City Barbeque — Restaurant in Carmel

Several months ago, I placed a carryout order over the phone. I arrived a couple of minutes before the scheduled pickup time and waited about 20 minutes in the carryout line before I was helped, only to learn that my order had not yet been filled. I waited another 20 minutes for the order to be completed so I spent 40 minutes waiting on an order I had called in on the telephone. I was told by the employee it was much better to place the order online to avoid delays. On Sunday, March 20th, I placed an order online at 1:53 p.m. for a 6:00 p.m. pickup (that is four hours in advance!). When I arrived, there were three people in line at the carry-out line. The employee who was handling the register was also filling the carry-out orders. After more than 15 minutes of waiting in line, the employee finally asked if she could help me. She had trouble figuring out where to find the online order in the system so another employee came to help out (she was filling orders for walk-in customers). I tried to explain that they needed to have one person working the register at the carryout line and not packing orders, as well, so the line would move more quickly. She immediately comped my meal because she could tell I was upset. It was then that I learned that my online order, which I had placed at 1:53 p.m. for a 6:00 p.m. pickup, was not even ready and it would be another 15 minutes before it was ready. It was already 6:20 p.m. so it would have been 6:35 p.m. before I would have walked out with my carryout order (which was placed more than four hours in advance for a 6:00 p.m. pickup). I was so angry that I simply walked out and called the manager from my car. He was very nice and tried to explain this store does more business than another other store in the entire organization. I said that was nice but it does not explain how someone can place an order online for a 6:00 p.m. pickup and have to wait 35 minutes once they arrive to pick up the order. He then tried to blame the online system since they get the order only 45 minutes before the pick up time (yes, he said ONLY 45 minutes before the pick up time). How can someone walk in off the street, wait in line for 20 minutes, wait another 10 minutes for their food and be eating at a table in 30 minutes, yet someone places an order online for a scheduled pickup time, yet does not have their order 35 minutes after arriving? I love the food but the service is...

Had a terrible bbq experience here, first off there were only two people in line in front of me (6pm) but it took 10 minutes to get up to the register because the kid who was taking orders was so slow and seemed new, plus nobody was helping him. After I finally ordered I waited 22 minutes for my food because there was only one other kid in the back making the food and putting things together. There were four other teenagers on the front line just pacing around trying to look busy, wiping things down etc. and the manager lady was off to the side sorting through some scraps on a table and not paying attention to them at all. Eventually she poked her head around the corner and asked if the cook was doing alright to which he replied “I’m just trying to get caught up” so she started to help him a little bit but had no sense of urgency or really seemed to know what she was doing either. Eventually they put most of my food on the front counter but they were still waiting another 5 minutes for fries so by the time I got it I had to ask them to reheat it because it was now room temperature. What a joke. They weren’t even busy and there were less than 10 people in the restaurant on a Monday night. Paid $25 for warm BBQ and waited half an hour from when I walked in the door to what is supposed to be faster than a sit...

I just moved from South Alabama to Carmel a few months ago. My mom and sister have lived here for a few years, and have always talked about how amazing City BBQ is. I finally got the opportunity to try them yesterday, and I was blown away! It was Mother's Day, and though our kids usually make a fuss over us, they were all working. That being the case paired with us boycotting cooking on our special day, we went to a local farmers market for some fresh veggies and homemade apple crisp, then on to a restaurant for some take out fried chicken and then made our last stop at City BBQ for the sides. My sister got the corn casserole, collard greens, and potato salad. We got home and put our smorgasbord together, and I am here to tell you, that was one of the best Mother's Day meals that I have ever had, and it was all because of the sides! The corn casserole was amazing (creamy and cooked and seasoned to perfection), the collard greens tasted like they were freshly picked and prepared with love by my grandmother in Alabama, and the potato salad tasted like my mother's home made. It's like we had all of the benefits of a home cooked meal, without the fuss and clean up of one. Thank you, City BBQ, for making our...