My wife and I ate there last night and it will be our last. I ordered a half rack of ribs which were charred on top making it chewy and nearly inedible and not.very digestible. Inside the meat was undercooked, fat with some gristle. My wife's pulled pork sandwich had been cooked without any sauce and was tasteless. Their sauces were either too hot, vinegary or too sugary and sweet. The best sauce appeared to be similar to Bull's Eye. This was a very disappointing meal. My wife was raised in Shelby. home to Red Bridges Barbecue, probably the best in the area. I am also familiar with Lexington Barbecue and City Barbecue is a very poor substitute. If I could have given it less than one star I would have.. Don't. waste your money ! read more

Best BBQ in charlotte. Favorite sides are the baked beans and collards. Fun atmosphere.

I admit I'm a barbecue junkie. I just flat love good barbecue. When City Barbecue opened I was excited to try it but it seemed to always be crowded so it took until now for us to get around to it. Boy was I disappointed. First, I should have realized why the crowds are getting smaller. Second, I should have realized a problem when I got out of the car. You know that wonderful aroma you smell at great barbecue places. The sweet smoke smell of hickory, cherry or apple or the savory smell of mesquite. Well it's not here. I'm not sure what they smoke with but it has more of a smell than an aroma. The restaurant is laid out to efficiently move traffic through and seems clean and relatively attractive (are old license plates really necessary in all restaurants). The staff seems pleasant and only tried to hustle us through the ordering process a bit. Hint, If folks are holding back and looking up at the menu they are still trying to figure out what they want. Give them a minute. I had been thinking about barbecue ribs all day so that's what I ordered. How disappointing. They were somehow both dry and greasy at the same time. I'm not sure how you do that but chefs tell me that comes form cooking the meat too fast at too high a temperature. I mentioned that to a manager and he told me to try one of the sauces so I did. Their sweet barbecue sauce is the consistency of peanut butter. It doesn't work with the meat in any way. It just sort of glops on top and sits there. It did nothing to add to the flavor or the texture of the meat. I think the most disappointing thing was the "bark". You know that wonderful caramelized layer of flavor all great barbecue has. Well this was like biting into an ash tray. The only taste was of soot. My wife loves pork barbecue. Again it was greasy and dry. The texture was very stringy and you really had to work to chew it. The taste was not that nice hickory flavor that good pork barbecue has. I don't know but I'm guessing oak? Our sides were very forgettable. The beans were undercooked and sort of crunchy. Instead of flavoring them with pork they used brisket? It just didn't work. The fries seemed like a bargain brand straight out of the freezer. When I talk about barbecue, I used to tell folks that the worst I ever had was wonderful. Now I can honestly say that I met a barbecue that I just didn't like. read more

My wife and I are regulars at the Matthews, NC location and have NEVER had a bad experience! A great deal of that is due to the outstanding customer service provided by Charlie and Michelle. If an issue ever arises they are more than willing to assist you and to be sure your experience is a great one. The food is DELICIOUS...The best BBQ I have ever had! I have heard folks complain about the prices at City... although higher than other establishments, I feel that the level of customer service and food quality present at this location makes the prices well worth it! read more

I go to City BBQ every Tuesday for RIB BONE TUESDAY!!!! I love it! The staff is fantastic! Charlie sets my table for me (napkin and silverware). He is great! The tables are always clean and there is never any garbage or sticky tables. I look forward to going every week! See ya next Tuesday!!!!! read more

This was the worst beef brisket I have ever had in my life. The pork was almost as bad. The smoked turkey was great. If you are thinking Texas beef brisket don't eat here. I didn't really like any of the sauces. Probably won't be back. The brisket was full of fat that was untrimmable. There are many more places for great pulled pork as well. read more

We went for Veterans Day and they were very generous and offered a nice meal to veterans. Their food is excellent and if you are not sure what you want, they will give you a generous sample to try any of their meats. Everything we have had has been terrific. We have been several times and the staff is always friendly and very helpful. A lot of Bar-b-que restaurants have opened in this area in the last year or so. As far as my husband and I are concerned, this is the best bar-b-que in Charlotte. If you haven't tried it, do so. read more

I ordered a pound of brisket to go late this afternoon. I have to say it was some of the best smoked brisket I've ever had, and I have sampled many places around the country. Staff very friendly and fast. Even though this restaurant is quite a bit further away from what has been my regular favorite place, I'll be going back to City BBQ in Matthews. Thanks and keep up the good work. read more

Usually great bbq I've eaten the brisket numerous times but this time it wasn't up to par... 60% fat pieces. Not burnt ends like i ordered. Hard to fathom paying $15 for pieces of fat. read more

Went there for dinner today. Me , hubby and 3 kids. We ordered the family pack pulled pork. It was so so so so good ! Finally a good bbw spot right next to us. Will definitely come back soon. Plenty of food for a family of 5. Great service as well. read more

I relocated to Charlotte about 4 yrs ago. City BBQ is right up the road from me. Sunday I had a taste for BBQ and potato salad. Ordered BBQ chicken, greens and potato salad. The best potato salad I've ever had any so good, greens flavorful, chicken moist, cooked just right and the sauce added a zing. The banana pudding is signature to City BBQ. I was in culinary heaven, Staff is friendly and helpful with 1st timers. I'll definitely be returning. read more

First off, the BBQ is incredible and way better than I expected for a counter service style restaurant (this is like the Panera of BBQ places). But also the staff are incredible friendly. I came in fairly early, probably the first customer of the day, and I ordered something but it turned out the meat wasn't ready for another 15 min or so, and they offered me a free side while I wait. I honestly didn't care that I had to wait 15 minutes, I wasn't in a rush, so they were just being proactively nice about it. Genuinely good food and people. It's good when you're not in the mood to sit down at a place like midwood. It's my go-to "BBQ for lunch" spot. read more

Absolutely outstanding food and wait staff. However, I want to bring one small issue to your attention. Your menu lists only one cole slaw, and it's the vinegar based one. However, you also offer a creamy slaw which, IMHO, is the superior of the two. Just want to be sure someone at City is aware that this option is not listed on either the online menu or the in-store carry out menu. read more

Great barbecue but the sides suck! Worst french fries I have ever been served and the mac and cheese looked and tasted like Kraft. Wow guys, stick with just barbecue if that's what you do best and leave the sides to somebody else. read more

After waiting on line for 30 minutes, we arrived at the register only to be told that they were out of pulled pork, ribs, pulled chicken and collards. They did have turkey and sausage though. How many people go to a barbeque restaurant for turkey and sausage?? If that wasnt bad enough, they didnt make an attempt to advise the people on line of this situation. In my opinion, this was deliberate and completely dishonest. Im sure they calculated that after investing 30 minutes in line at 7pm, most people would just order what they had (I didn't ) and had they notified us earlier, most would have left (I did). I can almost forgive them for running out of these items (which 90% of people order) but I will not forgive them for their dishonesty and deception. Needless to say... CBQ is permanently off of my list. We went to Midwood Smokehouse instead. We were promptly served what we ordered and it was fantastic. read more

This is barely 2 stars for me. I am really not a very hard person to please, but I truly do not understand how this became a chain restaurant??? There are so many other BBQ places that are leaps and bounds above this food! Got the brisket which was really dry but the flavor was ok. Tasted like smoked meat. Not a big surprise. The side dishes were inedible. The Mac and Cheese tasted like styrofoam or melted plastic and looked about the same. I could not even eat more than 3 bites of it, it was making me sick to my stomach. I swear Stouffer's makes better Mac and Cheese and I hate that as well! Anyway, go try it for yourself. I would not want to dissuade anyway from at least going once, but my mind was blown at how bad it is. To top off the experience, the price is utterly ridiculous! I think my lunch came to $16!!! For something I could not even eat! Never going back! Moes BBQ in Matthews is soooo much better!! read more

First time trying this place for a quick family dinner on a Wednesday night. Our family loves BBQ and is always looking for consistent and great quality locations in our city. This was not it. First, I do not understand the 'ala carte ordering in a casual BBQ joint. Basic entrees range from $6- $14, but only include the meat? You can add two sides for an additional $4, or purchase individual sides. Odd, again for the type of restaurant this is. I ordered the 1/4 smoked dark chicken, collards and mac and cheese. Next to the meat, the sides- especially mac and cheese- are most important players in any BBQ eatery.This mac and cheese, was NOT adult mac and cheese, but rather, a minor step up from boxed cheesy mac. In other words, my four year old loved it, me and my husband, not so much. The collards were good...maybe a tab overloaded with pulled pork-- some people really look for that, so its not a horrible thing. My chicken was okay- not amazing, not terrible. So, with the other BBQ options here in Charlotte, this will likely not be a spot that I hastily return to. At best, I may give it a second chance and try different menu items. My husband said his ribs were good, but again, not amazing. read more