Downtown train station turned market and restaurant that is Old Hickory Station is a must see on I-40. The beautiful esthetics of the market and building was just the first surprise.
Hard To Miss The Trains Station
Usurpingly, Old Hickory Station is indeed in the town of Hickory. You will find it in the heart of downtown along side the train tracks. Restored building was once the town’s train station and is easily found in the middle of town. Nonetheless, it is easy to get there even if you are not a local.
On the other side of the train tracks you will find much more of the cute downtown District of hickory. Additionally, you will also find the local farmer’s market across the tracks with some beautiful shades.
Parking is plentiful for the size of the town. We found ample parking lots in the area without trying albeit, not much was dedicated to the restaurant itself. No app to pay for parking was required when we came. Many towns seem to be adding a pay to park scheme everywhere but Hickory is one of the good ones. Read the parking lot signs and you will be OK.
Kaitlyn and I like the fact that we were not close to the highway though it was still on our way along I-40 to Asheville. Proximity was in a sweet spot of being close without being too close to main traffic areas.
Restored to Glory
The Old hickory station is inside of the beautifully restored train station of the Town of Hickory. I say beautifully restored because they have actually won multiple awards for the renovation that was undertaken to bring it into its current glory. They did a great job of preserving the history and charm of the old building while still adding all of the modern convenience that they need.
One fun part of the waiting area is that id doubles as a local grocer. You will find a wide variety of local cheese, meats, baked goods, trinkets, and PLETNY of wine and beer. The focus is on local and fresh items. I would struggle to go anywhere else with how vast the selection is here.
We came for lunch and were just starting our Big Asheville trip so we decided to just grab lunch and admire the treats from afar. There did appear to be a sense of local community within the shop area that was hard to describe.
“Smoke It If You Got It”
Coming for lunch we opted for the lunch menu. Since this was our first stop of our food/drink centered vacation to Western NC, I jumped at the apttly named “smoke it if you got it” barbeque plate. I am a true and faithful Eastern Style NC Barbeque fan but I like to try new things. Brisket was good the pulled pork was not bad. The sauce was good for what it was but not my eastern NC favorites. Kaitlyn Enjoyed her fried chicken sandwich but was not super impressed by it. Not many comments beyond that.
We could tell we were close to Asheville based on just how many different in house brews they had on the menu. If you do not see what you like on the wine menu either, they are willing to allow you to pick from any of the 500+ wines in Market area to enjoy with your meal (with a 5$ corkage fee).
Train Station & Market & Restaurant & Brewery & Downtown
Old Hickory Station is great intersection of local culinary culture and community. The revitalization of the historic train station and use as a local market makes the building more a community meeting place. We loved how lively this place was even on a Thursday at mid afternoon.
Overall
Truthfully, Old Hickory Station was packed full of surprises. The eye candy of the shop and beautifully restored building took us by surprise. On top of that, the food and drinks were exactly what we were looking for to kick off a trip. I highly recommend stopping in if you find yourself in Hickory for any reason at lunch and presumably dinner too.
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