Hickory Bar-B-Q on Brown Street closes for a week ‘due to COVID-19’

Hickory Bar-B-Q, the iconic Brown Street restaurant that was founded 58 years ago, is shut down until July 24 'due to COVID-19," according to a sign on the restaurant's door.

Credit: Mark Fisher

Credit: Mark Fisher

Hickory Bar-B-Q, the iconic Brown Street restaurant that was founded 58 years ago, is shut down until July 24 'due to COVID-19," according to a sign on the restaurant's door.
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By Mark Fisher
July 17, 2020
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The iconic Dayton restaurant Hickory Bar-B-Q has closed temporarily, until July 24, “due to COVID-19,” its owners wrote on a sign on the restaurant’s front door.

The sign reads: “Dear Valued Customers: Due to COVID-19, we will shut down until Friday, July 24. Sorry for the inconvenience. Thanks for all the support through the last 58 years. We look forward to serving you again soon.” It was signed “Hickory management and employees.”

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The sign made no mention of whether an employee had tested positive for COVID-19, an issue that several other Dayton-area restaurants have grappled with in the last two weeks. Messages left for the owners of Hickory Bar-B-Q were not immediately returned. The restaurant’s web site’s home page and Facebook page did not mention the temporary closure as of early Friday afternoon, and there is no voicemail greeting on the Hickory Bar-B-Q telephone line.

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The restaurant at 1082 Brown St. near the University of Dayton is one of a small handful of Dayton area restaurants that have been operated by the same family for more than 50 years. It was founded in 1962. Co-founder Joe Kiss, who died in 1995, co-owned and managed the restaurant for 33 years, and he and his wife Irene became sole owners in 1989. The restaurant’s ownership later transitioned to Joe’s daughter and son-in-law, Margo and Gary Fisher, and to his daughter, Shirley Kiss, and was managed by Gary Fisher. Several other family members have worked at Hickory over the years.

Hickory Bar-B-Q, the iconic Brown Street restaurant that was founded 58 years ago, is shut down until July 24 'due to COVID-19," according to a sign on the restaurant's door.

Credit: Mark Fisher

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Credit: Mark Fisher

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About the Author

Mark Fisher, a 1981 graduate of Ohio State University and a 1976 graduate of Beavercreek High School, is a third-generation Dayton-area resident who has worked for the Dayton Daily News since 1983. He covered higher education and K-12 education accountability issues for nearly 20 years before taking over the food and dining beat in 2006.