This is the fifth City Barbeque location in the Cincinnati Metro area and the first on the Kentucky side of the Ohio River. It just opened on August 15, 2010, so this is hardly a comprehensive review. I went there for lunch with my wife there today (on its second day) and am optimistic about its future. I'm pretty familiar with the Hyde Park location and, judging from a conversation I had with a counter employee, that's where many of the people at this location trained. I had a pulled pork sandwich with a side of baked beans and a cucumber & onion salad. My wife had a brisket sandwich with the corn pudding and a side salad. The pulled pork was just about as close to perfect as you could want. It was moist without being greasy and the smoke was evident without being overpowering. The meat is cooked without sauce, and while there are six varieties on the table, they aren't necessary - there's plenty of flavor without it. The brisket suffers from a problem common outside of Texas: it's overcooked. It has a good flavor, but brisket is not pork and the target temperature has to be kept lower. Otherwise it just falls apart and that's not what it's supposed to do. The sides were all good. The beans are mild, but they seem made to take a squirt of your favorite sauce to finish. The cucumbers and onions are a seasonal dish and literally reminded me of a similar dish my mom made when I was a kid - just a little vinegar, sugar, cucumbers and onion. The corn pudding is one of their stapes, a creamy concoction that has a lot of corn flavor. People are still figuring out the traffic pattern in the restaurant for ordering, so it was a little confused when we first walked in, but once we got our order in it came up immediately. Even though it's a counter service restaurant, someone came around to offer to refill our drinks and just basically check in on us. I know a lot of folks have an aversion to chain restaurants, but it seems to me that with barbeque you either get it right or you don't. CIty gets it right as far as I'm concerned, and now that we have a location close to us, I suspect we'll be there a lot. read more

Yummy! For me, everything they serve is delishous! Great menu, lots of sides, even deserts. A variety of sauces to add, or not. Dry rub and juicy meats. Reasonable + pricing. Condiment bar with great dill pickles! Fountain and bottled beverages. read more

2nd best BBQ I've ever eaten. This place was packed on Friday night so my expectations were long waits and not so great service. Boy, was I wrong. We were seated and eating just 10 minutes after we arrived. I had the sampler which turned out to be more than enough food for 2 people. Their original sauce on the ribs was just what I have been look for. Now that my favorite BBQ rib place has closed I'm sure we'll be visiting here often. Great atmosphere, great service, great food. read more

City Barbeque - Barbeque Near Me - Florence, Kentucky

See all

Let's not mince words--City Barbeque is mass-produced suburban cuisine at its worst. It's the Subway of pulled pork, and I mean that somewhat literally, as it's the sort of place where you line up, make your order, and then stand and wait for it. I give it two stars only because the food wasn't terrible; if you're at a loss for where to eat some Tuesday night, and you say, "Let's go somewhere new," you've discovered just about the one circumstance in which this place is worth checking out. To their credit, the various sandwiches are fairly large, but considering they're about six bucks and some change and come with nothing else, it's not the deal it appears to be. You can get a "platter" for a few dollars more, and at that point you've got a sandwich and two sides, and maybe a drink. I forget if drinks are included. But at this point you've spent around ten dollars, and for only a couple more you could get an actual meal at Smokey Bones or Famous Dave's, both less than two minutes from this location. A full-on restaurant might be slower, sure, and slightly more expensive. But you can order more than just beer, and the food is way, way better. I'm not even a snob about barbeque; I'm easy to please. But seriously, you may as well get the pulled pork sliders at White Castle. read more

Here's an update - I think City got BETTER! Maybe it was just once that the macaroni and cheese underwhelmed me, but I got it again on 8/1, and it was much better than "meh". Mind you, it still didn't rock my socks off, but it was much better! Remember the North Carolina friend I mentioned in my initial review? Well, I had a feeling he would slap the taste out of my mouth if I didn't try some North Carolina-style BBQ. So I did, with the cole slaw on the sandwich and some hushpuppies on the side. Let me tell you...pulled pork is even BETTER NC style. I don't know if the slaw is made in the NC way, but either way, that sandwich was perfection on top of perfection! read more

Just had a quick meal here. Burnt ends were very good (got the last order of the day!!) Tender, nice char, good carmelization! They have probably a half a dozen sauces (maybe more) so u can enjoy them as-is" or add a little sauce. They have sweet sauces, hotter sauces & sweet-hotter sauces, also a bourbon sauce. Also had potato salad (just like my 87 yr old German mother's secret recipe!! Outstanding!!) and then their's the tasty tender collard greens with a ton of pork in them (really, the side of collards holds enough protein one could consider it a meal! and then, the banana cream parfait thingy!! Jake was right! Rich, decadent KILLER! Oh Lordy! My belly is heavenly happy! Did I mention the service? Top notch friendly fabulous helpful people! Jake rang up my order, Sara was behind him cutting up either romaine or collards & chatting away with us! Also a great shout out to Austin, Tim, Beth & Dalton! This place has a great team... their winning attitudes along with KILLER FOOD makes this a fantastic BBQ joint!! I'll be back!! read more

I love city barbecue! I wish Louisville had a place like this. It's a panera-style barbecue place, meaning you can choose your sandwich and sides and then seat yourself and don't need to tip. Their barbecue is absolutely delicious and you can see them carving the meat in front of you. They offer 4-5 different style barbecue sauces that you can put on your meal yourself. I tried their special "more cow bell" which was brisket with grilled bell peppers and onions on garlic bread. It was delicious! I also tried their hush puppies and they give you a lot for a side. I like this place because it's quick, good BBQ, without having to wait for a server. read more

Third time we've been here and we have enjoyed it every time. I love the pulled pork sandwich with the green beans, which are amazing as well. Sweet tea is the best I've had also! read more

Usually I don't think it's good bbq if there is not a smoker sitting outside in their parking lot. While there is no smoker outside this place is pretty good especially for a chain. The meat is excellent and the sides are great. They have a variety of sauces to choose from: sweet & hot & mild tomato base, vinegar base, Carolina style mustard, etc. I like it better than any other bbq in this area. read more

Do you love to lick sticky fingers? If you don't, I will lick the barbecue sauce off of them for you! I love City Barbeque, it is seriously the best Barbeque you can get in cincinnati hands down. The brisket just falls apart at the touch... the pulled chicken and pork are soft and moist... just thinking about it makes me want to go back... and I was just there 10 minutes ago!! The service is super friendly, lightning fast. I love the side choices that rotate: Baked Beans with Brisket are my hands down favorite, I mean seriously... how can you have beans with giant hunks of brisket mixed in!! The green beans, the corn bread, the peach cobbler... they just do barbecue right here. (Now just to put it in scope... compared to actual texas or KC BBQ I would rate this a 3.5-4.0 but for BBQ in CIncinnati, definitely a 5.) This particular one has a very strange parking lot that is kind of hard to get into and has a weird layout; but once you've been there once, you realize to enter where Kmart used to be and you're ok. Their outside space is pretty small too, but they do have outside if you are into that kind of thing. If you like finger licking good barbecue smoked/grilled right with flavorful sides, you should stop by any of the City's locations. read more

The food is so good you wanna freebase it ....no, really. Huge portions for great price. Great for those who have has weight loss surgery or follow a low carb diet too. read more

The coleslaw was totally different the big beans work so good but the barbecue was okay

Pretty good spot. I got the insiders special chicken sandwich. The breast on the sandwich was good. Very tasty and good quality but the wing they give you along with the sandwich(on the side) was delicious. It left me wishing that I'd gotten their half chicken dinner instead so I could savor more of that rub and/or sauce that set off that wing. I'll definitely stop back here for that. The potato salad was very good too and almost as good as my favorite at Red Hot & Blue. Their Mac n cheese was ok but the service was excellent. Fast and friendly. Give this spot a try read more

Amazing! There's a young man that works here named Drew and he is so friendly! He recommended I try the apple cider vinaigrette with my salad and it's now my go-to! The food is always fresh and service is always quick and friendly. read more

It was ok nothing spectacular. The brisket was so dry. The corn pudding was good. I was there on vacation, but I wouldn't go out of my way to eat there again. read more

City Barbeque - Barbeque Near Me - Florence, Kentucky

See all

Outstanding BBQ. I was staying by the airport and was so glad I drove to City. bBQ. The service was fine (no table service) but the pulled pork sandwich was fantastic. read more

The Motherload! That's where it's at! Enough food to feed a family of 4-6! Best smoked turkey ever! The sides were amazing, collard greens, baked beans to die for! The lady who helped us was just so sweet & patient with us! We don't get to have good barbecue in California so this was a treat for us! read more

Pretty good BBQ -- Considering not being a local (on business), this location was highly recommended for good, quick food. During my stay I would say I came in for lunch approximately five-six times. All for lunch. I swear this is fast than "fast food"! You literally order, and typically your food is ready in less than two minutes! And it's not that it's flash frozen food and they have it nuked. You can smell their smokers from 100 yards away.. I love the setup. Good selection for lunch deals. Personally I love the Carolina Pulled Pork (slaw in sandwich) with corn pudding, fries, and Lemonade. Great atmosphere. Very good food. Perfect for a quick lunch! read more

We got catering from City for our wedding reception. We received SO many compliments afterward for not having "boring" wedding food! It was definitely a hit. The delivery was a little late (miscommunication on our part) but otherwise no issues. The tasting was awesome and Kim was able to answer all of our questions. Sometimes with catering the tasting food is way better than the end result, but we did not have that issue with City. Everything was exactly as it was in the restaurant during the tasting. When we first started working with City on our catering order we had issues getting in touch with the coordinator but the new coordinator (Kim!) is amazing and replied really quickly to questions and emails. read more

We were visiting from out of town. We let the cashier know this was our first time. She gave us great recommendations on what to order then, gave us a sample of a side I was not sure if I wanted. It was a wonderful experience, everyone was extremely helpful and friendly. I think this was the best BBQ I've ever had. I had the vinegar based cole slaw, green beans, pulled pork, garlic toast, and I think they called it corn pudding. It was all delicious! There pickles were great. My husband had the beef brisket, greens, and baked beans. I sampled his and it was wonderful. The BBQ sauce varieties were abundant. We will visit every time we are in town. The smell of the smoker from outside drew us in to eat here. read more

I really enjoyed our visit here. I am somewhat of a barbecue connoisseur and even smoke my own meats. I have yet to master brisket, nor have I found a brisket I felt was a good one, and I finally found a good brisket. City Barbecue's brisket was so flavorful, I couldn't get enough. We had the City Sampler, so as not to fill up on bread. The chicken was tasty too. We had Mac and cheese, green beans, Texas toast, and cornbread too. All 3 were amazing! Best green beans I've ever had in my life! The only reason I'm not giving 5 stars is the pork. The pulled pork was a bit lacking in flavor and a tad on the dry side. If I could give 4 3/4 stars, I would, but I think the pork could be improved on. The staff was also very friendly. I felt as if I would be welcome to hang out as long as I wanted. If you have the chance, go here! read more

My new favorite BBQ spot. I love the brisket and the sausage. The Peach cobbler is really good. Rib Tuesdays are my favorite. Never had a bad bite. I thinking of serving it for Thanksgiving. read more

Not bad, but not good either. Pulled pork sandwiches are good. Coleslaw wasn't what staff claimed it to be. Way too much vinegar. Staff was helpful, friendly. Just not quite there... read more

Great food and great prices! Family packages are the best affordable deals and left overs! Score! I had their catering at my nieces wedding, could not believe the freshness, variety, deliciousness and attentive staff. What a surprise and probably a catering favorite as far as weddings go! read more

My family loves this place! The food is ALWAYS fresh and tasty. And anytime we've ever had any issues they've always gone above and beyond with fixes the mistake! Great customer service! read more

Simply perfect! The staff, food, and atmosphere are the best around. I have yet to have a bad experience. Consistent quality establishment!

Last weekend City BBQ catered at an outdoor rowing event for 4 days, and this review is to give a big shout out to Sarah and Jordan who worked the entire event with friendly attitudes and big smiles! The weather was less than ideal (heat index of 106) but the girls greeted each customer enthusiastically and with fantastic customer service! At events like these it's easy to be hot and bothered, and after a few 8 hour days it's easy to loose spirit... But Sarah and Jordan were great sports! They truly are valuable employees, and wonderful people. Great work! ...oh and the food they dished up wasn't bad either, I loved the pulled pork! :) read more

First off Sweet Tea is sooo awesome! Customer service is great. Service is very fast. Food is awesome! read more

City Barbeque - First time coming, very good customer service! Fast service. Food is awesome! Sweet Tea is too die for - Barbeque Near Me - Florence, Kentucky

Where to start.. had the two meat deal.. sausages were very good.. and 3 ribs which were dry as the bones and very little smoke flavor. Sides were vinegar slaw which is ok and green beans which were bland, soggy and overcooked.. apple cider vinegar dressing on the side salad was way, way, way too sweetened. Should call it candy apple dressing.. overall, I was not impressed.. it's just a lot of poor production line barbecue with pitiful sides. I think a 3 is generous.. yeah it's cheap, it should be. Wish I had eaten elsewhere. I have absolutely no idea how anyone could give this better than 3 stars.. and 5 is just insane. 2 is really more like it. Yelp let me down on this place. read more

I'm a frequent customer of City Barbeque in Gahanna, but thought I'd try it when in Northern Kentucky. All was just as good as back home, except my cowbell here had about twice the amount of brisket. That was a nice surprise, but not sure if they made much money on my order. Anyway, the cowbell and brisket chili was fantastic. I'll try another location next time in the Cincinnati area. read more

Usually a great go to bbq place.....last time we ordered the brisket was all fat and no meat......ribs were so tough I don't think my dog could have chewed them.....so disappointed because they usually hit it out of the park read more

Brisket was good, sauces were good. Mac n cheese was passable. Vinegar slaw had bell peppers in it and I am not a fan of bell peppers so the slaw was the low point of the meal. This place is a fast food bbq joint. The prices were very high for what you get. read more

We stopped in today for lunch. Our cashier was helpful with the menu explained the the side dishes . The food was great the service was quick a young lady brought our food to our table as we where getting our drinks . The tables and the dinning area was very clean . Love the variety of sauces you can pick from . read more

City Barbeque - Barbeque Near Me - Florence, Kentucky

Star star brisket smoky charred goodness doesn't even need BBQ sauce. Star fast friendly service. Star LowCo Carolina mustard sauce. Star vinegar slaw. read more

This place has delicious food and customer service is outstanding at this location. They NEVER disappointmy all time FAV! Thanks City BBQ

Don't think just go it's great. A little pricey depending on what you get but it's amazing. Brisket is killer

Good pulled pork, great fries, well organized curbside pickup. They go out of their way to make customers happy and comfortable.

This is probably one of the best BBQ places around town. Their pulled chicken is TO DIE FOR!!!! So are their millions of sauces. If you like sweet, they've got it. If you like smoky, they've got it. If you like spicy, YUP they've got it. Their corn bread pudding, Mac and cheese, potato salad, etc are just amazing. Not to mention you might smell like a smoke house when you leave (; service is hit or miss, it's either phenomenal or it's crappy due to crappy attitudes. That's why I gave a 4 star review. read more

My husband had the city sampler (turkey, sausage, brisket, pulled pork) all except, greens (he said he could have eaten a bucket of those!) and home fries, I had pulled chicken (sooo juicy!) and ribs, the cashier told me the Ribs are half price on tues so it was cheaper to buy separate than buying the two meat, Mac & cheese and cornbread were nothing special. We don't care for the sauces, we like to taste the meat, smoke and seasonings so we didn't try the sauces. We would eat here again! read more

City Barbeque - Barbeque Near Me - Florence, Kentucky

Great place! Stopped with a bus of 50 people. Great bbq! 4 of us shared the motherload. All was good. Ribs and chicken were perfect. Service was extremely friendly and they were perfect when we surprised them with a huge group read more