Hickory's Smokehouse Derby — Restaurant in England

The last time I came up this way, was when the Bonnie Prince was still going and that was a long time ago. But wow, what a transformation! My friend and I decided to have a few drinks, before heading to Hickory's as our table was booked for 18:00. We visited on the Bank Holiday Monday (27.05.2024) and I was surprised it wasn't busier, however it was nice that the place wasn't packed. The American vibes from the outside were pretty awesome but inside... Wow! The American vibes are epic, with a superb atmosphere! Country music playing, American-themed pumps at the bar, along with American memorabilia too dotted around... Loved it! We were seated pretty quickly in a lovely area and were able to have a look at the menus. I took a bit longer to look over everything, as it was my first time visiting (my friend had visited previously, so was aware of what things they had etc). It didn't take long at all for the waitress Lauren, who was great, to welcome us and take our orders. We had water and a packet of popcorn brought to the table, which I thought was a fabulous touch (reminds me of when we visited numerous restaurants in the US, being offered bread etc before the meal arrived!) So we were able to enjoy that whilst our meals were being prepared. Although they were out of grape soda and a couple of other drinks, there was still plenty to choose from. I decided on the blueberry lemonade (very refreshing!) and my friend had a beer. After looking through the fab newspaper-style menu, where I was spoilt for choice, I decided on the 'Return of the (Hog) Mac', which came with a side salad and Hickory's delightful house slaw (probably the best slaw I've tried actually!) My friend wanted to try something different, so went for the 'Eight-Hour Smoked Beef Ribs', with a side of onion rings (the things were HUGE!) With taking in my surroundings, it didn't seem to take long for the food to arrive and when it came, I was impressed! The presentation of the food was stellar, with everything being nice and hot! Superbly cheesy, with plenty of sliced pork and jalapeno sausage and pulled pork. I can honestly say, it was quite the taste sensation! The onion rings my friend had were super crispy, and came with a creamy blue ranch dip. Lauren came to check in and see how everything was, which I think is always nice whenever eating out. After enjoying our meals, we were able to relax a bit before taking a look at the desert menu. There were a few things they didn't have, which I understand is sometimes the case with restaurants, so we decided on the 'Alabama Chocolate Fudge Cake'... Whoa! Rich and orgasmic, with a creaminess from the ice cream and crunch from the pieces of rocky road. The total came to £86.84 which is quite expensive, but honestly? It was well worth it in my opinion. There is also the 'The Tip Jar', which can be taken off if requested. But I like how that money goes to the team, rather than going elsewhere. And they deserve it, for how hard they work.

After we had finished paying, we decided to sit at the bar for a while and have a drink, making our way to the outdoor area after a bit. Plenty of seating for those wanting to sit in the fresh air if the weather is nice, and they had the overhead heaters on a timer, if you were ever feeling a bit chilly.

Overall, I thought the experience was fantastic and was really pleased with everything from start to finish. The food, the efficient and friendly service, the interior decor and music all made it a fantastic and unique visit. I'd certainly recommend anyone to give it a go here and I cannot wait to return again in the future......

Visited last night with my parents and some colleagues from work as a thank you meal towards the staff for being there over the past year for helping out as well as a celebration for my mums birthday and it was a mixed review..

First off the food got great reviews from everyone regarding taste, presentation and portion sizes. However, when it came to regarding allergies or intolerances both myself and my mum have coeliac’s disease, and myself additionally has a dairy intolerance. I have eaten here before with no issue a couple of months ago however tonight just seemed like the standard had massively dropped since my last visit. When ordering I made sure to be clear that I was ordering from the gluten free menu (as did my mum) as well as when ordering the baby cobb salad I made sure to ask for no cheese, no blue cheese dressing, no ranch and nothing else that contained dairy, which I followed up with that I also have a dairy intolerance which got repeated back to me all fine. My food then comes with allergen flags which I think is wonderful so I start tucking in. Unfortunately, buried in the baby cobb salad is a bunch of cheese that I have taken quite a few bites of before realising, I confirm with a member of staff that it is in fact cheese and they get me a fresh one. The initial server who took my order did come over to ask if I was ok, however followed that up with “you’re not allergic though are you, no anaphylaxis? Just intolerant” which I found a bit bizarre because whether I had an allergic reaction or an intolerant reaction it’s still serious as it has long lasting consequences. Sadly the damage is already done and I spend the rest of the evening and most of the night quite uncomfortable and unwell. At no point did a manager come up and ask me if I was ok and was still charged for it on the bill at the end which we did ask to get taken off.

This then happened again when my mum was presented with a birthday platter and she had to confirm if it was gluten free. Which it wasn’t. So had to get that one changed.

There was a lot of waiting around periods mostly at the end of the stay. We were trying to catch the attention of some waiters who were at the till chatting but eventually had to call them for the bill. We had paid a £35 deposit which wasn’t taken off of the bill as well as charged for a chicken waffle dish that we didn’t order but came over to our table which we sent back that wasn’t ours.

Overall for a Monday night the level of breakdown in service was incredibly alarming and I really hope that priorities change for people with allergies and intolerances as the first time I dined there I felt incredibly safe and looked after however this time was a...

Having seen positive reviews our expectations of Hickory’s was very high, sadly we was left very disappointed and underwhelmed with our experience. We reserved our table for 6pm so naturally we expected to be seated when we arrived, this wasn’t the case. We was told our table wasn’t ready, people was at the table still and was told to get a drink at the bar and would be told it would be a couple of minutes- not a problem, however 35 minutes later and staff continually walking past us we enquired what the wait was for and then told our table was ready. All we got was “sorry for your wait” what a lovely introduction to Hickory’s this was.

Next was our server who seemed agitated at the fact she had to take our order and be friendly or polite. She did seem to crack a smile when singing happy birthday to other people. We had to have our Cokes changed multiple times as the syrup or machine was making it taste horrible. After we asked for the second time the lovley waitress asked “what seems to be the problem!?” Insinuating we are at fault. we asked for 2 different drinks in the end as we didn’t have faith they’d rectify the issue. Only 1 of these turned up so again more time wasted flagging staff down to get the other drink.

It was around an hour from entering the premises we had our starter.

Once again the service was letting us down and was served our desert with no cutlery. More time wasted flagging staff down to get this for us.

For some reason the lights kept on having power surges and would go bright then darken. Also the music was ridiculously loud and couldn’t have a normal conversation with people at the table.

The quality of food was bang average, this coupled with the horrendous service and lack of organisation made our first trip to Hickory’s our last.

A really...