We had a large group of kids like 70- (summer camp) The service was great! They got our food out to the kids quick and were helpful and friendly! read more

Hickory Park is a fantastic place to dine in Ames, as it features different "western" aspects and "old-fashioned" themes! When I went, the wait was pretty short (for a party of 30,) and the customer service was excellent! If you want delicious food at an inexpensive restaurant, I recommend Hickory Park 100%! read more

Always a great place to gather with family and friends! Food is always consistent and the ice cream desserts are amazing!

I had an amazing time especially enjoyed my server, she's is super sweet, polite, enjoyable and amazing to talk to! Her name was Alexa, thank you! You made my night!! read more

This place was incredible. I have never seen so many ice cream flavors. There is a 5-25cent candy shop in the front as soon as you walk in, you just pick what you want and drop the change in a little wooden change collector. I usually dont expect to be able to order much because I am allergic to gluten, but this place had me so relieved because they have a GF menu and even went as far as the manager coming out to explain they would be changing gloves, cleaning, and making sure my food did not have any cross contamination and that I didn't have any other questions or concerns with the menu items. What an incredible experience. It is so hard to order out when you have special dietary restrictions and it honestly makes me avoid eating out at all costs. So this experience was absolutely stunning for me. 10/10 recommend for anyone with or without Celiac looking to eat some great bbq and have even better dessert. PS- The ribs were perfectly cooked and as a Tx girl I know a thing or two about good ribs. read more

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Great food, outstanding service! Everything we've eaten has been delicious. Be sure to save room for ice cream! Kinsley was a phenomenal waitress, very attentive, kind, and was on top of our needs and without us asking! Sometimes the wait seems long but it goes quick and is definitely worth it. read more

I was met with smiling faces and quickly lead to a table. A few minutes later and my waitress was at the table and took my order. The side salad came within 3 minutes! I was not even halfway through the salad when my dinner arrived!! The meats were all delicious, I didn't even need bbq sauce!! My waitress stopped by a couple times to check on how everything tasted. I would highly recommend eating here when in the area, and it is well worth driving out of your way to eat here! read more

Hickory Park Restaurant Co. - 4 meat sampler with ribs and coleslaw Barbecue Dinner & Pork Ribs - American Near Me - Ames, Iowa

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Great food, great service, and GF food for our family! It is so hard to eat out so I'm truly grateful for this! Plus it's yummy GF food!

Poor service bad attitudes bad food too much attitudes not enough helpful behaviors. Mediocre food at best. Not worth the money.

My Husband & I had, as usual the Most Wonderful Lunch today in Hickory Park. Our Waiter, ( Noah ) was Impeccable. The Best Manners!!!!! It was our second time in having him serve our lunch! He remembered us! The Lady who is the Manager is also Impeccable! Very accommodating! The food is Delicious. We will Always be customers. Thank you! For being in Ames! Deborah & Joe read more

This is a must stop when visiting Ames. Be prepared for a little wait, but the food is really solid. Love that they have a seating area and kids movie playing where you wait, and if you have some change in your pocket they have random, self-serve candy bar (think old school candy store). Service is friendly and relatively quick once you get seated. And be sure to save room for ice cream! They have a whole separate menu of options for dessert. read more

Had a very good meal at Hickory Park in Ames on Tuesday eve. of this week. The primary reason for my review is my praise for the food (which never disappoints) but ... you need to check and make sure and Iowa State athletic, concert, or other major event isn't taking place near the time of your planned visit, as this is a VERY popular place with Cyclone fanatics. Now, back to the food. I jump around on the menu, much like I do at many places, but I seem to often land on the breaded pork tenderloin (pictured here.) One thing I like about Hickory Park, is that they don't pound the crap out of the tenderloin, making it paper thin and super-sized just to make it bigger than the competitor. This tenderloin is always thick and juicy, served on a nice bun. You get a choice of standard sides (most people choose fries or beans) but you can "up" your side to onion rings, which I always do. The onion rings are the best. Make no mistake, these are not processed onion rings (mashed onions formed into rings) ... they're the real thing. And yeah, like lots of places, I paid a trip to the men's room. It was a busy eve., and I want to report that at the 7:15pm hour, the restroom was pretty tidy, with only one piece of paper towel on the floor. Counter was pretty clean. read more

Hickory Park Restaurant Co. - Awesome tenderloin. Side of Onion Rings. - American Near Me - Ames, Iowa

Cute establishment. Nice selections of ice cream treats that are worth saving room for. Service was fast too. Will recommend. read more

Hickory Park Restaurant Co. - American Near Me - Ames, Iowa

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My husband grew up in Ankeny and went to college in Ames. He insisted we stop here on a recent visit through Iowa. He wasn't wrong. Really good food. Crowded and loud but very friendly. The dessert menu was amazing! read more

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Usually come to this place because it's the birthday capital of restaurants they can seat big parties at a time they have a large menu of entrees and ice cream. Amazing!!! read more

Great food! Huge portions. Fabulous service. So many options to please everyone in your party.

Hickory Park seems to be considered one of those iconic restaurants and it had been probably at least 20 years or more since I had eaten there, but on a recent visit back up to Ames after living in FL for 20 years, my brother took me there for dinner. Got to say I was pretty disappointed in the food. My burger was just dry and bland. Meh. I've had far better at many different restaurants. Still has the classic atmosphere and the ice cream choices are still top notch, but pretty disappointed in my entree. Not sure if they've gone downhill in the last couple decades, but I wouldn't recommend it. read more

We arrived on a Saturday evening at 7:30 and the wait time for a table was about 20ish mins, not bad on a Saturday night especially when a place is as packed as Hickory Park! Our server was nice and the hostess friendly. We were seated in a cute lil booth that has character and charm- the ambiance of the restaurant is very fun. The menu has a great selection of meat and basic sides. We arrived the dinner special (1/4 chicken with ribs) and a sausage platter with ribs. For sides we did Mac n cheese, mashed potatoes, fries, and BBQ beans. Let's start with the chicken- it was a bit flavorless and dry, which could be because it was late in the day... the ribs were tender and good with BBQ sauce (they didn't have much flavor on their own). The sausage was drop the mic AMAZING!!! It was tender, flavorful, moist, and melted in your mouth- I'd come back just to order the sausage! Also, the roll needs a note, it tastes like a deep fried donut- so delicious!! Ok, now for the sides: mac n cheese = meh, typical Kraft type. Fries = crisp, warm, salty! BBQ beans = great traditional beans with good flavor and nice portion size. The mashed potatoes = were ok, I didn't like the gravy. Now, let's move onto the dessert menu, it's extensive and with an option for just about everyone. I had the golden pound cake sundae. The butter pecan ice cream was delicious, but the pound cake was dry and I didn't finish it. Overall, I liked the look and feel- but it's not as good as when I came as a kid. The service is friendly and accommodating and you should order the sausage (even if it's normally not you thing!). read more

Hickory Park Restaurant Co. - Golden Pound Cake sundae - American Near Me - Ames, Iowa

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Food was awesome like always!Been here several times and never had a problem.Servers always nice.

A great place to bring your kids! But not the best food or dining experience if just coming as adults. Like others say, the food itself is subpar, especially if one has had any quality barbeque in the past. The smoked chicken is usually alright despite that. Other than that, everything else I've tried here is pretty meh. However, my son loves this place and it's fun to bring him here. If you happen to be less than 4 ft tall, I recommend this place. read more

We hadn't been to Hickory Park in years. It's the same. Good food, clean, family friendly restaurant that is a pleasure to visit. I had the Rueben. I'd give it a 3.5. The meat was good, the sauce was just right as was the sauerkraut. Unfortunately the bottom piece of bread was soggy. My husband had the smoked link sausage sandwich. He said it was really good. The service was good. The atmosphere is typical of a bbq western eatery. While they have bbq and smoked foods, there's no brisket on the menu. That was disappointing. We will go back though. It's worth the drive. read more

Good food, good service, lively atmosphere, fast service, quick to deliver! Great spot to meet up with family from all over Iowa!

Food was great, the service was superior, the ambiance was rustic bbq.Hickory park never disappoints. This is a great place to take the family for special occasions. They even sing happy birthday for your birthday. read more

The food was great, the service was great, and the whole vibe of the place was old-fashioned and fun. Prices were also great!

In quickly and awesome food! In town for a sports camp and parents also came from NE Iowa to enjoy.

I love this place! I always get the sliced pork sandwich with their bacon green beans. It's so inexpensive too.

Always a family favorite when we visit from out of state. Our server Kevin was super nice on a very busy night when it seemed that every single member of the FFA was there!! :) read more

I've tried Hickory Park in the past and enjoyed it. This time I got the barbecue platter with beef, ham and turkey. While it was okay, I was underwhelmed. The beef was great, the turkey okay and the ham inedible. Service was very good. I left though feeling like I had just left a cafeteria not a barbecue joint. I'll stick to Cornbread from now on read more

Had the Takeout as one of our team members got out of Region 6 to make a food run for us. Excellent as always...Brisket was fantastic, chicken awesome, but that smoked turkey blew me away! read more

Hickory Park Restaurant Co. - Mmmmmmmm - American Near Me - Ames, Iowa

Only 4 stars because the meat was dry. Tasted good but dry. I've been here before and it was good last time too. The waitress was awesome kept coming back for refills.The place was clean as wella big plus read more

Hickory Park Restaurant Co. - Lobby - American Near Me - Ames, Iowa

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First time to Hickory Park and loved the experience. Staff was great and so helpful walking us thru the expansive menu. Food was wonderful and portions were large. Have to return for dessert as I found several in reviewing that menu I have to try. Table next had a banana split that looked great. So many options too small of a stomach. read more

Had the smoked turkey sandwich. Portion size good. Fries for a side. They we hot and portion size fine. My only concern was the turkey didn't seem to be smoked. If it is roasted, fine. It was tasty and not dry. But it was not smoked. Service was great. read more

We LOVE Hickory Park! Great BBQ. Fun, lively atmosphere. Usually not a long wait to be seated. Love their milkshakes. We like to have big family gatherings there, very accomodating. Glad they take reservations! Reasonable pricing. No complaints! read more

This place was crazy busy for a late Wednesday night. The combination platter that I ordered was huge. The food was good. Nothing special, but it was worth the price. Both bbq sauces were mediocre. The place gives away free ice cream for one's bday, so that was appreciated. The staff also sings the restaurants interpretation of "Happy Birthday". read more

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We've been fans of Hickory Park Restaurant for 10+ years and have ate there multiple times per year. That changed with our last visit on 2/23. We had 3 in our group, and the waitress never offered any of us drink refills, despite 3 empty cups. She never checked on us during our meal. She took 2 dessert orders and never asked the 3rd person if they wanted to order dessert, she just left our table in a hurry. When someone else brought the 2 desserts, we asked about drink refills and were said we'd have to ask our waitress. We said we hadn't seen her. They offered no assistance in helping us. Several other employees saw our empty cups and offered no help. So very, very disappointed in this visit! read more

Really nice servers :) Good environment, with a rustic feel and a bustling atmosphere Food was alright, just your standard restaurant food, feels a bit pricey for what I think is average quality food, but it's nothing too bad. read more

Good: Our server was outstanding. There were six of us plus a baby and we were scattered and probably a little crazy, but she got every order perfect and was very nice. My family raved about their desserts. Not so good: I've lived in Iowa for almost 30 years. I've always heard you HAVE to go to Hickory Park, but I've never had the opportunity to go until today. I was extremely underwhelmed by the food. Out of six meals, three were not very good. I was quite disappointed because I had built up high expectations. read more

For a busy night our server was on point. Our food came out nice and hot. Our drinks were always filled.

Hickory Park has a great atmosphere, delicious food and excellent service!! Always willing to accommodate big groups too!!

Their sweet potato fries are really good with dipping sauce. We've at least once got Chipotle ranch with our sweet potato fries. read more

Hickory Park Restaurant Co. - Sweet Potato Fries - American Near Me - Ames, Iowa