PDQ Hickory

If you are looking for comfort food, the weekend Pozole should not be missed. All the ingredients are first quality and all the food is home cooked.

SO GOOD. I love their fries here. So much, that I would come here JUST for the fries. The chicken is also great. The service is great here, and you can get as many sauces as you like. Dip your amazing fried chicken into your delicious sauce and have some great fries with it!

While in NC, we had a chance to check out PDQ to pick up a family sized portion of their chicken fingers for a gathering. The restaurant itself was spotless; very cool décor and looked to be new. We actually arrived earlier than the time quoted for our chicken to be ready, but the staff was super accommodating, apologizing for our wait even though we came early! There really was no wait, seeing as we only there a total of 10 minutes. The staff was all very friendly. The chicken was fresh, moist, delicious, and thankfully, not greasy. We loved the sauces — honey mustard (always the go-​to and sweet siracha being the favorites. Wish this was in Charleston!

This is my go-​to fast, fresh, and chicken done delicious every time! Keep your Zaxby’s, Chic-​fil-​a, and whatever else you can think of… PDQ is my spot! Ever since I started coming to PDQ’s, my experiences here, have been the very best! Everything from my tenders, to my sandwiches, even right down to my salads! The sauces are amazing, they enhance the salads, and tenders, not disguise or cover them up. I really enjoy the buffalo/​blue cheese dipping sauce for my grilled tenders, and the fat free fiesta dressing for my salad. Sooooooo good! The fries are down right delicious, they are so good you keep reaching for more and never wanting them to end. I never get tired of their menu, I can’t, I enjoy it all. I wish PDQ were everywhere, in every city and state, and local towns. They definitely need to be, so when I travel, I can always visit a PDQ! I wish they had later hours as well… but I can live with that.

What can I say me and my kids really like the place food is amazing my kids love to get the chicken fingers and I’m partial to the crispy turkey sandwich every time we go in always seems like a positive atmosphere. I wish they would hurry up and build one closer to my house though.

Can you imagine, no freezers and no microwaves? Everything and I mean everything is made fresh. The 10 great dipping sauces, the coleslaw, the dressings. The way they prep the potatoes for the fries is unbelievable. wash, rewash, wash again and then 10 hours in a specially made just for them cooker before they get deep fried. and how about this for personal service? When you go through the drive-​thru, you order to a person at the window and not into a speaker that sounds like Peanuts parents talking back to you. There is a «bar area in front of the kitchen and you can watch everyone make the food. Not too many places that you can look into the kitchen! Before I get into the food, lets talk about the fresh squeezed lemonade, the soda fountains, where there is so much more than soda. There is flavored water, flavored fizzy water, fresh sweet tea, green tea and lets not forget the fantastic shakes. Now to the food. I mentioned about the great fries that come plentiful and the dipping sauces that include, buffalo, buffalo with bleu cheese, creamy garlic, honey mustard and my favorite, the chipotle bbq. And they are all made in house! They have fantastic fresh salads, fresh cookies, apples with a delicious toffee dip. but the stars of the night of course are the sandwiches and chicken tenders which are made with the breast, no fillers and they are like all the sandwiches just simply juicy and delicious. we started with the Cali Chicken that has avocados, the crispy chicken with bacon, but even better than those were the crispy TURKEY. WOW, just awesome! They also have the «The Handheld Thanksgiving «. A grilled turkey with lettuce, cranberry and seasoned mayo. You swear you can even taste stuffing! This is a remarkable restaurant and I am sure to find out where every one of their 52 restaurants are and make sure I visit it when in town.

Amazing… Yummy… Dang. This place was delish. While headed home from visiting family, we decided to try something new. We are so glad we did. We chose the drive thru because we were ready to get home. The order taker was friendly and knowledgeable about their food and the freshness they offered.
I ordered the Cali Club… Wow. It’s good. Tasty brioche bun topped with creamy garlic sauce (all sauces made fresh in house) a round stack of crisp lettuce. Lots of bacon and tomato and a very perfectly seasoned grilled chicken breast, topped with avocado. It was so moist and tender. The others had chicken tenders and loved them. We all raved about the seasoned fresh cut fries. So good to sauce needed… although the honey mustard was the best we have tasted… Will definitely go back… It’s not cheap but also it doesn’t taste cheap at all… so for me it’s worth the price.

My mom’s chicken was raw inside. While the employees made her a new sandwich, which we appreciated. There was no apology or concern from the employees. The French fries were good and those who had the chicken tenders thought they were awesome, but if you’re a chicken place, the chicken needs to be cooked correctly and safely each and every time.

The WORST food i have ever eaten. The chicken was way undercooked and the skin was slimy. The service was fast, but the quality was horrible.

I have been here three times within the span of one day. All my friends were telling me that PDQ is the best and that it destroys Zaxby’s & Chickfila. Well I can now honestly rate on which one has the best chicken.
PDQ has the better tasting chicken out of the three. However, PDQ has some ridiculously steap prices! There nuggets are not that good & they RIP you off on fries!
However, their chicken fingers are amazing although they are long & skinny. Their fries are really good but the portion size is way too small. Their coleslaw is nothing special & I wouldn’t recommend it. Their sauces especially the ranch & sweet Sriracha are amazing! Their lemonade is really good is kind of comparable to Chickfila’s lemonade.
My favorite thing on their menu is their crispy chicken sandwich & let me tell you that it blows Chickfila’s original chicken sandwich out of the water.
First of all their bread choice (brioche) that they use is really good & tastes like you are eating real bread not Chickfila’s garbage bread. Finally, their crispy fried chicken is amazing & definitely has an excellent crunch to it.

As far as quick chicken goes, it really can’t get any better than this. I hadn’t heard of the place before we looked it up on Unilocal while trying to find some dinner on the way home from a road trip.
I’m not sure I’ve ever seen service this quick. We walked in, and there was no line, and the reason quickly became apparent. The cashier had our order taken with no hesitation or wasted time, and our food was ready before I was even able to fill the drink up.
But it wouldn’t be awesome if it was fast and terrible, would it? Luckily, it’s not. The chicken itself was delicious, and the garlic sauce we got with it (lots to choose from) made it even better. My wife prefers their style of fries to most others, and I’m inclined to agree with her in this case. Thin and crispy, seasoned fries.
It’s a chicken place, and that’s all they’ve got, so don’t go in hoping for a burger. But if it’s chicken you’re after, you won’t be disappointed.

I was actually super impressed with this place. I want to clarify that 4 stars is based on the idea that this IS a fast food restaurant so they do have a limited menu, not super healthy food, etc. I am not a big fast food fan but I liked the food here a lot. The chicken tenders are really fresh and come out steaming hot and the fries are pretty good, they seem to be cut in-​house. I also love when places have malt vinegar for fries which they do here, along with a lot of other good sauces/​condiments like Frank’s Red Hot and then several homemade sauces for the chicken tenders. They are all complimentary and you can get more than one which is nice. My favorite was the buffalo bleu. Apart from the food, I kind of liked that they have a hand washing sink in the dining room. Kind of unusual but I like that they encourage cleanliness. Def cleaner than other fast food places. The staff was really friendly too. It’s on the more expensive end of fast food, basically around the Zaxby’s range, but the food quality makes up for it.

This was the first time visiting this restaurant, the décor was nice but nothing fancy. Bothy husband and I ordered the chicken tenders plate, however there is nothing special that comes with the plate. The chicken was flavorful however the fries were nothing to brag about.
When eating at the restaurant I noticed that there was something in my food, my husband went to the counter and showed an employee who apologized and replaced with extra chicken tenders. My husband and I will be back.

Great food, friendly staff and pleasant atmosphere. The salad was fresh, chicken was tasty and the dressing taste like the kind you get at an expensive restaurant. I had the chocolate shake for desert and it was the best shake I have ever had. Thick, rich, and creamy. I ate it with a spoon. I will recommend this place to my family and friends.

The chicken tenders are excellent and the seasoning on the fries is delicious. They also have a coca cola freestyle machine that has over 100 different drinks. The food is fast and I definitely recommend it.

meh, weird place and food was just okay. Like fast food for people that want limited human interaction.

Great buffalo chk sandwiches, shakes, apple slices with dip side. Staff is always very friendly, they keep that places teeming with employees so the place is always spotless, never more than 5 steps away fr an employee. Love this place, only downside is the price but the fact they use natural ingredients and free range chicken (I think) makes it more worth it

PLEASE do NOT support this business. My cousin was in a terrible accident last year and is now confined to a wheelchair. PDQ held a fundraiser for him and promised 10% of the days receipts. My cousin spent 13 hours there that day and has yet to receive 1 cent from them. It has been almost 6 months since the fundraiser. Spend your money with a better member of your community.

Awesome place with good chicken. They never freeze their food so everything is fresh. The sandwiches, salads are well prepared. Fries are hand cut. The sauces are WOWZAHS! We love the sweet heat! I always get the apples with the dipping sauce too.
Food quality is important buuuut service is also up there. They have by far the happiest people in the area. I have never seen one mean person or had a bad experience with the staff. I’ve even had to give food back but it was an accident. Great people work here makes you wanna go back time and time again!

We decided to check out PDQ this afternoon for lunch. We drove through, so I can’t comment on the seating area.
The chicken strips were OK. Comes with a choice of 5 or 6 sauces, but nothing really called out to me. I picked the chipotle bbq because it seemed the most interesting. The fries were a lot like Five Guys’ down the road, which tasted good but were a bit soggy.
I was expecting the price point to be less for a fast food-​style location, but the food was good enough to compensate slightly. In Hickory, there a lot of affordable options for a quick lunch, so $ 9.20 for a 5 piece chicken tenders meal seems a bit high unless that’s really what you’re in the mood for.
I’d suggest you give it a shot. It has the potential to be a place you really like (I’m looking at you, Chick-​fil-​a fans). The chicken tenders were a little bigger and tastier than what I’ve had at CFA or Zaxby’s, but overall PDQ is just a place I’d come for a rare craving… not a place I’d go on the regular.