Backstreets Bar and Grill

Would it kill them to smile? Every host/​hostess I have encountered there has been snobby. It seemed as though we were bothering them.
The waitress was nice, though.
The food was nothing special. I will not rush back.

Great service. Had the wings and buffalo shrimp for appetizers — some of the best shrimp I’ve ever tasted! The ribs were amazing — sweet wine taste and fell off the bone.
I couldn’t have asked for more in a city where there aren’t tons of great restaurants to look forward to.

We had dinner here one night during our visit to Hickory. Pretty decent place. I had a perfectly grilled ribeye. Quiet and cozy local spot. Definitely recommend it.

Always a pleasure. This place has been around Hickory for a long time. Great value & quality for reasonable prices.

My absolute favorite place to eat in Hickory– have been going for years and have tried almost everything they have… and I’m never disappointed!

Call and place a order to go and talk about rude! The lady just hung up. No bye, thank you or nothing. Just RUDE… Now I remember why I don’t eat here often. Inside is about the same.

I went here with a friend of mine and we both had such a great experience we could not believe it so we went back a 2^nd time the next day. and the food was amazing the dressing was all house made and perfect tastings. I dated a Chef so she taught me to be a bad critic of food… but there was absolutely nothing I could find wrong with this place. great drinks and fresh food… nothing was over or under cooked and everything tasted 5 star… Next time I am in NC I will be going back here for dinner! Thank you guys for making this yankee happy! :D

Excellent eatery. A great place to bring «out of towners». If you like oysters, do not miss the Oyster ceaser salad. Delicious!

One of my favorite places in Hickory. Food is always great, service is always top notch! Keep on doing what you do!

Bad service from the start. Smart a** servers and greeter very bad experience we just paid for our drinks and left. Everyone that works here acts like they don’t want to be here. Stay away from this place.

Lunchtime, Monday, March 31^st.
PARKING
Parking is «interesting» since BB&G shares their parking area with the adjacent Lowe’s Foods. Said Lowe’s Foods appears to be wildly popular with the citizens of Claremont /​NW Hickory.
LOST IN TRANSLATION
The young male maitre’d, probably named Josh or Brad or Brett or Trey, automatically asked me if I had any «problem» sitting in the bar. He was shocked when I said, «YES.»
I’m tired of being treated like a second class citizen by restaurant maitre’ds. If I want to sit at the bar, I will ask to do so. Capiche?
I guess a nicely dressed, «baseball cap» wearing, individual translates to bar seating for him — or expressed another way — NOT suitable to sit among the gentrified elderly seated in the main dining room.
«Senior Preppy’s» superior, a nice young lady, instructed «Trey» to seat me at an empty booth, which was my preference.
A simple solution would be to ask a guest, «what type of seating do you prefer {sir/​madam}?» It’s not rocket science young man.
«COUNTRY CLUB» MENU
I had looked at the menu online many times in the past, and I had read both the Unilocal and Urbanspoon reviews. I wanted to try either their Reuben or their Cuban sandwich. I was in a Cuban mood, whatever that is, so I went in that direction.
Sandwiches come with one’s choice of either chips or fries.
SERVICE
My waitress, an older woman, was polite and courteous. She was not very attentive though. She didn’t refill my glass until I just about to leave, and she didn’t offer to bring me a to go cup for my full beverage.
THE DECOR
I don’t know what they are shooting for with their decorations, but they landed on a faux Country Club motif or as a Unilocal friend noted in another review, upscale casual. The restaurant is tastefully decorated and comfortable. Regarding the FOR SALE artwork, well, let’s just say elementary school comes to mind.
«HELLO, I’M AL FRESCO. NICE TO MEET YOU.»
The outside dining area looked tastefully decorated and very inviting for warm weather dining. Their patio is not large, so seating is limited. One probably has to know the secret, old club handshake or the restaurant owner, to sit out there.
CLEANLINESS?
The sanitation rating has not been lower than 96.5%, which was back in 2012. It is currently 98.0% as of March 25, 2015. Bravo!
FOOD?
My Cuban sandwich arrived within about ten minutes, which is perfectly acceptable.
LA CUCARACHA SIZED CUBAN SANDWICH
I was a little struck by the sandwich’s «Mini Me» proportions. The entire sandwich was about half of a «normal» Cuban sandwich found elsewhere. It was so small that it made the dill pickle on the plate look gargantuan. The sandwich was too small for the amount that it cost.
OH NO, YOU DIDN’T
The restaurant substituted banana peppers for the long cut, sweet, bread and butter pickles found on a traditional Cuban sandwich — which is a definite no no. The restaurant’s response probably would be, «yeah, but did it taste great?» To which I would reply, «it was a’ight.» It’s unwise to make substitutions to a classic sandwich.
HOW DRY I AM, HOW DRY I AM. NOBODY KNOWS, HOW DRY I AM.
I did like the fresh bread which was lightly toasted. There was about a half inch of meat on the sandwich, but it was dry“ish” and without much flavor. The pickles are supposed to be there to help offset any dryness in the classic Cuban sandwich, but unfortunately, they were AWOL.
SMALL FRY
The FRIES were about the size of a small order from a fast food franchise. Some of the French fries were still semi-​raw inside. {sigh} I just said the H with it and ate my food.
NO DESSERT FOR YOU!
I wasn’t asked if I wanted any dessert, and after my minuscule portions, I surely had room. (I grabbed an ice cream cone later, so no harm no foul.)
DAMAGES?
My total with a $ 8.95 sandwich and a Diet Coke was nearly $ 12 — after a tip…$ 15.
SAYONARA
I have no plans to return.

Food is okay, but service is awful. I called the restaurant around 4:30pm on a Saturday evening to inquire about call-​ahead seating for my birthday dinner of 9 people. I was rudely told that they do not do reservations or call-​ahead, and that if a party of 9 arrives at 5pm, we would have to wait 1 hour. When we arrived around 5:15, we were seated immediately. Service was fine throughout dinner (wait time for appetizers and entrees was a little long), but towards the end service went downhill. We had to ask twice for a to-​go box, and still never got it. We had already paid and were sitting finishing our beers and enjoying company, while also waiting on another server to pass by to ask for a box one more time. Eventually, a man (possibly some kind of manager) came and asked how dinner was and if we needed anything. We told him we were waiting on a box, which we got promptly. Then, we were ASKED TO LEAVE because others were waiting! I could not believe how rude that was. Nothing puts a damper on a birthday dinner like being kicked out!

We used to love this place as a regular weekend spot but the food quality has really suffered in recent years. The chicken tenders used to be plump and juicy but the last few visits have proven to us that they have been skimping. Tiny, overcooked slices of meat were not at all appetizing. My kids refused to eat them. And they use the same tiny things in their wraps, which used to be tasty, but now are just okay.
I do love their buffalo shrimp. I hope that doesn’t ever change.
It would be nice if this restaurant would change up the menu every once in a while. Keeping it the same year after year just gets kind of stale. I think Backstreets could have a come-​back, if they would put the focus on improving inventiveness and food quality.

Me and the hubby came here for my birthday and it was wonderful. The service was really good and the chairs were so comfortable! The best part was the chocolate cake and ice cream I got at the end. I was already full but it was so good that I ate the whole thing anyway love this place and I’m definitely coming back!

Used to love this place but the servers have gotten rude especially the barkeeps. Major disappointment. Go to the Tap Room or Hickory Station instead.

My boyfriend and I have eaten here several times in the past. The food has always been pretty solid, however I am absolutely appalled by the service we received tonight.
I preface this complaint by saying that we were sitting at the bar, and yes I get it, people can get rowdy anywhere alcohol is served, but this was 8pm on a Sunday evening. We were travel weary from a long flight and just wanted to get a meal before trudging home to unpack.
About 10 mins after placing our order, a group of 3 ladies began to hover over our chairs screaming out profanity and loudly repeating what type of shots they were about to take. While eating my salad I briefly looked above the bar which has a mirror, and saw one of the women pretending to stroke my boyfriend’s hair and flicking her tongue towards his ear. Of course I asked her what the hell she was doing and my boyfriend asked the entire party to leave us alone. I once again want to repeat that we are not prudes and understand people want to have fun, but this was clearly not the right atmosphere or time for it. We were just minding our business and waiting for our dinners. We tried to ignore the group but they kept making snide remarks. We told the bartender we were leaving because we were being harassed. All she asked was if we wanted to make our order to go instead. No attempt was made to get a manager and address the women who were being unwarrantedly nasty towards us. Totally done with this place.

The place is pretty comfortable. And the chicken dumpling in bread bowl are surprisingly good. I also enjoy my shrimp pesto pizza too.
The only thing I wish they have is a lunch menu, because the one menu they have are quiet pricy for lunch.

Well the greeting was anything but prompt with the young woman staffing the desk sitting in an adjacent room thumbing several menus. She finally stopped her conversation with an unseen companion and came to the desk and greeted us. We were soon led to the bar area and oops… the table was still soiled with a previous customers detritus. We were directed to the adjacent table that had another refuse pile on top and jutting out into the floor area. The server exclaimed «I guess I’ll have to get a broom!». We sat down at the 1^st table as she handed us two badly soiled and edge worn menus. We looked at each other and got up and left. Where was the manager? Who trained this crew? Where’s the health department?

For sandwiches, burgers, and such, I’d have to recommend this place highly to you. It’s definitely one of my favorite spots in Hickory. The place is a bit noisy at times, and the seating is a bit weird. All of those nit-​picky items don’t stop me from making this a place that I frequent every 4 or 5 weeks!
It’s a 5-​star restaurant for it’s classification. See for yourself :-)

I decided to stop in after reading reviews about their service and sandwiches and let me say, neither disappointed.
I had a Reuben wrap with a side salad with Tomato Balsamic Vinaigrette. The corn beef was succulent and cooked just right. The salad is what cost the restaurant a star, it was as Plain Jain as they come with a few pieces of lettuce, a tomato slice, some shredded carrots and cheddar cheese. The dressing was great, but the salad itself left a lot to be desired.
Food aside, the service was superb. My barometer of service is the attentiveness of the waiter without being intrusive or overbearing. My waiter was there, without being there. On numerous occasions my glass was refilled without even having to ask.
Overall, definitely a place I’d go back to if in the area, just not for the salad.