Hickory Tavern — Restaurant in Charlotte

I went with a party of 5 and had a terrible experience. First were told to sit where we chose so we sat at a 4 top pub table and was offered the 5th seat from a neighboring 4 top only using 2 of their chairs. After a wait, the waitress arrived and demanded we move to a table in the back with no view of the tvs because 5 couldn’t sit at a 4 top. We requested exception and she grumbled and turned her back to get the manager. The manager came to the table and agreed to the exception as long as we were only having drinks but she warned - more than once - that she better not catch us ordering food. It was a hostile start to what became a underwhelming night of poor service.

Next, we ordered drinks. A different waitress was now taking care of the table and she was pleasant enough. Unfortunately the drinks were not. I ordered a berry mojito, the liqueur used was cheap and artificial tasting. And the drink was very watery. My friends ordered lemon drops and some sort of cosmo type drink. We tried each others drinks. Every single one was awful, very watered down, unbalanced, just terrible. We were forced to send them all back (full drinks, not ½ consumed). I didn’t chance it again and - with a friend - ordered Prosecco. However the remaining 3 requested new & different drinks and again they received watery flavorless drinks. I believe one sent her 2nd drink back & simply choose not to order again. The other 2 gave up and kept their bad drinks. We told the waitress we weren’t happy, didn’t receive an apology nor did the manager come over to speak with us again. The service was horrible and the customer experience left a lot to be desired. We go out frequently and this is the worst service I’ve ever received in Charlotte BY FAR. I was actually glad we were chastised away from ordering food given the quality of the drinks. One of our party had been there the prior week and said the drinks were decent so perhaps the issue this visit was a bartender. In any event, the entire experience was terrible and I have no desire to return if this is how they deal...

Warning: long review ahead!

Not the greatest takeout experience on this visit. My son placed an order for 2 meals. The online order system repeatedly indicated that the order had not gone through. He tried with multiple cards. Though the system was indicating the order did not process, the amount (over $120 total) did immediately show as a transaction on his online bank statement, and he received a transaction alert from his credit card company.

On our way to the restaurant, he called to advise HT of the problem. The host who took the call initially told him a manager would have to return his call tomorrow. Huh? I called back, and the same woman answered the phone. For the second time, she asked for his name, and then stated she'd get her manager to refund his money for the additional meals we did not want. Upon arrival at the restaurant, my son learned that the order had never been received by HT, though he was charged over $120.

The manager (Joanna) was at the hostess stand by the time I walked inside to determine the issue. I showed her the multiple transactions on the online bank statement. My son showed her the order on his phone, and the manager confirmed he had ordered from the correct location. The manager stated that the problem should correct itself after the restaurant closed out that evening. We ended up having to place the order all over again, while standing at the hostess stand - and waiting another 20+ minutes for the food. The manager stated she would run the ticket back to the kitchen, in hopes of getting the food quicker. I appreciate her efforts, but this is now going over an hour from the initial call and of us trying to complete this process. Had the hostess checked into his order during the multiple calls we made en route to the establishment, or at the very least made certain the order had been received prior to us arriving, it would have saved us a lot of time.

I ended up paying for the order with my card, and the transaction went through no problem. Food wasn't bad. Overall...

If I could give less than 1 star I would. The entire experience was horrible. For starters no one told us that we had to access the menu by scanning the QC code found on the advertisement that sat on the table. We eventually figured it out. Placed our drink and food order. Received the drinks and had to eventually flag down a random waiter for straws. Received the appetizers in moderate time. The food was decent. We waited about another hour to receive my son's burger (minus his fries or ketchup for his burger). Then my daughter, her friend and my kids' father received their food about 10 mins later. A few minutes after that, my son received his fries. At this point I still have yet to receive my food. Finally, I repeated what I was waiting for. They brought out my side salad without any dressing. Waited about another 5 minutes for my dressing. A few minutes later my chicken sandwich came out with ranch when I had asked for no ranch. Once I got ahold of a random waitress my sandwich was removed and brought back about 15 minutes later (without the bbq sauce I had asked for). I had to wait another 5 plus minutes for my sauce only for the bacon to taste like it had been saturated in old grease, the chicken was flavorless (made me feel like I was experiencing COVID symptoms), and the crispy pieces tasted like it had been fried in the same oil/grease as fish. At this point I was ready to leave because I had picked apart my sandwich, unable to enjoy any of it. We flagged down our waitress and asked for the check and 3 boxes. After about 10 minutes we received the boxes and had to request the check again. Finally received a bill for over 100 dollars. Nothing taken off for the inconveniences. Needless to say, we overpaid for an undesirable meal and subpar service. I will not return to this establishment any time soon. Highly disappointed this evening. Thankfully I am a person with morals and paid the bill without just walking out. I mean we waited so long, who would've...