Nice spacious restaurant with plenty of televisions views. Hickory Tavern is perfect for game night and watching our favorite teams. Anywhere in the restaurant is a good seat with a view of the televisions. The staff is nice and accommodating. I'm disappointed because my friend bragged about Hickory Tavern and it didn't live up to her past experiences. It was not the best. The chicken wings were somewhat undercooked and under seasoned and then drenched in jerk sauce. The grilled chicken itself was nicely prepared and tasted nice as well as the cheese and bacon. I ended up just removing the meat. The bottom of the bun was soggy and falling apart. The fries were extremely overcooked as if they sat for a while before the food arrived at our table. A Quality check on the food leaving the kitchen is needed. The food did not do it for me. I will not eat here again. read more

Hickory Tavern - American Near Me - Cary, North Carolina

This place is really corporate. I don't know if it is or not, but it is run like it is. They never have the right glassware. The prices are exorbitant for the bland food. The soft tacos are always crunchy. So why 4 starts. Even though they go through staff like Kleenex, they really are always nice. I always get a side salad. Sometimes just that & it's always crunchy. I like the ambiance. It reminds me of the fast casual I grew up with. Nostalgic. I come with my dog sometimes & they are really accommodating. This place is right next to where I live so it's easy. read more

If I could give negative stars I would. I came here last night & ordered a smokehouse burger. Within 4 hours, my stomach started to cramp & became nauseous. By 3am today I have been throwing up, experiencing diarrhea, & cold sweats. I had to go to the hospital for food poisoning & received a $500 from the ER. The regional manager finally returned my call & stated they could not give me a $40 refund due to it being against their policy but offered to give me gifts cards. WHY WOULD ANYONE COME BACK TO EAT AT AN ESTABLISHMENT THAT THEY GOT FOOD POISONING FROM?! I never got an apology for being served the food or for the day I've experienced since. For your health, DO NOT EAT HERE! read more

Even if the customer service is very tranquil and slow,There is a sense of belonging and having family around bring a serenity to the environment.The customer service guy Chris is very attentive and polite.The food is tasty but overpriced for a family /restaurant bar.Overall people are friendly.It has many TV's on the walls.The decor is very rustic.The food servings are plentifully.That is definitely a must for those that eat abundantly.My Smoke House burger was enormous and very scrumptious.It had onion rings,bacon,meat lettuce,onion and sauce.It also brings a side dish ,mine was French fries. read more

Hickory Tavern - The smoke house Burger and French fries on the side - American Near Me - Cary, North Carolina

Me and my Fiancée have been looking for a new casual bar since we moved. Tried out a few places and then fell in love with Hickory tavern. Personally I do not drink alcohol often because I never had a favorite drink. Until I had the spiked cinnamon apple! The best drink I've ever had. They put cinnamon sugar on the rim which is amazing and I order it every single time. This is one of the few places that have true Buffalo wings that aren't just tiny little pieces. Their barbecue nachos (small size) are big enough for 3 people. Best place in Cary for bar food and lots of tvs!!!!! read more

See all

Since this is near the movies this has been a place my family has stopped at a couple of times before or after a movie. My most recent time was the Tuesday after Christmas. We were short on time prior to the movie so I thought this would be a quick place to grab a bite. We pulled up to the bar and the bartender was very friendly. We noticed that the wings were on special on Tuesdays so we decided to get that, I believe it's half off the wings with a 12 wing minimum which is a great discount. The drinks were top notch, my lemon drop was really good. My cousin stated she liked the espresso martini. The ambiance was fine, it's kind of a regular normal looking place. The wings were delicious as well. The only problem was they did take a while to come out, but it's chicken so I guess that is to be expected. But when we received the bill, the wings were not discounted. Of course it was corrected but I wish that would have been correct the first time. But overall, I would come back again for the drinks. read more

Hickory Tavern - Strawberry lemon drop - American Near Me - Cary, North Carolina

Everything was great. We were seated quickly at a high top. Lots of TV's so this is a great place to catch a game. Food , service and cocktails were great !! I enjoyed my power bowl with chicken and pear margarita read more

My husband & I stopped in for lunch while in the area. We miss the Hickory Tavern that had been open in Chapel Hill but is no longer there. It was one of our favorite places for a quick bite and its replacement is not nearly as good. Today's visit reminded us of why we loved HT but we were especially taken with the great service offered by Laura. She had such energy and attended to our every need. Kind of amazing actually. (Consider giving her a raise -- and no, we're not related). We will be back again soon!! Great food & great service. The best combo!! read more

What does a person have to do in Cary to get a drink, be served without attitude, and enjoy the NCAA tournament??? We enjoyed ONE drink and the pretzel bites while watching the game, but we were never asked if we wanted another drink even though BOTH bartenders walked by us at least 101 times. The manager was working his tail off, which is always nice to see when a place is busy. And those pretzel bites were the bomb! I just wish we could have had a cold beer to go with them. Oh well. At least our team won their game! We will be watching their next game far away from Cary, though. read more

Per review guidance: * Food / Drinks an known (see below) * Service - Non-existent (see below) * Ambience - Actually decent; for the short time I stayed. Yes, it was a Saturday afternoon, which I assumed would attract the college football crowd, but I was surprised to find the place relatively quiet (red flag #1). As I was by myself I decided to sit at the bar and be able to follow a few of the games. I sat near a couple who looked to have just finished their lunch and waited. And waited. Went to get myself a menu...and waited. There was actually a "bartender" chatting and playing on the phone with a friend but never once acknowledged that I was there. Another gentleman arrived perhaps a few minutes after me. He waited. I waited. We all waited. The "bartender" kept at her little chat/games for another 5 minutes or so and then finally broke free. I waited. She went to her POS. I waited. She went to the sink. I waited. Finally, I was done and walked out. The two young women at the hostess stand seemed surprised when I mentioned to them that they might want to get someone to work at the bar since there were customers there trying to spend money, but to no avail. So, I left. No food. No drinks. No TV. What a waste of time. How can you even stay on business this way?!? Good luck. read more

I love the salads with little croissants at Hickory Tavern. On this visit we dined in to watch the Panthers lose again. My mom and I both started off with a beer, it was a tall Blue Moon for me and a cider for her. For food we split a small tavern salad with 1000 island dressing and extra little croissants and the cheesesteak with tater tots. My husband built his own salad. The service was really slow but be patient since most places are short staffed. Next time I'll just order a salad since I did not like the cheesesteak. The bar does get packed so get there early if you want to watch a game in that area. read more

We dined at Hickory Tavern this evening and Lilly was our waitress! As usual Lilly was charming and very attentive. The food was delicious and we watched football on the big screen. Thank you Lilly for making our night a pleasant one! Loren and Marie Wildt read more

Good food at okay prices. Ahi tuna tacos and shrimp tacos were good. Friendly staff. Relaxing atmosphere.

Been going here since they first opened and really enjoyed it back then and have frequented it often since then. However, the current Hickory Tavern has really gone downhill. I've been three times in the last few weeks there to have dinner and watch football with my husband on their large screen TVs. Every time we visited the bartenders were socializing with each other so loudly (screeching, yelling, cackling) it was jarring and made everyone in the restaurant jump out of their seats several times. I don't mind if they socialize but the volume that they use interfered with watching the games, it was ridiculous (especially since the TVs were already at a loud volume). Several times we were totally ignored even when sitting right at the bar wanting another beer or the check because they were busy talking amongst themselves -loudly. That's all I have to say about the bartenders. The waitstaff were excellent and very attentive each time we were at tables. That's the best part about this place, they were awesome and we tip well for that. The food is just average, nothing special but consistent. However they charge you $5 more for all flats or drums for $10 worth of wings? Really? Also, if you plan to watch a game, it can be frustrating when they are constantly switching screens on you. Happened multiple times each night, sometimes in the 1st quarter, during close games, even highly anticipated local college games. Once, a first of the season UNC Chapel Hill game was switched off from every tv in the second quarter and the manager couldn't figure out how to get it back on for 1/2 an hour. Each time we have gone to watch the games the restaurant was only 1/4 full so it's not like people are asking to switch TVs onto other games. Anyway, super disappointed in what this place has turned into. We will be looking for a new hangout somewhere else. read more

Great food and even greater service. Had lunch with the team here last week, food was excellent but the service took it over the top. Our server Grace was a real rock star, she was constantly on it with refills, extra napkins, appetizers, you name it. She was very attentive and always around when we needed her, really upped the experience we had. Looking forward to coming back again! read more

My first trip to Hickory Tavern did not disappoint. First, the service was exceptional despite a Saturday crush that included two baseball teams. Kaitlyn kept our drinks full and checked back very regularly. The manager was also very visible and checked by twice. The bathrooms and the resturant was very clean. The menu has something for everyone. We went with the chicken sandwich, steak tacos, and grouper tacos. The chicken sandwich was not made properly but it took them about 4 minutes to fix it. Both tacos were delicious but the fish could have been a bit crispier. The brussel sprouts were the best thing we had...they rate as exceptional. Serving sizes were large and the prices were fair. While I am not much for chain resturants, this one was better than most. They have a pet friendly patio area and a cornhole area. With a full bar and TVs galore, you have a great place to chill for a few hours. read more

See all

I ordered food to go from Hickory Tavern and was pretty unimpressed. Firstly, I order the steamed shrimp basket which comes with corn and cole slaw. I walked over the pick up my food, walked back to my destination, and when I opened the container there was only shrimp and cocktail sauce. I looked back at the menu to confirm it came with sides and called the restaurant who told me my sides would be ready in under 5 minutes. I walked back to get the sides and the staff were apologetic and nice. However, then it came time to eat. The Cole slaw was bland. I actually wasn't able to eat it all. I did eat the shrimp but it was bland too. It was supposed to have been seasoned with Old Bay but seemed like it wasn't seasoned. The cocktail sauce was the saving grace. Then there was the corn. It was very pale and sad looking. No butter. I took one bite and that was it. I wouldn't recommend this place unfortunately. read more

I got food poisoning from this Hickory Tavern last night. Had lunch around 12pm; by 8pm | began having stomach cramps and was throwing up with full body chills and severe pain by 11pm. The food is mediocre at best anyway. Don't risk it and stay far away from this place. The very LEAST a restaurant can do is prepare food properly, an absolute joke of a business. read more

Visited Hickory Tavern for a work gathering and had Myiam and Carson. They were extremely attentive and very personable. They made great suggestions and drinks were never empty. The food was great. Will be back for sure! read more

Great food. Great drinks. Great staff. Great ambiance. Nice outdoor and indoor spaces. Staff is accommodating. Would definitely recommend!! read more

Hickory Tavern - Ambiance - American Near Me - Cary, North Carolina

My buddy's Pao pao shrimp looked good, I decided to go with the fish and chips for redemption. Burnt and salty. Having another drink to get the taste out of my mouth. Met the manager of the new Wegmans opening in chapel hill, so not all bad. read more

See all

Attended a work luncheon. Food and service was ok. Typical bar food. Nothing spectacular. I wouldn't come here by choice. Overpriced restaurant and bar in an overpriced shopping center. read more

Paid $12 for this. Three pieces of hard piece of crap shrimp and I guess.. broccoli?! This is supposed to be bang bang shrimp. Should've listened to my gut and gone somewhere else. Always a miserable experience here. Deserve a freaking refund. awful. Congrats Hickory, you're my first review. POW pow "shrimp" LOL. read more

Hickory Tavern - "Shrimp" - American Near Me - Cary, North Carolina

We love love love their charred wings and the variety of flavors. I would have totally given them 6* for their food , if it had not been for my messed up 'pick up' orders, not once but thrice. This time two teeny weeny celery sticks with no ranch/blue cheese, when we had specifically asked for extra two orders of celery. Also, looks like someone forgot to add the special pecan flavored wings which my family was so eagerly waiting to try. Unfortunately, I still don't feel safe to go dine in a restaurant, but looks like pick up is not the best way to go with Hickory Tavern. read more

Hickory Tavern - Charred wings and regular wings - American Near Me - Cary, North Carolina

I had a wonderful time at the bar. The service from Myiam and Cynthia was outstanding! The drinks were Great and the food was delicious! Highly recommend! read more

Brittany was amazing! We had a large group and she took great care of us and was friendly and efficient. It was New Year's Eve and she really helped us celebrate! read more

This was my first time here. We were seated quickly and our waiter was friendly. I loved my Smokehouse Burger. The only reason I'm giving 4/5 is because my fries weren't the best... Kinda tasted like freezer burn. I tasted the tater tots and they were really good too. read more

Hickory Tavern - Smokehouse Burger with Fries - American Near Me - Cary, North Carolina

We've been here 3x now. We love the Korean steak tacos and the philly. We've ordered online and been able to pick up within 20mins! Super happy with that. This last time the sides were meager. My husband paid a $2 up charge for Mac and cheese (which we've had before) and there was enough to eat 2-3 normal size bites. My side of fries was pathetic. Not to be petty, but I was so disappointed that I counted them- 11.5 fries. Paying $32 for bar food and giving a nice tip, we expect the sides to be a bit more generous (like they have been before). read more

Hickory Tavern - Philly Pathetic amount of a 'side' of Mac and cheese - American Near Me - Cary, North Carolina

See all

Great food, great atmosphere, the staff was amazing. We went after a game, not to long before they closed and the staff didn't act upset and actually joked around with us. Loved it. read more

This is the third time for me to update this review and it's safe to say that we are never coming back here again. Last time we also gave them two stars because the buffalo chicken sandwich was the worst I have ever had ( very salty, no buffalo flavor and no chicken, just breading), that was a takeout order so we gave them the benefit of the doubt and went back to eat there in person. I got the smothered chicken, was tasteless and too oily, the tatter tots were cold and the side of "salad" was a small cup that is packed with spinach that you can mix the dressing so you'd basically have to flip it in a side plate to be able to mix it and eat it. The grilled wings were okay at best and the same goes for the smoke house burger. I gave them 2 stars instead of 1 because the staff was super friendly and cheerful, so they earned them 1 star. To be fair to them, after we gave them 2 stars last time, the business manager commented on the review and offered to make things right, but we wanted to go on a random day and get the regular treatment not a special one that would influence out review. read more

Have not been in a while as the service at the bar has not been the best. We have been ignored on multiple occasions. We went last Wednesday and once again sat at the bar. My husband was thrilled to find out it was 1/2price wings and $4 draft Blue Moon night. He was very happy with his wings and beer. I, on the other hand was very disappointed. I ordered the Classic Tavern burger with a side upgrade of sweet potato fries. The description of the burger says 2-4oz smashed burgers. What was put before me were 2 perfectly round pucks that looked like sausage patties. They were dry with no beef taste at all. Just horrible! The sweet potato fries that I paid extra for were burnt. The service was great. We had 2 friendly and attentive bar tenders. The draft beer selection was a tad bit better than my past experiences too. It will be a while before I eat there again. read more

I'm going to start this review by saying we had the sweetest server at this restaurant. However the wait for the food and drink was RIDICULOUS. We went on a Wednesday night just before 8pm and were seated immediately. She brought us water right away and In that moment i ordered a glass of wine. It took 30 minutes (not exaggerating) for the server to bring me my wine. That's when we ordered our dinner, 2 large salads. it took them 40 minutes to bring out the damn salad. We literally sat at a table for an hour and 10 minutes just to get 1 glass of wine and 2 salads. When she finally brought the food we asked for boxes so we could just go home. We planned on going to a 9pm movie, but didn't even receive our salads until 9:10. We will not be going back. read more

I've never actually sat down and dined but my work had a social event here. We had a reserved section in the back and we ordered family style and shared. I was able to try a lot of the menu, including; wings, half shell oysters, lobster roll, shrimp tacos, fries, and Brussels sprouts. Nothing really stood out as amazing and everything tasted... as expected. I had no complaints. I also didn't pay so maybe that pushed it over the edge ;) Pretty standard bar food read more

Hickory Tavern - American Near Me - Cary, North Carolina

Hickory Tavern did not disappoint. I needed a place to host our occasional luncheon for our pickleball group, about 20 people. They made it very, very easy to work with. No contract needed. No deposit required. They do individual billing. Exactly what we needed. On lunch day the room was all set up and we got 2 wonderful and friendly servers who were efficient and ever-present. And, to say the least, the food was excellent, too. I'll definitely bring our group back here again. Thanks to Hickory Tavern and your wonderful staff. read more

Pros: The atmosphere was great, beers were cold, bartender was personable. Cons: They were out of a couple beer choices we wanted. For the beers we did end up ordering, we were charged for the large size when we had (and ordered) the smaller size. The bartender was nice and would have probably made it right if I told him, but they were very busy and I noticed it after i had already paid and tipped and was on our way out. The food coming out of the kitchen looked good so we ordered to-go. It looked better than it tasted. Nachos had hardly any toppings and my seared tuna tacos were dry because they forgot to add the dressing. I don't believe I'd go back. read more

Food was good. We ordered late night to go. The shrimp tacos went over really well. The lobster roll was okay. My salad and Brussel sprouts were so good. My friend had chicken tenders and loved them. Real good bar food. read more

i waited an hour and 15 min for food and 45 minute just to get my check. Slowest service in ages. i don't recommend.

After picking up my daughter at the airport, we were looking for a non fast food place for dinner. We found Hickory Tavern on Yelp and headed over. It was around 9 on a Friday night. Crowed but not bad, the heat of the day was waning so we selected to sit outside and set we did..... We waited over 10 min and no one showed. We went asked the hostess to send over our server, a manger (I am guessing) came by and asked us how we were doing, we told her no server had took our orders ..now we are at the 20 min mark.... 30 min mark still no server.. we were getting ready to walk out and a nice young woman saw us and asked us if we had been helped... upon our NO answer, she took our order and took great care of us the rest of the night... A different manager came by and asked us about our experience, he made a canned apology and walked away promising to followup... never saw him again... the nice young woman had our drinks comped.... she was trying....The rest of the staff was a failure as far as service goes.... The food was good, but the service was horrible... They need to realize that there are a large number of restaurants that are in easy walking distance from their location... Bad service is unacceptable when your patrons have so many options in the same shopping center... read more

I think the only reason this place stays open is because there to lazy to drive somewhere else. Went in with the wife to have dinner before going to a show at Raleigh improv. Greeted and seated rather quick at 5:30ish on a Friday night. Kinda weird since it use to be busy then but not anymore. After being seated we set there for a long time watching the servers deliver food to the wrong tables. Seems they work in triples. Three servers to deliver food to one table. Seems tonight it was the wrong food to the wrong tables, not once but twice. And we just sat there being ignored. The kicker was we were right next to where the servers would come input their orders. Not a single one said I will be right with you. Just looked at us and walked away. So we decided it was time to go since they didn't seem to like my money or need it apparently. But I can't let this go unnoticed so I asked to gentleman if one was the manager and one identified themselves as the GM. I asked if he had any servers that were working tonight? He said absolutely sir what seems to be the problem? I said apparently on this side of the room they aren't and it appears one table gets three servers but we get none. He said I am sorry sir please let me take care of you. Told the GM I'm sorry I had been here for a while and I shouldn't have to bring it to your attention to get service. You as a GM have failed your staff with poor training but not training them to wait on tables. The GM followed us out apologizing and asking for another chance. This isn't the first time I have had problems and we have had several over the time and it's been a year since we had been back and nothing gets changed but the staff. So if people would stop wasting their time and money at this place then the doors will close for good. I work hard for my money but the staff here doesn't and just seems to expect us to spend money here because apparently it's a privilege to be in there. This will be the last time I ever step foot In there unless it's the last place on earth to get water and food. I will take the extra few minutes and dine at Town Hall Burgers where the food is reasonably priced, the service is good and they appreciate your business. Wednesday nights is .65 wing nights. My wife and I went since I have gone with friends before and they were great. Well not tonight. When the order came the runner had no clue which was what flavor and had them completely backwards. Then I noticed that the wings were not crispy aka not fully cooked. Also noticed a wing buried in a pile that still had feathers or the stem of the feather still on it. Once I took a bite of one and it was pretty raw and could see the blood in it I didn't eat them. Once I was able to flag the waitress down she took them away and said she would send the manager over. He came over and apologized for the mistake and I asked if they check the temp of the wings because when we got them they weren't even warm! He said they did which one can assume they didn't because they were more in a rush to get food out then to make sure it's at the right temp. The manager did the right thing and comped our meal which we appreciated and didn't go with the intent of a free meal. A few minutes later he came out with new wings and you could tell just by looking at them they were done right and crispy like they should be. The manager apologized again for the error and checked on us a couple of times. Just be warned that service and good quality is suspect at times. We dine here occasionally since its close to home and have had up and down service. We we're waiting on our check one time and our exact order was attempted to be delivered again and ended up with take home. If they are busy but have tables open they will make you wait so they don't overwhelm the kitchen. Last night the cook was standing by the doors to the kitchen just watching TV and other times they will be standing out front smoking. They still have a lot to learn about food safety, customer service and appearance. We will be back but if they are still declining on stuff will probably stop. read more

Hickory Tavern - Can see part of the feather stems in the skin - American Near Me - Cary, North Carolina

Ordered wings twice last week each time received this burnt, dried out offering in the photo. What are they supposed to be you ask - medium sauced. We normally order wings once or twice a month from here but lately quality and service have really declined. These are nothing like the photo or what we usually get - no longer worth the price or hassle to order. Sad to lose what was once a spot for pretty decent wings. Skip them. read more

Hickory Tavern - Medium Wings - Horrible they let these leave the kitchen. - American Near Me - Cary, North Carolina