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
(134 reviews)
Excellent food! Excellent service!
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!!
Love this place. Great down home food with friendly service!
We love the food. Tastes delicious and the service is always so friendly!!
This is a good old fashioned restaurant with values and service to match the comfort food they served
This is a good old fashioned restaurant with values and service to match the comfort food they served
Staff was very friendly and accommodating. The baby back ribs were great!
Ribs were well prepared, large portion, good price.
Our food was great as always but our server was excellent and really made our experience the best it’s ever been.
Great, anytime of day. Great family restaurant. Clean. Great servers. Very attentive.
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.
Nice waiter. It is not upscale, more like a cheap cafe.
Excellent Ribs! Reasonable Bottled Wine! Great Pie! Great Service!
We had a takeout order. Very good food and friendly, helpful staff!
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
Consistently Outstanding In Both Food and Service.
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.
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!!!
food was good, and staff attentive, but atmosphere was very sterile.
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.
best ribs
Great Breakfasts!
Friendly servers . Always ready to help
Good food and nice waitress
Good and service excellent. Decor could really use some updates inside and out.
Very Good service. Timely, felt welcome.
The server was great and the food was good!
Outstanding table service and amazing portions!!
Food was good, good portion. Especially the family deal. Excellent.
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.
One cook had day off; other one was new. It took 40 minutes to get food after ordering
great food great people. Will be back!
Food is great, staff is great, price is reasonable .. what more can you want! :-)
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
Nice coffee shop place to grab a great bite to eat -lots of choices from breakfast, lunch to dinner menu type stuff
great service, good simple food
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.
Delicious ribs and chicken. $1 cobbler and spumoni ice cream were perfect to end the meal.
Excellent. the family meal worth the money even without the coupon. For 46 dollars it can feed 4 to 5 person easily.
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.
Employees are always friendly and helpful!
food was not as good as it used to be.
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.
Friendly staff, attentive but not intrusive. Great ribs!
Good food. Good portions. Consistency with the same servers.
Staff is very helpful and pleasant! The food, especially the baby back ribs & baked beans is great!
Service was great.
Baby back ribs were great -- excellent flavor, juicy and tender--almost fall off the bone! The baked beans were also very good!
Wait staff is attentive and efficient. We had excellent meals, just what everyone expected.
It was our grandson's birthday family party - the staff went above and beyond!
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!
The food was fresah, delicious and filling! Love it!
dont go on a holiday selection was limited.
Great taste and gooD portions
Time between placing an order and receiving the food took longer than 20 minutes.
Shrimp scampi wasn't as good as other dishes I've had at this restaurant.
Our waiter was excellent and was very accommodating to our needs.
Very few people in the restaurant and after 15-20 minutes had to ask for a waitress.
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!
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!!!
Food wasn't as good as it usually is. Presentation and flavor was off.
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.
great service
Food was great but had to send cokes back twice because they were completely flat.
Food delivered slow. A banquet was taking place.
Decor and ambiance is tiredWe miss the open pit barbecue of old Emil VillasNone of the main courses is freshly prepared, all re-heated
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.
good food & service
Emil's is always good. Never had a bad meal or service there
Our waitress was very good.
limited dessert menu, they use to offer more pie choices
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.
The food was very good and so was the service. We got there often.
The wait staff was friendly. The food was decent, although I expected more in the portion size.
Baby back ribs not as tender as we would like.
great food, good prices and great waitresses. I will visit many more times
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.
Needs to be updated, decor is so outdated.
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.
great waitress
Our server was soo helpful and explained the menu and recommended side dishes. Very attentive and helpful.
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.
Great food and good service
Great food and service!
We were hassled about the restaurant.com coupon
The menu is diverse, with reasonable prices. Great value for your dining dollars. Jamie is an excellent server and very attentive.
prices are high. Atmosphere is what you would expect for a cafe, not for a steak dinner.
great food!
Staff is very friendly and accomodating.
The food is pretty good, but the atmosphere and clientelle is pretty low.
Service %2526 food is great!!
Best ribs in town. Atmosphere is ok, like a diner, but food and service very good.
Great food and service!
Excellent people, food and place! Couldn't have been better!
Good food (especially the ribs!). Wide variety. Great portions. Great value.
Delicious! We love this place!
poor atmosphere - expensive prices.
My family dine here if we want to eat good ribs
A wonderful "family" type restaurant with good food!
We had a delicious breakfast. We usually do have some type of coupon or discount when we go to Emil Villa's.
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.
outstanding!
I really enjoy this restaurant. Ollie always comes out to greet us and the food is excellent.
Great Food--Great Service--enjoyed every minute of it!!
Staff was standing around talking too much. See what the customer needs more often.
Breakfast was very good and we will go back again.... Next time we plan to do lunch,.
Great people
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!
Food is always good. Service is attentive. We will return again. Pleasant experience. Good lunch crowd.
A GOOD FAMILY PLACE TO DINE.
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.
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.
Great restaurant that has been in Livermore for decades
I have always enjoyed the hickory pit. The mash potatoes were not the best, but the rest of the meal was delicious.
Today my son dinner had to much fat, so we were disapointed this time but overall is tasty food.
We are regulars and are given very special treatment by our servers. It makes us want to come back time after time
Ribs were not very hot. But we're tastey and tender.
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.
excellent food, atmosphere, people, location is a little out of the main but not far and worth it!
We go to Emil's whenever we are in town
Great place for breakfast.
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!
The server was very helpful and friendly. She really went above and beyond to help us. We'll definitely be back.
best ribs in Livermore!
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.
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.
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.
One other reason for the popularity of this restaurant is the personal attention that Ali (the owner) gives his restaurant, staff, and his customers.
I love this restaurant... they have the best (pork) ribs in California!
Service was great, some of the food was good the rest terrible. I do NOT recommend getting the ribs there. They were VERY fatty! :(
Been going to Emil Villa's for years!!!
Food and service was great! Crab sandwich was excellent.
Great ribs!
Been going to Hickery Pit for thirty years..