City Works (Arsenal Yards - Watertown) — Restaurant in Watertown

I'd give this place a solid 1.5 but figured it leans closer to a 1 than a 2 given my visit. Ordered the smoked barbecue platter, Nashville popcorn chicken, and some margaritas. Completely missed the mark for me and my wife food wise. Drinks were alright but nothing special. The atmosphere is pretty ok for a game night and service speed was acceptable. Just disappointing overall.

The smoked barbecue platter tasted super bland minus the sausage and beans which were tolerable. If you can't smell a smoker when you pull up to a restaurant, it's probably not smoked. This food gave off strong liquid smoke vibes. The corn is boiled and then charred on a flame to look grilled. The bbq and mustard bbq sauces were off just didn't work well. The mustard one seemed more fitting of a pretzel dip than a "Carolina" bbq sauce. The ribs, pulled pork especially, and chili rubbed wings, were incredibly bland and their sauce couldn't solve the problem. The Nashville chicken bites tasted heavily of chili powder / buffalo seasoning rather than more traditional cayenne / brown sugar / butter. They tasted decent overall just not what I was expecting.

I know some other restaurants will partner with others nearby and I highly recommend this place just scraps their "barbecue" options and looks into sourcing some real stuff from a nearby local place like Blue Ribbon or something. I don't think there's any shame in doing it as other local restaurants have done it. If it's good it's good and good products keep people coming back. Some real barbecue would vastly increase the quality of some options on the menu and be a great supplement to their decently strong looking menu. Unfortunately for me, the non barbecue options actually looked pretty solid as I watched them arrive at other tables wishing I had ordered something different.

Also as far as the 3% surcharge for inflation goes.....make a new menu already and get rid of it. It's not that hard to update a website and I'm sure the 3% surcharges you have accumulated should cover the cost of printing new menus by now. It's just a bad look and kind of lazy...

Brew Review: Sour Monkey by Victory Brewing was my favorite. A nice tart flavor that held its own from start to finish. Oatmeal Stout by Ipswich Ale was second with a rich chocolate coffee flavor and comforting body. It only narrowly outran La Fin du Monde by Unibroue which was similar in structure but a bit more edgy, sharp flavor than the stout. The Blueberry Ale by Wachusett was the slow starter. When it first arrived, cold, it was bland and rather flavorless, but as it warmed, the floral blueberry scent and taste became increasingly evident. If you have a sweet tooth or are looking for the perfect pairing to a dessert menu, this is it. I ended up saving much of the Blueberry ale till the end of my main course. It indeed served as the perfect finish to sate my desire for dessert. Overall, I ended extremely happy with my flight choice. Food Review: I ordered the Caesar Salad to start and the Cajun Linguine as a main. The salad was good, though a little light on Caesar dressing, as I prefer Caesar dressed, not naked. Served with two halves of hard boiled egg, my least favorite of the cooked egg family. Once i chopped up and blended in the egg it was a solid and enjoyable start. The Cajun Linguine was creamy, spicy, with tender pieces of chicken and chorizo sausage. A good, solid entree, if perhaps a bit on the bland side, which for personal reasons is better for me. Service: I was very pleased with the service. The host staff accommodated my seating preference, a high top table in the bar area. Sierra, my server, was extremely friendly, patient (they have a long list of beers, best viewed online), provided helpful suggestions (including the one that lead to my selection of a custom flight), and attentive. She definitely contributed positively to the evening. Overall City Works offers a broad selection of beers (and other beverages), variety of menu items and good service. I recommend for a pleasant...

Decided to use 4 stars as 3.5 stars was not an option. Seating was quick and friendly and the menu was better than expected for the style of place City Works is. Tons of free parking right at/in Arsenal Yards including the garage. Great for bad weather days.

Nice atmosphere (Sports bar Plus) and there were many, many BIG screens to watch current games from all over the world. Liked the spacing of the tables as well, and you had some choices of booths, raised tables.

Big enough menu, but I would like to see a slightly larger one, and for a "beer" place, not a big enough selection, but I give them credit for choosing fairly well. Tastes win out slightly over branding. I like that.

Service was good, above average, but not outstanding. (3.5)

Pulled pork: Decent taste, but it was a little dry; it needed the three sauces to finish quickly. Hard to eat without the sauces though. (3.0)

BBQ Wings: I really liked them, charred, bbq, dry rub style. I will give them a 4 out of 5, but if you are a hardcore bbq wings person, you will probably give them a 3. (4.0)

Corn on the Cob: Fantastic! (4.5)

Ribs: Need their own review, but plenty of meat on the bones, good flavor, worth getting but WAY TOO DRY; Wish I could score them higher but they are about a (3.25)

Sausage links: Good. (3.5)

Sauces: Good Selection, but not spicy enough

Beans: Very, very good, but bbq sauce was too sweet for my taste. Most people would say (4.0

I would go back again, just not going to be a regular here. Great for small groups and meet-ups with friends and co-workers though. A little expensive for me, one meal and one beverage with tax and tip was over $50. If you are from the South or the Midwest, you will have a lower rating than I gave it, except for the corn and the beverages and atmosphere.

Major props for trying hard though.

(Very, very clean; Great bathrooms; A very, very well run...