The Hickory House BBQ and Grill has been out of fashion for so long that it is now back in style.
The former drive-in near downtown Dallas opened in 1952, in the pre-freeway days above 600 S. Riverfront Blvd.
The signage is old-fashioned: a faded red awning, an even faded neon sign that reads “Beer – Open,” and photos of Dallas Cowboys from the 1960s and 1970s.
Sure, it looks like a retro diner, or a small Texas town tavern from a Taylor Sheridan TV show.
But the prices are also retro.
The three-vegetable plate lunches sell for less than $11. A large burger basket with fries costs less than $9, sometimes two for $15 as a specialty.
A combination barbecue plate with four meats – simple commercial beef, pork ribs, Polish sausage and smoked ham, nothing fancy – costs less than $17.
I stopped by mid-morning the other day and asked what I should get.
“Breakfast!” two older men in muddy jeans and dusty work boots said in unison.
“Breakfast!” a young woman in a Cowboys T-shirt echoed from another table.
One of the restaurant’s Facebook posts sums it up: “Come in for golden brown pancakes or a nice cold beer.”
I had stopped at Hickory House for a barbecue in another life 45 years ago, but never for breakfast.
I was surprised at how little the restaurant near the Interstate 30-35E ramps seemed to have changed.
They were right. An above-average omelet with house fries and a grilled biscuit with gravy sells for less than $11.
The most expensive breakfast on the menu is a rib-eye steak and eggs for less than $17.
“People don’t know how good the food is here,” said one of the men in work boots.
It’s a lot more working class than Dallas’ beloved chicken-fried steak cafes, Mama’s Daughters’ Diner or Norma’s Cafe. But it’s definitely an easy stop off Interstate 30.
The signs say “Best Burgers in Dallas,” and they have to be at least some of the best for the money. A double cheeseburger basket with bacon and fries costs less than $12, or add grilled onions, jalapenos and red peppers.
The rest of the menu includes an “Arkansas” sliced brisket sandwich with coleslaw on top. A Polish sausage sandwich costs less than $6.
In the 1970s and 1980s, the heyday of Dallas nightlife and rural nightclubs near downtown, Hickory House was open every day from 6 a.m. to midnight.
Now it is still open from 7am to 8:30pm or later for breakfast, lunch and dinner on weekdays and Saturdays, and open some Sundays “depending on the Cowboys”; 214-747-0758facebook.com.
