Hickory Joe’s BBQ

Note to People this place is closed.

CLOSED. As in for good.
The food was not the best, usually Ok.
Shame is now there isn’t any readily available BBQ left in Corona.

Baby back ribs were really dry. Tri tip was decent. Sweet corn casserole was really good. Sweet potato fries are pretty good as well. Overpriced for what they give you. Very nice staff though.

This place was great. I’m really surprised by all the negative reviews. It was 14 bucks between two people and we are FULL. Great chicken, great portions. Friendly people, great place.

This is such a difficult place to review:
Menu Selection: 4
Food Taste: 4
Portion Size: 2
Cleanliness: 5
Pricing: 2
Food Availability: 2
I really like the food here… when it is available, but hate paying for it. I have missed out on chicken twice and got the last piece of chicken the last time I was there. A family of 4 including kids meals (no BBQ for the kids) = $ 65 not including tip.
The ribs are are smoky and meaty but I am usually on the short end of their wide bone count range. For those that want to try the place without breaking the bank, try the $ 5 one bone sample.

BEST BBQ EVER! It’s a shame more people don’t go here. Adorable, little southern eatery. Great food! AMAZING onion rings! Fast, friendly service!

We used to go to Hickory Joes years ago when it opened. We always had a good meal at a reasonable price. Their half chicken dinner was always good. Then something went wrong. I don’t know if it changed ownership or managers but they went down hill.
We went in about 2 years ago for a chicken dinner. To our surprise they were out of chicken. Strange for a BBQ place to fun out of chicken. So, we ordered salads.
We went in a few months later and guess what? They were out of chicken. We ordered salads once again.
We went in a few months later and guess what they were out of once again? Chicken of course. This time I was quite pissed and we walked out.
So it was a good year before we decided to give this place one last try. Of course they were out of chicken! How can this happen? This time we just laughed as did the customer behind us that was there to order chicken and we left to the place in the same parking lot and had a good Hawaiin BBQ dinner.
You’ve fooled me into coming to your place way too many times Joe. Never again!

Hickory Joe’s was good on my visit. Judging by some of the other peoples reviews, I would suggest most people are not qualified to review a BBQ joint. First off BBQ, fresh, good BBQ will always be a little on the pricy side, no matter where you go. Was Hickory Joe’s the best I ever had? no. But it wasn’t bad either. We should just be lucky that there is even a BBQ place around in Southern California. Its a hard genre off food to find in these parts.

Save your money, this place sucks. If I’m going to spend $ 17 on a tri-​tip and chicken combo, I’d rather go to Claim Jumper. It’s Fast Food taste with upscale price. I should have listened to the other reviews before they stole my money.

Pretty good bbq. Does not have that fresh out of the smoker taste, but if you want something that resembles good Texas or Southern bbq, this is one of the few places in So Cal you can go.
Pricing is okay, nothing to get excited about. Its def. worth a try though if you like bbq.

Overpriced Crap, I own a bbq catering bizz and let me tell you i cant believe they charge money for that bbq, ribs are dry and have no flavor and they put way to much sauce on them, I have learned if you want some good BBQ either do it yourself or goto Texas you cant expect to get good Q from a Chain resturant

When I saw that there was not a soul in the place on a Saturday evening it should have raised some red flags, but I was hungry and wanted beef ribs.
The ribs were terrible, greasy and smothered in sauce to hide the fact that the beef was dry and way overcooked.
Never again!

I went a few days ago with Hubby to get some BBQ. We both tried the same dish-​we NEVER do that at a new place because if we have never been we like to be able to make the most of our first taste and share two different dishes. BUT-​the Oink MooBurger seemed too good to be true. It mustve been about 4.5 inches tall on my plate. Large honey oat tasting bun, one HUGE overly battered onion ring, a huge beef patty topped with BBQ pork and applewood smoked bacon at least a quarter inch thick. I chose the onion rings for a side and he had the shoestring fries. This burger must be about 50 – 65 grams of fat and maybe even 1800 calories but IT IS DELICIOUS. the onion rings were ok, a lil over battered, sorta gooey. Its definitely a burger to be reckoned with and I will come back again only next time I will share one and not tackle it alone. The seating area seemed comfy but as new patrons and the only visitors at the time minus a table of elderly women, I expected more of a welcome or offer to help choose from the menu. We werent offered any orientation of any sort and so explored on our own.

I have no idea why the average is so low! We went for Father’s Day (gave Dad the day off from BBQing for us) and it was delicious!
Menus say «Voted Best BBQ in the I.E.» and yes, I concur. This isn’t the best BBQ you will ever have (um, yeah, go to Memphis), but for location, price and quality all make for a solid 4.5 stars…
The tri-​tip was smoky and amazing, thin slices of freakin delicious… seriously, if you get anything there, that. MMmm.
The pulled pork good but nothing that will wow you, cole slaw was eh, baked beans solid but again, nothing amazing.
Corn bread muffins with sweet butter on the side– as good as anything you could ever get made at home– I really don’t know how to better explain how pleased I was with them…
Sweet corn casserole– really good if you like corn (I don’t, and i STILL liked them!)
But for sides, and of our choices, the garlic green beans won. YUMMY! MMMMMMMMMMM.
They have some patio seating, and booths inside– I kept giggling over the booth size: they were big enough for 6 ppl to fit in, and the space between table and booth seat was certainly ample enough for Santa Claus to comfortably fit his belly… teehee…

05÷23÷11 — Stopped by on a whim because the line at McD’s was too long! Glad I did. Had the pulled pork sandwich and fries. The sand was good — just the right amount of flavor and sauce — meat was very tender. Fries were good but could have been hotter so that’s why it’s 4 stars. Very pleased with the friendliness of the staff and it was CLEAN inside. Will definitely be back. I’m a native and this is the best BBQ in Norco –Corona hands down.
09/​01/​2011 — Went back for some BBQ but this time I ordered chicken and not the sandwich. Pretty much the WORST FOOD I have ever eaten. The meat tasted like lighter fluid. I took one bite and tossed it. I would never eat here again. The other reviewers were dead on accurate for the BBQ taste. It was awful.

I tried this place when it first opened, but didn’t remember the food so decided to give it another try. Should’ve known better. If you don’t remember the food then it’s not worth remembering.
Got the bbq chicken salad, ribs, chicken, brisket sandwich with cole slaw and potato salad. The sides were good and the sandwich was good. The ribs were a different story. Too much smoke and too much bbq sauce! Even the chicken on the salad tasted like smoke. I’m still tasting it. It was not good and we won’t be back.

I was so excited to try out this place, but I wasn’t that impressed. None of our bbq orders were good. Everything was dry and tasted like it was just warmed under heat lamps. Even the bread for the pulled pork sandwiches seemed like days old generic bread. I do have to say though that the service was really good. It was either the owner or manager that was very friendly.
I don’t know that I’d return, I prefer bbq that is so good that it doesn’t need any sauce.
Maybe I just didn’t know what to order… any suggestions?

Their service is decent. I told the girl behind the counter it was my first time there, so she recommended I get the Tri-​tip. I got the Tri-​tip with their Cole Slaw and Loaded potatoes as sides. I got the food fairly quickly, in about 5 – 10 mins. The slaw was ok, the potatoes were good. The potatoes were loaded with green onions, cheddar cheese, and smoked bacon on top.
The Tri-​tip wasn’t really all that great. I’ve had way better tri-​tip before for much less.
This place was meh. Definitely not worth the price you pay for it. It would be my last choice for BBQ in the norco/​corona area. Still looking for a good bbq place in this area.

Meh. Not good. Not bad.
Came into Norco with a friend and figured since I’m in a new area, I might as well try some new restaurant. My friend’s father recommended Hickory Joe’s and said that ribs were good. Ok.
My friend got the BBQ Tri Tip sandwich and he said it was good. It looked tender and required little chewing which is nice. Appeared to have A LOT of sauce on it, but some people like that.
I ordered the full rack of St Louis ribs. VERY tender… but kind of dry. Needed more sauce I guess but the sauce was pretty sweet and made me really thirsty. I was told the baby backs were more tender, but I don’t think I like my meat that soft. tee hee.
Side of mac n’ cheese was decent. A bit on the mushy side but still good.
Garlic green beans were pretty good. They use real garlic and not the powder. The green beans themselves are pre-​frozen but at least they don’t come from a can.
I don’t think I’ll come back, but it was fun to try something new.

How does a cook /​person make limp corn-​on-​the-​cob? Well, I found out. Sure, we all have had better food at reasonable prices. This place is a winner in a whole new category — limp corn. This sandwich shop charges too much as it is, but add-​in the poor quality — next time I’ll consider somewhere else to eat. I ordered a chicken club sandwich, no mayo, plus avocados. The chicken seemed to have been sitting under the heatlamp for at least an hour cuz all the juices had seeped into the bun and the edges sticking out were sun-​burned & tough to chew. I selected corn-​on-​the-​cob as a side, but even that had been over cooked — it was limp & soggy, and even my imagination (as creative as it can get) couldn’t raise my disgust to a state of calm enjoyment. yuck.
now I know why the «dirt people» come to LA for good times & better food.