We tried out Ole Hickory for lunch on Sunday after passing by the sign for it a million times over the years. Not a lot of BBQ restaurants (or restaurants period) are open on Sundays, so I was pleased they were available to us. One interesting thing about them is they also do breakfast, with menus and items straight from Beignet Cafe, which sadly closed earlier this year. Same owner, same goodies. I haven't tried the breakfast here yet, but I can say the stuff they served at BC was a solid stand-in for NOLA style beignets, so add that to your list!
I'm here to talk about lunch and BBQ, though, so don't let me get too distracted. There's ample parking, space to sit and eat inside and outside, and the place is decorated super cute. You can tell lots of locals have been coming over the years because there's pictures hanging up of kids "riding" on the pig statue outside. Adorable. :)
They have a fairly large menu for a bbq joint and it took us a minute to pick out what we wanted. Plates come with three sides instead of the usual two, so that made this side-loving girl very happy. My parents split a large order of the bbq pork nachos as well as a side of hush puppies. I tried the pulled pork plate, opting for French fries, Mac and cheese, and something called sweet corn nuggets for my sides. We also got some banana pudding to take home. Prices were reasonable at a little over $30 bucks for all that food + 3 drinks.
Service wasn't insanely friendly but they got the job done in a reasonable span of time. They're still masking up, sanitizing, and wearing gloves, which I very much appreciate. My order came out wrong at first (with ribs instead of pulled pork), but the staff apologized and fixed it quickly.
Overall, the food was quite solid! I'll go from weakest to best item. Weakest link was the macaroni and cheese. It was low on flavor and on the mushy side. The banana pudding had also definitely seen better days. I know folks use older bananas for their pudding, but some of the slices in this pudding were completely dark brown, very mushy, and unappetizing to look at. Flavors were okay though, no artificial banana flavor.
Good stuff: the pork! Pulled nicely, not too fatty, subtle smoke. A solid offering. Nachos had a ton of burnt ends on them, which made my parents happy. Nachos are the regular, almost ball-park kind; no Mexican tortilla chips here, just the regular, extra salty rounds. Works nicely with the slightly sweet, slightly vinegary sauce. French fries were standard but cooked correctly and salted nicely.
I really liked the hush puppies (parents let me try one). Super crispy, perfectly fried, crunchy on the outside but slightly soft on the inside. They came with a white sauce that paired very well with them. Lastly, the standout favorite was the little fried corn nuggets!!! I'd never had anything quite like them before but they were delightful and really could've almost been dessert themselves. They're just little mouthfuls of corn in a sweetish breading fried up till crispy. I looooooved them and would come back for those alone!
Thank you, Ole Hickory BBQ, for a pleasant, safe, and tasty Sunday lunch with family. :) I would definitely recommend this place. read more