Hickory Tavern

This edition of Excited about Eating takes us to Hickory Tavern in the Northlake Mall area of Charlotte. This sports bar chain restaurant offers a wide variety of menu items from chicken wings to crab legs and steak, although they streamlined their menu since our last visit.
Dora here. Hickory Tavern is one of those go-​to comfort restaurants for me. You know what I’m talking about, right? When you’re tired, don’t really know what you want to eat or you just don’t want to cook, Hickory Tavern offers an eclectic variety of choices for the whole family. And with all the big screens located on every wall, you can almost kick your shoes off and just relax. Almost. lol.
As you can see, we’re early eaters. Anybody else staring at the clock, ready to eat by eleven thirtyish? No? Okay, that’s why we beat the rush. :)
The Shrimp Po’ Boy features breaded fried shrimp, lettuce, tomato, pickle, cajun remoulade served on a toasted hoagie roll with a side of my favorite tater tots. I don’t often order a Po’ Boy sandwich but after enjoying this one, it might just be back on my items to order more frequently. The shrimp was cooked perfectly, but the Cajun remoulade is what pulled this entire sandwich together.
Dora here. Not sure why hubby’s short on words today. Hmmm. Anyway, the Chicken California Sandwich minus the mushrooms and avocado was moist and juicy and tender, and the bun soft and fresh. Delicious!
Reminded me why I like this place so much, and I admonished hubby that we need to come back more often. It’s just a bit of a drive to make it a regular place. The food seemed to take awhile, but so long as the iced tea kept flowing, not a problem. :)
We would rate this restaurant 4 forks out of 5 for a family friendly restaurant serving great food.
~Ernie & Dora Hiers, Fiction Faith & Foodies Blog

I don’t understand the bad reviews here? They have a nice beer list, lots of food options, and a great bar area. Our server was attentive and was actually enjoying working; the prices were good. I’d come back!

Came here for lunch and drinks with my boyfriend. Sat at the bar and was greeted right away by the bartender, Lindsey. She was friendly and helpful. Great selection of beers and the food was delicious. Another bartender named Jen came in during shift change and jumped in taking good care of us also. Thank you for the kind and friendly service, ladies ! We will be back.

I ate here twice with a group and loved the salad as you choose what you want on it and it it’s cut the way you want so you don’t end up with lettuce hanging out of your mouth and I added salmon of course. The atmosphere was casual too me like a noisy dorm group room with all the tv’s going. Little pricy for every day but worth the money. It is one place for me to consider for Super Bowl Sunday.

Not much to say. Went for dinner here since Buffalo Wild Wings had a long wait and we didn’t have enough time.
Since my boyfriend had work we didn’t order adult beverages just a water with lemon and Pepsi/​Coke. The drinks come out, surprise no lemon. (We stated lemon with the water, so it wasn’t like an un-​spoken request) whatever, we decided it wasn’t worth a fight and went to ordering our dinner. I had a Tavern Burger, he had a Reuben. I also ordered a side salad to eat prior to my burger coming out. Once we placed our order, we did not see our waitress ONCE until after the food came out. I had been almost empty on my beverage for awhile at that point, and luckily with the food she ran and got me a refill. My salad didn’t come out prior instead it came with, and was TERRIBLE. The croutons were stale, and the salad was soggy (like it had sat out in the dressing for way to long). My burger was fine, I feel as though it was small for $ 10, but whatever. My fries were cold. The Reuben made my boyfriend sick but he said the flavor was good, his fries also cold.
We never saw our server again, until she dropped off the bill. So instead of complaining we paid and left and I don’t plan on returning to this location. I don’t recommend this restaurant to anyone, and don’t see how people are raving about it.

It was very good.
Service could’ve been better. The price was great.
I was truly impressed with their bucket of boat trash. Super cool.
We ate wings and that. Had a pleasant time.

They grill their wings after the fryer and season their baked potatoes… little things go a long way, my food was better then expected for being at the local watering hole while away for work. Oh, and the bartender w sexy glasses is a good thing too.

The wings were good, the beer selection was respectable, and the menu featured a nice build your own salad option which was nice to see. The service was friendly and sassy for a bunch on a work trip. I noticed a nice outside seating area and a party room that was in use for a work function. Is it special? Not particularly, but it is a solid option if you are in the mood for that type of fare, good for family, friends, work, the game, etc. I would come here for the game before i would bww.

We went there last night service incredibly slow, some food items never showed up or showed up after we had eaten most of the main entrée. They weren’t even busy. The food was mediocre. They have work to do if they hope to stay in business.

Haters gonna hate, but it was it is.
I called a little after lunch and talked to the manager. I asked if they would have sound for the game 7 of the NHL. He said, yes, no problem, as long as someone else hasn’t asked for sound of another game first. So, I tell my buddies to come along.
With that in mind, we get there early. I ask about sound and the server said, sure, we’ve just got music playing, shouldn’t be a problem. She takes our first beer order and goes back to talk to the manager. She comes back with our beers and being a polite person, and the game hadn’t started yet, I didn’t ask about the sound. We wait and wait, still no sound in the game. Our server comes by one more time and we order another round, she said she’d check on the sound. We get our beers, and never see the server again. Nor the manager.
I eventually just left cash on the table, no check ever came, no sound, absolutely ridiculous and just plain out rude. The manager could have at least come by with a BS excuse and pretended we existed. I could have just as easily watched the game at my house, but friends wanted to go out. We won’t ever be back.

They had a pretty good selection of tap beers which is an automatic 4 stars. The fact that they have pool and a plethora of TV’s made it even better. I’d visit again if ever in the area.

I was there on a Friday night a couple weeks ago and ordered the fresh tuna appetizer. .my guest order the same with a side of broccoli and his portion was smaller… my tuna was extremely and I asked if that was the norm … the waitress immediately asked if I wanted to have them prepared again after we noticed my guest portion was not as salty… it was prepared again and came back okay! I wasn’t overly impressed and although I just recently moved to the area… I won’t be in a hurry to return. I remember frequenting the restaurant about 10 years ago at the same location… but recall it being more inviting of an atmosphere and the food being superior… it feels like a different place now. .What happened?

Me and couple of friends went to this restaurant to watch the Panthers vs Seahawks football game. The restaurant was packed with 85% to 90% African Americans. The restaurant had a waiting list and we was waiting for a table to come available. As we was waiting to be seated, an unknown white couple came to me and my colleague and advised that they vacated a table in the bar area and we can have it. Our stay at that table was short live, we were advised by a RUDE BLONDE waitress, advised that the table reserved a white couple and we needed to get up now. We got up and we started talking to some of our friends at a nearby table. The general manager approach me and my friends and advised us stop «hovering over the white customer’s table and we needed to go back up front now or he was going to call the police. The general manager didn’t want hear that we was talking to our friends at a nearby table and not «hovering over» the the white couple’s table.
The general manager called the police after requested his name and a business card to file a complaint.
We spoke with the police on the outside of the restaurant and advised them what happened and the officers could not believe that they were called out to Hickory Tavern Harris Corners Pkwy for that bogus call.
The general manager over reacted to a couple law a biding customers that was trying to watch the Panthers vs Seahawks football game. I will never patronized with Hickory Tavern again until they make this right with me and my friends. 5 thumbs down!
I reluctantly use the race card, however, I truly believe that myself and my friends race, African American, was determining and deciding factor as why the general manager elected to call the police. I am not sure what management training the general manager went through to prepare him for that role, however, he failed in a major way.
Question: If me and my friends was white, would the general manager would have called the police???

Normal sports bar. Nothing special about food. Experience a hair in my avocado on my salad

Decent bar food. Wines are pretty high in my opinion but Draft Beers aren’t bad. Food is spot on BAR food. Don’t go expecting anything fancy. Burger was tasty albeit SMALL (5oz?). Tuna app was decent but no mistaking it for sushi quality.
It is loud especially during game day.
Not a bad option when in this area… just keep the expectations low…

I’ve been to Hickory Tavern 3 times now. All 3 times, during lunch.
1^st time @ Mallard Creek — 2 people — build your own salad. Impressive and thoughtful menu item. Great options. Kudos for this. The cucumber wasabi dressing is amazing.
2^nd time @ Harris — group of 8 — burger and fries. Meh. Pretty standard fare bar food. At least the beer was cold.
3^rd time (16SEP2014) @ Harris went something like this — 3 people. 11:15 — get seated by greeter, total of 5 customers in the restaurant. 11:20 — people around us are getting their drink and food orders taken, some of these people came in after us, we have not been greeted by a server. 11:30 — drinks and food start hitting tables around us. 11:35 — still not greeted by a server, so we stood up and left. As we left, I made eye contact with the bartender, I’m sure anger and disappointment was over my face. I don’t have a shred of tolerance when it comes to being ignored in a restaurant.
I make it a rule to avoid places that disappoint me like the plague, poor service being the worst offense. There are many options in Charlotte for places to have lunch, this one is off the table for me. If you don’t want to send a server to my table, you can’t have my business.

Great Sandwiches! THE BEST Sweet Potato fries (with honey butter)!!! Draft Beer specials on Thursday… we love to go get our 16oz Blue Moons and unwind. The service is outstanding and always on time. Will definitely be back soon, especially since I live walking distance.

Eaten here 4 times now. Get tuna on salad! It’s worth the $ 6!
Nice, classy place to enjoy a meal with a bar and pool table option. I think it’s a local chain. Really good food too with vegetarian-​friendly options

Its a chain restaurant. Consistent with their other restuarants, this place offers a sports bar ambience. Family friendly and typical burger, chicken wing and 200+ beer selection.
The food came out right, nothing to be surprised, its standard bar type food. The beer was cold, the TV’s are all working.
I am glad to say that, when the food is not the focus, they did a good job with service. Our servers, 2 of them, was quick, friendly and happy. We also tried their oysters here and its the standard gulf oysters.

When I visit a restaurant, select a dish of my preference, and the dish arrives hot and tasty, I am a happy camper. My selection was the Seafood Bayou with tilapia and shrimp both grilled to perfection. The steaming hot entrée was served over Tavern Rice with a side of fresh fruit that was absolutely delicious. Being in a Tavern, I had to order something to drink. I opted for the hard apple cider which tasted pretty much like an apple martini with a bit less punch. It was quite tasty and I had to remind myself to sip rather than drink! For dessert, the chocolate cake sounded delicious but I could not stuff any more into my mouth. Although I drive by regularly, I had forgotten Hickory Tavern was at this location. I enjoyed my meal and anxiously look forward to my next visit. This lunchtime visit was superb.
I almost forgot to talk about the sweet potato fries! They are fabulous with honey drizzled on top (or you can have it on the side)! If you are not afraid of something that tastes good, give them a try.
NOTE: Since the hubs and I had the kids with us, an evening meal in a Tavern would have been out of the question.