I've been to Hickory Tavern 3 times now. All 3 times, during lunch.
1st time @ Mallard Creek - 2 people - build your own salad. Impressive and thoughtful menu item. Great options. Kudos for this. The cucumber wasabi dressing is amazing.
2nd time @ Harris - group of 8 - burger and fries. Meh. Pretty standard fare bar food. At least the beer was cold.
3rd time (16SEP2014) @ Harris went something like this - 3 people. 11:15 - get seated by greeter, total of 5 customers in the restaurant. 11:20 - people around us are getting their drink and food orders taken, some of these people came in after us, we have not been greeted by a server. 11:30 - drinks and food start hitting tables around us. 11:35 - still not greeted by a server, so we stood up and left. As we left, I made eye contact with the bartender, I'm sure anger and disappointment was over my face. I don't have a shred of tolerance when it comes to being ignored in a restaurant.
I make it a rule to avoid places that disappoint me like the plague, poor service being the worst offense. There are many options in Charlotte for places to have lunch, this one is off the table for me. If you don't want to send a server to my table, you can't have my business.