Had the brisket tacos, Mac & Cheese, and a pibb. The tacos were sub-par, the tortillas were okay, the brisket meat was a bit tough, and they lacked flavor. The mac & cheese was absolutely delicious. It was full of flavor and creamy. The pibb was watered down. Maybe they were running out of syrup. The service is what saved this review as it was fantastic.
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Brunch
Food: 2
Service: 5
Atmosphere: 3
The location was neat and clean but food and service was awful. I usually do not write bad reviews but this had to be an exception. We ordered fries then was told the “grease wasn’t ready, it would take 30 minutes”. Instead, we ordered bac Mac, it was over cooked noodles which had been thrown in the microwave and with hard melted cheese on top, no flavor. The brisket sandwich was fatty cube of room temperature meat , very greasy( grease came through bread), also no flavor. We asked for the fries to replace our bac Mac , this was a mistake. The fries came out greasy and crunchy. I sent the fries back , and spoke the manager. There was no since of concern. I do not mind paying well for good food but this fiasco cost $ 20 ( I had water) . I overheard another waitress being rude to a customer about a drink her ordered which didn’t have the correct ingredients listened. I would not recommend this restaurant.
Meal type
Lunch
Price per person
$10–20
Food: 1
Service: 1
Atmosphere: 2
Recommended dishes
Sweet Potato Fries
Kent Rathbun is my friend and this is NOT his restaurant. Don't be fooled! This is just another bland foodservice MBA play. Hard pass. Burger is dry and overpriced. I should have gone to any of the several lounges instead.
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Lunch
Price per person
$20–30
Food: 1
Service: 1
Atmosphere: 1
Recommended dishes
Sweet Potato Fries
Food is above average for an airport sit-down restaurant. What honestly stood out at this particular location was the amazing service I had, even when it was a bit busy at the time. I wasn’t incessantly checked on, but two servers came by to make sure I had enough coffee and liked my food. One server actually beat the other to it with my coffee refill. Everyone just had a great vibe, and that goes a long way. I was going to post a pic of my food, but I was starving and accidentally ate it all first.
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Breakfast
Price per person
$10–20
Food: 4
Service: 5
Atmosphere: 5
Pretty good breakfast. Got the burrito. Warm, fluffy egg, yummy salsa. Service was good, establishment was clean.
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Breakfast
Price per person
$10–20
Food: 5
Service: 5
Atmosphere: 5
Recommended dishes
Burrito
Just awful food. Terrible. All fat, no meat. The brisket was disgusting and full of fat. What bothers me is that if you’re the chef or cook and you serve a plate of fat, how do you see that and send it out and charge us $25 and think ‘who cares’?. Bartender was fine and not his fault. Food was disgusting. And they serve it and don’t care.
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Lunch
Price per person
$20–30
Food: 1
Service: 3
Atmosphere: 3
Recommended dishes
BBQ
Food- 4-5 ⭐️
Service- 5+ ⭐️
Value- 4 ⭐️
Cleanliness- 5⭐️
Wait time- 5⭐️
It’s was right outside of my gate, and right next to the restrooms. I really wanted to have some BBQ while I was waiting for my next flight.
Our waitress was super friendly! She was great! I asked her what she recommended and she suggested the pulled pork sandwich and the mac and cheese. So I ordered the BBQ’d pulled pork sandwich and the side of bacon Mac and cheese. My daughter got the avocado toast. The bacon mac and cheese was delicious! My favorite! It was a nice small portion, which I was glad about because I just wanted to try it and I split it with my daughter. The value isn’t great because it was $7, and it was probably less than 1/2 cup! But, I know airport prices are very high. It’s $18 for 3 ribs! 🤯😳 Anyway, I loved the pulled pork. It was tender and flavorful and fresh. I wish there were more coleslaw on it and that the coleslaw had more flavor. The bread was too greasy so I didn’t eat it, but I really didn’t want the carbs anyway.
My daughter’s avocado toast was really good. Very flavorful! The Pico de Gallo was really good.
Altogether our bill was $36. Not bad for 2, but we did only drink water.
I would definitely come back again. I’d like to try the potato salad, brisket and tacos.
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Lunch
Price per person
$10–20
Recommended dishes
Hickory Smoked Pulled Pork Sandwich
We had a long stop in dallas and we needed to luch, since we were in Texas, why not try the famous brisket? So we started looking for the options on this huge airport.
After we sat down, I googled and saw all the bad reviews and I was a little concerned of what’s I was going to lunch… well, the previously reviews doesnt mach with my experience
I had a great lunch and it was delicious :)
For me, it was a brisket burguer with a generous fries side. The meat was incredible and in the right point (I asked medium rare and you can see by the picture it was just it ✅)
My brother in law asked for a meat brisket with a sweet potato fries, both were really tasty 😋 the meat was really soft and good.
Also, the attendant was really nice and helpful.
The price was ok since we are in airport and the amount of food. If you are in another terminal, worth the walk since the skyline makes it easier to go around
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Lunch
Price per person
$20–30
Let's be honest. My expectations for airport food are low. But if you are going to market something as "chef so n so's" or "bbq they smoke on site", in the state of Texas, you need to bring your A game.
Despite ordering the fattier end of the brisket, it was extremely dry except for the actual ribbon of fat running length wise on each slice.
As for flavor ? Bland is the only word. I had to SALT and SAUCE my brisket. Salt & sauce it! In TX if you cant make a proper dry rub brisket that doesnt need sauce, you shouldnt be in the brisket game. If you are going to smoke a brisket salt and pepper are a MUST. It tasted like it had very little of either, if any at all. My very 1st brisket I ever smoked came out more flavorful & tender, and I am not a chef.
The dryness is likely from being late evening and probably sitting under a heat lamp rather than being kept in foil (or better yet butcher paper!) in a steam bath tray to keep it warm without drying it out. But the flavor was unforgivable.
The best part was the bacon mac n cheese, and even that was run of the mill. No, I take it back. The best part was the Buffalo Trace on the rocks, because at least that is consistent and I got what I expected.
The food was bland, and only worth its $18 price for 3 slices and a small serving of mac n cheese because everything but fast food chains is around $20 or higher for an entree at an airport. Even going in with low expectations for "airport food", I was disappointed. I wouldnt want my name on a restaurant serving this if I were Mr. Rathbun, but I'm sure as long as the $$ comes in he doesnt much care.
I sincerely hope the real Hickory establishment outside the airport sets a better standard than this. I'd be ashamed to serve brisket like this in my own house in Texas, let alone in a restaurant, unless that restaurant's name rhymes with Phil Diller's.
Atmosphere is 1 star because if youre going to be a sit-down restaurant, even at an airport, you should feel like one. Even Pappasito's has better atmosphere. Pappadeaux really sets the atmosphere bar higher at this airport even if their seafood menu is lacking (to be expected).
I'll be quite honest. Rudy's, despite being a chain AND having their quality fall off a cliff over the last 10 years, is still better than this particular batch of bbq at Hickory. RUDY'S!! You know, the one attached to a gas station.
My server was pleasant and I dont fault her at all. But the more I think about it the more disappointed I am with the shoe leather brisket I just finished chewing, doused in BBQ sauce and salt (just to make it tolerable).
I was originally going to try the bread pudding too, but based on the entree & side I half expect some store-bought wonderbread (or the lunch crowd's left over toast) soaked in skim milk and cooked under a heat lamp. No thanks.
I only chose 2 stars because 1 star reviews tend to be ignored or written off. It really is a one star eatery at best. Go someplace else in DFW if you have any respect for Texas brisket. I have no earthly idea how any reviews here are 4 or 5 stars. Especially the one that said it "slaps". Yikes.
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Dinner
Price per person
$10–20
Food: 1
Service: 5
Atmosphere: 1
