Olde Hickory Tap Room

I walked across the square to eat at Josh's for the first time in a year or more, only to find the restaurant closed for vacation. I had my mouth set for some blackened shirimp tacos, but it was not meant to be.

I should have walked back to my car and gone home for lunch, but instead, I followed the crowd heading into Olde Hickory Tap Room.

The waiter let me sample a shot glass full of two IPA's, one from Charlotte and one from OHB. I didn't like either one, so I ended up ordering a OHB Ruby Lager. It was pretty good, but nothing to get excited about. FYI, the OHB Hefe-Weizen is pretty good, but I wanted to try something different.

For lunch, I ordered the Rueben with house made chips and ranch dip.

Damn, this is a BUSY place at lunchtime, a completely full house! The army of servers are scrambling like ants - entering orders and delivering food. The food flowed out of the kitchen at a brisk pace, so the restaurant must have an army of people working in the kitchen as well.

I was seated at a booth in the bar, so I got a chance to glimpse all the food that was shuttling out of the basement kitchen - headed towards diners' tables. The salads looked really good, big plates or bowls of fresh looking ingredients, topped with chicken or whatever protein the customer chose.

My sandwich took a good ten to fifteen minutes to reach my table, and by then my Ruby Lager was pretty much history. I followed the Ruby Lager with something that I KNEW was going to be good - a plain ole' Guinness.

The Rueben was just meh, "OK." There was waaaay more kraut on the sandwich than pastrami, which was a total letdown. Having eaten at a REAL deli, like Katz Deli in NYC, where one has to physically take off a piece of bread and eat the pastrami down to a level where the sandwich will then fit one's mouth, a single thin layer of pastrami just doesn't cut it in my book. I will NOT be ordering the Rueben again, maybe a salad next time.

Total cost of lunch with two beers, was $14.97, plus a $3 tip.

Service was excellent, and the main reason for the three star rating.

This restaurant is doing a BOOMING business so I'm sure that my imput means little to them.

This was a bit confusing as I ended up in a restaurant related to the Old Hickory Tap Room, but across the square and tracks from the Tap Room. It appears to be an old train depot, but rather lacking in ambiance. However, it more than makes up for that in a good burger and local brewed beer.

Was driving to home to Winston-Salem from Brevard last Monday and stopped in Hickory for dinner.  Got to downtown Hickory and found it pretty quiet but the Olde Hickory Tap Room was hopping.  For a Monday night, I was surprised and, apparently, they were too.

It took awhile to be seated and the service didn't really improve from there.

I ordered a beer (their Hefe) and some chips.  The chips were ok. . .nothing special.  The beer was good. . . . once I got it.  Apparently they had to change the head and then wait for the head to subside.  I can understand that, but it took a LONG time.

For dinner I got the BBQ Chicken Pizza.  It was good.  Tasty BBQ sauce.  I wish there had been more toppings on the pizza but everything on there was good.

Just to clarify, when our server was at our table she was VERY nice, but I think they may have been understaffed so service was slow.

Next time I'm in Hickory, I may try another restaurant before going back to Olde Hickory Tap Room.