Emil Villa's Hickory Pit & Grill
Barbeque, American
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Location and hours
Location
3064 Pacific Ave , Livermore, CA
(925) 449-1499
Hours
More details
Reviews
Overall rating
(4.2)
(135 reviews)
November 23, 2024
New owner is amazing best of luck at your new location
July 20, 2024
Excellent food! Excellent service!
March 9, 2020
There was only one or two other people in there but it was hard to get our waitress to come to us. We had to ask for stuff over and over. The place is OLD and very unappealing and the gravy was so peppery I think it was to cover how bland it was and sadly I think I got the end or some older ribs cause they were very dry and hard!!
February 25, 2020
Love this place. Great down home food with friendly service!
December 31, 2019
We love the food. Tastes delicious and the service is always so friendly!!
September 6, 2019
This is a good old fashioned restaurant with values and service to match the comfort food they served
September 6, 2019
This is a good old fashioned restaurant with values and service to match the comfort food they served
August 31, 2019
Staff was very friendly and accommodating. The baby back ribs were great!
August 24, 2019
Ribs were well prepared, large portion, good price.
July 7, 2019
Our food was great as always but our server was excellent and really made our experience the best it’s ever been.
February 18, 2019
Great, anytime of day. Great family restaurant. Clean. Great servers. Very attentive.
February 7, 2019
The staff and owner were very friendly and knowledgeable about the menus. Very polite with a personable personality with great smiles. The food was fresh and my New York steak was cooked perfectly and was a large portion. So tender. The price was inexpensive for the quality and the atmosphere was very quaint.
February 1, 2019
Nice waiter. It is not upscale, more like a cheap cafe.
December 20, 2018
Excellent Ribs! Reasonable Bottled Wine! Great Pie! Great Service!
December 12, 2018
We had a takeout order. Very good food and friendly, helpful staff!
October 22, 2018
We have not been for a while the scampe was very good, but the breaded prawns were not as good as remembered breading not the same. Soup was tastey
August 31, 2018
Consistently Outstanding In Both Food and Service.
May 30, 2018
This is an old town favorite diner suffering from nearby growth of more popular venues with similar prices. The food caters to lighter pallettes of its mostly older generation diners, but could benefit from more spice. BBQ dishes that rely on a house sauce could be better with more seasoning.
February 8, 2018
Terrible service, the server never checked on us. I had to keep getting out of seat to get things such as refill, condiments, to go box, and my check. Waste of money!!!
November 28, 2017
food was good, and staff attentive, but atmosphere was very sterile.
August 12, 2017
The waitress didn't try to hide the fact she was angry I had a Restaurant.com coupon. She over charged me and wrote scribble on my ticket to add extra charges. 4 rolls- 32.00 - $10 coupon should have been around $22/ 23 bucks. she charged me $34 all together. What a joke. First time I have never left a tip in my life.
January 12, 2017
best ribs
November 22, 2016
Great Breakfasts!
October 26, 2016
Friendly servers . Always ready to help
September 5, 2016
Good food and nice waitress
September 3, 2016
Good and service excellent. Decor could really use some updates inside and out.
August 21, 2016
Very Good service. Timely, felt welcome.
August 18, 2016
The server was great and the food was good!
July 23, 2016
Outstanding table service and amazing portions!!
May 30, 2016
Food was good, good portion. Especially the family deal. Excellent.
May 22, 2016
Steaks were ok but the chicken parmison sandwich was terrible. Bread was either old or microwaved as it was extremely tuff and and the chicken was very small.
May 1, 2016
One cook had day off; other one was new. It took 40 minutes to get food after ordering
February 17, 2016
great food great people. Will be back!
January 22, 2016
Food is great, staff is great, price is reasonable .. what more can you want! :-)
January 6, 2016
Great food in a comfortable environment. The employees are genuinely happy you cam in to the business. The desert was fantastic. Great value for the money
December 29, 2015
Nice coffee shop place to grab a great bite to eat -lots of choices from breakfast, lunch to dinner menu type stuff
December 4, 2015
great service, good simple food
November 19, 2015
Great atmosphere located in downtown Milford. Excellent food (especially the spicy hummus and garlic sauce) and service. All staff encountered was a delight. I recommend this to everyone! Healthy food at it's finest with huge portions.
September 6, 2015
Delicious ribs and chicken. $1 cobbler and spumoni ice cream were perfect to end the meal.
August 31, 2015
Excellent. the family meal worth the money even without the coupon. For 46 dollars it can feed 4 to 5 person easily.
July 19, 2015
Service was great. Friendly staff. Attentive and responsive. The dinner crowd was seniors. Dated décor and negative yelp reviews set my expectations low. But the ribs I ordered were a nice surprise. Decent quality meat but flavorful and came off the bone. Portions are very generous. I recommend sharing plates. Breakfast menu looked great. Would go back for that, and maybe the dollar cobbler which had sold out.
June 28, 2015
Employees are always friendly and helpful!
April 4, 2015
food was not as good as it used to be.
March 14, 2015
Service was attentive and quick.Pleasant demeanor from server.Food was plated well and was tasty.Location was convenient.Use of certificate discouraged by management at cashier station.
February 25, 2015
Friendly staff, attentive but not intrusive. Great ribs!
February 17, 2015
Good food. Good portions. Consistency with the same servers.
February 1, 2015
Staff is very helpful and pleasant! The food, especially the baby back ribs & baked beans is great!
December 30, 2014
Service was great.
December 20, 2014
Baby back ribs were great -- excellent flavor, juicy and tender--almost fall off the bone! The baked beans were also very good!
September 8, 2014
Wait staff is attentive and efficient. We had excellent meals, just what everyone expected.
August 20, 2014
It was our grandson's birthday family party - the staff went above and beyond!
August 16, 2014
Emil Villa's is always good. You will never have a bad meal there. We have been going there for 25 years and the quality and service has been consistently good!
August 16, 2014
The food was fresah, delicious and filling! Love it!
June 18, 2014
dont go on a holiday selection was limited.
June 14, 2014
Great taste and gooD portions
May 17, 2014
Time between placing an order and receiving the food took longer than 20 minutes.
May 17, 2014
Shrimp scampi wasn't as good as other dishes I've had at this restaurant.
May 10, 2014
Our waiter was excellent and was very accommodating to our needs.
April 2, 2014
Very few people in the restaurant and after 15-20 minutes had to ask for a waitress.
March 10, 2014
the pulled pork sandwich had a lot of gristle in the meat so lots of it was not edible. The baby back ribs were very good. Love the BBQ sauce!
March 9, 2014
Really good service. Nice touch to have the manager come greet us and refill our drinks. Waitress was friendly and attentive. Ribs were really good. We'll be back again. Found a new BBQ spot with great value!!!
March 8, 2014
Food wasn't as good as it usually is. Presentation and flavor was off.
March 7, 2014
We actually ordered food to go and when we got home our side order of fries was missing. It was too much trouble to go back to the restaurant to get them. Other than that it was a great experience.
March 6, 2014
great service
February 24, 2014
Food was great but had to send cokes back twice because they were completely flat.
February 23, 2014
Food delivered slow. A banquet was taking place.
January 11, 2014
Decor and ambiance is tiredWe miss the open pit barbecue of old Emil VillasNone of the main courses is freshly prepared, all re-heated
December 29, 2013
They have such. Big selection it was had to choose from. I love the food and the portions are seriously Hugh. I brought over have my food to enjoy later.
December 28, 2013
good food & service
December 8, 2013
Emil's is always good. Never had a bad meal or service there
November 20, 2013
Our waitress was very good.
October 27, 2013
limited dessert menu, they use to offer more pie choices
August 22, 2013
Emil Villa's staff was excellent. They made menu recommendations when requested, were cheerful and engaging, and were attentive in refilling beverages and bringing take-home containers.Food was excellent. We were pleasantly surprised. One of us had the trout dinner and the other a BBQ combo. The food was fresh (potato salad made with fresh potatoes and slightly crispy broccoli & carrots). The trout was flavorful. The BBQ was outstanding and almost a platter full of various meats.Overall, we were very positively impressed.
August 18, 2013
The food was very good and so was the service. We got there often.
August 14, 2013
The wait staff was friendly. The food was decent, although I expected more in the portion size.
July 20, 2013
Baby back ribs not as tender as we would like.
July 10, 2013
great food, good prices and great waitresses. I will visit many more times
June 2, 2013
Maybe they had a different cook there on the weekend. I had Eggs Benedict and it was so good. Eggs over cooked, the sauce didn't taste very good at all. Won't order that again.
June 2, 2013
Needs to be updated, decor is so outdated.
May 20, 2013
The best peach cobbler I ever have. Not too much sugar, instead it filled with a lot of peaches. Great steak, salad (very good quality, fresh too), rib, etc. We are very pleased.
April 9, 2013
great waitress
March 6, 2013
Our server was soo helpful and explained the menu and recommended side dishes. Very attentive and helpful.
March 6, 2013
This restaurant's greatest asset is it's owner, Ali.Ali mingles with the customers, knows many of the customers by name, makes them feel welcome and comfortable. Not to mention the ribs -- to die for!I have been going to this restaurant for about 20 years.
March 1, 2013
Great food and good service
February 15, 2013
Great food and service!
January 22, 2013
We were hassled about the restaurant.com coupon
January 17, 2013
The menu is diverse, with reasonable prices. Great value for your dining dollars. Jamie is an excellent server and very attentive.
January 17, 2013
prices are high. Atmosphere is what you would expect for a cafe, not for a steak dinner.
January 8, 2013
great food!
November 29, 2012
Staff is very friendly and accomodating.
November 21, 2012
The food is pretty good, but the atmosphere and clientelle is pretty low.
November 5, 2012
Service %2526 food is great!!
September 9, 2012
Best ribs in town. Atmosphere is ok, like a diner, but food and service very good.
September 2, 2012
Great food and service!
August 10, 2012
Excellent people, food and place! Couldn't have been better!
July 30, 2012
Good food (especially the ribs!). Wide variety. Great portions. Great value.
July 28, 2012
Delicious! We love this place!
July 24, 2012
poor atmosphere - expensive prices.
July 20, 2012
My family dine here if we want to eat good ribs
July 9, 2012
A wonderful "family" type restaurant with good food!
July 7, 2012
We had a delicious breakfast. We usually do have some type of coupon or discount when we go to Emil Villa's.
June 25, 2012
The minimum amount required to spend was very high, food and service were great, gratuity was also high (but the service/food were good enough to warrant it)-- next time I'd go with a larger group ...ambiance was mediocre.
June 19, 2012
outstanding!
June 3, 2012
I really enjoy this restaurant. Ollie always comes out to greet us and the food is excellent.
May 25, 2012
Great Food--Great Service--enjoyed every minute of it!!
May 6, 2012
Staff was standing around talking too much. See what the customer needs more often.
April 20, 2012
Breakfast was very good and we will go back again.... Next time we plan to do lunch,.
April 8, 2012
Great people
April 2, 2012
My office used to get takeout from there all the time. Over the years we all started to just bring lunch and stopped eating out everyday. So, it has been years since I have been there and my husband has had his mouth watering for their ribs for days since I told him I had the certificate. Great experience!
March 7, 2012
Food is always good. Service is attentive. We will return again. Pleasant experience. Good lunch crowd.
February 23, 2012
A GOOD FAMILY PLACE TO DINE.
February 18, 2012
The food was lacking in flavor it was OK but not special. The service was friendly but not remarkable in any way. Having now tried Hickory Pit, we prefer the Cheesecake Factory and some other restaurants in about the same price range as Hickory Pit.
February 18, 2012
I usually eat lunches at Emil Villas 3 times a month. This was my first time to eat dinner. One of our party had a question about the seasoning used and the owner came to table and answered the question. We're very appreciative of his attention.
February 12, 2012
Great restaurant that has been in Livermore for decades
February 7, 2012
I have always enjoyed the hickory pit. The mash potatoes were not the best, but the rest of the meal was delicious.
February 4, 2012
Today my son dinner had to much fat, so we were disapointed this time but overall is tasty food.
January 21, 2012
We are regulars and are given very special treatment by our servers. It makes us want to come back time after time
January 16, 2012
Ribs were not very hot. But we're tastey and tender.
December 24, 2011
While I was disappointed on food & service this time (I think it was mainly due to it being lunch time and Friday before Xmas so they were very busy), I normally like the food & service there.
December 21, 2011
excellent food, atmosphere, people, location is a little out of the main but not far and worth it!
December 18, 2011
We go to Emil's whenever we are in town
December 11, 2011
Great place for breakfast.
December 4, 2011
We have gone to Hickory Pit twice this month. Both times the food was delicious and the service was excellent. We will be back again soon!
November 13, 2011
The server was very helpful and friendly. She really went above and beyond to help us. We'll definitely be back.
November 8, 2011
best ribs in Livermore!
November 7, 2011
We have eaten here many times and everything has always been fantastic. tonight nothing seemed to be going well. Our server (Stephanie) seemed to be in a big hurry. We had to ask for bread. We also had to ask for drink refills. The chili on the cheese burger was not even luke warm and the chicken was very dry like it had been done and sitting for a while. I know this was probably just one of those nights, but giving my FYI any way.
October 31, 2011
Service has improved. The food has always been excellent. I've been going to various hickory pit's for over 40 + years in Marin, Alameda county's.
October 29, 2011
Waffles were served hot off the grill when prepared. Not cold with the rest of the meal. The butter melted and the were browned just right.
October 27, 2011
One other reason for the popularity of this restaurant is the personal attention that Ali (the owner) gives his restaurant, staff, and his customers.
September 19, 2011
I love this restaurant... they have the best (pork) ribs in California!
September 12, 2011
Service was great, some of the food was good the rest terrible. I do NOT recommend getting the ribs there. They were VERY fatty! :(
August 9, 2011
Been going to Emil Villa's for years!!!
August 9, 2011
Food and service was great! Crab sandwich was excellent.
July 22, 2011
Great ribs!
July 21, 2011
Been going to Hickery Pit for thirty years..