Hickory's Smokehouse Nuthall — Restaurant in Broxtowe

First impressions when looking at Hickory’s from the outside, I was unsure, it just looked like a revamped pub to me. On entering through the main front doors, it drastically changed into a great looking modern Smokehouse venue. The smell of the barbequed food hits you as you walk in getting your taste buds tingling instantly. A member of staff greeted us at the entrance, and once we’d confirmed our boking details, we were shown to the table. Whilst walking through taking in the surroundings, the restaurant is certainly in keeping with what you’d expect from such an establishment with a few different seating areas from stools, booth type areas and the trusty dining tables. On being sat at the table, a cheeky little bag of popcorn was placed in the middle of the table to nibble on which I thought was a nice touch. Scanning over a good variety of choices in the menu, it was great looking through to the kitchen area and watching the chiefs working away with an array of different meats. After a few minutes going over the menu, we ordered as best we could to make sure we tried as much as possible. The Smokehouse Platter for two, Roast Seabass Fillet, Southern Fried Chicken and the Mac N Cheese. Whilst waiting for the food, I had a quick walk round and to my amazement found a little cinema area for the kids with about 15 or so seats. What a great idea to keep children entertained during waits between food. Not sure about getting them back out again though! Also outside was a large children’s play area which looked amazing for the little ones with loads of things for them to do. This is a very family orientated restaurant by any standards. When the food arrived, a member of staff came over and went through all the different meats we had on the platter and offered a number of sauces to go with each meat. After munching our way through as much as we could, it beat us. The portions sizes were excellent and the quality of food was amazing. It’s not very often we don’t find issue with some part of the food when eating out, but on this occasion, we couldn’t fault any of the food, it was top class. Fresh, succulent and cooked to perfection. Moving onto the drinks, again we couldn’t fault the available selection or what we had. Building our way up from a really nice fresh coffee to get going, moving onto a pint of beer, a bottle of wine and a number of well-made cocktails which each had a nice kick. Whilst I don’t have many negatives to say about Hickory’s, after receiving a reminder of the booking on the day, it stated there were time limits implemented which depended on the number of guests. Reading this I was concerned as we don’t tend to rush our food but it displayed as follows: 1-2 guests = 1hr 15mins, 3-4 guests = 1hr 30 min and lastly 5-6 guests = 1hr 45 mins. I did question this and was told that it was for busy periods only. I do understand you may need to have some time restrictions in place, but 1hr 15 mins for lunch is way too short. I wouldn’t be relaxed at all if I was informed this time limit was in place. This should certainly be reconsidered. One other minor gripe was that we seemed to have three different servers. Taking into account we went shortly after Hickory’s opened for business, this may have been a one off. In summary, this is an excellent place to eat for either family or friends, the staff are very accommodating, the drinks are good and the food to die for. We will certainly be eating here again.

Since the above review, my family along with another have been to the restaurant twice more. By doing so this certainly emphasised the issue with the time limit the restaurant imposes on it customers. The 1 hour 45 minutes we had was just not enough to relax and enjoy the food comfortably with children. You simply do not have enough time and before we knew it, we were being asked to leave!

Lastly a service charge was again added to the bill which is something I most certainly do not agree with. It should be for the customer to determine if and how good the service is and to tip accordingly not...

Well I did the review below after my first visit ti Hickorys. I've been four more times since then, one more in an evening and three more at 11am for "brunch". The whole menu is available at this time of day but between 11am when it opens and 2pm you can get breakfast-type food. The three times I'd been at 11am I ordered the same thing, the "Great American breakfast". For starters it's huge! It's a bit like a large full English with a whole sweet waffle and a pot of maple syrup on the side instead of toast and butter. It comes with 2 of everything so 2 bacon, 2 sausage patties, 2 fried eggs, 2 tomatoes etc. The first time I had it I have to say it was A-MAZING! The mushrooms apparently have magic dust on them and wow they were yummy. The second time I had it I got the addition of tata-tots a bit like round small hash browns. I didn't get them the first time as you will see from the two photos. There was also much less magic dust on the mushrooms. This weekend I went again and to use the word disappointed is an understatement. I had the same breakfast for the third time and I don't know if they've changed chef or they don't care anymore. There were no tata-tots, I asked the waitress, she had no idea as she'd only been working there for 3 weeks!!! 3 weeks and you don't know the menu??! She came back with a plate of tata-tots and said yes they were supposed to be on the breakfast so clearly the chef didn't put them on. The bacon, tomatoes and waffle all looked as if they'd been in their respective pans for a second or two at most they were virtually raw. I had to go up and ask to pay I explained how disappointed I was and gave the above reasons and the waitress said "I'm sorry". When I'd been before I really felt it was a special place but there was no care this weekend, nothing special about it. I could justify the prices before but not sure I can now. I even filled in an online form on Saturday to feedback but nobody's got back to me!

Heard great reports about this but admit even though I live quite close I had no idea it had changed from the cheap pub it used to be. The prices now aren't cheap but every bit of food we had was large, yummy and well worth it! The choice on the menu was vast. We were given popcorn and a bottle of water as soon as we sat down. The staff were all exceptionally friendly but professional. They all seemed happy so must be a great place to work (actually heard it had won an award for that?). As I'm disabled with mobility issues the member of staff actually asked me where we'd like to sit that would be most comfortable for me!! Wow that's Customer service, something you should expect but unfortunately something you never seem to get!! I did book a table even though we went at 2pm and do think it's advisable so as not to be disappointed. All on the same level and disabled parking right outside the door. Can't comment on the toilets as didn't go! Definitely worth a visit if you like barbecue / tex-mex / American style food. Trust me you won't be...

Sorry it's a long one!

We journeyed the 40mins down the M1 for my Hubby's big 4-0 birthday meal. A huge fan of the States I though this would be a good meal out and something a little different. Well it wasnt a good night...it was an absolutely amazing one. The whole atmosphere from the moment you walk in grabs you. The traditional American style. The hazey wood smoke. Country music. The staff summed up in three woulda would be: Attentive, efficient and knowledgeable. This place has only been open for 5 days yet the staff had more menu knowledge than probably anywhere else I've eaten (and I've previously worked in restaurants myself).

We were steated at the table quickly, offered drinks, popcorn (!) and water was popped on the table. The small one disappeared.to the play park outside (she said it's so much fun)

The supervisor for the area came over and introduced himself (Andy - Amazing guy!) And gave some fabulous recommendations. On hearing it was a birthday he sent over a free beer for the hubby which was totally unexpected and so kind. Molly, our server, was lovely and bubbly and gave some great recommendations as well (Blueberry lemonade! I didn't even mind I was Designated driver anymore and missing out on the amazing cocktail menu).

The food was just divine. We have the sharing platter on Andy's recommendation as couldn't decide and everything was beautiful. The meat mealts in your mouth. It's perfectly spices and seasoned. The Hickory's BBQ sauce and gravy need to be bottled and sold for home use!

My only criticism would be the kids menu. There's no little kids/bigger kids meal options. They are all one size. My 8 year old cleared hers and was still hungry to started sharing our platter (which we don't mind as we didn't even manage to finish)

As we finished out meal Andy came back over and gifted hubby with a selection of Hickory's goodies and a baseball signed by all the staff on shift! It was so unexpected and really above and beyond.

Churros for pudding were amazing. It's real chocolate to dunk in too and even though we only ordered two between three of us we couldn't finish them.

Just as we finished one of the staff came over from the bar and invited our 8yr old to go learn how to make milkshake behind the bar. She had an absolute blast making it.and will be riding that sugar Hugh for a out a week!

Honestly though Hickory's is just amazing food and great southern hospitality! Wewill definitely be back and it's more than worth the drive. Thank you so much for making my hubby's birthday...