Olde Hickory Tap Room — Restaurant in Hickory

My wife and I originally started going here over 6 years ago and loved the atmosphere and the food. We ate there weekly for years. The entire wait staff knew our names and order by heart. Then one day about 2 years ago my usual order, the Delmonico steak, came out REALLY rare and when I sent it back it came out completely burnt. Medium-well isn't that hard. The manager on duty at the time, Chad, and was upset not wanting to throw away a steak and wanting to me to keep it even though it was a charcoal! He reluctantly made another steak and it came out still under cooked but I ate it. I just didn't feel like anymore fuss with him. Then as weeks went by no more problems until another steak comes out almost rare. I sent it back and then again it comes out looking like charcoal and I told the waitress I could not pay for that. At that point Chad, comes out and precedes to tell me that maybe "I should just consider ordering something different if they couldn't cook my steak to my liking"!? Really?? A person in management speaks to a regular customer who orders the most expensive item on the menu every time? Medium-well.. We decided that was enough and I called to the owner, Jason later and explained to him how Chad treated us was assured that that was not how a customers should be treated and he hoped we would come back. We didn't. Two years later we returned, last week on Sunday. I ordered the Delmonico and much to my delight the steak was cooked perfectly! We recognized several staff who asked where we'd been and we enjoyed ourselves. Then this week, going on last week's experience, we went back. I ordered the Delmonico steak and my wife, mother-in-law and daughter ordered their favorites. The waitress was awesome and the salads were delicious. Then comes out the steak. I cut a bite and as I was chewing my first bite I cut my wife off a bite and as she took it I noticed an odd taste and she only took a few chews and spat her bite into a napkin and I closely followed with mine. We both looked at the steak and I flipped it over and looked at it edgewise and then proceeded to smell it. Ugh, I was greeted with the odor of a wet dog. For those unfamiliar with this rancid smell I've only had a few steaks in my life presented like this and they are inedible! The meat looked cooked correctly but the odor and taste were totally sickening. I told the waitress who apologized and I even pointed out to let someone else cut off the far end of the steak and try it please so that it was not on my word alone, apprehensive about returning a steak here. I think anyone with taste buds could have identified that rancid smell/taste. She took the steak back and again apologized and if I understood her correctly said that someone else did check it and it was not good. We were sitting in a booth at the bar and someone brought up the new steak and said here you go and as I looked around and made eye contact it was Chad and immediately obvious that he remembered me. I said thank you & tried the freshly prepared steak and found it to be great and cooked to perfection. While I was happily eating that steak Chad reappeared beside my booth a moment later and asked how it was? I told him it was great and thanked him. I said how bad I hated to return the other one but showed him the napkin still with the spit out food in it and said it was just inedible. At that point, being who he is (I've been told), Chad said well we just can't start a cycle of returning steaks. To which I replied I didn't know that we had a "cycle" of any kind going? He proceeded to say well I remember before when you came here that we had a problem with returning steaks. 2 steaks in 4 years... There was no need for him to put that dig in at me because I have never returned a steak anywhere that was acceptable. I'm definitely not over picky and the last 2 years that we've went to Texas Roadhouse I think I've only returned 1 steak and it was undercooked and somehow they were able to bring it up to medium well without making it charcoal. Chad is NOT a customer...

We have been dining at the Tap Room since it opened and understandably the prices of the food have continued to go up but the service continues to go down. Our server was a young woman I would guess no more than 20. Very typical age but I suspect her first job in the restaurant industry and I would be surprised if she had received any training. She obviously did not enjoy her job. She never smiled even one time, she never checked to see if everything was OK or did we need anything else. My wife order Fish & Chip and asked for a glass of wine. It took two requests to get it. She got chips that were not crisp not to mention warm and our server told us she would get more but they wouldn't be warm either. She asked for catsup and ended up getting it herself. We were seated almost directly across from the lane that cut over to the bar and we could see it along with the to go boxes which we also got ourselves. We thought it pointless to ask. We also asked for honey mustard dipping sauce which Judy preferred. Took two request as well. I had the Blackened Salmon Cesar's salad which was OK but not what it once was. Our meal and dining experience were not worth the $48 price and tonight was the first time I haven't left a minimum 20% tip in years. I just couldn't bring myself to reward such service. I was in the food service industry for 35 years and I am fearful the industry may never recover. No one wants to work. I see it time after time. Many restaurants that were once great have fallen aside. Sad to see establishments like the Tap Room who had years of a reputation for good food at fair prices and friendly wait staff unable. Hopefully you will be able to recover your valuable reputation. We are in our late 70's and eat out generally two ot three times a week and frequently ask ourselves how long people will be willing to pay todays prices for both the food quality and service we get in return. We tell ourselves...not much longer. There was a time before Covid when $40-50 would get a good meal and service to match. Good luck. We will try again but not much longer without seeing significant improvement in the industry. It's not just...

My wife and I have lived in Hickory for 21 years. We quickly found that the Tap Room is a Town landmark. It has been a go-to place to eat for years. The last few times the food quality has declined. Our visits became less because of it. Last night 7/23/21, was just awful. Of course, prices have gone up due to the post pandemic era and the employee exodus. All of that is taken in consideration. However, the cooking staff needs to be fired. You can always tell when a cook smokes, because smokers always over salt everything. Everything below was VERY salty. We got an order of pub chips and sauces. The chips and sauces were so salty, I stopped eating them after a few tries and ran out of water to drink. For dinner I ordered 12 wings, Nashville Hot. I love extremely hot peppers, sauces and the like. Yes, I am a pepper head. I became a face burning, crying, and snotting mess after 3 wings. Way too hot. I have signed waivers for wings less hot. The wings were way over sauced too, dripping with the over seasoned lava. Too salty on top it, too. For the first time in my life, I returned a plate of hot wings. They were that dangerous. Someone less capable of heat could have been hurt from those I asked for a 6" Maui pizza instead. That was awful as well. Soaked in so much grease, I couldn't pick it up and had to eat it with a fork. The dough was raw under the toppings. My wife had ordered a white 6" pizza. It has a white garlic sauce with spinach. You know the jar of minced raw garlic you can buy so you don't have to mince your own? There was at least 1/3 cup of raw garlic in the sauce on this small pizza. AWFUL! My wife hates to complain, so she resorted to lift off the toppings and scraped off the raw garlic sauce to try to eat it. Her pizza was also soaked in grease and the dough was undercooked inside. We have decided to hold off from returning for 6 months. If it hasn't changed, we will lessen it to once a year. With prices at least 20% higher now, I would expect the quality to be top notch, not less. 1 inedible plate of wings, *(not charged for), 2 disgusting pizzas, a small salad (ok), waters and diet coke for me = $38 +...