Old Hickory House Restaurant

Goodbye Old Hickory House! Going to miss you!

I’ve been to this place a few times now. When I saw I was traveling to Charlotte, I quickly remembered to visit this place again. The Bar B Que is phenomenal here. The only disappointment today was that they were out of the Brunswick stew. But the beans and hush puppies are awesome too, just not as awesome as the stew

Being a native Charlottean I’ve enjoy this place since they were off Freedom Dive many many eons ago and moved to the current location. Back in the seventies this was our friday night ritual and I remember many times having to wait in line for a table.
Anyone that knocks this type of BBQ obviously isn’t from the south. The days of building open fire pit BBQ restaurants like this one are far and away, and the only reason this one is still open is because it’s ‘grandfathered’ into the fire codes. And this type of fire pitting is VERY labor intensive and hard work because they use REAL hickory fire wood. Not those nasty little pellets some other so called ‘southern style’ BBQ restaurants use.
I too had to wait yesterday, and they were out of Brunswick Stew, but they were also nice enough to hold a gal. for me on request and I picked it up today. I also took home a whole smoked chicken, which weighted almost three pounds and was excellent!
Thank you to the person below that didn’t like the stew. I’ll willingly take your share home, and yes — it absolutely IS proof that people in N.C. know how to make Brunswick Stew … the Carters do. Don’t like it? Make your own and put your tofu in it! And yes, it’s thickened with bread, the way it was done over a hundred years ago. Just be glad they don’t put squirrel and rabbit in it the way it’s suppose to be done. That’s the way us poor ‘ol southern folks make it!
So I have a restaurant recommendation for you folks that didn’t like the Old Hickory House; «Sonny’s» is your Huckleberry!

This place is closing in a few days, and I see why. I went for the first time today and was extremely disappointed. It took almost 15 minutes for a waitress to come over, and once she took the order, she never came back. I got the large chopped pork barbecue plate, along with Brunswick stew and fries. The barbecue was mediocre at best — a bit *too* chopped for my taste, and almost mushy. The flavor was OK, but nothing to write home about. The Brunswick stew was proof once again that no one in North Carolina knows how to make Brunswick stew… it’s almost got an… oatmeal texture that’s really just not nice. The fries were standard steak fries. They weren’t cold, but they weren’t piping hot, either. Lunch also came with two sad, mushy pieces of Texas toast. All in all, I feel ripped off: no way was this worth $ 16 (including soda and generous $ 3 tip for all the great «service»). If you want a similar dining experience — folksy, family-​friendly barbecue in a quasi-​1970s setting– but with much better food and service, try Hillbilly’s in Lowell. As it stands, the best thing I can say about Old Hickory House is that it didn’t make me sick.

Not what I expected. The brisket (hash) was flavor-​less, without the sauce; like wise was the ribs. The ribs were fall-​off-​the-​bone tender, but tasted like it was cooked without even the most basic salt and pepper seasoning. It also had not a single hint of smoke flavor to it. The sauce, although different, was very good and salvaged the entire meal.
The décor is like stepping into a diner from the late 80’s. But it works and I kinda like the feel of this place. The visible opened-​faced smoker is a great touch and adds to the overall laid back atmosphere.

This restaurant is a Charlotte Must Try. It is like a time capsule with the décor and open pit smoker in plain view. Traditional southern BBQ with all the sides.
The servers were friendly and the BBQ was great.

We’ve had this venerable (began operation in 1956) BBQ Joint on our NC Barbecue Bucket List for more than a few years now. Last Tuesday we paid them a visit, and it was much less than we’d hoped for, much less in almost every respect. There is little here that represents the more traditional NC barbecue restaurant, which doesn’t mean it has to be bad, but here it did mean that.
The building is beyond well worn, the parking area seems a work-​in-​progress, hard to tell where the roadside ends and the parking begins. The inside is dark (almost brooding), and not a great deal of light spreads out from the small, faux oil lamp fixtures.
We were seated promptly in the almost empty dining area, drink orders secured, and our food choices followed quickly. We went with ¼ BBQ Chicken (dark meat) with Brunswick Stew and Baked Beans ($ 8.19), and a Small BBQ Pork plate with FFs & Slaw (also $ 8.19). The meals did not come with HPs but rather with thick slices of Texas Toast — the first of a number of things not traditional in NC BBQ restaurants. You can buy an order of HPs for $ 1.79 if you’d like, we didn’t.
The food was out of the kitchen rather quickly, and that was perhaps the highlight of the ensuing meal. The BBQ Chicken was simply awful — it was overcooked, dry & tasteless sans the sauce, the skin tough and leathery — the whole mess smothered in a thick sweet, red barbecue sauce that quickly became cloying.
The Brunswick Stew was pretty good though very different in texture and content from that normally served in this area. The stew here is thicker and contains no lima beans, and according to UNC TV food guru Bob Garner, it probably contains stale bread, which thickens the end product. The Baked Beans also were nice, with some pieces of meat in it.
The pork is minced, much like Stamey’s in Greensboro, but the pork here is not cooked over hard wood coals, so there is no smokiness to it, at all. The sauce is a thick red sauce, rarely found in this area, usually found farther west. I like this style sauce on occasion, but not this sauce, and not on this meat.
The service was very good, until it came time to pay the check. We waited over 5 minutes at the register while several employees milled around, apparently not authorized to operate the register. Finally, an unpleasant and rude man (the owner or manager, I guess) came out of the back, took my money without a «I’m sorry», or a thank you.
Well, I’ve a thought on the thanks part — no thanks for this food, this restaurant, and this arse at the register.

Good grilled cheese for the kids and hush puppies. Good pork sandwich but not so crazy about the bbq sauce! :-)

What appears to be a classic barbecue joint that might have been here for decades, Old Hickory House is feeling its age. But hey, so what?
The second clue that it was going to be good was when we noticed that there was no extra sauce on the table. «These folks mean it,» I said to my dining companion.
We ordered a couple of barbecue platters it is was more than decent. Finely chopped pork and beef topped with a sauce that was both tomato based and still had a good vinegar kick. I had mine with beans and Brunswick stew. A basket with four slices of excellent Texas toast was also delivered.
A very different Brunswick stew from one I’ve ever had before. While it’s probably an old family recipe, it was mush (like an oatmeal texture) and had quite a lot of corn in it. Strange?

No other bbq comes close. This place has been a family tradition for forever and I’ve never had anything better. I always get the large bbq pork plate with coleslaw and hushpuppies or beans, and a bowl of brunswick stew (to share with my sister). Everything is simply perfection — especially the buttery toast that comes free with your meal! I love how nothing has changed from food down to the décor — I hope it never does!

Ate their brisket last night. It wasn’t good at all. Restaurant was pretty dead. I’m surprised the rating is so high.

Took out-​of-​towners here on a Saturday night… awful experience. Restaurant nearly empty at 7:30pm should have warned us. Dry, reheated ribs on all orders. Tasteless Brunswick stew. Sweet tea was decent. Very disappointing! Not sure where the positive reviews are coming from but you can tell just by driving past this place – it’s days are numbered. Avoid the heartburn and keep driving.

Awesome NC bbq. The service is always good, the people are friendly, the place has been around forever, and it has not changed in the 34 yrs i’ve frequented it.
Good bbq, nothing short of that. I’ve found none better in Charlotte.

I have to agree with Jeffrey C here. Great service, old-​school barbecue atmosphere, but really really lousy barbecue. Low and slow is the way to go boys. Chicken tasted like petrified wood. barbecue is only as good as the cuts of meat start with. Their cuts seem to be on the cheap and tough side. Even ribs that should’ve fallen off the bone were tough and harsh. Barbecue sauce way too heavy and vinegar and not enough heat. Presentation is a big cafeteria zero. The Brunswick stew was chopped up mishmash that looked really disgusting although it tasted reasonably decent. Hush puppies were the only thing that lived up to advertising. Local Unilocalers let me down here, or y’all just haven’t had much good barbecue. Tickets one star for service and one star for atmosphere. If they could find someone who can cook in that great smoker, then it might be a really cool hip place.

Very good BBQ. Ask for bark pieces and consider yourself fortunate if you get them.
The Brunswick stew is the best I’ve had.

Perfect atmosphere. Nothing fancy. Tasty bbq. Very friendly waiter. Hush puppies n stew
Review for 5÷18÷2010

If you are in the mood for old school ribs, this is the place to be. Everything is original there. Everything. Well, minus the TVs, which are on the Carolina News channel and not blaringly loud. Everything is quite tasty, but the hush puppies are crazy good. The sweet tea is sugar coma inducing and one of my favorites in the Queen City. You do not leave hungry. I ate all the ribs on my plate, the hush puppies, and a half gallon of tea. I took home the chicken and fries for another filling meal at a later date. It’s a shame the place is such a drive for me. Will be back.

Pretty good barbecue. Dark, 1950’s, Bonanza interior. Friendly servers. Expensive.

Preface: I’m not a huge barbeque fan. I’ll eat it (and even enjoy it), but it’s not something I’m regularly hankering for.
Another CLT institution that’s as old as dirt that I’ve only recently made it to. My office goes out for lunch to celebrate birthdays and this was a recent coworker’s pick. This is about as authentic as you can get — meat of all kinds roasted and chopped right there. On my visit, at the recommendation of others, I had the chopped pork sandwich with a side of Brunswick stew. Both were off the charts — lots of flavor, especially the stew. The meat is dripping in vinegar sauce and the stew is hearty. While you wait on your order, they give you a basket of hush puppies with butter. I could live on these. If you like your sweet tea on the sweeter side, you won’t be disappointed.
Be prepared for sarcasm from your server, though. They’ve all been doing this for quite a long time and have developed a rough-​around-​the-​edges approach.
Chad E. gives a very accurate description of the restaurant itself — dark wood paneling and very kitschy décor. Think a 50s western movie tribute. It’s one big room where everything is dark wood (even the walls) and covered in wrought iron farm equipment, covered wagons, and steer horns. I would imagine this is how people in China or Japan think of Texas.

If you’re scared off by areas of town that aren’t the best, you probably should go elsewhere. There are plenty of other places to eat. This isn’t the ghetto, but it is right next to it.
If you prefer to have fancy décor and modern furnishings, you might want to check out another location. Not of the Old Hickory House (because I don’t think there is one). But of some other restaurant. Mike K.‘s characterization of old Bonanza! props blowing up is not inaccurate.
If you need another, think of an old-​time steak house. The walls are paneled. The interior is dark. Even the wall sconces — which you would probably never hear them called — are little covered wagons. In the one nod to the current century you might find, they do have compact fluorescent bulbs in them. It also might be the only way they can keep said covers from bursting into flames.
Over in one corner is indeed The Pit — or at least some representation of it. It is a bit dark inside, even well before it gets dark outside. So I can’t tell exactly what is over there. When you order, the man I will call the Pitmaster gets your order and pulls some meat out of The Pit and prepares it for you — generally this means chopping it — and then you get the freshly prepared meat on the plate, right to your table.
There are a couple of downsides to the Old Hickory House.
I personally don’t care about the location. I lived in an area similar to this for ten years. So that didn’t bother me. It was like going home again. But if this is the sort of thing you care about, you may want to think twice.
I didn’t really mind the 50s steakhouse kitsch, but it could use a bit more light. Not saying they need an atrium or skylight or anything, and I understand why they may not want windows now that they operate next to the ghetto, but maybe they could turn up the brightness on the interior lighting or something so you don’t think there is a Barbecue Mafia hit happening in the back corner. At 2pm.
I did mind the service. Just a bit. While others mentioned the service was speedy, I will agree — but only after the initial contact. It took probably 15 minutes to get someone to acknowledge that we were there. This may not be a big deal during a dinner rush on a Friday night. But in the middle of the afternoon, when there are only three tables, and there are at least six employees standing behind the counter while only one (the eldest by a good margin) waited on tables? Unacceptable. After she came by to take our order, both food and drinks kept up a good pace however.
I would suggest ordering the sauce on the side. I get that some people may like it, but I really didn’t. Like Dave S., I ordered the beef and pork plate, and I also much preferred the pork. That pork in fact may be some of the best pork in town. But the sauce was so thick and heavy that it killed the taste completely. The menu does say that the sauce comes on the meat by default but it needs a more stern warning! A little of this stuff goes a long way — either it needs to be on the side by default or they need to be a little less heavy with it.
I did find it interesting that they are old school. No sides to speak of (and no, fries, hush puppies and beans don’t really count). You won’t even find macaroni and cheese here. But the puppies are pretty good — crispy on the outside, if a little too chewy on the inside for my preference. The beans are indeed tasty. If I go back I might go for just some un-​sauced chopped pork and beans.
Sweet Tea Report: Excellent, sweet goodness. Among the best in town and awesomely drinkable. The only problem I had was keeping the glass full enough to keep it flowing down my throat.