Duke's Restaurant and Wine Bar — Restaurant in Hickory

I am usually not one to publicly complain, but my experience with Market On Main has been so awful that I feel compelled to post this review in hopes of preventing others from going through this. My fiancé and I scheduled our rehearsal dinner there roughly 15 months in advance on 1/27/2017 for a date of 4/13/2018. We were told if we wanted to try the low country boil before hand, we would have to come in and pay 20 a plate to do so. Seemed inappropriate to me, but we did because we really wanted to try it before fully booking the venue. Thank goodness we did because on that night I almost cried at dinner because I was so disappointed with the food. My fiancé nor myself are picky eaters, but we could not fathom serving this to our guests. Not only was the low country boil bad, other options such as chicken were not enjoyable either. On a side note, the salad was not iceberg like we had requested for the trial, and during e-mail exchanges my name was continually spelled "Nichole" instead of Nicole (which was visible in my email address each time I corresponded with her). That may sound minute, but when you are planning a wedding, attention to detail is imperative.

So fast forward to 5/12/2017 when we find another venue. We called John and politely told him we had just found another venue that was more cost efficient. To be honest, we weren't sure what to expect when we called him to inform him of our cancellation, but given that we told him 11 months in advance, he verbally said email "mom" (Ressa) with your address and she will mail you a check. We were elated with this news and we were thrilled with this good business practice. After Ressa and John talked though, we were told we actually would not be getting any of our money back because they held the room for 4 months. This was confusing to my fiancé and me because when we gave the "deposit" we were told to just deposit what we wanted that day and it would go toward the event. Unaware that we were paying a security deposit (that we would not be able to get back, as it is NO WHERE in the contract) for the room, this was news to us. Regardless of how they want to spin the technicalities and nuances they are referring to, we were verbally told our deposit would be sent to us, and rightfully so since no where in the contract does it mention a security deposit, much less that the security deposit is non-refundable. In our mind, returning this unearned deposit is the best business practice because they had done nothing for our event, still had 11 months to fill the popular date of a Friday in April, AND we actually paid them 80 dollars for a subpar tasting. Seeing that my fiancé and I both have business degrees, this practice is not sustainable in the town of Hickory where word of mouth is the best marketing. So if you are looking for a rehearsal dinner space or even a reception space, do not go here!! As you can see, the communication between John and Ressa is lacking and attention to detail is definitely not paramount. I really, really did not want to write a review like this, but I hope it can help at least one person during the stressful...

I got married here in November 2016. I will begin by saying the meal was excellent. We had a wide variety of food and everything was full of flavor and all requests were met. On the other hand, we were not pleased with the service the day before and of the wedding. The day prior, we were allowed to set up. We arrived around 11am and were met by one of the guys who works there setting up the tables. He was extremely nice but the room was not set up the way it needed to be. We were there from 11-4pm and the only time I saw an owner is when Ressa came upstairs looking for someone else to meet and to tell us we had to pay/rent the lanterns we had out. After that I went downstairs looking for Rueben, the man that was helping set tables and found John who said a few words but never asked how it was going or if we needed anything upstairs. So I gave a list to Rueben of things that needed to be done before the rehearsal at 6 and was told that was no problem-it would be done. When we arrived nothing had been done and the room was not set up which was a problem because we used the pews which played a big role in the layout of the room. Still at this point no owner or manager ever came upstairs to ask how it was going or what they could do for us. We had to search the place looking for someone and still never found anyone. It was not until my father called the manager, Emily, and expressed his upset that we got "customer service". On Saturday morning my family went to MOM to make sure it was set up right and the list of tasks were complete which I didn't want them to have to do. Lastly, during the reception the dishes were not being cleared off the tables and when my director requested the waitress get them off, she cussed at her under her breath. Also, there was another party going on downstairs and people were cutting through our wedding to get to another. We had to ask several times for this to be corrected. Overall, the wedding looked great and the food was great but the customer service aspect needs major...

I was invited to a Magic Mike traveling women's night out show by a friend. She bought tickets for us and we trekked our way there Wednesday. I have never been to this venue, but it was easy to find but not clear that we needed to park across the street for this location and event. Their actual parking lot is VERY small, maybe 8-10 parking spaces, MAYBE. The ABC store is located in the same lot, and the gentleman that owns/runs it (The ABC neighboring business) was VERY RUDE, PUSHY and one you did not want to encounter. He was very cross to patrons about the parking lot and nasty to the men at the door of this location and event. We had to go around the block to come back to the across the street parking, as this location is on a one way street. Once inside, the men were friendly, seated us according to our tickets and everything was nice and decorated and clean. The drink menu was limited to certain things for the show I think. It was not a problem at all and the bartenders were helpful and prompt. Everything was so reasonably priced for the show. Premixed drinks, specialty drinks and chicken finger baskets were all only $5 bucks each! Overall a decent venue, clean, friendly and large bar and seating areas inside and out. Updated and roomy and airy, I would consider this place for other outings...