Peoria staple for barbecue, located by The Grand Prairie mall. Great selection of food. read more

Hickory River Smokehouse - Peoria - Smokehouse 2 - Barbeque Near Me - Peoria, Illinois

Typically really enjoy this place. I thought I would try the ribs tonight because I usually just get turkey and sausage. Not sure if I'll get the ribs again. The size of these ribs are extremely small. I definitely got the end of the rack and it's pretty disappointing to be honest considering This meal for just one with two sides two meats a dessert and drink came to $38. Disappointing tonight for sure! read more

Hickory River Smokehouse - Peoria - 4 ribs and turkey (small) - Barbeque Near Me - Peoria, Illinois

Review Visit: March 20th, 2019 Where there is smoke, there is usually fire. This fire was caused by barbecue sauce mixed with jalapenos. On a dreary and boring day off from work, I asked my mom out to lunch. Since she loves BBQ, I asked if she wanted to come here. Not long after that, the small lunch grew to include my sister and niece as they were also free and hungry. We pulled up shortly after they opened and must've been the first customers there as the place was empty. Upon entering, we were greeted by one of the chefs and he asked us if it were our first time there, as we had the clueless look on our face on how to order. He told us the layout is similar to a cafeteria. You order your main meal with him and then you slide down and get your sides/extras from the second chef. At the end of that is the cashier. I have to say that at every stop, the staff was patient and courteous to us ordering our food. The menu is posted behind the food counter, so you can peruse it while deciding what you want to eat. Once you are done paying, you carry your food to a table of your choice. If you ordered wings or anything that needed cooked, they will bring it out to your table. We all sat down and immediately dug in to our food. I got up to get ketchup for my fries and noticed they had jalapenos available. So, I snagged some of those for my pulled pork sandwich. That was a mistake but a good one. Hot hot hot! The first bite was the fire being started. By the 3rd or 4th bite, my mouth was ablaze. Between the jalapenos and the mixed bbq sauce (combination of hot and mild, I believe), my sister asked if I needed the fire department. I politely declined as I downed my soda and took some deep breaths to extinguish the five-alarm fire in my mouth. My mom got the 'Cue Shoe, which is their version of a horseshoe. She was in love after the first bite. My niece got some mild barbecue wings and chili fries. She didn't seem too excited about the wings until she got some hot sauce to dip them in. My sister got one of the turkey sandwiches and also fell in love after the first bite. She was so impressed that she wants to come back for dinner on her birthday. Price-wise, this place is cheap for the quality you get. My meal was $9 for a sandwich, two sides, and a drink. If you want, you can order just the a sandwich for as little as $4.99. I've been to a few barbecue places and this one wins on both price and quality. As for the restaurant itself, it has a heavy Texas theme. Texas license plates all over the walls. Wood floors, walls, and ceilings. Southern hospitality from the staff. On the back wall, they had one of the coolest things I've seen in awhile. A mosaic made of beer bottle caps. You can see it in the gallery below. All-in-all, it was a great way to spend the afternoon with the family. We left with full bellies and smiles on our faces. Those smiles may be hidden behind the barbecue sauce left on our cheeks from the food. read more

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Hit and miss. Pulled pork awesome; brisket dry; ribs dry and no flavor; waffle fries stellar; beans taste liked doctored up canned chili beans but not bad; coleslaw uneventful; hot BBQ sauce great/medium sauce just ok; cornbread dry and too thick; service fast and kind. If I came back I'd only get pulled pork, waffle fries and maybe chili beans. read more

My family and I have enjoyed many meals here (dine in and take out). The food is amazing, and my favorite side is the cornbread. I love the style of the restaurant it is different than anywhere else I have ever eaten. The staff is friendly and helpful they also have a good idea of different things to eat there if you can't figure it out on your own (like me haha!) read more

Good Service and ambiance. The dry rub on the ribs was salt. A lot of salt. The sauce was good but not enough to counteract the salt. Smelled great though. read more

Ambiance - open, cafeteria style seating, noisy, but fun decor. Service - Excellent, Outstanding. Food - Excellent, delicious. I ordered: 2 meat combo - ribs and pulled pork. Sides - mac N cheese, Texas toast, potato salad. Desert [to go] - brownie + vanilla ice cream. Hubby ordered: brisket, corn bread, baked beans. Hubby and I were exploring Peoria [Thursday through Tuesday] in consideration of relocating there from Chicago, IL. Highly recommend this restaurant for folks who enjoy BBQ cuisine. If we ever return to Peoria, we will eat there. Reasonable prices. Note: We're from Chicago, so Peoria was a huge disappointment to us. We thought Peoria was a dead, dull, boring city. We drove around Downtown and Warehouse District on Sunday. I counted 18 people - and 13 of them were homeless - so sad... But the forest and river vistas were beautiful. read more

Ordered the 1/2 chicken dinner - white meat was so flipping dried out I started choking. Wasn't that good. Bird was kind of a mini size. French fries weren't that good either. Most BBQ places give you a big bottle of BBQ sauce but here it's a little bitty plastic cup and you get one flavor. Loosen up on the BBQ Guys. No bottles of catsup on the table. Open up 15 catsup packages - ugh. Should've gone to the bigger chain place with the truck outside. Three dinners, three cups of water plus a tip - $64.00. Place was clean and service was fast, potato salad was good, ice and water machine worked and the utensils were clean but I would go elsewhere next time . read more

Picked up food for an early dinner. Food quality average, bbq was dry and had been held in the warmer for a while before serving. Fresher food would have been better. read more

Underwhelming for sure. The people were very nice and helpful while ordering. I will preface this with the fact that I was born in Memphis and raised in Texas. Barbecue is an essential part of my upbringing. The brisket was bone dry. I felt like it was cooked yesterday and left under a lamp all day. The turkey was missing a smoke ring. It looked like something served to a child. The sausage honestly tasted like a big warm slim Jim. The corn was just that. Corn. No added flavour or seasoning. The Mac and cheese held up. Overall, I don't think I will be returning. read more

Hickory River Smokehouse - Peoria - Three 3 Meat Combo - Barbeque Near Me - Peoria, Illinois

We where in town for a baseball tournament and stop by in with the entire team and parents to have late night dinner. It smelled really good since we arrived. They where out of sliced brisket and only had chopped which I didn't know the difference until the guy at the register was super nice and let me taste the chopped brisket which is just like pulled pork. The place is reasonable for pricing and food portions. The food was good the mac and cheese was okay. I got a pulled pork sandwich which was okay. The chicken wings are really really good. They had the baseball and basketball games on while we had dinner and the beer is cheap here which was a plus. The staff was super nice and took great care of all of us. read more

Just ate here a couple of days ago for my birthday. It is a nice quiet place. 4 tables seated. The music isn't too loud. Since Covid, it is more of a service restaurant than a cafeteria style restaurant that it used to be. This throws me a bit, still used to the old way. 1/2 rack of ribs, chili, and fries for me. Lean brisket, apple sauce, and corn for my wife. Everything was delicious. Everything dry, sauce on side. Ribs maybe a touch dry Love the chili, love the 1/2 chicken plate from previous visits. read more

I don't recommend the slaw. Service is good and the food is fantastic! My personal favorite the Que shoe.

Have been looking all over for good Bar-B-Que in Peoria since Famous Dave's closed. This is not Famous Dave's but it is pretty good!

Came woth the Mr on a business trip and he brought me here on a tip from a co-workwer. The food is so good, the staff super friendly, easy to order. Your food comes out on a silver tray, kinda like a cookie sheet, and just as large as one. There are 6 sauces on the community tables to try and a paper towel roll. They have fountain drinks, cans/bottles and sweet tea!! Those drinks are serve yourself. There are also small containers for your sauces for to go orders or leftovers. They also offer desserts too. Inside seating area is small but there is covered and heated space outside. Seems as if they do mostly take out. The decor is kitchy-cute but doesn't distract you too much from the food. They deliver and cater. Located in a strip mall type area with free parking. I would come back if I'm in the area again. read more

Not bad for what you get, but the service could have been a little better. Went in on a Saturday evening as I was having a craving for barbecue. Got the pulled pork dinner platter, which was great. The amount of meat and the quality were great. The sauce was so-so. Sauces should be on the table too, as the counter person only give you a little cup. I guess for a fast casual spot though, that might be a little difficult. Also got the fries, which were solid and coleslaw, which had very little flavor, but was okay. Cornbread was cold and kind of dry, but it was a Friday night so may not have made much. Service to get food was a bit slow but oh well. This place was a good spot and if in the mood for some fast barbecue, this is a good spot. read more

Hickory River Smokehouse - Peoria - Barbeque Near Me - Peoria, Illinois

Years ago, this was one of our favorite restaurants. The meat was always so tender and moist. We just spent $36 on dinner for 2 and I left the majority of the food on my plate. I had chopped beef brisket, and it was so dry. No, amount of chewing could get through that brisket. A manager noticed that I was only eating my corn and potatoes and picking at the meat and asked how it was. I told him it was so incredibly dry, and I could not chew it. He brought me a new one, but instead of it having honey barbecue on it, it had a tangy barbecue. He said they had dipped this one in au jus to make it moisture. It was still extremely dry, but also so tangy my tongue was now on fire. We just left the food on the tray and left. We will never be back or recommend Hickory River again. read more

The meats are smoked for a long time, and they are tender. The brisket and chicken were really good. The sausage was different but not his favorite. I liked the sauces, and the ranch beans and au gratin potatoes were a great surprise, flavorful. Chili was good, just not what I wanted. It's a great place. People are super helpful and family-oriented, and I'd like to try the cobbler. I wish they'd have a way to try more than one sauce without buying them. Other than that, it was good. read more

I was expecting, fall off the bone ribs but but it is more like hot steaming tire tread. Very rubbery and tough. I was highly disappointed. read more

Great food. Some places can have overbearing smoke flavor, this place has it just right. All the food is amazing. My only drawback is dining in. The place is large and empty so it is very loud and echos so much you can't really have a decent conversation with the people at your table. Other than that it's fabulous! read more

We stopped in on our way back from scout camp. Our party had pork nachos, kids pork sandwich meal, 1/2 chicken, and a sliced brisket sandwich. The kids weren't a fan of the chunky style of the apple sauce. But everything else was good. read more

The price for 2 dinners $14 for a VERY SALTY half chicken, Costco chicken would be better, my smoked chicken dinner (I will use the word smoked loosely) breast dry,nothing to the wing, thinking the thigh & leg became one. Macaroni and cheese pasta over cooked. Cheese basic sauce. Cornbread DRY. Ranch beans dry, smoked sausage? Cold milly beef Frank. Please go back down south and bring back up real southern BBQ. Clean building, " dinning room, kitchen area, restrooms all clean! Service way better than most places! read more

I might of came at a bad day but all the bbq was dry. The ribs weren't juicy at all, just dry and horrible. Same with the brisket. Staff was really nice though. read more

We've eaten here a couple of times. This last time we both tried the turkey sandwich. The turkey was juicy and very good! We prefer to get the "mixed" sauce, which still has a bit of kick to it. The sweet corn isn't my thing (too sugary), but the fried apple type side was great. The employees are friendly and the dining area, which was formerly a Famous Daves, has a nice BBQ restaurant decor. read more

Hickory River Smokehouse - Peoria - Barbeque Near Me - Peoria, Illinois

I hit this place every time I'm in town..... great food! The pulled pork is amazing. Friendly staff and nice establishment.

Overcook overpriced little bitty pig. Small slab 25 bucks over cooked overpriced. I know Peoria is a hicktown but there is just so few rib selections hickory river is not one of them I will try again read more

Wonderful take out meal and plenty of food. Did a brisket and pulled pork meat only, for bread, beans, and greens beans. The only disappointment was the green beans. Everything was packaged so it wouldn't spill. We would recommend and dine again. read more

Delicious ribs, chicken, and turkey. Loved how much meat was on the ribs. They accidentally gave us the wrong proteins in our family meal, so they delivered us the correct items and complimentary dessert to make up for it. Great food, and really appreciated the customer service. Thanks Jason! read more

This bbq was awful and the sides were awful too. Driest brisket ever. Didnt even smell like bbq. Green beans straight out of can

Great value, clean place and pretty good bbq. Tried their ribs and it was great, although a bit on the colder side to my taste.

Terrible, can I give negative stars? Food is terrible and they talk terribly to their staff. That's an instant no from me. Food tasted like wet cardboard with rat poisoning. I'd rather just dig around in the dumpster behind Steak 'n Shake for a good meal. Also I swear if y'all respond with the same fake ass auto response apology I'm going to swallow one of your dirty ass forks. read more

Good consistent BBQ. My favorite place in Peoria to grab brisket and pulled pork quickly. Been here multiple times. Service I had today was great. Food was tasty and excellent. Had the 2 meat player with Brisket, Pulled Pork, Ranch Beans, and Texas Chili. No reservations needed, just come order, and eat BBQ. Highly Recommend. read more

Hickory River Smokehouse - Peoria - 2 meat player with Brisket, Pulled Pork, Ranch Beans, and Texas Chili. - Barbeque Near Me - Peoria, Illinois

Extremely disappointed in the quality of the food. Brisket was extremely dry. Cornbread looked and tasted like it was undercooked. Mac and cheese was cold. The sweet chili sauce I did like. I won't be returning to this place unfortunately. read more

Only two stars because their corn bread was really good. I tried to order their brisket they were out of stock of course!! So I ordered their pulled pork nachos. It was disappointing and gross!! They of course had pulled pork with queso white cheese and beans?? Thats it. What kind if nachos is that? It was loaded with beans...hardly cheese shoulda been renamed to chilli cheese nachos. I ate what I could and threw the rest away so gross. We also asked for honey bbq and hanerno and they gave us 3 regular barbecue...wtf?? read more

I cannot believe I just spent $24 on brisket with a tablespoon of mashed potatoes a tablespoon of chili and a drink and the worst Texas toast I've ever had in my life you're better off going to the dumpster read more

Seriously good food! Excellent service! Very good location to eat when you're shopping at Grand Prairie!

Amazing staff ... make this place the best .. Great atmosphere The absolute best BBQ I have ever eaten and an amazing amount of food The meat melted In Your mouth and gave you the best meat coma I highly recommend that you try this place and don't forget to get some onion rings read more

We had the ribs, fries, cornbread, cherry cobbler and brownies. Their mild bbq sauce is good but we didn't care for the ribs themselves. They claim to use a rub and seasoning on the ribs. What we tasted seemed sour/sweetish.......the rub/seasoning? Not sure but we definitely didn't like it and no amount of saucing it helped. The ribs were a bit dry also. Fries were good, especially with the sauce. Cornbread was very good, had actual corn in the batter. Cobbler and brownie were ok but too expensive for the small pieces. We would't be back. read more

This place is awesome. Good old fashioned barbecue everything and all the fixings for the price of mcdonalds. The macaroni and cheese is awesome, our group didn't like the beans all that much. But the corn bread was great! It's kind of cafe style, you walk along the food line and get your stuff. We all got through quickly and the staff is great. We have a large group of people as we're in town for softball tournaments and we all got seated and ate right away. read more

I come here exclusively for the Q shoe. That is the perfect combination of pulled pork, cheese, fries, and BBQ sauce. The counter reminds me of ordering food in high school. You get your own drinks. They have rolls of paper towels on the tables for napkins. They have a Texas motif since this is touted as real Texas barbecue. My only piece of advice to the people working behind the counter would be to let people take a minute to look over the menu before you hound them for their order. I knew what I wanted right away but my girlfriend felt rushed. They wanted to know her order right away because they wanted to know how many fries to cook. Ok? Slow your roll a little. I liked it better when they had a menu on the wall away from the counter. You got a chance to look things over before someone asks what you want. Not sure why they removed it. read more