City Barbeque — Restaurant in Madison

After hearing good reviews of this place by family members I'd been meaning to check it and today on a whim, a friend and I decided to give it a shot. Best decision made all day. Upon walking in we immediately smelled the distinct mesquite aroma and realized that this was a true BBQ joint. The atmosphere walking in is open and welcoming the menu is large, and I mean large! The options you can choose from seems a little overwhelming at first, but in a good way since everything seems so distinct. The cashier helped recommend the pick 2 meat plate which we both did, we loaded up with some sides and each got dessert as well.

Let me tell you, we were picking off each other's plates wanting to try a bit of everything and there wasn't a single thing we got I'd describe as simply "okay" the brisket was perfectly smoked with fat and meat marbled throughout, the smoked sausage was flavorful and juicy, the pulled pork fell apart on your fork and melted in your mouth. The sides were great as well, baked Mac and cheese was gooey, perfectly cheesy and cooked just right, the hush puppies were, for both of us, the crispiest tastiest ones we've ever had, and while I'd never heard of corn pudding it had apparently been a childhood favorite of his and he said it lived up to all his memories.

Finally the dessert, he got the banana pudding, light, fluffy, creamy, and flavorful with what seemed to be banana fosters sauce drizzled on it, incredible. For me I got the strawberry and cream cobbler, I expected the average restaurant dessert portion, little 5 ounce bowl of cobbler with a small dollop of whipped cream in the side. What I got was a full soup or salad bowl filled with perfectly cooked, tangy strawberry cobbler and that 5 ounce side was my portion of whipped cream for it, I think the cobbler was maybe about 5 bucks total of my bill and I would have gladly paid double. One of the cooks came to our table asking how the meal was and making sure we enjoyed everything. Before I could even finish asking for boxes for leftovers he had them in hand like magic. During the meal we were already discussing what we wanted to try next time we went. This review has run on a bit but truly this is one of my new favorite restaurants in Madison and it honestly makes me reconsider other 5 star ratings I've given out because I wish I could give an even higher rating to city BBQ

Tl;Dr Menu options A+ Price A+ more than fair for the amount of food you get Service A+ Food quality A+

Do yourself a favor and check...

First time in as we came through Madison for the day . What a great place . Jeff ( who turned out to be a regional manager ) was as the one who greeted us . He could read on our faces we had never dined with them before . He gave us a quick rundown of the menu.. told us his favorite choices . He was not wrong . We ordered the Judges platter that had Ribs- brisket - chicken and pulled pork along with 2 sides . We took the dark meat on the chicken selection and went with Jeff’s side choices of collard greens and potato salad . We also ordered a side of fries because I’m a sucker for hand cut fries with malt vinegar and yes indeed they have malt vinegar. When I say they stuck their foot in their greens .. I mean it . This may be a chain restaurant but there is some absolute pride that goes into their product . The meats were tender and juicy : the ribs were at just the right doneness that the meat easily came off the bone but it didn’t just fall apart into mush . The pulled pork was buttery and unctuous . The chicken was juicy and full of so much flavor and the brisket had one of the best barks I’ve had in a long time . Potato salad was the right Blend of baby reds with a mayo dressing but was very simplistic . Nothing too complicated to take away from the other flavors going on .. oh and Jeff gave us a complementary side of corn pudding and the homemade Mac and cheese .. both were excellent . My friend hates corn bread and or bread pudding and she loved loved the corn pudding . Mac and cheese was creamy with rich cheese and a perfect amount of crisp on the top cheese . The restaurant was clean - drink and condiment station clean and stocked with a variety of house sauces .. low co and swine wine is by far my fave sauces .. super happy we popped in and gave this place a whirl after so many disappointing bbq places we have been to over the last year . 10/10...

Adding further context and updating my rating from a 2 due to the follow-up and communication received after the fact. City BBQ addressed the issue and worked through the delay on refund. Sunday's are hard to make adjustments and they did everything they could.

The food has always been fantastic, just don't trust the delivery.

Normally I would rate this location as a 4-5. Unfortunately the most recent experience left me wanting much more in terms of service and accountability. I ordered delivery through their app linked directly to City BBQ. This business contracts through Door Dash and charges a 1.99 service fee and 3.99 delivery fee.

I probably would have picked it up had I known that it was a contracted delivery and not the restaurant, but it's not unheard of. I tipped my 20% and waited for over an hour while receiving updates of my delivery status. 20 minutes past my original expected delivery, I receive a text that my driver Ulysses has handed me my order and to call him if there are any issues. I didn't receive the order and spent the next 10 minutes calling a number with no voicemail setup and my calls continued to go unanswered.

I was finally able to get in touch with someone at the restaurant since Door Dash takes zero responsibility and doesn't offer customer service. They offered to send another order, but I had already been waiting for 1.5 hours with all of the back and forth. I asked for a refund and they told me they would refund my card but it would take 3-5 business days to see the return.

It's not the end of the world to wait for the refund, but the whole hassle has left me never wanting to use this businesses services again. The food is good, but the service and follow through...