With its ever-changing tasting menus and highly Instagrammable dishes, Six by Nico has become one of the UK's most talked-about dining chains. 

But while its restaurants have become a favourite among influencers and food bloggers, a growing number of disgruntled diners claim their own experiences have fallen short of the picture-perfect meals splashed across social media.  

The Scottish restaurant group, founded by chef Nico Simeone in Glasgow in 2017, now has 11 branches across the UK, including in London, Birmingham, Manchester, Dublin and Oxford. 

Unlike traditional fine-dining restaurants, Six by Nico is built on offering a more affordable experience, with multi-course tasting menus and drinks costing up to £105 per person.

But it's not just the picturesque plates that keep people coming back. 

The real magic is that every menu features a completely new theme, destination, or memory every six weeks, offering guests a fresh experience with every visit. 

Past menus have included 'Childhood', which put playful twists on nostalgic classics such as eggs and soldiers and beans on toast, while the 'Amalfi Coast' menu featured dishes including fritto misto, lemon pasta, sea bass and gnocchi. 

At its Fitzrovia and Canary Wharf restaurants in London, diners can currently choose between two very different experiences.

The 'New York' menu takes inspiration from the city's iconic neighbourhoods and food culture, featuring an 'Everything Bagel', 'Double Yolker' potato rosti dish, and a 'Coney Island' goat's cheese corn dog. 

'Circus', meanwhile, is a six-course tasting experience based on the golden age of the travelling circus, with standout dishes including the miso sweetcorn-based 'Popcorn Parade' and a 'Flame Eater' dessert dish with fiery s'more ice cream. 

But for some diners, the real spectacle has been taking place around the tables.

In recent months, reviews across several Six by Nico restaurants have raised complaints about slow service, loud music, hygiene issues and food that customers have described as bland or overpriced. 

Some have also claimed there is a stark difference between the carefully presented dishes they see being served to influencers online and what arrives at their own table. 

It is no surprise that digital creators have become a familiar sight at the restaurants - as marketer Toast points out, such young businesses are known to run highly structured, aggressive PR campaigns that lean heavily on influencers to create buzz around every fresh menu launch. 

In Six by Nico's case, where imaginative new menus are introduced every six weeks, this appears to have become a fundamental approach.

A quick social search shows countless beautifully edited creator videos following the exact same playbook: documenting their arrival, unpacking the menu's theme, and sharing dramatic reactions to each course - all of which are clearly labelled as 'AD' or 'INVITE' in the captions. 

The brand's site even features a 'Collaborate With Us' tab that lets popular creators apply and bag complimentary meals in exchange for social media coverage.

A TikTok content creator with 14,000 followers recently provided the Daily Mail with a copy of the exclusive online invitation she received from the brand earlier this year. 

It read: 'We'd love to invite you to an exclusive complimentary preview of our Sherlock Holmes inspired immersive dining experience at Six by Nico, Canary Wharf this Wednesday, 18th February at 7:00pm. 

'Enjoy a six-course murder-mystery evening, reimagined in true Six by Nico style. Your invite also includes a plus one, so you can bring your partner in crime.' 

Some now say Six by Nico's constant pursuit of the perfect shot has contributed to slow or chaotic service – while others have questioned why the food they receive does not always resemble the immaculate plates they have seen online. 

It's clear to see on TripAdvisor, where reviews across several locations reveal a string of complaints about bland food, lengthy waits, poor service and alleged hygiene problems. 

At Canary Wharf, which has an average TripAdvisor rating of 3.8 out of five, one diner who visited last month said the atmosphere and service were 'ok' but claimed the food 'had no flavour at all'. 

'We genuinely couldn’t pick even one dish that was delicious,' they wrote, adding that it was 'certainly not £60 worth of food'. 

A second reviewer who made a reservation in June accused the restaurant's manager of being 'very unprofessional and rude' and claiming that flies – which they described as possibly fruit flies or moths – were swarming around the dining and cooking areas.

A third review alleged that flies had been found in drinks twice and plastic had been discovered in food.

At Fitzrovia, which also has an average rating of 3.8, one customer claimed their £250-plus meal for two left them deeply disappointed.

They said they had been left waiting for 20 minutes before a waiter approached them, while the dishes they received appeared noticeably different from those they had seen on social media.

They detailed: 'Unfortunately Six by Nico does seem to be all smoke and mirrors. As I had seen the courses on social media accounts before, it was obvious ours was of a different standard - even missing some items which were on menu?'

The reviewer claimed some courses arrived so quickly they were sometimes served before previous plates had been cleared. They also complained that staff were 'reeling off' descriptions of the dishes so quickly they could barely understand them.

'The restaurant is so busy they are clearly struggling to keep up with demand,' they added. 

Another Fitzrovia diner, reviewing a ten-course 'Around the World' menu in May 2025, described the service as 'chaotic' after allegedly being served by five different waiters over two hours.

They claimed only one or two of the dishes were 'remotely enjoyable', describing the quality of the ingredients as poor and saying portions were inconsistent.

The Oxford branch, which has a 3.7 rating, has faced similar criticism, with one customer in August 2026 reporting the New York menu as disappointing, claiming the chicken was 'very dry' and the courses were 'bland and samey'. 

Another reviewer claimed they left after two hours having been served just four of the six tasting menu dishes, further describing the service as 'terribly slow' and said the food, while 'pretty’, was 'poorly executed' and 'fairly flavourless'. 

In Glasgow, where the Six by Nico story began, one March 2025 reviewer described the food as 'just so bland', adding: 'I think this is an influencer's paradise - genuinely nothing special and everything tasted the same.'

Another customer, writing in July 2026, accused the restaurant of 'false advertising' over the Ibiza-themed experience shown online, claiming the restaurant offered nothing more than an Ibiza-inspired playlist.

And at the Dublin branch, one diner in August 2024 complained of waiting more than 30 minutes for a pork course, which allegedly arrived cold.

They also claimed the paired wine had arrived around 25 minutes before the food and said there had been notably more attention given to content creators dining at other tables. 

They wrote: 'There seemed to be a lot of emphasis and attention given to someone recording a video in the restaurant that night. 

'We were served by two other servers at different stages and it was almost impossible to understand what they said when they were explaining the dishes. We left feeling very underwhelmed and disappointed and would not be in a hurry to return again.'

Despite the complaints, Six by Nico continues to draw crowds with its unusual concept, constantly changing menus and dishes designed to look as good on camera as they do on the plate.

And it looks as though the brand is looking to branch out, with The Caterer reporting that the group – which now runs a sister bar concept Somewhere by Nico in Glasgow and Edinburgh – is looking at expansion overseas off the back of strong sales.

Parent company Sixco Group reported a 42 per cent increase in revenue, reaching £41.9million for the year ending June 30, 2024. 

Sixco Group chairman Rob Wirszycz told The Caterer: '[Chef] Nico's genius in coming up with the concept of fixed-price, six-course tasting menus that change every six weeks has struck a resounding chord with the dining public.

'The plans we have developed to extend our network and broaden our offering in the UK and overseas are enormously exciting.' 

But as influencers continue to flock to the restaurants, some diners are now questioning whether the reality of the Six by Nico experience is quite as polished as the one appearing on their social media feeds.

The Daily Mail has contacted Six by Nico for comment.