Always a pleasure coming here. So much so that they are going to cater our wedding. The food is delicious. Even for vegetarians. I love ALL of their sides. Before I became a vegetarian, I used to eat the brisket sandwich. Again, ALLLLLL OF SIDES ARE GOOD! Mac and cheese, collards, my favorite is the potato salad, Coleslaw, cream coleslaw, corn pudding, string beans, beans, baked beans, cornbread .... and the list goes on! Try out this BBQ place. Everything is good. They have special bbq sauces and free pickles. The sweet tea and lemonade are always the best in the south. Sorry they have Smithfield BEAT! read more

See all

It used to be our go-to favorite barbeque, but now the people who are working in the kitchen do not know how to slice brisket. They just put think chunks of it on a sandwich and it is impossible to bite into. Awful. I called to tell them how disapponted we were but no one answers the phone, it is all automated to leave messages for orders. Very disappointed. read more

Not bad for a chain. City Barbeque is a chain BBQ restaurant based out of Ohio. They've been serving up their brand of Que in the south Durham location on 54 for a number of years now. They do a pretty good job with the pork BBQ. It always has a nice smoke ring to it and is coarsely pulled (which is my preference). Whether it will be hot or not may be hit or miss. The side items often leave something to be desired. The mac and cheese is probably "semi-home made" but is edible. The hush puppies are okay. I've only been a few times but the service is always pleasant and quick. The staff seems to get a long well and the restaurant is always clean. There are a number of local institutions serving up great BBQ in Durham and I do recommend giving them a go before coming here but if in the area and looking for a quick bite in a friendly setting City Barbeque will treat you well. read more

City Barbeque - BBQ Sandwich with Macaroni and Cheese - Barbeque Near Me - Durham, North Carolina

See all

Great bbq. Try to brisket tacos and the corn pudding. My wife had the turkey, that was wonderful as well read more

I'm not a huge bbq fan, but I do enjoy City Barbeque. The smokehouse turkey salad with ranch dressing is my go to meal. I love the sides too...yummy Mac n cheese and French fries. They have a bunch of sauces and a topping bar...and it has some really delicious pickles. They have a great app that gives some really good deals...free desserts and money off. read more

Since moving to South Durham, City BBQ has become a go-to stop when we don't have a meal planned at home. The restaurant is fast casual with no table service. I've never seen a full house, but the covered outdoor seating helps with volume even at peak hours. The BBQ, particularly the brisket, is freaking awesome. I have enjoyed all of the meats including the smoked turkey, which surprised me. It has great flavor! I rave about the jacked mac and even pick it up to bring to friends houses for dinner parties. It's as legit as it gets in my opinion. All of the ingredients are fresh. If it's supposed to be hot and crispy it is always served that way. If it's supposed to be tender, juicy and melt in your mouth it does (hello brisket). There is a serve yourself station for all of the "fix'ns and such" including 8 or more different sauces, pickles, etc. What would push City BBQ to a 5 star would be improving wait time. While every employee has been super pleasant, I have never once seen a sense of urgency regardless if there's a line to the door or 5 people in the restaurant. You can download their app to receive $5 off and then order ahead of time if you're in a rush. Overall a solid place I'll continue to enjoy at least once or twice a month. read more

I order takeout brisket...about $50.00 just under 2lbs yesterday. just meat for my family to add to our meal... it was unusually dry... cut into 1/2 inch chunks not slices... no fat no juice... so little smell...slightly burnt and not at all what I was accustomed to... I ordered in advance and still had to wait over 20 minutes. I watched other brisket plates go on the floor... looked amazing ... smelled really good. I loved this place... My family could not eat it ...one disappointing experience can ruin you. So I'm confused what happened? I can tell you ...I wasted my money and time ... read more

Great BBQ. Pretty authentic to be a chain. The Smoked Turkey sandwich is so good and juicy. Turkey, historically can be dry, not this one! I love it with a sweet BBQ sauce. read more

This is a great chain. The food is consistent, the service is fast and the choices are excellent. Whatever type of BBQ you're in the mood for, they have it at City. There are plenty of choices in the Triangle but this is definitely a safe and consistent one. I split the sampler with my son so we could try every meat and neither of us was disappointed. The turkey really stood out as we've both had pretty poor turkey before. read more

Absolutely DELICIOUS!!! Okra super fresh, beans extra sweet and coleslaw is the BOMB!! only negative is I thought the ribs would have a mustard based sauce, but maybe I don't know as much about BBQ sauce as I thought I did‍ read more

See all

First and last time here. I Ordered the city sampler and it was not good. The portions were very small for the price. The meats were just ok. The sides: mac and cheese and collard greens both were terrible. The Mac and cheese has zero flavor and tasted like pasta water and the collard greens has no flavor as well. The decent item was the hush puppies. Overall not worth it and would not recommend. read more

See all

The food is really good. The service that we received during our visit was great! We will definitely be eating here again.

Love, love & love this place! Great food, ample portions and a variety of different sauces to try out on any given meal! The people there are very friendly and helpful as to what you're looking for if you seem overwhelmed (As I did). I had a City Sampler which had a little bit of everything including two sides & IT DID NOT DISAPPOINT. The beef brisket was clearly the star of the show with the pork and chicken bringing up the rear. The Texas toast was hot to the touch as everything was the way it should've been. I don't care much for franchises but this establishment has changed my mind! This food, along with the people was non-stop AMAZING! I'm moving here next year from Anchorage , so I'll be back....! read more

Ordered takeout from her our first night in town (just moved here!). The ordering process online and texting when on the way and when you pull into the parking lot was so easy and they brought the food right out to the car -- so convenient! The carhop was very kind and grateful when we tipped him. Food was absolutely delicious. Only complaint is we had paid for 3 side orders of cornbread and only received 1. Hope they get the order right next time we will be definitely back! read more

Time for my first taste of BBQ in North Carolina! On a road trip with two cousins, we chose City Barbecue for dinner due to it's proximity to our hotel and some pretty good feedback I received from some NC yelp members. Thankfully City Barbecue provided quite a tasty barbecue experience. My first impression of City Barbecue was that this place was pretty touristy; decorated in a style you see in a lot of chain BBQ restaurants (in fact City Barbecue is a small chain), and not in the more rustic down-home style BBQ restaurants associated with genuine The menu is pretty extensive mainly due to the multitude of options you can configure a meal. To make it simple we ordered the "Judge's Sampler" which offers a 1/4 chicken, 1/2 slab of ribs, pulled pork, beef brisket, 2 sides, 2 cornbreads and Texas toast. Proclaiming to be "enough for two", our group of three barely finished the entire portion; clearly our appetites weren't up to North Carolina standards LOL. The BBQ chicken was excellent. It was so moist and flavorful with a delicious seasoning on the skin that was sweet but not in your typical BBQ flavor profile but more in a roasted honey glaze taste. I really enjoyed the ribs. The meat was right on the edge of falling off the bone with a slight tug; the sign of a near perfect rib cook. There was a flavorful restrained taste of smoke and thankfully the ribs were not drenched in sauce that would mask tasting the actual flavor of pork. For those who want more sauce, available table side were a variety of sauces (I liked the sauce labelled "Piedmont Pride"). Pulled pork was nicely comprised of different parts of the butt, as I got some fatty, some lean, and also some skin with bark too. Dousing the pulled pork with the vinegar based NC BBQ sauce ("Swine Wine" was the name of City Barbecue's version) really enhanced the flavor as the tartness paired well with the inherit sweetness of the pork. Brisket was pretty average, which I expected going in, as Carolina is not well known for brisket. It was cooked well (it held up to the bend test), texture was fine, but it needed more smoke flavor, and the bark was pretty weak. Hush puppies and fried okra were our two sides. I liked the okra better, as it was gave such a contrast in texture from biting into the slightly crunchy breading and then encountering the soft and slightly slimy okra. Hush Puppies were okay. Fried to a decent crisp, what I found lacking was the taste of cornmeal, as they were pretty bland. I wound up using them as vehicles to test the various BBQ sauces. The bread sides of Texas Toast and cornbread were average. Cornbread I thought was a bit flat, needing more richness; maybe a dollop of butter would of helped? I have to mention the excellent iced tea. Finding the pure sweet iced tea too sweet, I did a near 50-50 blend of sweet and unsweetened iced tea which was the perfect ratio for me. It was thirst quenching and complimented the entire meal. Now I see why iced tea is so popular down here! Me and my cousins really enjoyed our meal and left quite full! read more

See all

My brother told me that other people said it was good.. Well here's my review. The potato salad is Great!! Mac& Cheese, I've made way better. Let's get to the centerpiece of the meal. I should say that I'm a brisket connoisseur. I ordered the brisket and well I wasn't happy about it. The service was quick and I picked it up promptly. Unfortunately, it was cold, dry, bland, and burnt. I make brisket at home often and it's low and slow. The fact that it was burnt may have been the reason it wasn't good. Hint, hint. Maybe they're better at pork and chicken. I will never find out. The service however was great, the staff was polite and fast. Made sure my order was correct and took their time. read more

Came here last night with a coworker of mine. He's from India and he's only in the states for 3 and a half weeks so I wanted to show him some good BBQ! I've been to the City BBQ in Cary as well as north Raleigh and always had a great experience. Inside, it was quite busy at 7pm. There was a guy making balloon animals for the kids but I swear he popped two accidentally. I ordered the beef brisket while my coworker ordered the chicken thigh/wing. For sides, I got vinegar coleslaw and potato salad. The beef brisket was so incredible that you don't need to add any additional sauce. It was well cooked and very tender. The potato salad is probably one of the best potato salads that I've had. Staff was very friendly and the location was clean. I'll definitely be back in the future. read more

City Barbeque - Beef brisket with potato salad and vinegar coleslaw - Barbeque Near Me - Durham, North Carolina

I don't generally like bbq at all cause I find it too greasy. Generally southern food isn't my thing, however I'm definitely fond of city barbecue. My husband and I tried it out last Friday and we got the half chicken, the pulled chicken sandwich and the brisket. The sandwich was peppery and super comforting, and the sauces were the best part of the meal for me cause they were so tangy and sweet at the same time. The chicken was also Amazing- very filling but not too oily or heavy to eat. My husband loved his brisket sandwich too. I'll definitely be back, even if I stick to lighter chicken options. It's quite worth it read more

I prefer local mom-and-pop barbecue joints to chains but stopped in on a particular day since they were donation proceeds to a local charity. I asked the cashier what by-the-pound meat they had and she just stared at me. I repeated my request and she just said you can get everything takeout (that's not what I asked). I ordered a pound of pork barbecue and a pound of turkey to take with me. Only after that did I see the bulk menu on the side where I picked up my order. All she had to do was point out that sign to me. I noticed she was also more interested in chatting with other staff than doing her job. The food was good and lasted several days at our house, but next time I'm craving barbecue, I won't come here. read more

This place is amazing. The service on high quality. a man in a denim overalls greeted us very warmly, told us everything and served us. as for food, it is great, the meat melts in your mouth. I ll back there read more

Food is pretty good but service is not. Curbside orders never ready on time and frequent missed items or any utensils/napkins. Spoke w manager previously - no improvement. Order at you're own risk. read more

Great BBQ for the price. I've Smokey flavors, great combos for dinners and selections for lunch. And the sides are awesome. Mac and cheese is so good, esp reheated in the micro read more

I love the turkey bbq and the peach cobbler makes you come back almost everyday. Food is always hot fresh and quick. Service is amazing.

City Barbeque always seems to be packed and hoppin' which usually means a lot of people like it. In this case, it's for fairly good reason. Whenever I come to City Barbeque, beef brisket is my go-to meat. The burnt char on the outside gives it a smoky goodness that permeates through all of the meat. The beef is juicy from all the fatty goodness, but I don't even care, because it tastes so good. The ribs are also quite tasty. Not fall-off-the-bone, but firm enough to bite into, and not overly dry. The dry rub they use is awesome. And I like the ribs with the brush fire BBQ sauce. Sweet and spicy! Honestly, the other meats I could pass on. I've tried the chicken, turkey, pulled pork, and none of them really impress me. Especially not the pulled pork. This is NOT the place to get North Carolina pulled pork barbecue - not that they strongly advertise it, but they have a sauce that is supposed to be like the vinegar-based NC BBQ sauce... it's too sweet - the meat is relatively dry and the flavors just aren't... vinegary enough. In terms of the sides, I'm a fan of the baked beans (with brisket) and corn bread. The service is incredibly friendly, and in my experiences here, all the staff have gone above and beyond. It really sets them apart from other fast casual restaurants for me, the emphasis on good service that I've experienced. In spite of being busy, they still do a good job making you feel welcome. Just be warned - if you come at a busy time, you might have to wait a while for your food! But if you're not in a hurry, and you're wanting some good brisket or ribs, I'd recommend heading over the City Barbeque. read more

Come here for lunch on Tuesdays , they have rib bones for $1.35 and all the side items are good & delicious , I truly recommend this restaurant if you like good ol' bbq/ soul food - Check'em Out !!!!!!!!!! read more

Chose City Barbecue because it is OPEN on Sunday. Turned out to be a good choice! Had the brisket, ribs, potato salad and beans. The sides were great, the brisket was probably the most tender I have ever had. The ribs were so-so. My colleagues really enjoyed their meals, too. I would go back, if I come back to this area. read more

City Barbeque - Brisket, ribs, beans & potato salad. - Barbeque Near Me - Durham, North Carolina

We came to try this place based on good reviews but we left extremely disappointed. We ordered the sampler plate with brisket, pulls pork, turkey and sausage and 2 sides - vinegar slaw and baked beans. Brisket and pulled pork were extremely, and I mean extremely dry and burned. We've had brisket and pulled pork in many U.S. states, including NC and we understand were the idea of burned ends. This was noting like it - the ends tasted burned and not smoked and the dryness was unforgivable. The sides were pretty good - slaw was fresh and baked beans were full of flavor although they were extremely sweet. Sausage and turkey were ok - nothing to rave about but not bad. Honestly, this is definitely not a place you want to eat brisket or pulled pork or you will be greatly disappointm read more

City Barbeque - Barbeque Near Me - Durham, North Carolina

See all

It's interesting for me to see a place like City Barbeque starting to grow their chain in the Triangle. For those of you that travel a lot and have been to the Upper Midwest you're aware that City Barbecue is a Midwestern chain. They have many locations in the Ohio Valley area and others beyond. In that part of the country their BBQ stands out. However, compared to other Carolina barbecue options it's around average or slightly better. When it comes to their meats there's good and average options. Fortunately, none of them are poor. However, if you've eaten it some of the more well-known barbecue places in the region I don't think you're going to be too impressed. We drove 20 miles each way just to try the food and we're disappointed. As you can see from our photos we ordered just about everything. Between two of us we went way overboard just to make sure we tasted most of the meat so we can provide an honest review. Yes we do this often. Having been to more than 400 BBQ places in America I think we know BBQ well by now. I would say their best meat is going to be brisket. It brings some flavor and isn't too fatty. The ribs straddle the average line well. While the meat did fall off the bone they weren't very tender. And, the pulled pork was cooked well, but bland. I think the turkey is very average to. The chicken was slightly better than average, but really lacked flavor or any seasoning. However, they did cook it very well. What was interesting about the chicken was the skin add flavor to it but the chicken itself didn't have any. It was almost like they only season the skin. Depending on what day it is and whether or not they still have all of the sides available (because they sell out often) there's plenty of good ones to try. Topping that list is going to be their hand cut french fries. These are very good. I often get the gumbo, too. It's decent, but nothing like you would get if you went to a true Cajun place or even something as simple as ordering it at Jason's Deli. I've visited roughly a half dozen City Barbeque locations in the last 10 years and there's nothing wrong with any of their sides. All of the meals tend to come with garlic bread, which is like oversized white bread dipped in butter and slapped on the grill for a few seconds. Unfortunately, they were out of banana pudding the day that we arrived. As a kind gesture they gave us a free slice of chocolate cake to try. We ate a few bites of it and left the rest. They told us the cake was made that day, but it was very dry. On the other hand for something that does taste fresh and wonderful try their lemonade or sweet tea. It's always spot-on. If you're going to give City Barbeque a try you might want to order one of their large combos for two. It's cheaper to order that and try several meats then it is for you to get a combo with two meats on your own. And you'll get more food. We ordered one for the both of us and left three quarters of the meat, but that's more because we didn't enjoy it. Another thing to consider, City Barbeque is much better than places like Dickey's Barbecue Pit, Shane's Rib Shack and other large Southern chains that serve subpar barbecue lik Sonny's Barbecue. City is much better than those. read more

See all

I've been back to CB a few times, so wanted to update my review, although my thoughts are pretty much the same since my initial review a few years ago. Decent food, but there are other locations in Durham better IMHO. In more detail, on my last visit, I ordered the brisket and my two sides were collards and potato salad. I thought the brisket was dry and I needed to dip in the sweet bbq sauce for it to be edible. The collards were too salty. I did like the potato salad and the BBQ sauce, however. I still prefer The Original Q Shack and Backyard BBQ, but that is not to say City Barbeque is bad, it is just not the best. read more

I ordered through Grubhub. The food was delivered quickly. The food tasted good, but there were a few things missing!!! Texas Toast! Sauce Don't have pull down choices for sauce if you're not going to include it A fork Napkins Come on! Do better! read more

I must state that I like classic "Carolina BBQ", but have lived in Kansas City, where I learned about beef and ribs (from Gates, jack stacks, Oklahoma Joe's, and Arthur Bryant's), and Memphis (central, Tops, corky's) and know other great styles. I didn't like City. The service was good, the staff was friendly and the environment was excellent, especially the outside covered eating area. However, the ribs were dry and tough, apparently by design. The pulled pork sandwich was generous but almost generic. It was good, but not exceptional. I liked the former Allen and Sons BBQ much more. The beef brisket would not pass in Kansas City. When we are in Durham, we will go to Hog Heaven or Bullocks. read more

Food was pretty good. For the value, I thought it could have done better. I ordered the judges delete with 2 pints for$49.00 (33.99 + 3.99 (delivered) $2.85 (tax) ...and $8.17 (tip) Brisket should have given the choice between lean and fatty as well as the pulled pork. The ribs were good, but needed sauce to eat with. The meal was delivered via grubhub. The driver called bc he was lost bc he didn't know thre location of the hotel I was staying at. However the food came warm, so i was happy with that. Overall, it was good... ...but for the price, i could have ordered dickeys or corkys, and have gotten more and better food for a lot less. It was a decent experience though... just not for me read more

I tell myself I should review restaurants more often and then I don't, well last meal from City BBQ forced my hand. We ordered the family meal takeout and everything was delicious, as we've come to expect from City. But they recently must have added Brunswick stew to the menu and man oh man, what a treat! I consider myself a bit of a BStew connoisseur, and this is the best in town. So thick, meaty, hearty veggies and a bit of a kick! Glad I got a quart for leftovers and day two was still really good. Not sure if it's saying something about the overall quality of BBQ in the triangle to have one of the top places a chain from Dublin, OH but what can you do? Keep it up City, we will keep coming! read more

brisket and green beans go well together. Best hush puppies in my area. Root beer served cold would be better with a husband

Ordered this from Uber Eats, but the review will be based upon the restaurant. Probably would NOT ever order again. We ordered two More Cowbells, excited by the idea, with hushpuppies, salad, fries, and two water bottles. We got the order really quickly. 40 minutes!! The food wasn't even lukewarm. It. Was.Cold. Not to mention they completely forgot to include the 2 water bottles. We really were looking forward to them since we were in the car driving for 7 hours. The hush puppies were decent. I liked the crunch, and it was my favorite part of the meal. The More Cowbells was super tasty...but cold. I liked the idea of using Texas toast as bread. But, sadly, they didn't give us napkins to clean ourselves up. But, the kicker was no fork. So, my boyfriend had to eat the salad with his hands! Kind of funny, but REALLY frustrating. read more

Ok it was a Friday before 12 ordered green beans as a side had a longer wait than normal because of be out of green beans looks like they scraped bottom of the barrel it was mostly onions and bacon almost no green beans why not just let the customer know and not serve in first place it got so busy i didn't bother to complain I just threw them away read more

The staff were friendly enough but the food is not good. Pulled pork is tough and bland, I wouldn't go back.

We had the judges sampler and it came with a half rack of ribs, chicken, brisket, pulled pork and two sides. It wasn't priced too high either....we enjoyed everything besides the Mac and cheese...it had no flavor ‍ read more

Delicious and quick service. We love this place, great portions too! The sheds and dessert (esp banana pudding) is Yummy too! Fav is brisket :) read more

The staff was rude and we waited over an hour and a half for dry tasteless bbq. Don't waste your money and time.