City Barbeque

We found this hidden gem for dinner and were blown away! The ribs were fall-off-the-bone delicious, and the chicken was juicy and flavorful. But alas, they were out of brisket when we arrived at 8:45 p.m. But hey, the service was top-notch! I highly recommend it.

We chose City BBQ to cater our wedding and it was truly the best decision we could have made. We had the pleasure of working with Mariam Ahmad, who went above and beyond to ensure everything was perfect. She was responsive, accommodating with every request, and genuinely cared about giving us the best possible experience. On the wedding day, the City BBQ catering team was outstanding. They were professional, polite, and did an excellent job serving our guests while making sure everyone was well taken care of. And the food... absolutely phenomenal!! It somehow managed to be even better than our tasting. We received compliment after compliment from guests saying it was the best wedding food they had ever had. We are so thankful for everything Mariam and the City BBQ team did for us, and we would highly recommend them to anyone looking for wedding catering.

Looking for quality barbeque? City doe not disappoint!! Friendly staff, great atmosphere, and very good food. They also have a nice selection of BBQ sauces. Prices were fair for the quality and quantity of food. I had their pastrami special and it was worth it! Very good!! Definitely worth trying out yourself.

The pulled pork was very good, brisket was ok, potate salad very food, not a fan of Cole slaw, sweet tea is acceptable. The staff was friendly and inside seating is rustic and adds to the charm.

Stopped in for lunch. Got the 2meat sampler with two sides; and the quarter chicken dark meat with two sides. Taste was excellent; apple wood smoked flavor very subtle flavor. Amount of meat for the sampler was kind of small; the pulled pork was really dry. The Texas toast was cold for both platters.

This place does NOT disappoint!!! Went on a lunch date with my wife and got the big sampler. Everything was so delicious!!! Definitely need to stop in if you are ever close

A little disappointed with this place, it was very little food for the price and it wasn't all that good. The meat was mostly overcooked in everything we ordered. This small sandwich in the picture cost me 12-13$. At this price I would've easily gotten something way better or at least would've gotten more food.

Elisha was our Server and she was so efficient and courteous. I gave her five stars for the experience She provided. As for the food, I nearly fainted when I tasted the brisket and spare ribs. And did I mention the collard greens? Well, normally I’m not a fan but in this case I would eat that everyday! great work, Elisha.*****

City Barbeque is a quick chain option if you are craving some BBQ. You place your order at the counter then wait for it and find a place to sit. It was the two meats with two sides sampler (brisket, sausage, baked beans and green beans) for my husband and the 3 sides plate (baked beans, 3-cheese baked mac and potato salad) with a modelo for me. There was a ticket printing issue was not communicated to a few of us until we waited a bit. I also really wanted corn pudding but they were out of it. My favorites were the beans and sausage.

Nice lunch. Good atmosphere very relaxed with random items on the walls. Service was good. Friendly staff took order and had it ready, made fresh, within minutes. We got pulled pork, green beans, Mac and cheese and hush puppies. All were well made and their bbq sauces (original and sweet) were good, as usual. Hush puppies were crispy and tasty the baked Mac was good with a nice layer of cheddar cheese.

I will say this, for a chain, I was really pleased. I'm normally very skeptical of chain BBQ joints; the food often tastes way too generic and the portion sizes are too small. Not the case here! I got a half chicken and it was a good sized bird, this wasn't like eating a cornish game hen. Juicy meat, cooked well. It came with sauce glazed on it, I think I would have had the low country mustard sauce on it if I could do it over. I added a half pound of sliced smoked turkey as well. With a little extra crack of black pepper and the mustard sauce, I was in a good mood! The cornbread was baked well, it was almost dark brown in spots, but it wasn't dry. I had that later, and a drizzle of honey was a nice touch. Thankfully no kernels inside, which ruins it for me instantly! The free Texas toast was ok, but nothing special. I liked the beans, they actually have brisket in the recipe! And credit the employees. On a Sunday afternoon, it was very crowded. It was tough to get a seat anywhere inside, but the staff was working really quickly to keep sauces and drinks in stock and garbage pails empty.

2.5-2.8 stars. Food is good. Service is good. Ambiance is good. I have issue with a few things. 2 meat combo w/ 2 sides is $14.99. Seems good. However, $3.99 extra if you pick ribs. Another $3.99 extra if you pick bone in chicken. You haven't even ordered a drink yet. That's getting too expensive! Secondly, the half chicken comes covered in BBQ sauce. That's not how it should be. That's them trying to cover up that the chicken may have sat awhile and may be getting dried out. Third, the bread is always undercooked. Should be more firm and have more garlic on it. Soggy and bland is not good. Fry's today were crispy and great. Sometimes they are not. Fix those issues and it's a 5 star. Love the various sauces they offer.

The food came out cold twice. Both times the brisket and pulled pork were dry, and inedible. I threw everything but the Mac and cheese (which was mediocre) and fries away. Waste of $20

Delicious. Had ribs, collards, bbq beans and Coleslaw. Everything tasted great. Sauces were good and the place is clean.

Excellence in a chain! Makes my heart happy to see! This is my first time at this location, and I'm happy that the fried okra recipe made it over from my usual Durham location! You can read my first contact experience over there, but suffice it to say, I have yet again slandered my grandmother's reputation by saying that a chain restaurant bests hers. Just order some, you'll see. I stopped by after a MD visit ("You're in great shape, now go grab some 'Que!") mid-afternoon on a early Spring Tuesday, and the folks serving were just as friendly as if I was their first customer, rather than someone interrupting their dinner prep work. Had my food in less than five minutes after ordering, and that okra was fresh cooked! Ambiance is "barbecue shack standard" - rolls of paper towels on the table with a few condiments, concrete floors, industrial venting overhead venting. Blues music on the stereo. (Clapton's Bell-bottom Blues from the Layla album as I type this.) Stop by - there's something here for you if you liked smoked foods.

I used DoorDash to order the Mother Load three days in advance of Christmas Eve for my 81 year old mother to be delivered at noon on the 24th. The driver never showed. DoorDash kept pushing the delivery time back and then I get an SMS saying that my order has been cancelled. I called City BBQ and was told on their recorded line that they had an overwhelming number of orders. I got the idea that the restaurant was overburdened and not going to be able to deliver. Door Dash has different tiers of service for restaurants including one plan that immediately notifies the restaurant of a pending order like mine so they can plan ahead for the load. But their normal tier of service notifies the restaurant only an hour and a half before the pickup so the restaurant cannot plan ahead. I wonder which one City Barbecue has. Because they sure didn't plan for me. Very unhappy customer.

The food is horrible I got the sandwich and it was dry af, I almost choked on it! I wasted $13 on that mess

Came here for a late lunch, so not very busy. Very nice employees, nice rustic decor, country music playing, but not too loud. The tables were clean and the condiments and drink station was well stocked and clean. Love that they have a good selection of sauces to choose from. My favorite is the sweet one but I also like the original one. It is a nice thick tomato based sauce, not the vinegar one. One of us got a shredded chicken sandwich and one got the brisket. We got coleslaw and fried okra for sides. Everything was delicious, came out quickly and was hot, except the coleslaw, lol, it was cool and a bigger portion than most places. We will return!

I've ordered food from here several times, and I've had mostly good experiences. It's a convenience, and the time I can gain by not having to cook. It's always the most affordable for my small household. I've gone with the meat sampler, where I've had barbecue chicken, brisket, turkey, and smoked sausage. All of the food is pretty good. My favorite is the chopped brisket. The texture of the brisket meat is so tender and juicy. It tastes richer than any of the other meats. Typical beef flavor too. The chicken barbecue and turkey are very light and seasoned just right. I love the baked beans as the taste of maple flavor that's so hearty and flavorful. The mac and cheese are decent, but I don't think I will continue ordering it. I'm a big judge of mac since I prepare the best in the world (my family perspective, lol) This location forgot to put my bread in my take-out order. Although I don't need it, I did pay for it. I was refunded for it. My missing item annoyed me, but besides that, that sampler has been a great go-to for my protein that could last for up to two days when I don't have to cook. That's a win, so overall, City Barbecue is a Yes for me.

I thought my first trip was a fluke. I ordered a single rib the first trip. It was INSANELY delicious. SO meaty and tender. Words fail me. Picked up a full rack just now. OMG it was NOT a fluke! The whole rack is just like that first rib days ago. Meaty like you can't imagine. Tender and flavorful. Honestly, it surpasses The Pit in Raleigh. Deserves 10 stars.

Food was delicious and hot. I did take-out not dine-in, service up front was great. I'd definitely come back.

Great bbq and brisket! Our new favorite bbq in Wilmington! Sides are good and service is quick!

Easy peasy with a quick pick up! We are Northerners so sure we'd be considered connoisseurs but tasted great and was reasonable in price!

The brisket was dry, the pulled pork was very fatty, the pulled chicken tasted weird and no bbq sauce was given even though we asked for it. The prices keep going up but the portions are getting smaller. The cornbread that I loved was dry and has shrunk! We will be finding a different place for our bbq. One shining part were the sides . We had beans and potato salad. I was dissatisfied that they didn't have coleslaw .

It doesn't matter if you order 2 things or 10 they always forget to put something you order and payed for! In the bag, after numerous times I think I will take my business elsewhere, the food quality had gone down quite a bite as well

Placed an online order for two family meals and 1/2 bird. My son picked up the order. Missing 1/2 bird, missing Texas toast, no BBQ sauce was given at all. We used our own BBQ per picture. Pulled chicken nasty it was covered in a white creamy sauce unadable. Beach cobbler has only two slices of beach and is extremely dry see picture When called the manager their attitude was nonchalant. Never again.

Hubby and I went yesterday for lunch. It has really changed in the past few years. I always get the salad, it no longer comes with nuts and cranberries which really elevated it. I think the nuts were spiced pecans. So for $8.99 I got spring lettuce, unripe tomatoes, parmesan cheese and cucumber. I asked for chicken tenders with it. I used to get 3 big ones on the side. Big, fat juicy ones. Instead on my salad 1 cold, small, flat burnt piece of fried chicken. I ordered hushpuppies, they forgot them and then they arrived cold. They replaced them with hot burnt ones. Hubbies ribs arrived cold. They replaced them and they were good. His sides were good, tea and lemonade were great. In my opinion they focus more on their brisk to go business than customers eating in the store. And they have lost some of the extra touches that made their menu special.

The location has the right looks, the right smell. I had high hopes for the barbecue there. But we were disappointed with the food. The pork ribs were not smoked but instead cooked on the smoker as they probably want to speed up the process. Same thing with the chicken. And the chicken was bland possibly due to them adding little or no seasoning or marinating in advance. Brisket and pulled pork were unremarkable. The barbecue sauces saved the day by adding the flavor the food was lacking. I can get much better barbecue in Florida. Good news is that these issues are easy to fix if they want to. And they should if they want more customers.

Swung by for a curbside pickup tonight. Here was my order from the receipt I got on my phone: 1x City Sampler - 1x Beef Brisket - 1x Pulled Chicken - 1x Smoked Turkey - 1x Leg/Thigh - 1x Individual sides - 1x Potato Salad - 1x Creamy Slaw - 1x No Additional sides - 1x Texas Toast, 2 pieces - 1x Original sauce 1x Pick Two Meats - 1x Beef Brisket - 1x Leg/Thigh - 1x Texas toast, 1 piece - 1x Brush Fire sauce Here is what was on the paper receipt: City Sampler - Brisket Regular - Pulled chicken - Turkey - Leg.thigh - Potato salad - Texas Toast - Original Pick two - Brisket - Leg Thigh - Brush fire Items that were wrong: - Missing 2 Texas toast - Missing 1 side (Creamy Slaw) - 1 sauce was incorrect (2 Brush Fire instead of 1 Brush Fire and 1 Original) My question is, how does the mobile order receipt show different items than the paper receipt? Anyways, bad experience and this isn't the first time that City BBQ shorted me on items.

Food is good. Service is atrocious. Never picked up my order less than 20 minutes after they said it would be ready. Disorganized and unapologetic Go to Danny's

I ordered from City Barbecue for the Super Bowl. Everything was delicious and the order was ready on time and delivered to our car. The website wasn't working and they left out the plates and utensils.

In town on business from Texas and being a true southerner we look for bbq. City Bbq was the closest to my meeting location in Cary so I decided to try it out. Being from Texas we are true connoisseurs of bbq so I'll say I didn't go in with high expectation. To my surprise the brisket was moist and the texture and pull was just right, it was just lacking that good bark and fell short in the smokiness dept. There were lots of choices for sauces but I had to try the brush fire sauce that paid homage to Texas bbq, it had good flavor, almost enough heat, but was a tad too sweet for me. The atmosphere and service were great, so overall I would say this chain restaurant was good and hit the spot.

In town for one day on a Sunday, looking for "local" Eastern NC BBQ. Well, I found this chain instead. Nothing was terrible (or bad), but nothing was exceptional. It was very average. This is chopped, while hog BBQ, so you have to weed through the fat and skin. The flavor of the meat was good. It was smoky and tender. The sauces were good too. The vinegar sauce was a little sweeter and thicker than I'm accustomed too. The cornbread was good too. The Cole slaw was average creamy slaw. The hush puppies were decent but nothing special. Service was great. Very courteous and helpful ordering process on the phone, and the staff was welcoming and helpful on pickup. Given that it was Sunday, I knew my options would be limited. Next time I'm in town I'll make sure BBQ day isn't a Sunday so I can hit up something a bit more local and authentic. I wouldn't recommend against City Barbecue, but would say that if you're looking for legit Eastern NC BBQ, try some other places.

Went and got take out this evening for the Tuesday special. The ribs weee old ande eDæaand they lathered them in their sauce I guess to cover up the fact the ribs were not fresh. The cornbread which I usually love. Was cold not room temperature cold but cold. Very disappointing!!!

I ordered the brisket. It was very dry. Tasted like it was smoked the day before. It was 11:10 am. For service, they were very focused on completing their delivery service orders rather than taking care of the customers physically eating at the establishment.

We placed an order online at noon for 30 people to be picked up at 7pm. Upon arrival our order was not ready and we were told they were out of stock in food we placed . We were never called to be told that our massive order could not be completed. So we had to find another place to eat for a large party last minute.

Ordered for curb side takeout. Got there at the scheduled time. Waited over 30 minutes. Finally went in. Found the one competent worker who was able to find my food. Got home. Food was cold, and half the order was missing. Not the first time this has happened. Don't go here.

While visiting Wendell NC, we tried City Barbecue for takeout. This was the first time trying this chain and I have to say, it was really good and the staff was such a pleasure! Highly recommend the brisket sandwich and Mac & Cheese side ... both were simply outstanding! I don't know if I will be back to Wendell anytime soon, but if I were local ... I would be a regular.

Get the baked beans!!! Not for the vegetarians in your crew but we don't go there for our vegetarians!

I hate how much I like this place. I know it's like the McDonald's of BBQ. But I don't care.. It's delicious and I can't get enough of it. I don't care about the ambiance at this place.. I go into my own world when I'm eating at CityBBQ. Please don't be skimpy with the brisket in the baked beans guys! LeAnn, I'm a rewards member. But I don't really see any benefits of it for the consumer. We only get a $5 reward for spending $100. And I very rarely ever see any "exclusive offers" in the app. Right now my screen says "NO OFFERS" and it's been like that for a while.

Went close to closing and that's never a good idea, but I tried it anyway. No pulled chicken which is what I was going to get. Ended up getting tenders, fries, potato salad, greens. Tenders were ok, little over cooked, fries were bland no salt or paper, greens lacked flavor, potato salad was good. Texas toast taste like regular ole bread. Nice staff, clean as well.

Great BBQ! I love the service as well as the food. Very laid back atmosphere. Great food in restaurant as well as to go.

I frequent city barbeque throughout the triangle and this is by far the best one. They always make sure I feel welcome, and my plate is full. I am always walking away feeling like I got more for my money.

Visiting from out of town so wanted some southern bbq. Good barbecue! Lots of variety for sauces and sides. Loved the BBQ beans. Pulled pork was adequate.

You know it's great when your son drinks the original sauce!

Came by because of the good reviews. We got take out so maybe that may have impacted the quality. We got pulled pork, brisket, sausage, and turkey with few sides. The bbq smoke flavor was lacking in all the meats. The pulled pork doesn't seem to be whole hog style and was dry. Everything was too salty. The potato salad is more a mashed potato salad rather than intact pieces of potato. The peach cobbler tasted wrong. The cobbler texture was very bready and the cobbler was too oily. The recommended item here is the banana pudding but not the best that I have had.

First impressions and Covid: Concept and menu reminiscent of another quick serve bbq restaurant we have been to. They do a great job at spacing tables at a safe distance and have sanitizer stations at the front counter as well as outside. They also have plexiglass at the front counter to create separation between the customers and staff. Masks are required to be worn at all times (both guests and staff) unless seated at your table. You are required to get a clean cup each time you want a refill which I really appreciated. Service: All staff were very friendly and while you don't have a server per se, they do a good job of checking on you once they have delivered food to another table. Food: We both did a pick 2 meat and our meat choices are below. Brisket - Very disappointed with the brisket as it was extremely dry and no amount of bbq helped it to be edible. Pulled Pork - You receive a nice serving size and the serving I had was a mixture of dry and moist. It lacked that smoked flavor (to me at least) that you expect from a bbq joint but overall it was okay. Ribs - The ribs were very moist and tender with a good amount of meat on the bone. They weren't fall of the bone tender but at least they weren't chewy and dry. Corn pudding - The corn pudding is both sweet and savory and was the perfect side dish to compliment the ribs. Mac n cheese - The mac n cheese was very creamy. It was good but not the best I've had. Final thoughts: Would we return here next time we are in town visiting? Probably not. It definitely wasn't memorable. I will give the staff credit though in making things right. I shared with them that the brisket was not edible and they were very apologetic and replaced it with additional ribs. This was not something they had to do as they could have easily said too bad, so sad but they went above and beyond. My husband also spoke to someone (wish I would have gotten a name) but he was very disappointed that we didn't have a good meal due to the brisket and brought us some that he carved for us. This is the kind of customer service that bumps the rating from a 3 to a 4.

I ordered the smoked chicken salad. Everything was fresh, the chicken was most & had a good smokey taste. I asked for some sauce & was given a few to try. As a person who loves sauce & being from out of town, that was cool to be able to taste a few of the sauces. 5 stars for the customer service, which I feel a lot of places are lacking these days.

Possibly the worst BBQ experience we've had anywhere. We decided to stop by on our way home from the USA Baseball training complex after a long day, craving some fine NC-BBQ and this place was on the way and had good reviews. Unfortunately, our entire experience from ordering to the food was terrible. Let me preface this by saying we dined in on a Thursday at 5:40pm which we thought would be prime dinner time and there was barely a person in the joint. This should have been our first sign to leave. I've never been to a truly good BBQ restaurant that didn't have a significant wait. And most of the times it's worth it. The girl who took our order either couldn't be bothered to answer our questions, or didn't know enough about the restaurant's menu to be helpful. Being our first time here, we asked if we could order just a single sausage link in addition to the two combos we were ordering. We were greeted with a blank stare and no answer. We tried asking again. Same. This should have been our second sign to leave. We then took another route and asked if we could order the sausage sandwich without bread since we weren't successful in communicating to her that we wanted to order a single sausage as a side to our meal. Finally, she seemed to get it and we finished our order. Suspiciously, our food was ready in less than 5 minutes. Another bad sign in my opinion for a BBQ place that isn't set up for dealing large quantities of meat. When we picked up the order, one of our combos (which we order two identical combos of previously) wasn't what we ordered. It wasn't confused with another guest, the girl with the blank stare simply messed it up. It happens so we shrugged it off. The one bright spot of our visit was the friendly lady expediting orders who apologized profusely and helped correct the order. We brought the food back to our table and I could tell right away that the food wasn't right. It was absolutely freezing in the restaurant (actually a high note since it was hot outside) yet there was not a single bit of steam coming off the supposedly warm food in a very cold place. As it turns out, the only thing warm on it plates was the texas toast which clearly had to be grilled on the spot. Everything else was lukewarm or colder. The baked beans tasted like they just came out of the refrigerator. The brisket and pork were both lukewarm, as was the sausage link. We decided to ask for our money back because at this point appetite was completely lost. The manager or person in charge could not have been any less accommodating. He was openly in disbelief that we would not be happy and was entirely dismissive of our concerns. Moreover, he was clearly and overtly suspicious of us, as if we flew 3,000 miles across the country to represent his region with USA Baseball just to scam this place. He came out to speak with us to feign an apology and make excuses that this "never happens" (well it did, to us, and he clearly didn't care) but it was also clear that he was much more interested in evaluating how much we had actually eaten, which a) shouldn't have mattered and b) was everything we ordered minus 1-2 bites from each item, all we cared to experience from this place. To add insult to injury, he was SO cheap that he refused to refund the entire order and made us pay for the drinks which we had just filled once because "their errors didn't influence the drink machine" and that the drinks should have been fine for us. I've never in my life even heard of this. I mean, I didn't actually have a problem paying for them but it really was the principle of the matter and just a clear snapshot of the type of establishment this is. I guess they really need to make those margins on a $3 fountain drink. Seriously?!? All in all, a terrible experience. Would give ZERO stars if possible. Maybe if you didn't know any better this food would be fine, but if you've had even slightly good BBQ elsewhere you will likely be disappointed.

I just visited the Cary location, ordered the Carolina Goldmine. It's BBQ pork with a sausage and pickles. This was the most flavorful sandwich I've ever eaten. My wife got a pork sandwich with coleslaw and it was delicious. They have a great and varied menu, always something to satisfy your hunger.

We were in town for a baseball tournament and came to City BBQ. We are big Bbq lovers. Everything we had was amazing. I loved the brisket, corn bread, corn pudding and ribs. I highly recommend this place.

Best brisket sandwich ever. So tender, melts in your mouth. And large portions. Plenty of sauces to choose from.

City BBQ makes it right! So after my last review, someone issues me 20$ to my acct. For the mistakes. I have to say. This is an upstanding way for this business to get people to return. We did yesterday, for lunch. Because there was a long line, I sat at a table and ordered to go, pick up inside. It worked fantastic. Just as the line was starting to shorten, we got our food. We were there about 1:00 pm. Many service companies were coming by to eat. Like 5 trucks from Michael & son. And more just like them. Our food was perfect. We were able to get our own drinks, Sauces etc. We did notice they put plastic utensils and napkin, salt&pepper in our sack. Way to go.

We tried City bbq a few times while we were in town. Good bbq, sides and portion sizes.

At here on Saturday. Great service, great food. Oh btw the judge can feed 4! Great from when we opened the door.

Lazy Saturday afternoon...of course I don't want to cook so I ordered food from City Barbeque. I am never disappointed when I get food from this restaurant...the ribs..the pulled pork..the brisket..the chicken..the cornbread..the baked beans..the mac and cheese...so good! I will recommend this bbq spot to anyone that may ask about a good place to eat. Overall the brisket is my favorite!

Decent meal, but I'll break it down: The employees were very nice, patient, and helpful. The would-get-again: -Sausage was great -Turkey was surprisingly good and had a good smoked flavor (not a huge turkey person generally) -Lemonade was excellent -Coleslaw was good (could have been a touch sweeter for my tastes) -Most of their BBQ sauces were great (and you can ask to try them all) -Husband said the garlic bread was good The meh: -Brisket was just okay -Same with the mac and cheese (looked better than it tasted) No: -Green beans were not good and had way too much black pepper -Corn casserole (we asked for a sample of it) was dry and overcooked -Pulled pork was horrendously dry and flavorless