City Barbeque — Restaurant in Wilmington

I know City BBQ just opened, but I wanted to try it. I placed an order for curbside pickup through the app at 6:15 on Thursday evening. It told me the wait time was 75-85 minutes. No surprise, since I’m sure they are getting slammed since opening. I got an email confirmation saying that I would get a text with further instructions. I monitored the app as the time to completion went down. As the time got down within five minutes, I still hadn’t gotten a text, so I headed over. I parked and still had no text, so I went in.

The restaurant was surprisingly uncrowded, with just a couple of people in line and 5-10 tables of customers eating or waiting. I went to the online pickup counter, which was deserted. Someone came out from the back to help me and asked for the name on my order. She went into the kitchen, then came back and told me they were out of ribs and sausage, two items I had ordered. I substituted brisket for the ribs and pulled pork for the sausage. By now it was 8pm, almost two hours after I had ordered. Meanwhile, I watched people coming in, ordering at the counter, and getting their food with five minutes! Clearly, those ordering on the app are given much lower priority than the walk-ins and drive-thrus. Ok, lesson learned! Next time I’ll just show up.

Anyway, I finally got my food (after asking a second person about it, since the original person had disappeared) and brought it home. Meat-wise, we didn’t get what we ordered. We were supposed to have two different two-meat samplers, one with brisket and chicken and the other with brisket and pork. One container was STUFFED with pork, while the other was half-full, with a few strips of brisket and what appeared to be a small amount of pork (but which we decided was actually chicken). There was a big difference in the amount of meat in each container (see photo). It looks like they gave us double pork in the one package but skipped the brisket, which is too bad since the brisket was a $3 upcharge (as were the ribs, which they had run out of). The meat was just ok, nothing spectacular. The brisket was a little dry and wasn’t worth the upcharge. The pork was probably the highlight - nice and smoky but a bit on the salty side. We also had the cole slaw, mac and cheese, corn pudding, and fried okra. They were all passable, but nothing great. The corn bread was pretty good, but it’s a small piece for $2.99. We were supposed to get Texas toast, but it was left out.

All in all, we were really frustrated with the app and the service, and not overly impressed with the food. We will go back after the hubbub dies down, and we will order from the counter and eat it while it’s fresh. I would like to try the ribs and sausage. I will steer clear of the app, since those orders seem to get de-prioritized!

I understand they are just figuring things out, but I hope things get better! If not, we will continue to go to Moe’s, a similar chain that just does...

I’m obsessed with City BBQ! Ever since I tried it the first time, I’ve been a faithful patron ever since. The menu, in my opinion, is a mix of NC and Texas bbq all in one place. I appreciate the variety of sauces and love the brush fire bbq sauce, the heat kick is perfection! The best side on the menu is fried okra. I freaking LOVE fried okra and to find it as a side dish menu item at a restaurant that has a drive-thru is like Heaven to me. The okra tastes fresh and lightly battered which is fried to perfection. Please never remove the okra off the menu, City BBQ. The banana pudding is amazing, sweet but amazing. The corn pudding is another side item I love. I find that their side dishes are some of the best in town. Oh, and the potato salad is out of this world. The hush puppies are yummy also. Seriously, the side dishes are my favorite offerings and I’ve not even started on how good their meat is at City BBQ. The pulled pork is moist, juicy and has the perfect amount of smoke flavor. I also love their Texas style sausage. I haven’t tried all of the meats they offer, but did also try the brisket once. The only somewhat negative opinion I have is regards to the brisket. The time I tried it, it was pretty dry. I love Texas style brisket, but the time I tried the brisket at City BBQ it was a let down, sorry to say. However, I will try it again one more time just to make sure it wasn’t a one time mishap and I’m hoping when I do that it will be juicy and tender, as brisket should be. We shall see. Otherwise, that doesn’t deter my overall impression of City BBQ and I am still a fan of this restaurant. I definitely recommend giving this place a try. The staff are very friendly and helpful if you should have a question. The menu is fantastic and so is their food and service. I appreciate the convenience of a drive-thru, without it feeling like a fast food restaurant. The prices are reasonable. Good location. Hours of operation is good too, as they stay open past 9pm. Anyway, my family and I love City BBQ and I think you will also. Just don’t skip out on their side dishes, they are the stars of the meal (no matter which ones you choose). Seriously, give them a try and I hope you love eating here as much as we do. Thanks City BBQ for coming to Wilmington,...

I’m originally from Ohio and city bbq was one of my aunts go to spots to use for outdoor parties. The food was always very good so I was happy to see one open up down here. I haven’t gone inside yet, both of my orders were done through the app and I used their curbside pick ip option. My first order was the original pulled pork sandwich with hush puppies. The pork was juicy and flavorful. It was heaped onto the sandwich and every bite was delicious. I went with the original bbq sauce which was a perfect complement to the pork. The hush puppies were also very good. Nice crunch and flavor. The next time I went I was a little disappointed in each item. I ordered the lolos pulled pork. This is a vinegar based marinated pork topped with coleslaw. Something in this had a spicy kick. I’m not sure if it came from the pork or the coleslaw. I didn’t like it though. Also this pork didn’t seem as juicy. Most bites were kind of dry. This time I tried the sweet bbq sauce which was very good. As a side I ordered their corn pudding. This is something I make at home and love. Theirs was quite bland. I added some salt to it, which helped a little but I think I just don’t like their recipe for this item. Finally I ordered a sweet tea which was definitely a northern sweet tea not a proper southern sweet tea 😆 it was slightly sweet but needed a bit more sugar. I will continue to go here and try other items. So far it’s been mixed but the items that were good were absolutely delicious. I’m eyeing those nachos next. Service was very fast. Ordering on the app is so simple and I have never waited more than 2 minutes after pulling into the spot before my food was...