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

Credit: Mark Fisher

Credit: Mark Fisher

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.”

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.

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.

Credit: Mark Fisher

Credit: Mark Fisher

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