Shell’s Bar-B-Q

Hickory, United States

2.3

Open now

14 reviews

Accepts Credit Cards
Free Wi-Fi

Contacts

QR code, vCard

Telephone:
+1 828-256-2275
Website:
www.shellsbbq.com
Address:
2609 Springs Rd NE, Hickory, NC, 28601
Categories:
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Bussiness info

Takes Reservations
Yes
Delivery
No
Take-out
Yes
Accepts Credit Cards
Yes
Accepts Apple Pay
Yes
Accepts Bitcoin
No
Good For
Breakfast, Brunch
Parking
Street, Private Lot
Bike Parking
Yes
Wheelchair Accessible
Yes
Good for Kids
Yes
Good for Groups
Yes
Attire
Casual
Ambience
Casual
Noise Level
Average
Alcohol
No
Outdoor Seating
No
Wi-Fi
Free
Has TV
Yes
Dogs Allowed
No
Waiter Service
Yes
Caters
Yes

Today

Today 6:00 am – 9:00 pm
Open now
Local time (Hickory) 6:09 PM Saturday, May 24, 2025

Business hours

Monday 6:00 am – 9:00 pm
Tuesday 6:00 am – 9:00 pm
Wednesday 6:00 am – 9:00 pm
Thursday 6:00 am – 9:00 pm
Friday 6:00 am – 9:00 pm
Saturday 6:00 am – 9:00 pm
Sunday –

Description

Specialties

Catering, Dine-​in, BBQ

Amenities:

Free Wireless Internet, Party Room, Drive — In Window, Phone in orders, Reservations accepted

Payment Types:

Cash; MasterCard; VISA

Party room available for up to 20 people

— Custom designed menus

— Corporate functions

— Birthday’s

— School events

— Weddings

— Church picnics and events

— Class reunions

— Fund raisers

— Anniversaries

Open for Breakfast, Lunch or Dinner

History

Established in 1952.

You’ll Love Our Food… or It’s Free!

The Best Restaurant in Hickory is Shell’s Bar-​B-​Q. We are open for breakfast, lunch and dinner, serving a wide variety of your favorite meals with a smile in a smoke-​free environment.

We offer salads, sandwiches, burgers, fried fish, our famous Bar-​B-​Q and more, along with a large selection of appetizers and desserts, and a full breakfast menu.

Whatever you order at Shell’s Bar-​B-​Q, your dining satisfaction is guaranteed-​and everything is served with a smile!

We also make it as easy as possible for you to get our award-​winning food. We offer: call-​in orders, fax-​in orders and drive-​thru window… and of course we always accept reservations.

Meet the Business Owner

Bee and Lisa W.

Business Owner

Nearly 50 years ago, the 800 square-​foot building that became the original Shell’s was moved to Hickory from Charlotte, where it had been a Donut Dinette. Lisa Watts’ parents, Mable and Wayne Hollar, purchased Shell’s from its namesake in 1975. By then it had long since become a St. Stephens landmark, as well as a cruising destination for area teenagers.

«The downtown area had the Big Rebel, west Hickory had the Snack Bar, and the St. Stephens community had Shell’s,» said Watts, who, grew up helping out at the restaurant. She and Bee Watts met at Shell’s, were married 14 years ago and have owned the restaurant since 1989.

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14 reviews of Shell’s Bar-B-Q

No registration required
Place rating: 1
Hickory, NC
Poor food quality with mediocre service. Too hot to eat there during the Summer. No offer to take anything off our bill for food that wasn’t edible (even when I asked). The waitress actually apologized and told us «it has been sitting here all day.» I would have been embarrassed to serve what was on our plates. This is the last time I will eat here. Very sad because I grew up eating at Shell’s. Very disappointed.
Place rating: 5
Hickory, NC
Southern family owned diner at its best. The kids got introduced to corn nuggets and it’s all she wrote. Definitely stop in if visiting or new to the area
Place rating: 2
Flagstaff, AZ
Let’s start with the experience when you walk in the door.
Sign says «Hostess will seat you.» There is no hostess. Just teenagers behind the bar who stare at you until you are standing there long enough to make it awkward. And might I add: on their phones, and never in a uniform of any kind. Not even the same kind of t-​shirt. You never know who works there because nobody is wearing a uniform, just whatever pants or shirt they want.
So you get to your table, and everything is sticky. The menu, the table, the booths, the walls. Everything has grime on it. You really feel like you need to wash your hands after ordering because the menus are so gross. Don’t get the BBQ — it’s definitely not worth getting at all. Personally, it reminds me of cat food. Opt for a burger – they’re pretty good.
A person will approach you – don’t be alarmed, it’s probably the waitress. But you won’t know for sure because NOBODY IS WEARING A UNIFORM.
I have a soft spot for this business because a few members of my family worked there back in the day. But it has gone so steeply down hill. They need a rejuvenation.
I like that it’s a cheap, casual restaurant. The sun drop slush/​drink get it one star, being a local establishment gets it another.
Place rating: 5
Boger City, NC
Went to Shells today and had a great experience extra-​large and tasty burger heaping side of waffle cut fries and tea made to perfection and their waitstaff was extremely attentive, my tea never got less than half empty. If you haven’t been to Shells in a while you need to come on back and try them again.
Place rating: 1
Raleigh, NC
We were in town for a meeting, and we asked for a recommendation for the best BBQ in town. Shell’s was recommended, and we excitingly went.
What a HUGE disappointment. Don’t go. The menu was limited in BBQ options. The pulled pork was decent, more the vinegar base (which was kind of unexpected in western NC), small portion. There was no additional BBQ sauce for the side. The cole slaw was so, so, and I think the baked beans came out of a can. The hush puppies were good though. The sliced pork looked pitiful. When we were leaving, I noticed no other patrons had ordered the BBQ. The waitress was nice though. I wish we would have opted for one of the ‘Yelp’ recommended BBQ joints. Lesson learned!
Place rating: 1
Hickory, NC
I may be a little spoiled when it comes to BBQ, coming from one of the top BBQ cities in America. Memphis TN definitely has the best BBQ. I hope this was just a poor example of BBQ for this area.
We got our food to go. BBQ was horrible, salad was good, and grilled chicken sandwich was good. Won’t be going back.
Place rating: 4
Charlotte, NC
I write this review over the amount if tines that we have been here.
This place is a nice locally owned diner. The atmosphere here is quaint and friendly. The staff is nice although sometimes dim. Food is great with one or two small exceptions.
I’d definitely recommend this place to others and will be a long time customer myself!
Place rating: 1
Newton, NC
Hadn’t been there in 6+ months, and I don’t know what has happened, but this place has really declined…
Occasionally my husband wants a cheeseburger or hotdogs from Shell’s. I usually get their Chef Salad — and it used to be a good value for the money — huge, freshly cut fresh produce, with a ton of meat, eggs, fresh cooked bacon, and cheese. Honestly, it was more than one person could eat.
First of all, service today was awful, and it was not that crowded. We ordered a hotdog basket (two hotdogs and fries) and a chef salad. It took over 30 minutes for the food to arrive! When it did come to the table, there was about 1⁄3 of the usual amount of fries in my husbands basket, and they were overcooked but cold. You could barely see the fixings on the hotdogs (chili and slaw) — looked like less than a teaspoon each spread thinly over the top of the dog. The waiter brought another basket of hot fries, so that was fine. My salad was pitiful though… the croutons were stale and hard, the lettuce was obviously out of a bag and much of it was brown or wilting, a few dried cucumber slices had been thrown on, and one slice each of turkey and ham had been cut into squares and thrown on top. No egg, no bacon. It was definitely NOT what I had received in the past. I picked through and ate as much as I could. Had to ask for crackers, and the waiter brought 4 packages in his hand — they used to bring a basket with a selection of different types.
Believe me — I don’t expect much when I order a salad at a burger/​BBQ place, but this was really bad. And for my husband’s part — he even admitted that the food was not good, was cold, and was definitely NOT worth the money.
Place rating: 1
La Puente, CA
We just moved here and we wanted to try some BBQ … Never again services was good but the food was bad. Had high expectations for this place .what a disappointment.
Place rating: 5
Charlotte, NC
Great place brings you back to the 50s, got to try BBQ nachos and they have buy one get one free hot dogs of, wiener Wednesdays
Place rating: 1
Hickory, NC
This place deserves a negative star rating. My family and I went once and that was one time too many. The food was horrible! We all had cheeseburgers and they were truly the worst. Thin frozen patties with a funny taste. McDonalds is like fine dining compared to this place.
Place rating: 2
Morehead City, NC
The food is average at best but the cherry vanilla Sundrop slush is what got me through high school
Place rating: 2
Hickory, NC
Went with the family and mother-​in-​law. Both my wife and mother-​in-​law did not like or finish their food (BBQ and a BLT). I ordered a chuckwagon, and enjoyed it. My rating reflects their opinions and mine. I may have given it a 3 if they had enjoyed it more.
Place rating: 1
Hickory, NC
Couldn’t wait to try this local legend. I finally got around to it this year… twice. Both times were a similar experience:
Not a good place to eat. The food is bad. Most everything seemed to be frozen, fried, and/​or stale. How do you mess up a BLT? Order one here and they will show you. The building needs cleaning and some basic maintenance. I will not be going back.