Patty M.
Yelp
Table at Hickory Inn
UPDATE: Alex, the General Manager, was very apologetic and seemed to be genuinely sorry about our experience. She fully refunded our dinner and even personally delivered lunch to my mother, which I felt was going above and beyond.
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We called ahead to confirm the closing time of 8 pm and to put our name in for priority seating, to ensure we would have at least a full hour and not be rushed (or inconvenience the staff with a last-minute walk in). We weren't a large party, just four generations out to enjoy a pleasant birthday dinner for our 86-year-old Mom/Grandma/GG.
The first issue, that we should've addressed, was that they sat us at a table that was on quite a slant and was wobbly. Keep in mind we had a three year-old and an 86-year-old with a walker. And there were several empty tables nearby on flat ground. Not an ideal set up.
We were seated right away (around 6:50), and quickly ordered an appetizer and kids meal for our little guy. On three different occasions we mentioned that we would like to see a drink menu; we never did.
The kids meal arrived about 5 minutes later, then our appetizer. Water hadn't been poured nor our dinner order taken. We knew what we wanted and ordered; the rest of the food came in about 10 minutes, and the server wanted to remove our appetizer that we were only halfway through. (There were several times throughout the meal that staff attempted to take plates away while we were still eating off of them.)
As soon as the food arrived, flies began to swarm (nobody to blame there, we chose to sit outdoors). We were constantly swatting them away and had brought our own small fans that we were trying to use to battle them. I finally asked for extra napkins to lay on top of the food that was sitting and not being eaten at the time, and the server brought us a fan designed to keep flying insects away, but again, not until we had been very frustrated with the flies and trying to take care of them on our own with no attentiveness from staff regarding that issue.
Overall the food was just average. The chicken strips and fries in the kids meal were good. The barbecue was pretty good. The slaw was bland. The three adults ordered salads, two of them with Ranch and Parmesan dressing. The salads were brought back with vinaigrette; we were told that they were out of the other dressings and the server took the liberty of choosing our dressing for us without any thought of potential dietary restrictions or even just preferences. Even if the food had been outstanding, it would've been impossible to actually enjoy it, with the lack of care from staff and feeling rushed and uncomfortable.
We had to ask repeatedly for water refills, the glasses were very small. Eventually the server brought a pitcher and left it at the table without taking the time to refill our empty glasses. That seemed a bit subpar for a full service (and not the most affordable) restaurant.
With staff hovering, it became clear that we had worn out our welcome (around 7:45), so we asked the server to take a photo to commemorate our celebration. Even then we felt rushed. She started taking pictures before we had a chance to get in position, which takes a couple of minutes with a three year-old and an elderly person in a walker.
We didn't realize we were finished with dinner until we returned to our table and our dishes were in the process of being cleared.
We shoved a couple of bites in our mouths before the plates were taken and hurriedly packaged what was left of our food to take with us.
We would have liked to have five minutes or so at the end of the meal to decide on our own that we were finished and ready to leave, rather than feeling like we were being ushered out to the car, well before 8:00. We were pulling away at 7:57, after stopping on the way to the parking lot to take a selfie or two.
We have been to this restaurant several times through the years (even when it was "Fred's"), but after this experience, we have no plans to return. Our family eats out rather frequently, and we all agree this was the worst experience we've had at a restaurant from the standpoint of service.
If you decide to eat here, you may want to plan for at least two hours prior to closing time to have a relaxing dinner and not feel rushed.