The Hickory House BBQ and Grill has been out of style so long, it’s back in.
The former drive-in near downtown Dallas opened in 1952, in the days before freeways criss-crossed above 600 S. Riverfront Blvd.
The signage is old-school: a faded red awning, an even more faded neon sign reading “Beer — Open,” and photos of 1960s and 1970s Dallas Cowboys.
Sure, it looks like a retro diner, or a small-town Texas tavern out of a Taylor Sheridan TV show.
But the prices are retro, too.
The plate lunches with three vegetables sell for less than $11. A big burger basket with fries costs less than $9, sometimes two-for-$15 as a special.
A four-meat combo barbecue plate — basic commercial beef, pork ribs, Polish sausage and smoked ham, not anything fancy — costs less than $17.
I stopped in the other day between breakfast and lunch and asked what to 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.