A letter from West Side · Broadway corridor
Nick's on Broadway
Derek Wagner's nose-to-tail West Side room — Rhode Island farms and small-boat harbors, from breakfast through dinner
Twenty-four, on Broadway
Derek Wagner took over the diner-scale space at 500 Broadway in 2002 when he was twenty-four — stitching together what had been a neighborhood breakfast spot into a nose-to-tail restaurant threaded through Providence's mornings and evenings.
He kept the original name, cooking through the storefront's tin ceilings and worn tile as the West Side began its long revival.
Rhode Island on the plate
Wagner has grown Nick's into a study in Rhode Island's small farms, harbors, and forage — sourcing more than eighty-five percent of the menu locally and butchering whole animals in-house for house-cured bacon, sausages, and charcuterie.
Brunch, lunch, and dinner all share the same reverence for regional seafood and pasture-raised meat — an ethos that earned him 2026 James Beard Best Chef: Northeast finalist honors.
Between Federal Hill and the West Side
The Broadway corridor stretches out of downtown Providence into a working residential neighborhood of Victorian triple-deckers and small storefronts.
Nick's holds down a corner between Federal Hill's Italian markets and the West Side's independent shops — its front windows catching the light of a street that has stayed proudly local through decades of change.
With gratitude,
Derek Wagner
Chef & Owner, Nick's on Broadway
Order this
The dishes that made Nick's on Broadway
Rhode Island Fish Crudo
A rotating plate of day-boat catch dressed simply with local citrus and olive oil — a portrait of the day's harbor.
House Cassoulet
Slow-simmered white beans with the kitchen's own cured pork, sausage, and confit — built around whole-animal butchery.
Brunch Pancakes
A cinnamon-scented weekend staple that has drawn Providence regulars for more than two decades.
Good to know
Nick's on Broadway, answered
When's the best time to walk in?
Nick's serves brunch, lunch, and dinner from a single kitchen — an off-peak Wednesday afternoon is often the easiest walk-in window.
When are you closed?
The restaurant is dark Monday and Tuesday; the last dinner reservation is 9pm Wednesday through Saturday.
What's the secret menu move?
Ask about the whole-animal specials at the counter — Wagner's team butchers on-site and the menu shifts weekly.