Hickory’s Smokehouse
Hickory’s is an independently owned collection of America themed smokehouse restaurants. Team Hickory’s goes the whole hog to create a genuinely authentic experience for their customers and manages, to our surprise, to cater incredibly well for a vast range of customer demographics. It’s only a 30 minute drive from Cheltenham on a Sunday afternoon.
The Worcester joint is a smokehouse first and foremost, but on the left of the main restaurant is an American sports bar, and on the right is a… wait for it… mini cinema, showing genuinely awesome family films such as Moana, Mary Poppins, Dumbo, Inside Out, Home, Sing. Such a smashing idea! Even outside there’s a gated family friendly area with a jungle gym.
The Restaurant
The décor reflects the authenticity of the food – rustic, industrial, accessorised with Americana and decorated with rust coloured paint, exposed pipes, hanging lamps, reclaimed metal and leather, as you can see below.
On the menu
Looking through the menu you’ll find a fantastic selection of delicious dishes from across America, which the owners fell in love with on their travels. They have added short snippets to the menu to tell the customer where they found various meals; a lovely touch and added to our appreciation.
“Touring Texas, 2009: It was in the barbecue capital of the world that some of America’s greatest pitmasters lifted the lid on their grills & taught us how to smoke, carve & eat brisket the right way. We’ve brought it back for you.”
One of the owners of Hickory’s.
If we could add a word cloud here to give you a flavour of the menu it would contain the following mouthwatering words… Wood Smoked, Fire-kissed, Memphis Style, Blackened Butt, Cowboy Steak, Maple Glazed, Magic Dusted, Go Big or Go Home.
Dinner is served…
As usual, we try and order a variety of popular dishes, so we picked a burger, a sharing meat platter, mac ‘n’ cheese, beer and a milkshake from the charred menu.
The Smokehouse Platter
The Smokehouse Platter – for those legends with a big appetite who know they want to taste the best on the menu, you’ll get all of this (be careful what you wish for)…
The only item we weren’t keen on was the jalapeno & cheese sausage, but that’s personal preference. If we go back we’ll definitely order the platter again because it’s the best way to go to try all the golden nuggets from the menu.
Go Big or Go Home Burger
This beast of a burger contain 3 toasted buns, 2 prime-beef patties, 1 southern fried chicken fillet, streaky bacon, bourbon-glazed brisket, a golden hash brown, slice of all-American cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, pickles and Hickory’s own burger sauce! Exhausting, it but was nothing less than the holy grail of burgers!
Classic Mac ‘n’ Cheese and giant Onion Rings
A boiling hot, weighty pan of mac with three types of cheese with a lightly grilled top, served with a house salad. There are 3 versions of mac on the menu with added extras like pulled pork or even southern fried chicken, bacon crumb and maple syrup! The photo doesn’t do the onion rings justice but they were about 10cm in diameter.
Milkshake £4.50 
Beer
Tour of the smoker
After our meal we poked our heads into the kitchen (with permission) and they showed us how they deliver wood to the smoker and how powerful the heat can be. Below is a short video of meat rotating inside the huge smoker!
A short video of meat rotating inside the smoker…
Hickory’s has given itself 5 stars, displayed on the front of the building, and who can blame them in a world where 5-star ratings meaning everything, but what you might not know is what those stars stand for:
Authentic – recipes developed from primary research and frequent discovery road trips.
Welcoming – the front of house team greeted us with enthusiasm like TGI Friday’s in the 90’s.
Passionate – they offer a behind the smokescreen tour so customers can see the meat being smoked (more on this further down).
Daring – not sure how to measure “daring” but we’ll take their word for it.
Community – yep, they host charity events to raise money for local causes.
We were so impressed with Hickory’s hospitality and the quality and authenticity of their food. What’s also a fab idea is the addition of a cinema as well as the casual sports bar, extra reasons to pay them a visit without feeling like you have to commit to a restaurant sit down meal! Justifiably 5 stars from us!
Opening hours
Monday – Thursday; 11am – late (serving food until 10pm)
Friday – Sunday; 9am – late (serving food until 10pm)
Serving breakfast Friday – Sunday
Address and contact details
Book online for the Worcester location here »
Cripplegate Park
Tybridge Street
Worcester
WR2 5B
Other locations include:
Burton Green, Castle Bromwich, Chester, Poynton, Rhos on Sea, Shrewsbury, Southport, Wall Heath, West Kirby.
