J. Hicks On The Square — Restaurant in Mercer

I would rate this place higher if the waitstaff were higher quality and the seating had a better layout. We found this place after driving by the courthouse square in Mercer. Decided it was worth a visit as not too many sit down restaurants exist in the area.

Upon entry they have a bar and very poorly arranged table area. They cram 4 chairs around a tiny table and have trouble seating parties larger than 4. Decor is odd. It appears to be bar/tuscany/historical mercer, very odd choices. The historical pictures are nice and give visitors a good sense of the development of the area. The waitress also seemed rough and one appeared to be "out of it" and very confused.

The menu consists of wraps, burgers, pasta, and dinner entrees. They also have a good mix of appetizers, beer, drinks, desserts, etc. My party ordered the mac n cheese, pulled pork, pork and potato cake, chicken cordon bleu wrap, and romancing the angel pasta.

After receiving the food 3 of 5 had to go back as they were cold. The pulled pork dishes were both only okay. Nothing about it was good or bad. No smokey flavor, salt, grill flavor, and the coleslaw was also bland. The mac n cheese was not good. They added beer to the cheese which was not good, and the noodles were substantially overcooked. The cordon bleu wrap was well liked. The pasta was good but again everything was overcooked.

We really did not like our visit. Overall the restaurant has issues that should be addressed by the owner to...

The food was good and the appearance of the restaurant was good that is the only reason for 2 stars the cook and runner did an amazing job. I ordered my favorite beer waitress comes back and says we are out. OK that happens. We ordered an appetizer at the same time. Brenda comes back past us 20 minutes later I stop her for drink refills. I also ask about the pretzels. She says they should be right out. A runner brought out our salads. Than within two minutes brings out the meals. So once again I manage to stop Brenda and tell her to cancel the pretzels since our food is here. She laughs and says I haven't been to the kitchen. Guess its not her job to make sure the service is good also. She never came back to see how the meals were or if we needed anything. We had the owner seating people within feet of us I actually had to stop him to see about the check. He might want to start checking on tables instead of trying to brag to the hostess how he had and I quote "Mexicans at his house all day laying carpet" he went on to tell her they will be back next week to finish. That is so unprofessional of an owner to say...

I went here with my sister because she wanted fried green tomatoes and we found out they were a seasonal dish, ha ha. I had the spinach dip appetizer and she ended up getting the fried pickles.

The spinach dip was really good - I'm used to the spinach and artichoke dip over at Applebee's, which is good, but this was AMAZING. Seriously baffled me how some chips and dip could make me scrape the bowl clean. The chips were perfectly salted, and I know I sound ridiculous, but they had some kid of special salt or something that was SO good. The dip was creamy and cheesy and DELICIOUS. Can't recommend enough.

The fried pickles came in spears rather than chips. They were "good, but very hot." Maybe let them cool down before trying them.

The staff was so nice and friendly. We got there at opening time, so there was no one else there and we chatted a bit. They were apologetic to my sister who was very sad about the fried green tomatoes, ha.

I would definitely come here again, even with the drive from Greenville....