Hickory's Smokehouse Milton Keynes — Restaurant in Milton Keynes

We booked this a month ago and I had only heard good things, so it's fair to say I went in with high expectations. The setting is really nice - a beautiful, modern yet rustic looking building on the banks of Lake Caldecotte in MK. Walking inside, we were greeted promptly and escorted to our table upstairs. The inside decor was what you'd hope for in a "Smokehouse" -timber beams, amusing pictures with catchy slogans and an overall theme that makes you think you're in America's Southern States. We were going big with our food - starters, sides and a sharing platter, in the hope of a food induced coma as our end state. Our lovely hostess, who's name escapes me, was accommodating, friendly and seemed genuinely happy to be there - a trait I often find lacking in modern day customer service. Before I review the food, let me give props to the drinks - my partner had 2 alcoholic drinks, a red wine and a cocktail - both were top tier. My soft drinks were amazing too - in particular the root beer float. To start, we had the smoky bourbon bacon bites and the fried chicken in a basket. The former was a 9/10 at the very least. Delicious, melt in your mouth meat with a creamy cheese dip and sticky glaze. So far, so good. The chicken in a basket with a hot honey source, also nice - tender chicken with a crispy batter but did slightly lack seasoning for me. But it was at the sharing platter that it went wrong. Jacobs ladder - a small section of beef ribs, slock cooked for 8 hours - was nice tasting, tender but some of the fat was not rendered well and it left some bites to be congealed messes rolling around in your cheeks that really took away from it's potential. The ribs - some bbq and some "memphis style". What was presented was a sauce covered mini rack and a handful of individual ribs with no sauce. It's tough to say, but they were rubbish. The sauce added nothing to the rack. They were so, so tough and incredibly dry. My definition of baby back ribs from a Smokehouse is ones that fall off the bone with melt in your mouth meat and a gorgeous flavour - none of this descriptor applied to what we ate. Chewy, unflavoured, dry meat that you'd expect from over cooking frozen ribs from a supermarket. The accompanying chicken wings in a bourbon glaze were overdone and the accompanying sausage was just OK. There was some nice pulled pork but it was topped with a crunchy.....unidentifiable....material.....which threatened to ruin the nice, tender pork meat soaked in bbq pit beans. We also ordered a side of pit beans which turned out to be a smaller version of this, although still quite nice. The cornbread was a low mid at best, the pickles were nice and the house slaw was way, way too mayonnaise-y. During our mains, we were served by another hostess, whilst our original server took a well deserved break and I decided to feedback as I couldn't help feel aggrieved by the quality. On mentioning this to her, we were told that Memphis ribs SHOULD be tougher as the bone disintegrates if not. This is why I knocked off a point from service. That's simply not true - there is not a person on this planet who should believe that baby back pork ribs should ever be dry and tough. Misinformation and misdirection rather than accountability - you can do better Hickory's. We skipped dessert but were presented with a nice little congrats donut topped with cream and sprinkles by our returning, original hostess as we were celebrating a special occasion- a lovely touch which definitely sweetened the pretty bitter aftertaste from the poor mains experience. We have one opening in nearby Oadby, soon and I wouldn't rule out going but based on this experience, I...

I visited Hickory’s on Monday the 28th of April with a group of 8 people (all of which work in a restaurant ourselves). To begin with a waitress had come over to our table and taken orders for starters, we did not see her again. For the rest of the meal, it seemed we did not have a server, so every time we needed a drink, or to order our main meals we would have to chase someone down that was walking past, as a waitress myself I know how frustrating this can be when trying to do something else, but in our case we did not have a choice. When our main meals arrived, we had ordered the sharing steak, which was £80, cooked as medium rare. This arrived medium to well, we did not send it back and ate it anyway as we had already waited a while for the food to arrive and some people on our table did not have a lot of time and needed to leave. But for £80 you sort of expect the meat to be cooked as you’ve asked. Upon asking for the bill, we had to do this multiple times by asking staff walking past our table, the same members of staff seemed to walk past the table multiple times without bringing the bill. When the bill did arrive, it was a mission to pay it. A server came over and took one payment and then disappeared? Leaving us to pin down multiple other members of staff just to pay the bill off. Splitting the bill was also extremely long winded as with each payment the guy taking the payments seemed to walk off and come back two minutes later with the amount to pay, this happened maybe 5 times. Before leaving, I had popped to the toilet whilst waiting for the taxi. Unfortunately a waitress with a pint of Guinness on a tray, walking at very quick speed, not watching where she was going as she was chatting away to someone, bumped into me with the tray, despite me actively trying to dodge her. This resulted in me covered in Guinness, my clothes and shoes ruined. I had walked off to find the group of people I was with, when another member of staff had followed me and seemed to hang around for a short while whilst pestering me on what I would like in compensation, I think he meant a drink or something but considering I was covered in one and leaving the restaurant this was not wanted. It wasn’t until someone from my group asked for some warm water to attempt to prevent my shoes and clothes from staining that he went off, got some water and a cloth and we didn’t see him again. Very disappointing experience, given our bill was £400 with a hefty service charge which went to god knows who due to us not having an...

Let me start by saying the food is excellent. I am from Texas, and I can say with a certainty that the food here is better than more than half the BBQ places I ate in Texas. The brisket was perfect, juicy, tender, the right amount of fat. I wont go into detail on each of the meats, but I tried all they had to offer, and with the exception of the sausage, all their meats were amazing. The sausage is the British style, not sure if they put breadcrumbs in there, but whatever it is, it’s not traditional sausage. It was still good, but for a restaurant that is Texas style, they should have traditional sausage. They even make a nice platter for birthdays, which pleases the kids. Overall, the food itself I would give it 5+ if I had the option. Now, the reason for the 3 star review is the atmosphere…specifically the comfort. It’s like this country has something against air conditioning…and this specific restaurant is a Texas style one…they got the parking right, its huge and you always find a spot, they got the restaurant size right, its massive, they even have an outside area…but for God’s sake…PUT AN AIR CONDITIONER IN IT. Its hot…in the summer it gets hot, and great food is not so great when you can’t enjoy it because of the lack of comfort. Put some fans in the corners at the minimum. We were swearing, uncomfortable in those tiny chairs, we asked if we could eat outside, they said they are not serving outside that day. To deviate a bit from the food…when it’s just warm outside, but sunny…inside it gets really hot…it’s just science…and to counter that, you need AC…simple as that. Also, we sat by the window, but it didn’t open…give me a break. Lastly, it is crazy expensive…we spent £140 for 2 adult meals, 2 kids meals, and 2 appetizers. BBQ places are expensive in the States, but this was outrageous here. I’ll tell you what though, if there was AC in there, the price would have been justified. I do like how you make the reservation online, and there is practically no wait when you get there, even when it looks super busy. Overall, food is pretty terrible in the UK, this restaurant has the potential to be excellent all around…the food is already amazing…just go the extra mile to make it...