Highland Avenue

Amazing, creative food! This is a restaurant that would be a top destination in any major city. With locally sourced ingredients, the chef does everything from butchering his meats to making his own vinegars. The menu changes frequently to reflect the best of what is available. Everything we ate there was fabulous! A special shout out goes to the pastas and the salads. And be sure to save some room for dessert. We try to eat here whenever we visit friends in Hickory. Highland Avenue is truly a gem! Do not miss it.

I really want to like Highland ave. There venue is really nice. I really appreciate the farm to table, and all the vegetables I’ve had have treated fresh and good, but as a vegetarian, they make it too difficult for me. And why? They have lots of vegetables, cheeses, sauces, etc. I don’t understand why they don’t put a vegetarian entrée on the menu. The first time I got lucky. I had a helpful waitress and apparently a willing chef who made me something delicious, but the next time, I got what seemed like a side dish. I dislike having to go back and forth with the waiter about what they can make only to wind up with some side vegetables. If they just added a good meatless entrée I would be happy.

The atmosphere is lovely and stylish and service is fine, if not anything to write home about. The food isn’t quite there yet. My friend had the scallops which were tasty but slightly overcooked, and my filet mignon was equally tasty but smothered in too much sauce and other accompaniments. Have faith in the farm fresh fare you’re serving and let it shine — don’t bury it!

Food was creative and beautifully served. We thought the portions were a little small for the price but great atmosphere and service.

Great food, great atmosphere and fantastic service! My wife had the trout and I had the steak which was cooked to perfection! Brittney was our server and did a great job describing the specials and helped us choose our desert.

Top drawer spot in Hickory, NC. Great upstairs outdoor deck with views of the town. The inside bar is elegant but not pretentious. Great cocktails. Dinner was very good with excellent service. A very nice place to share an upscale meal with friends family or your significant other. No disappointments here.

What a perfect addition to hickory ! Service was friendly knowledgable. The food was unique and perfectly proportioned so there was room for dessert It’s a delicious alternative to all the chains

Excellent meal, excellent service, and excellent atmosphere made for a wonderful experience. Our server Aerial did a great job. It might be a little pricey for Hickory, but a real jewel for us. We will be back again and will ask for Aerial.

The service here was outstanding. We weren’t familiar with the beers, so we were given Samples to try before ordering. The food was incredible and changes based on the season.

I’m surprised this place only had four stars! If I could give it more than 5 I would because this is one of the best restaurants my husband and I have been to not just in Hickory but in North Carolina and dare I say the country. We lucked up on this place the first time for a rare date night and I’m so glad we did. We had a crab cake, skirt steak, and some sort of fish I can’t remember but it was all amazingly delicious. We also had the red velvet cheesecake for dessert and it was worth every single calorie. We love this place so much that we came back for Easter brunch with our son and again we were not disappointed. My picky little eater ate everything we put in front of him. He especially loved the sweet potato home fries. The service was amazing as well… Rachel took great care of us :-)
I’m from Chicago and a serious foodie so I was shocked to expect experience this level of food outside «the big city». The chef really knows what he’s doing and I can’t wait to go back again!

Don’t get me wrong — I WANT to love this place. I want so badly for Hickory to have a locally-​sourced restaurant with creative and gourmet offerings. I really felt excited about Highland Avenue when it first opened up. It seemed like a nice, high end place with an inventive menu, but it has not lived up to its potential — yet.
The menu is just trying a little too hard to be unique and different. If the entrees turned out tasting amazing, then I would say they achieve this goal. But the flavors are not well suited to each other enough, and so the entrees just come across as strange and weird, and overpriced considering they are not delicious.
I think it could do much better if they added some reliable standard fare like a nice filet mignon with red wine reduction with gourmet mushrooms, and maybe a scallops dish that doesn’t have a strange tasting green pastey sauce on it. Like maybe a nice brown butter… Some hearty soups in the winter would be awesome, and maybe some tapas.
I hope they rework their menu. It would be awesome to have another option for upscale dining in this town.

Dinner was great. Staff wonderful and this is place is great for big groups. I had the scallops and they were perfect.

On our anniversary, we had decided on two choices to pick from in Hickory. H. Ave was one. We chose the other and it was a big disappointment. Tonight we finally decided to try Highland Avenue tonight to celebrate our new baby girl. We had loosely decided to go to H. Ave first for drinks and appetizer, then possibly move on to Carrabas for entrees. After the warm greeting, great initial service from Robin, and the amazing taste of the gnocchi appetizer, we decided to stay. Robin was great throughout the meal, and the owners were very welcoming, but the taste was the real highlight. All of the food was amazing and… challenging. The flavors found in my flank steak were subtle, complex, and original. The same can be said of the gnocchi and my wife’s seafood ballentine. At both restaurants, wet ordered an appetizer, two entrees, and a dessert. At H. Ave we added a drink from the bar. Our total at H. Ave was about half of that at the other place. Food and service was well over twice as good. All in all, I highly recommend Highland Avenue.

We have tried this place twice and have not been able to get past the appetizers either night. Even taking recommendations from friends on what to order it was a fail. The pork belly was mostly fat and the scallops has what seemed like baby food peas pureed on the plate. With new places we always just do apps first before making the commitment. Glad we did. Youseff’s is a much better choice.

This was — by far — the best meal I’ve had this year (please note the date), maybe the last 3 years. I spoke so little during the 4 courses that I think my dinner companion thought I was uninterested in the conversation… but really I was speechless. Ever bite was an experience.
The atmosphere was incredible. A wall of mason jars full of colorful goodies all the way to the ceiling with hand written tags — things that will someday be on the plates much like the ones in front of me. Charming. Perfect lighting for an intimate dinner for two with tables appropriately spaced (why do farm to table places always squeeze us in like we are in NYC?) and pleasant buzz from the bar — couples and friends enjoying beautiful craft cocktails. Only one tv in the whole place (how nice) and it was at the bar.
The open kitchen was great to watch in between courses. The Chef seemed so into his craft. When he heard that we traveled from Charlotte to have dinner he sent out a special dessert and came to the table to chat a bit. It was really so nice. I love this place. A lot. Enough to come back at least quarterly. It was a magical night, really. I love when the plates take you somewhere: your grandmothers kitchen table, a fancy restaurant in Paris, that first meal you made for someone you love (and didn’t burn it). Food that can take you somewhere you are not is very powerful. I went so many places the night I went to Highland Ave. I can’t wait to return to see where the Chef takes me next.
Drive here. Eat this food. Tell everyone you know.

Appetizers dinner and wine were absolutely outstanding. Service was excellent atmosphere was inviting and warm and friendly. The chef is extremely talented using locally grown vegetables meat and even dairy products. He is extremely creative and creates the most spectacular presentations with every appetizer entrée and dessert.

Small portions at a large price. Flavors are just OK. As far as farm-​to-​table restaurants go, this one just can’t compare to good places like 131 Main or Soby’s on food alone. This is also one of at least 3 pages on Unilocal.I posted a full review on one page.

Had dinner this past Friday night. I had a delicious drink, the divine salad of the day (it had local lettuces and a blood orange vinaigrette), then followed it with Brussels sprouts and the rainbow trout.
I’ve had amazing experiences at H.AVE. I will go back and enjoy it again! I love the atmosphere from the super eclectic menu to the wait staff wearing blue jeans. It’s a top notch place!

Amazing shrimp and grits and awesome seats at the bar to check out the wine list. So glad Hickory decided to restore this old hosiery mill!

This restaurant has supplanted Youssef 242 as the best restaurant (just my opinion) in Hickory. There is no Valet parking. Not sure where that came from in a previous review. I visit Hickory often and this is by far the classiest place to come for dinner. Their cooking has been consistent. The hangar steak, Chicken and River Trout are excellent dishes. Great wine selection (albeit I would like to see them expand their wines by the glasses a bit more), good beer selection, excellent service combines to make this a great place. The ambience is awesome to boot. Glad to see a nice place in Hickory other than Youssef.