Hickory River Smokehouse in Peoria

Our family ordered takeout brisket from Hickory River for our Christmas dinner. It was fabulous, tender, juicy, and so flavorful! I would absolutely return for more!

These guys know how to prepare and serve meat based dishes. Tender, melt in your mouth meats prepared to bring out the full flavor of the particular item being served, not overwhelm it in some strong sauce to mask an inferior product. Consistently good food, good service, and reasonable prices. Try them out in house or at the annual Taste of Peoria. You won't be disappointed.

Good authentic BBQ! I always go with the Texas Tater! more than enough food than you need for one sitting.

Excellent food but the staff are quite rude. The girl at the register was playing on her phone while I waited to be rung up. She acted like she had something else better to do.

Love the food and one of the only places you can get sweet potato fries around here!

The shredded pork is pretty good but the wings and ribs I had were dry and tough.

Extremely Good food. Brisket slices my favorite. Food well priced for quality and quantity. Staff have always been friendly and helpful. Has drive up window to go. Inside is nice. I took a star away to 4 because they used to put bottles of barbacue sauce on the tables. Now it's extra cost to get more in little cups. If ya get the sauce on the food they are usually a bit more generous. One of my favorite places in Peoria to eat.

Great tasting food, friendly people, reasonable prices

Our small group of Associates went here for lunch. The part that we had to wait for, was - WHICH good food to order!!! The moment we udder the words, it was being prepared before us. Slide down a bit - got our side dishes - slide a little more and paid. Quick! I had the smoked roast turkey sandwich with side of coleslaw and applesauce. All was Good! As I looked down the table at our group, each dish look good and everyone looked delighted.

Been a customer for several years. Never had any issues until recently. Portion sizes have become a joke here. I ordered a Q shoe and after I got home and opened it, the to go box was literally half full and I felt so ripped off. Went back to the restaurant, returned the food and got my $11 plus change back. I'm not coming back if this restaurant is that stingy on the portions but still charge more than average for lunch. What a waste of a lunch break.

My son likes their food. It was my first time there but I was not impressed. Maybe it was just me.

There shoe barbecue and clean and nice appomsiafear

I had the brisket and it was very good! Didn't care for the coleslaw at all though. It might have just been that batch wasn't very good, but I'll probably try a different side next time . There will be a next time for sure though.

I love Hickory River their portions are large, but who ever is making the fries are cooking them WAY too long. Every time I order fries or sweet potato fries their almost burnt and no potato in the middle and very hard like they were double dipped.

This was our first visit, the staff is exceptional! The man who welcomed us was very nice and went out of his way to explain the menu and just how they prepare their items. Employees are so nice! The food was great, I had the bbq pork nachos and can't wait to go back and try something different. Family friendly, reasonable prices, clean establishment and some pretty good finger licking bbq! Update - We have been back several more times after this specific review (back in 2017) and still have had the best BBQ ever! There isn't one thing on the menu that we dislike, everything is so good!

My friend and I stopped in there two weeks ago and we had the three meat platter and it was excellent I really love the taste of their meat and their barbecue sauce. Wasn't real crazy about the corn that was supposed to be right off of the cobit tasted more like it was canned corn and I love corn I'm pretty sure that that's what it was.

Our small group of Associates went here for lunch. The part that we had to wait for, was - WHICH good food to order!!! The moment we udder the words, it was being prepared before us. Slide down a bit - got our side dishes - slide a little more and paid. Quick! I had the smoked roast turkey sandwich with side of coleslaw and applesauce. All was Good! As I looked down the table at our group, each dish look good and everyone looked delighted.

Had a great experience here on fathers day. The staff was super friendly and had great customer service. As always very generous portions and fresh food. The brisket was great, my wife loved the pulled pork and y son thinks you have the best French fris in town. Plenty of parking and seating options. Had an awesome time and will definitely be back.👍🏽👍🏽👍🏽

Been here twice, thought the second time would've been better. Brisket was pretty dry and the bread for their sandwiches was bad. Overpriced for the quality as well.

Just passing through town and we decided to give it a try, I manage a fine dining restaurant (so I am picky). I wasn't expecting cafeteria style service but we were greeted with a smile from a very nice man who was very helpful and explained everything in 30 seconds I got the pulled pork with baby back ribs he explained all of the sauces. I got the sweet with just the right amount of kick. Green beans with mashed potatoes and gravy. I just have one thing to say, DELICIOUS!! Thanks for the great meal.

Was ok for bbq, staff could have been more friendly

Very tasty nice portions and really nice guys for staff. Will definitely return.

The pulled pork sandwich was exceptional. They don't skimp on the meat. The different barbecue sauce choices have something for everyone. Their coleslaw is especially good and yesterday I tried there scalloped potatoes which were rich and very good.

Definately 5 stars!!! Was given VIP treatment!!! The scalloped taters are awesome pulled pork and ribs mouthwatering. Excellent balance of smokey flavor, not to little and not overpowering!! !!! Thanks Mike!! I will definately be back!!

Omg first time eating here and I will be back soon. Damn Good Food

The meat is smoked in the evening and then served next day after it's smoked for 12 hours..no liquid smoke used

Excellent! First time here but certainly not the last! Love the food, Service and atmosphere! Prices are very fair! Ranks up there with some of the best barbeque restaurants we've been to anywhere in the country and we've traveled through all 48 States in the last several years. Love finding these gems as we travel the country!

It's always a wonderful meal when we visit this place! Today I tried the pork nachos for the 1st time and I gotta say they were pretty great. I was apprehensive at 1st because I'd never had anything like that before but tasted pretty darn good and I couldn't even finish them! Great place to have a family meal!

The food is great but I think it’s a little expensive for what it is.

Food was pretty good, people were friendly. Only real negative was the cornbread was not fresh.

Never disappoints. Awesome pulled pork (no sauce needed). Service is fast. Food is fast.

One of my favorite places to go get BBQ besides Whitey's in the local area definitely one of my top picks the staff is always amazing the food is perfect.

The best smoked wings and reasonable prices. They also have the best horseshoe.

Excellent food & service.

Yum! I had garden salad with turkey. Nothing fancy, but lettuce was crisp and fresh and turkey was tender and delicious. Also got the sweet potato fries. Hands down the best sweet potato fries I've ever had!! Hubby got the pulled pork nachos and said they were great.

Very good experience! Most in my group had never been here, so the staff was very helpful! Everyone was pleased with what they got!!

Our dinner was sooo delicious! Brisket and pulled pork. So tender and yummy! Thank you!

Food is good, but if you order take out it may not be as hot as it should

My husband and I loved it! The food was amazing, the employees were friendly, and the atmosphere was a southern feel in a cattle ranch-style decor. We will be back!

I liked it..brisket sandwich

Delish but charged my credit card twice for the meal. never was corrected.

Ordered pulled chicken; it was mostly lile sawdust, totally destroyed and dry, but mixed with suace and made a sandwich, it was passable. Sides of slaw and fries were excellent; nice sized portions. Very nice staff and typical bbq joint decor; probably worth a 2nd try; maybe just ordered the wrong thing.

Really decent barbecue. Nice staff, and clean environment. Definitely a repeat spot for me. Love the brisket first, and sausage second!

Great BBQ for a great price. Cafeteria style serving so you get your food quick. I highly recommend the q-shoe. It's awesome.

I love this place. We used to have HRS up in the Chicago suburbs, but they closed. We were so bummed it was one of our go to restaurants. Now our son goes to Bradley and we got to make a visit. The nachos are still delicious and the beef brisket was fantastic. I love the mild BBQ sauce and took two bottles home. Well done HRS. Come back to Chicago.

My wife and I love this place. Super people that work there.

Overall our experience here was good! The gentleman that greated us when we came in was very nice and friendly! The food was a bit dry for our taste though! The restaurant was clean.

A very good place to eat! There are some better barbecue restaurants but probably not in Peoria. Sure you will enjoy yourself if you go there. The brisket is really good.

I came into town to visit my Wife’s family. She had a craving for ribs. On my way to another restaurant(based on familiarity) I came across this gem! Being a first timer here, I felt like family when I came in. Everyone was so nice and inviting. I ordered food for all of the family & the cooks were so patient with me! We had the ribs and the bbq sauce was great! I will definitely recommend this place to the rest of the family & my friends. I also will be back! 🕺🏾

I went around 6:30, and the food food was really good, but I could tell it was kept warm for a few hours, a little dry and tough. I had pulled pork and brisket slices. Being there at the right time would be key for this place. The hardware seemed very cheesy to me weak silverware and plastic baskets and trays. A little heavier duty hardware would definitely give it a better feel.Overall it was very good for the price and I plan on returning.