explain the options that varied from a Mishima Reserve Center Cut Ribeye, to a 32-ounce Chateaubriand (“the mother of all tenderloin”), to be carved tableside.
In a town crowded with high-end meat, this is Dallas’ steakhouse.
Or so argues Sam Romano, the Sam for whom the restaurant is named, and who now runs it with longtime chef and partner Samir Dhurandhar.
Nick & Sam’s is one of the country’s top-grossing restaurants, raking in $22.9 million in sales in 2025 with 300 seats. It’s No. 29 on this year’s Top 100 Independent Restaurants with data compiled by Restaurant Business.
And though many restaurants on the list are buzzy new concepts, Nick & Sam’s has been around a while.
It was founded in 1999 by Sam Romano’s father, Phil Romano, a renowned restaurateur who created brands like Romano’s Macaroni Grill, Eatzi’s, Fuddruckers, Cozymel’s and the Dallas incubator Trinity Groves.
Nick & Sam’s, however, was the most high-end of the senior Romano’s concepts, moving into an uptown neighborhood in Dallas that, at the time, was still up-and-coming. The building was once a morgue (there is talk of ghosts), and then it was a Lawry’s before Nick & Sam’s moved in.
Sam took over in 2002, when he was only 25, as his dad retired. (The “Nick” in the name refers to the son of former partner Patrick Colombo, who is no longer involved.)
“My dad was getting older and phasing out of the business,” Sam said. “But I grew up working here. This is our pride and joy.”
Now, Phil Romano paints, and his art is displayed (and for sale) in the restaurant, as well as a local gallery.
The family is involved in other projects. They’re reworking Trinity Groves to lease out the space and add a little concert venue. They are investors in a movie production company behind films like “Roof Man” with Channing Tatum. They hold a minority stake in the Texas Rangers.
The latter was a deal, in fact, signed during a meeting at Nick & Sam’s. It’s a power-dining spot, which keeps the restaurant busy during the week.
It’s also the type of restaurant where professional athletes and other town royals are likely to hang. There’s a steak named for former Maverick’s player and Nick & Sam’s regular Luka Dončić (even though he was traded to the Lakers). It’s a 77-ounce New York strip, aged for 77 days — a reference to his jersey number.
There’s also The Dirk, a 41-ounce tenderloin, named for retired Maverick Dirk Nowitzki.
But that’s not why people come to Nick & Sam’s.
They come, argues Sam, because it’s an old-school steakhouse without seeming old. There’s a timelessness to the restaurant.
“A big part of the appeal is you come here and you know it’s the same restaurant it was 27 years ago,” he said.
The menu may have changed and become a bit more complex, he added, “but you still have that old-school feel. We’re a new generation steakhouse but an old-school place.”
The king crab at Nick & Sam’s. | Photo by Lisa Jennings
Sam also credits the fact that Dhurandhar still leads the kitchen and is there most days.
“I love to cook,” Dhurandhar said. “I like to cook when no one’s around, so they don’t get in my way, so I come in early.”
Dhurandhar describes Nick & Sam’s as a steakhouse, through and through, but one with the variety of The Cheesecake Factory.
Guests can throw down to impress a client with Hyogo wagyu at about $70 to $80 per ounce (for a while, Nick & Sam’s was one of about 10 restaurants in the world certified to offer it, he said).
On the menu that night was also a Sanuki Olive Wagyu from the Kagawa Prefecture of Japan, from cattle raised on a diet of olives that have been pressed for oil. Nick & Sam’s is one of few restaurants serving it on the bone, which in Texas is known as a “cowboy cut.”
But there’s also a wagyu hot dog, which is 2.5-feet long, and served on a specially made bun with all the condiments.
“When I opened the restaurant, there was a certain clientele. I’m seeing their children coming now, with their business partners,” said Dhurandhar. “People are always looking for something different, and I try to give that to them.”
Sushi was added to the menu about 10 years ago. | Photo by Lisa Jennings
There’s also lots of seafood, from Alaskan king crab and Nigerian tiger prawns to fried lobster. Dhurandhar also launched a sushi program about 10 years ago, which he said has been hugely popular.
Sides include the top-selling Bang Bang Broccoli, fried tempura-style with serrano aioli and sesame. There’s an Alaskan King Crab elote with roasted corn and generous chunks of crab spiked with Sriracha aioli. Brussels sprouts are sauteed with Duroc pork belly confit, Cantonese orange sauce and peanuts.
And then there are the desserts — big, showy seven-layer cakes and pastries, served with sparklers and a dry-ice fog for extra drama. And tables inevitably end up with clouds of cotton candy (which also makes an appearance in a cocktail) that guests happily share.
Nick & Sam’s server Teck Tan distributes an array of desserts. | Photo by Lisa Jennings
Part of what makes a steakhouse like this old school is the professionalism of the service.
Some, like Benny Bajrami, have been with the restaurant since early days. Bajrami has reportedly been dubbed the most in-demand restaurant server, who knows everyone in town, where they want to sit and what they want for dinner.
Despite the volume of this restaurant, there is a notable absence of technology. Servers, for example, prefer to write down orders. “It feels more personal,” said one server.
A human plays the piano every night, rather than a soundtrack.
Sam said technology is kept to the back of the house. When he was seven-years old, he wrote down reservations that came in by phone on paper, for example. Now the restaurant uses OpenTable and other table management systems.
But it’s still a feat of magic to fill, but not overpack, the restaurant, he added, and that comes down to an old-school technique:
“Good staff at the front door,” he said.
Longtime server Benny Bajrami is said to be the most connected in Dallas. | Photo by Lisa Jennings
Phil Romano was known for creating chain concepts, but both Sam and Dhurandhar are adamant that there will be only one Nick & Sam’s.
“It’s good to expand a restaurant in some cases, but I think this is so special, these four walls. It would be hard to truly replicate what this restaurant is,” said Sam.
Dhurandhar agreed.
“For a lot of years, I wanted to [open another location], but I don’t think I could ever duplicate this place,” said the chef. “This is unique.”
“But,” he added with a smile, “would I do another steakhouse? I have some good ideas.”
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Lisa Jennings is a veteran restaurant industry reporter and editor who covers the fast-casual sector, independent restaurants and emerging chain concepts.
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Dining and Cooking