City Barbeque — Restaurant in Winston-Salem

Fri 5/23/2025 10:58 PM

My first visit was 22 May 2025 and my 2nd visit was today. I didn’t know the place existed and I caught it out of the corner of my eye; being one to always be in search for the best bbq sammie, I turned around. I found the exterior to be extremely clean and pleasant. The glass was clean on doors and windows. Upon entering there was the light smell of smoke and I was thankful for that. Often times in some places, it is not present. That gives me pause. Looking around the space I appreciated the overall cleanliness and tidiness of it. I understood the flow of the room, appreciated the aesthetics, and the free feeling it offered. I chose from the easy to read overhead menu a pork samm with white slaw, and a side of mac and chz. When I asked and was told they had lemonade I had to have it. I was told a survey from the coded cup would allow for a complimentary dessert by a Mr. Derick who couldn’t have been a better host. I can not say enough about his service and work ethic. The man gathered no dust that day or on my return the next day. He actually was whom I had placed my order with and as I was at the drink station , had retrieved it from pick up and brought it to me. He busied himself with setting chairs and wiping down tables. They looked fine but I took it as duty to tasks. If it was reenlistment time for him, mine would say “Highly recommended for retention and advancement”.  A friend inquired the next day about lunch so I stated I could go back and the reply was it was a favorite in Greensboro. The statement was also added that this WS location wouldn’t be here long because the lot was always empty and Gboro was always busy. Had I not been on that side I never would have known about it so CITY, YOU HAVE TO PICK UP ON THE MARKETING!! So lets get to the review.

A high number from me is not easy btw.

Day 1. The pork Sammie was good and was great with the slaw. I appreciated the size for the cost. It had an ample amount of flesh on the delicious airy bread. The flavor was good , it even had a few bits of bark amongst the thick chunks and slices. All the sauces the offer were good with it IMO. You will not lose with any of them or a combination thereof. The mac and cheese is just that. It is definitely what it says and just that. They use what I think is called cavatelli noodles. It’s a twisted ribbed spiral. Its not what I make, but I would stop in for it if I had a craving. The Banana pudding had next day as sell by date. I have no problem with that. It was less fluffy and had receded into the cup some. It wasn’t too sweet. It had a whip and pudding with some sort of graham cinnamon sprinkle on top I believe. There was pudding and a few fresh bananas in it. It was tasty yet light. It could easily be better with a few 30% more cookie and nanna to help the fall while sitting in the dessert case. I liked the lemonade and the tea. The tea is a light tea and both beverages were what I needed them to be; “made in Crooklyn” (it’s a movie, watch it) You know I mixed them. The only con for this day is I believed the holding temp at serving was a bit low.

Day2 I followed the lead of my friend with Brisket and fries but I added cornbread as a side. I had to try it. I didn’t get slaw but should have. It was a decent portion but a bit drier than I would’ve liked. I imagined if it had 1.5 tablespoon of Brisket Au Jus. It would have been perfect. The skin on fries were fresh and perfect. The cornbread was a bit cakey, but the flavor was tasty. It comes as a little loaf.  Again there was Derick appearing out of nowhere filling the drinks, taking trays, wiping tables. He is going to keep things right in there. The con,,,,...

I stopped by here on a whim because I moved here recently and being from Texas my BBQ standards are HIGH. Ive tried now 3 different BBQ restaurants in the Triad and 2 of them went down as the worst BBQ Ive ever had in my life. City BBQ however ranks up there with some of the BEST BBQ Ive ever had in Texas. The pulled pork is THE best pulled pork I have ever had hands down. I dunno how they do it but the pulled pork is actually juicy, moist and tender not dry and stingy and this is me tasting it WITHOUT sauce. The brisket I was worried for because its near impossible to beat Texas Brisket however this brisket had a lovely crust, was extremely tender and had an amazing taste throughout the meat, it was smokey, well seasoned and super flavorful. The Baked beans have huge chunks of brisket in them, they are moderately sweet and deliciously smoky, the potato salad is different in that its creamy with small chunks of potato and egg, but the flavor is SPOT on, its tangy and mayonnaise-y and vinegary from the Dijon mustard in just the right places, you MUST try the corn pudding especially if you're not from the south, it reminds me of my family corn pudding fried in a cast iron recipe and it is bomb!! The Banana pudding is fresh and creamy and they somehow balanced some cinnamon in there without taking away from the banana flavor, its actually incredible and if I could steal the recipe for a family gathering and show it off as my own I absolutely would! If you're like me get the sweet tea, half sweet half regular and it'll be the perfect sweetness level! I also have to give a huge shout out to Derek for helping me at the drive through and even letting me taste the meat before I ordered since it was my first time, he was charming, welcoming and went above and beyond to make my first experience here amazing! I will absolutely be back, if not once a week!! Also the pricing is very decent for what you get! Thanks Derek and thanks City BBQ for giving me hope back of having good BBQ while im...

07/23/2025 I ordered deliver from City Barbeque. I'm unsure but since I live around the corner from here, I assume it came from the Jonestown Road, location in Winston Salem, NC. This is my second time ordering. The first time I ordered ribs on the bone, baked beans and potato salad and it was decent. The second time 7/23/25, I ordered the pull barbecue, collards, mac n cheese and potato salad and it was delivered around thirty minutes or less. I would suggest never ordering the pulled barbecue. It was very dry, and tasteless until you added the barbecue sauce. The collards tasted like they added sugar, vinegar and heavy handed on the salt. The mac n cheese tasted like a mouth full of old age cheese n lard with no good seasoned flavor. To me the only thing that tasted okay was the potato salad. I paid nearly $30 bucks for this including a tip for the delivery driver. I would like a refund and if you need a cook for the sides like collards, mac n cheese, potato salad, etc..... I can give you some tips. I am a southern cook from Georgia and we know how to season food. Sometimes less or no salt is best since the other seasoning have it in there already and meat should be cooked slowly in their own juices, preferably marinating over some hours, and never cooked frozen nor too fast so as to not come out dry and favorless. And please, please, no sugar in the greens, ugh..... Would I order again, I am all about second and third chances. If I did, I would only order the barbecue on the bone, potato salad and baked beans, say a pray and hope it is not too dry and salty. This is my honest opinion. I apologize, but I didn't take any pictures but I do have receipt of the purchase. In all fairness, I can't rate on the atmosphere because we...