838 Tyvola Road

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One whiff of the hickory smoke permeating the parking lot told me Hillbilly's was working hard on its barbecue and steaks.

The Tyvola store - which opened last year - is the third location of Hillbilly's. The first store opened in 1989 in Lowell, and two years later store No. 2 opened in Gastonia.

The dining room is populated by tables set for four. A quirk of note: The tables aren't that close together, but the acoustics are such that you can hear the conversations of the guests sitting at the tables around you. But this wasn't a deal-breaker for me as the room still had a relaxed vibe - probably due to the servers. They had a way of making you feel at home - popping by to check on us and asking how we liked the food. The sincerity was nice to see.

Our server was a real peach when it came to recommending menu items. The Brunswick stew he suggested (look for chopped beef and plenty of corn and potatoes) turned out to be a good choice.

Hillbilly's combo plates were a carnivore's dream. You can choose two, three or four meats. We got the chopped pork, chopped beef and rib plate, which also came with coleslaw, sweet hush puppies, a side and a potato.

Needless to say we carted half of it home. The pork (smoked upward of six hours) was a shade dry and the barbecue sauce that came with it could have used something to counter its sweetness. I had no complaints with the meaty ribs. Fried okra (kudos to the kitchen for showing restraint on the breading) and a brown sugar-packed baked sweet potato filled out the plate.

The Brunswick stew was a part of my 8-ounce rib-eye dinner. Temperatures were taken on the steaks, and the kitchen was spot on in honoring our request for a medium doneness. I expected a bit of fat on the rib eye, but a little additional trimming of flab would have been nice. The side of thick-cut onion rings which came with the steak made up for that.

We waddled out of Hillbilly's having eaten more than we should, but we didn't pay a lot for it.