We did carry-out from here during a recent trip to Cincinnati. Love the decor inside and the self-serve sauce bar and the ice tea was great. They were out of brisket that night but we definitely enjoyed the chicken and the ribs. The greens, baked beans and gumbo were all good sides too. Highly recommend for a FAST tasty meal.
Review Source:Last nights visit was my first time there. My wife and our two little boys really enjoyed the food. The chicken was honestly some of the best I have ever had at a restaurant. I tasted all the sides and thought they were very good. We found the food to be very child friendly without being overly elementary choices..... ie hot dogs and chicken tenders per the usual restaurant kids fare. The baked beans and sweet vinegar slaw were awesome!
Review Source:MR says ... finger lickin' chicken wings!
MRS says ... place your order at the counter
  - half a slab of ribs (it comes with a slice of bread0
  - 6pc chicken wings
  - sides of mac and cheese and cornbread
  - 2 bottles of locally made drinks
  - sweet tea
... seat yourself
  - unique decor nothing fancy
  - roll of paper towel on the table
  - self served condiments and silverware
  - wet naps in a drawer
  - different sauces on the table
... and wait for your order to be called.
  - eat with your fingers/hands
simple as that.
the slab of rib isn't as tender as i'd expected it to be. however, it is better than Marks Feed Store BBQ. what i enjoyed most are the chicken wings. it was grilled to perfection, smothered in sauce that is light but tasty. it was amazingly good. well charred without compromising the meat.
Honestly, this is one of the better bbq joints in Cincinnati. I've found myself dining here by chance several times over the past year and I'm beginning to fall pretty hard for this place.
The last time I went to City Barbeque was when I knew it might be love. Everything I got was perfect. The climax of the dining experience was the grilled bbq chicken wings which were served with the drum and flat connected (aka awesome sauce style I like to say). I don't want to overhype these wings but they were flippin' money, the meat was literally falling off the bone. Maybe it's because I've only eaten wings at places like bw3's but I've never had wings falling apart like this.
Their sweet iced tea tastes like it's flown in from the south à la diabetes in a cup (which is just how I like it). Every sandwich and side dish I've ever tried here has been better than good (with the exception of the undermentioned side below). And they have a variety of different bbq sauces to choose from all of which pleased my palate impeccably.
A few reasons I can't give them five stars. Their ribs are just okay. For the price, I expect them to be more like falling off the bone and less like Applebee's riblets. Also, their mac and cheese leaves alot to be desired. I can make a better mac and cheese at home with a box of Kraft, some butter, milk, and a spoon. Also, I'm not a big fan of how they call out your entire order to the dining room when it's ready. I don't need every person in the restaurant knowing that I'm eating half a chicken, a large basket of cheesy bacon fries, and three sides of cornbread (this is an exaggeration of course, I only get two sides of cornbread).
However, with these few things aside, this place is great. The staff is always fun and friendly which makes for a fantastic experience. I would recommend this place all day, just steer away from the ribs/macaroni and get anything else.
Good for quick barbecue if you aren't in the mood for noodles or chipotle. Â It is the same kind of feel. Â Sit down chain faster food. Â The meat was moist and it was nice to have the sauces at the table. Â Mac and cheese was not good but I am pretty picky about my mac and cheese. Â Baked beans were okay. Â Sweet tea is super sweet which is the way I like it. Â Wouldn't refuse to go back if someone wanted to go but won't go there on my own again. Â Too many other places to try.
Review Source:Yum! Just what we were craving. Some good 'ol meat poisoning on our way back to Cleveland from a weekend roadtrip to KY. Cleveland has no decent bbq, so we try to partake when we are out of town.
Although a regional chain, City BBQ does the big things right. For example, all smokers are on site - no frozen and reheated meat here. Any place that 'runs out' of certain meats as the day goes on is a good bet in my book. Flavor and tenderness of the meat was right up there with any local stuff we've had. We had a couple of the 1/2 lb sandwiches and split a couple of sides. Everything was good. The pulled pork was excellent! Sauces were varied and tasty.
City BBQ is a win. If you are lucky enough to have a location near you, check them out!
Having lived in Kansas City for a number of years, I still get a craving for good BBQ from time to time. While it's true that I don't eat brisket or ribs, I do enjoy smoked chicken, turkey, and even pulled pork. In Denver we had Moe's to satisfy our BBQ cravings, and now that I'm back living in Cincinnati at least I have City BBQ. There are a few other BBQ places around town that I would like to try, but it is nice to find a convenient go-to place that gets the job done when needed.
On this visit to the Hyde Park location I went with the pulled chicken sandwich, which comes with two sides. I choose mac & cheese and baked beans. They claim that their beans have chunks of brisket in them, but I found no such thing. They were still a great combination of smokey with just a hint of sweetness. The mac & cheese was also good, but next time I would have to mix up the sides. Half of the fun of going to a place like this is trying all the sides, which there are many.
The serving sizes are huge, especially the sides. The pulled chicken is very good and there are a variety of sauces to sample from sweet to spicy and even mustard based. My wife ordered some sort of special that they had going that day with pulled pork, spicy sauce, jalapenos, and sweet vinegar slaw on top of a thin corn shell. I didn't have any of it, but she said it was good. It would be hard to go wrong with such a flavorful dish, but I think the real deal here are the sandwich platters.
Great quick barbecue joint with about 6 different delicious sauce choices.
Vinegar pork was tender, pulled apart nicely.
Tip : order the 1/4 lb sans the bun during lunch and I swear you get a heaping 1/2 lb for the reduced price + 2 sides.
The sides are the reason this place isn't 5 star...they are just o-kay. The mac and cheese really doesn't have much flavor and the cornbread isn't fresh. Green beans and veggies are salty. But like I said, the pork was great and the coleslaw was good too.
Great, fun, cafeteria-esque and a cheap alternative to other bbq places in Cincinnati.
What's better than one sauce on your meat??? Â SIX SAUCES on your meat... for all you sauce polygamists out there, prepare to enter your Valhalla. Â The portions are HUGE.. even for a big guy like me. Â The meat is good, it's just a matter of finding a sauce to tickle your taste buds. Â I recommend a mixing approach, like mixing paints back in grade school. Â But yea, Avoid the Mac and Cheese... you have to REALLY be a Mac N Cheese Freak to like it here... it's so bland it just destroys the tangy goodness of all the sauces. Â Oh and they have diet mountain dew... Â but their sweet tea is the ish...
Review Source:It seems like City Barbeque sprung up out of nowhere. I had never heard of it, and then BAM! everyone seemed to be talking about it.
We have one right up the street from my house, but it so happened that this Paxton location was my first visit. It was mid-afternoon on a weekday, and I was literally the only customer in the place. So not sure, if that impacted the quality of the food or not, but just keep it in mind.
Being that it was just the cashier and me there, I revealed that I was a City Barbeque virgin. She took it in stride and offered to let me taste whatever I liked before committing to my order. I declined her gracious offer and went right for the "signature" item on the menu, the beef brisket. I also got a side of mac and cheese and hush puppies.
The way it works at CB (I'm tired of misspelling Barbeque), is you place your order, and then they'll announce when your order is ready, and you go pick it up. So it's a mix of fast food and sit-down restaurant. The pricing is more sit-down range, but you pick up your food and bus your own table like fast food.
After I picked up my food I found a seat and perused my sauce choices. On each table they have 6 different sauces to choose from. They also have a warmer station for those who like hot (as in temp) sauces. I like that all the sauces are on the table so I was able to easily taste each one before committing (I'm starting to get the feeling that CB doesn't mind if you are afraid of commitment, feel free to experiment!). I went with the Dalton Gang sauce and was very pleased.
The brisket was good and there was a lot of it, so I didn't need two sides, and I REALLY didn't need the mac and cheese. It was bland and tasted like it came from a box. Pretty disappointing. The hush puppies were a little tough, but I think they might have been sitting for awhile.
The meat was good, the sauce selection was nice, but the sides weren't so great. The portions are generous, so maybe save some dough and skip the sides anyway.
This is one of my favorite places for lunch. Â Pulled pork is always good. Â Plenty of sauces for your tastes. Â Bottled beer is nice. Â I stopped getting the sides because I'm not a huge fan of their options. Â They really need to work on their macaroni. Â I got chicken here the last time, and I was really surprised on how good it was. Â I live near non-chain bbq places that I drive by to go to City bbq. Â I always try to go to non-chains where I can, but City BBQ is just better.
Review Source:I love BBQ. Though after I finish I tell myself that I am totally going to get BBQ again soon. And I swear it will be a year till I actually go out for BBQ. It is just an odd thing I do. But anyway, less about me and more about City Barbecue.
My sister and I decided that we wanted BBQ for dinner last night. We drove over from Clifton. And walked in. Its a nice place, kinda like a TGI McFunksters, with it's stuff on the wall. We both ordered pulled pork. She got a healthy side while I got french fries. I mean if I am already eating unhealthy, what is the point in ordering a salad? Anyway, back to the review. I liked my sandwich. It was good and filling. Amazing? no the best? far from it. As someone who comes from Texas stock, the best bbq comes from the side of the road from a place that the Health Department skipped over. And for those who would said "eww" take a pepto bismol and you will be fine. Wait..sorry I am preaching and not reviewing.
Go to this place if you want quick and fast BBQ. And if you want better BBQ go to Memphis.
I've eaten here about four times. I've always got either the pulled pork or pulled chicken sandwiches. The food is pretty good, and I especially like the coleslaw. Unfortunately, I'm pretty sure I got food poisoning here once which put me out of commission for a day. If it hadn't been for that experience I would've given this place 3 1/2 stars.
Review Source:Barbecue is like pizza - even when it's mediocre, it's still pretty good. That's kind of how I feel about City Barbecue. It's a quick option for lunch or dinner in the sprawling Hyde Park Plaza, and if you're not feeling all warm and fuzzy about TGI Friday's next door or Panera around the corner, City Barbecue is a good option.
I ordered two sandwiches on two separate occasions, and both times they came out slightly cooler than I would have wanted. With a selection of sauces at each table, I doused my brisket sandwich with the original sauce.
Not great, but not bad. The sauce didn't seem to be enough though, and I had to keep re-saucing as I ate the sandwich. The vinegar slaw was better than I expected - tart and sweet and cool and crunchy.
I sampled the mac and cheese - not great. The cheese was kind of clumped up, the noodles were mushy.
Pros: Ice cold bottled beer. Friendly, quick service.
Cons: Okay barbecue, some hits and misses with sides.
I don't recommend going out of your way for City Barbecue, but if you're looking for a lunch or dinner option in the little shopping oasis of Hyde Park Plaza, it's not bad.
City Barbecue is subpar.
On a couple of occasions I have had their "North Carolina"-style BBQ, which, besides being almost impossibly flavorless, indicates that the proprietors of City BBQ have never set foot inside of a BBQ restaurant anywhere in the State of North Carolina. The owners need to take a weekend roadtrip to NC and get to places like Lexington #1 & Wilber's, just for starters, to discover how far off course they have flown with their stuff. Â (I don't even pretend to have a current working knowledge of great NC joints, but remember the greatness of these places several years ago.)
The regular pulled pork is pretty similar, except that they do not add the very un-North Carolina-like slaw on top.
The sides are gloppy and uninteresting.
City BBQ adds insult to injury with their faux-hayseed decor and atmosphere, which perpetuates the absurd stereotype that all BBQ restaurants down south look like barns.
City BBQ gets a bump up to two stars because the staff is friendly and the service has been quick.
This is the only North Carolina style bbq I've found around Ohio that is worthwhile. Sure, Montgomery Inn is great and all, but I'm not a red sauce kind of girl, bring on the vinegar and spice! I've never been impressed with the mac n' cheese they offer, it's just too typical, but my oh my the green beans are perfection. Slow cooked with pork fat, and piled high, I'm sure these beans will give me a heart attack one day, but until then I'll keep downing them bite after bite, sipping on sweet tea.
Review Source:I'm getting married in July and my fiance and I are having City Barbeque cater our rehearsal dinner - not only is their food excellent, but the guy that manages the catering for the Cincinnati area is extremely friendly and accomodating. Â
I'm a Florida native and longtime eater of barbeque, particularly Sonny's, and though it pains me a bit to admit it, City Barbeque has better pulled pork - probably the best I've ever tasted. Â A pulled pork sandwich on texas toast with hush puppies and cornbread, maybe some baked beans, makes me a happy lady. Â
Definitely one of my favorite places to eat in Cincinnati--I can't understand why this place isn't busier whenever I go in.
I only have two very minor complaints: first, I don't like their fries, which have skin left on them and are thin with little substance--I like thick crinkle-cut or steak fries with my barbeque to really soak up the  sauce.  Second, I wish that they had a vinegar-based spicy sauce instead of such a sweet one.
Also, I wish people would quit complaining about the "pink" tint to their meat. Â That comes from the smoking process, and it's perfectly normal. Â To me it signals smoky deliciousness!!
After my second visit I think I can write about this place. Great ribs. 6 types of sauces. Pulled pork is good. The brisket can be on the dry side. Love the sweet tea. Very friendly staff. The sides are good but not very plentiful with the platters. All in all a great place to fill up on BBQ. Enjoy!
Review Source:Liked the atmosphere- easy to order, tall ceilings, wooden benchs/chairs, very open and bright. Â There are 6 different bbq sauces to choose from as condiments and an array of meats and sides to order from. Â Great grub- I preferred the spicy bbq sauce one myself and a little bit of vinegar on my pulled chicken sandwich. Â Only complaint was the peach cobbler had hardly any peaches.
Review Source:This is my favorite barbeque joint in Cincinnati. Â I like my pulled pork and sweet tea and for at least these two items, City Barbecue doesn't disappoint. Â They also offer the widest range of sauces in town (I recall 4 or 5), available right on the table. Â
The mac and cheese is intermittently good, depending on the visit. Â I don't know if they experiment a lot or what, but sometimes it's creamy and other times dry. Â Â I'm a Kraft Mac & Cheese man, so the creamier, the better. Â The collard greens are tasty and sometimes accompanied with a satisfying spiciness.
My fiancee and I stopped in on a whim for dinner one night and I have been hooked ever since. It makes Montgomery Inn "Barbeque" (I put barbeque in quotes because it is hardly that, I don't consider boiled ribs barbeque) taste like a year old running shoe.
The Carolina is my staple, featuring their great pulled pork topped with coleslaw. The pulled pork doesn't come drowned in sauce like at Montgomery Inn so you can actually taste the pork, and it certainly tastes great. I usually throw a little bit of their hot bbq and mustard bbq sauce on top but it definitely doesn't need it.
The staff is always friendly. If they see you around enough they'll throw in some freebies for you. We've gotten free dessert a few times for being frequents.
We are having our rehearsal dinner catered by City Barbeque next summer.
There's a reason cities aren't known for barbeque...it isn't particularly good in its urban form.
City BBQ is a local chain, the restaurants only exist in Ohio. Â The concept is good; a walk up and order then seat yourself BBQ joint that offers fresh chicken, ribs, and pork along with healthy (looking) side dishes and beers. Â Unfortunately for City BBQ, their "BBQ" isn't really great. Â
The BBQ sauce is after Montgomery Inn's heart, it's tangy and thin, but it lacks any "wow' flavor to make it truly crave-able. Â
We picked up a healthy portion of City BBQ fare one evening before heading to Riverbend to catch a country concert...we figured barbeque would be more appropriate for a southern themed evening than our usual pizza. Â There were several of us so we chose one of City BBQ's Pig up and Go meals. Â We picked out a combination Pork and Chicken platter that said it fed 4-6...we got two half chickens, a pound of Pulled Pork BBQ, two one quart sides ( Mac & Cheese and Green Beans), and a dozen rolls for less than $30. Â Had the food been outstanding, the five in our party probably could have tackled the massive quantity, but we ended up pitching most of the chicken (it was slimy and had taken on an unappetizing pink tinge from the smoking/roasting process) and the macaroni (like Kraft, only ten times worse). Â The pork was decent and the green beans were great, if a little too salty.
If you're a fan of sweet, thin, BBQ pork then City BBQ might be a place you should check out. Â The food might not be amazing but the restaurant certainly gets points for having really good value; a family of six would be more than satisfied with the meal we ordered. Â
*Note: Â I now read that apparently City BBQ has more than one BBQ sauce to choose from...maybe I'll have to go back. Â When you order "to go" they just give you a standard sauce, I suppose.
Im a big fan of BBQ, even though I dont get it nearly enough. I decided to check this place out after hearing several people mention that it was pretty good. Good is an understatement.
Sights: Typical barn, country, wooden decor. Beer and bottled drinks in a trough greeting you as you enter, big smoker/pit for going to competitions inconspicuously parked in the lot about 50 feet away from the front door.
Smells: the scent of cooking meat beckons you in from the lot of the strip mall that houses City BBQ, overpowering the useless TGI Friday's next door. nothing beats the smell of slow cooked pork.
Tastes: i got the pulled pork sandwich, my lady got a grilled chicken sandwich, and my friend got the beef brisket sandwich, each with 2 sides. All the meat was tender and perfectly delicious I got cole slaw and mashed potatoes. the cole slaw was tasty, but the mashed potatoes (which werent on the menu, but we asked for them and they had them) were a little bland. this was easliy remedied by adding one of the 4 bbq sauces that sits on the table, mustard based, standard bbq sauce, spicy bbq, north carolina vinegar style.
the service was super friendly and checked on us several times to see if everything was ok, there were amazing pickles that you could get on the side over near the soft drinks and napkins as well
for next time (and there will most definitely be a next time) i need to try the ribs and cornbread.
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