Love this place. Only place local in the Indian trail/sun valley area with a good beer selection. Typically have several taps featuring local breweries ( triple c, birdsong, noda, etc). And the bottle selection is pretty good. Food is fine, typical bar food with some extras added in. Great salads and entrees as well. Wait staff is always great and now that it is warming up the patio is a fun place to eat. Plenty of televisions I watch the days sports as well. read more

The service is OUTSTANDING if you go ask for Lidia C.'s section. Food is good but took a bit to come but once it arrive I was pleasantly pleases with my Cedar Plank Salmon. Delicious. read more

Hickory Tavern - Sports Bars Near Me - Indian Trail, North Carolina

I really used to enjoy this place as a friendly neighborhood bar and restaurant. Our last few visits have gotten worse and worse. Today we came after a movie, arrived at 3:30 which was the slow time. It was relatively empty but we sat unattended until the manager asked another table and then us how we were doing. Finally we ordered our food, the waitress was overwhelmed as more tables came in but no other servers seemed to be taking tables. About five of them were huddled at the hostesses stand while we sat and waited for our check and to go boxes. We waited so long I no longer wanted my box to take my subpar food. We won't be returning. read more

We have been coming to this place for years. Today we had a server ( Mckenzie) who took over 10 minutes to take our drink orders. As soon as we placed our drink orders she left. I had to call her back for our appetizer order. Our appetizers came and we had to wait to see her passing by for extra plates. While the whole time we noticed her talking to a guy at the bar 4 times. She brought our appetizers and left. I had to call her back for her to take our order because she just walked away. When our order came i asked a different person who brought our food if i can order something else and more drinks because our server never once checked up on us. The girl who brought our food said she will find our server. Even after this i ate half my meal without a drink and not once did she check up on us. Finally she came I ordered takeout for my son and a coke and beer. It would not have been a problem if my wife and knew the place was really busy. But it wasn't because we noticed our server attending to other customers with a smile and making sure they needed anything. I do not like to pull the race card but i feel since we are hispanic she treated us differently. We never had a problem before. Until today. We just wanted to be treated and served like all the other customers were. It seemed to bother her to serve us. Luckily there are other places to eat close by. read more

Food is great, my daughter LOVES their pretzels! I do think they could be more attentive at times, but I do understand getting busy. Overall we really enjoy Hickory Tavern and would recommend it to anyone! read more

Went to the Sun Valley location for Mother's Day. I should have paid attention to the fact that no one was there. Ordered Nachos and the chips were burned. My sister in law go the Salmon and it was so over cooked she sent it back. The second one was good. My burger was burned and there was only a quarter sized bit of Swiss cheese and half a mushroom, no lettuce or tomato, no condiments offered and the bread was void of any thing that would have helped me choke it down. The Brussel sprouts were good. The cook must have quit and the dishwasher was taking over or something. I will not return. read more

Do not eat at the Indian Trail location. After waiting a long time with just a few customers in the restaurant, the buffalo chicken sandwich way over cooked and so thin it might as well have been on a piece of sandwich bread. I asked the waitress and of course she says it looks fine to her. I won't be back to this location and recommend you bypass it! read more

I've been to Hickory several times now, and have had all positive experiences. The food is always good, I especially like the burgers. The nachos are also great as well. I usually sit at the bar and get a seat right away. If you are into cocktails, they have fresh squeezed orange, which if you mix with Pinnacle whip makes for a great drink! Only small complaint is if it gets busy, the bar is so big it can be tough to get the bartenders attention. I'll definitely be back! read more

I give it a one star. The food and atmosphere is great don't get me wrong. But don't show up at 9 or later because they won't care about you. The only person worth giving a crap about as far as waitressing goes is Brittany Francis. She wasn't any if the times I went after 9pm. The cook threw the food together and it was very sloppy. My fiancee ordered boneless chicken wings and they gave her chicken tenders with BBQ on it. Then charged her for the price of the wings. We were the only customers in there and we had to wait 45 minutes on our food, and got one refill. This just means they anticipated no one coming in and started closing before the time on their website and door said. read more

This is a classic sports bar styled restaurant. The quality of the food is nothing to rave about, but I will say that their shrimp and grits was delicious. The pimento cheeseburger was banging. Skirt steak tacos were also good. The bacon on the burgers was cooked well, and it's not too thin. The chips on the spinach and artichoke dip weren't too good - some were stale and undercooked. Also wouldn't recommend the chicken wings. They're pretty small and they have really thick skin on them. On a final note, you can tell the management wants you to enjoy your experience and food. They fixed the issues we had during our visit. read more

The customer service is absolutely horrible here. The waiters are rude and nobody bothers to talk to you or give you water. They're so uncoordinated it's insane. Waiting over an hour for food !! read more

Had an issue with lost sunglasses; problem was resolved amicably and to my satisfaction. HICKORY TAVERN does care about their customers. I am pleased to report that the new manager is working diligently to turn this restaurant around. I admire that and will continue patronizing this establishment. Thank Heavens... the wings are fab! Great atmosphere! (Thank you, MN!) read more

Gross and greasy. Everyone in the area talks about how great this place is but I have been disappointed twice. read more

Hickory Tavern - This burnt hot mess of a "cheesesteak" is a returning favorite? LIES! Charred & inedible. - Sports Bars Near Me - Indian Trail, North Carolina

I'm disappointed with my experience here. I had to call in 5 times since their phones wouldn't work before someone finally picked up. I ordered mild wings, fries & a sweet tea over the phone for to go. When I got home, my wings were completely normal, no mild sauce on them at all. There was about 10 fries that looked like leftovers that had been sitting out for a while, and I didn't get my sweet tea. I'd highly recommend checking your food if you're taking it to go from here, because it probably won't meet satisfying standards that are supposed to be met. read more

Been waiting an hour for buffalo & fish tacos. Mine came out as a sandwich. Waiter didn't acknowledge my order being wrong. He's been scarce AF too. Not feeling like a generous tipper.... read more

OMG........The food was so awful and the service was even worse. We came from a funeral and decided to spend some time together so we all went to this establishment. NEVER AGAIN!! Even the management could have given two craps about how we were being treated. Not my cup of tea! read more

This restaurant has lousy food and worse service. My colleagues and I have eaten there once per week for several months now. Here are the problems: 1. You often wait 5-10 minutes before they take your drink order. 2. It's another 5-10 minutes before they bring drinks. 3. They usually mess up the drink order, forgetting someone's drink, forgetting the lemons, giving the wrong item, etc. EVERY SINGLE TIME. 4. The waitstaff often can't take orders down properly. When they read the order back to you, they add stuff you didn't say and leave off stuff you did. WVERY SINGLE TIME. 5. The food often takes 20 minutes to cook, even when the place is empty. 6. The waitstaff will often offer you another table's order, believing it to be yours. 7. Even after spending extra time with waitstaff to get the correct order, they kitchen often screws up the order, putting ham instead of bacon or forgetting to leave off eggs. Not once or twice, but EVERY SINGLE TIME. 8. The food is often cold by the time you get it. It was cooked at one point, but it's no longer hot. 9. They forget to bring basic items like ketchup when you order a burger, so by the time they check on you 5 minutes later, then take another 5 minutes to get the ketchup, what little heat was left with the food is now gone. EVERY SINGLE TIME. There are some restaurants where the niche is that the waitstaff insult the customers as part of the comedy routine. This restaurant's niche is complete incompetence at taking orders, cooking food, serving food, and making lunch a pleasant experience. We only eat there because of the convenient location, but even with how convenient it is, I would never eat there of my own volition, and my colleagues are starting to feel the same way. read more

The food is average to good. Had many entrees that were good but only thing I've tried there that's great is the shrimp and grits. It's done very well. When we were there two weeks ago we sat in a booth and the window area desperately needed to be cleaned. It was very dusty and messy. It used to be a better place but seems as if it's changing. read more

Took forever to bring me my pow pow shrimp !!! With like 2 people in here not even busy

I go here a lot with my family to eat good food. The waitress was needing a little more training on how to wait on tables. We put our order in first thing when she said hello it still took a good while to get the food. When I asked her if she knew how long it would be her response was "its working" the proper way is to go find out then give me a time frame, since my 4 year old has an internal clock of about 30mins max attention span. She did check on us consistently which put her in the plus one category to even out the negative. Overall a good place to eat depending on what you order. My favorite is the buffalo wings charred with blue cheese. read more

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This place used to be one of my favorite spots with great food, great service, and great drinks. But now, and for the last year at least, it's been awful. The service is beyond awful and the food is hardly ever edible. The last salad I had was wilted and slimy and this time I got the dish tacos. I couldn't finish them because I thought I was going to throw up. The fish tasted horrible and when I told the waitress (after she came back to the table after 20+ minutes) she seemed completely annoyed that I said anything about it. We sat at the table with empty glasses for the entire meal and asked for refills that we never got. I won't be back, this place has had its chances! read more

Used to love the Hick. Good food, good service, and good schmekels. Then...lost all the good servers, raised their shot prices, and just overall sucks now. Totally not worth the money read more

We love hickory tavern! This is a great location and Justin is our favorite server! He's so helpful and always remembers our favorites! Linda's turkey melt and the lobster roll are yummy! Sweet potato fries- I recommend skipping the sweet sauce or getting it on the side! read more

We are frequent visitors of the HT franchise. We were excited to try the new one here in Indian Trail. Sadly, this restaurant is not up to Hickory Tavern standards. Restaurant is too small. Tables are on top of each other. There isn't a separation from bar to dining area. After waiting for 20 mins for a seat in the "dining room " we we jammed in up against the bar stools. We were dining with a toddler, which can be challenging. After placing our order our waitress did not return. After waiting 45 minutes I did seek out a manager. Our food was brought out finally ! Portions seem smaller than a typical HT. Meal literally came with six fries. The server actually remarked that my burger was sadly lacking bleu cheese crumbles. At this point with a screaming, tired, toddler we just wanted to leave. read more

Today Ivy and her manager were awesome! Despite the kitchen sending out overcooked dip, Ivy went above and beyond to ensure our meals and service was great! The New Seafood Bayou was amazing and I'll be back AGAIN on SATURDAY to hang out with Ivy!! Thanks for all you do! read more

The food is good. Nothing too impressive. I would not go out of my way to recommend this restaurant to others, but it is a good place to take friends to watch football on Sundays. Our server was absolutely horrifically slow. He took at least 5-10 minutes to get each and every refill. He would randomly disappear for long periods of time, making it difficult to order dessert or get the check. It took him 15 minutes just to bring out the dessert, which normally doesn't make me upset except for the fact that I was staring at him standing in the kitchen talking to another server the entire time. read more

Understaffed!! Saturday night (known for sports bars to be busy for football) waited 20 minutes for a table of 3 to be seated when several tables were available. Waited another 10 to be greeted by server. Food was mediocre and took awhile. The place is cute & has a nice menu variety of bar food. read more

This place used to be great when they opened a couple years ago. Now the menu had changed to be smaller and the prices have gone up considerably and too top it off the food usually takes 45 mins no matter what time you come in. If you have a larger party service turns into crap. It's unfortunate because this place is so close to my house, but to many disappointments for me to come back here. Hopefully they get the hint with these not so stellar reviews. read more

Went in and got seated within 5 mins. No menu was given to us at the table. Hostess said she would be back with a menu never came back. Sat there 30 mins with no one coming to take our order. Got up and talked to the hostess and she acted like she iddnt care so we left. Awful experience. read more

I have been to this location twice now. Both times I received excellent service. I feel like there cheeseburger was the best I have had out in a long while, and the smoother chicken was delicious. I enjoyed their Brussels sprouts too. I only downgrade them from a 5 to a 4 because of their French fries. There were bland yet salty, cold and just not good. Drinks were tasty and children's meals even came with a cookie. read more

Every time you eat here you just never know what you gonna get last time I got a burger it was great, this time same burger was supper dry and crispy kinda old ? Now the sweet potato fries was the other way around not crispy at all kinda soggy actually read more

Started off with a dirty table only to be cleaned by the hostesses poorly. Food took. Way too long and most of it came cold. Waitress was ok. read more

These people run out of baked potato than anyone else I know! They're a restaurant. How can you run out of baked potato every time I order it? Theres a harris teeter down the street too. read more

A solid place to watch sports and get quality food. An added bonus is the local breweries on draft! The wait staff is typical hit or miss with good and bad ones, but this will get better as time goes by. You can hang out with adults or bring the kids. I love that option. A solid choice on any night. read more

I was in Indian Trail visiting a close family friend and his family. We came here for dinner because they said they had never been here before. I ordered the crab dip, which lacked any visible crab meat. It was unimpressive and disappointing. My friend's wife had the fish tacos, and she said the fish tasted old, like it had been frozen, and wasn't fresh. I had a Tavern Burger. It was ok. Underseasoned meat, patty was not moist, bready bun. Thankfully it wasn't an expensive burger, otherwise I would have been irritated over its "meh" quality. Where I live, a good burger can cost $13-$16 at a sit-down/waiter service restaurant. There was a manager who was yelling at an employee in the service area, out of view. That did not matter as everyone in the immediate area could hear the yelling. Talk about trashy--this is the main reason I am giving a 1 star rating. Otherwise, it would have been a 2.5. read more

Last evening Ma was in the mood for a burger so I thought we would try Hickory Tavern, and it was a good choice. The decor is a combination of a large, soothing tavern with tributes to rock icons, and a sports bar with multiple televisions playing various sporting events. Surprisingly, Ma ordered the Carolina Burger with fries. I didn't expect her to order it since she has usually shied away from chili. She loved it, and ate all of it! I had the Smokehouse Burger with tater tots, and it was delicious. The buns were great as they were flavorful and did not fall apart. We brought home a piece of White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake for Ma to have later in the evening, and she really enjoyed it. Benjamin was our server, and he was terrific! We will definitely return. read more

Food and drink selection has always been great. However expect to spend 30 to 40 minutes waiting for your food to show up on a Sunday lunch. Obviously not prepared for large tables. Off our list. read more

Wow what a terrible experience this time around the worst customer service ever, the food was cold and the waitress was out there like came to the table 4 times in 2 hrs. Food took 50 minutes to get to the table. Not happy hopefully the next visit will be better. read more

I really did not enjoy my experience at Hickory Tavern. The establishment is dirty which makes for a very unappetizing meal. The service was crazy slow, after finally receiving my meal I can easily say that it was not worth the wait at all. The food is very greasy with limited flavor, not to mention that my husband and I found hair in our child's Mac and cheese. When we tried to get a new order the manager refused and claimed it was one of our own. When we asked for a refund rather than a new meal they got extremely frustrated and proceeded to ask us to leave. read more

A decent place to have a meal so long as your family is small. Staff tried seating a 4 year old at a high top and then reset our wait time to additional 20 minutes in their ridiculously small waiting area. There is plenty of room for improvement. read more