Another spot in Dayton I decided I needed to try was City Barbeque. I could always smell the smoke wafting out when I stopped by Chick-fil-A, and let’s not even mention the fact that it’s attached to a Graeter’s ice cream shop.

City Barbeque

Founded by a BBQ competition team in 1999, City Barbeque’s menu offerings cover many of the US’s barbeque styles. According to their website: “Our pork shoulder is reminiscent of the southeastern United States, the brisket and sausage take you to Texas, and the ribs exude a blend of Memphis and Kansas City.” When I floated into the restaurant on a wave of smoke à la an old Warner Brothers’ cartoon, I decided to keep it simple with a pulled pork sandwich (slider sized for lunch) and my first ever taste of fried pickles:

Pulled Pork Slider

Fried Pickles

I was surprised that the pulled pork came sauce-less. I’ll confess that I had never had a pulled pork sandwich until freshman orientation at GT 6 years ago, but I’m pretty sure that all the variations I’ve tasted since then came pre-sauced. However, I discovered that the probable reason for this was the six sauces available at the table for use at my leisure. From North Carolina-style vinegar sauce to Kansas-style sweet red sauce, they had everything you might want to slather on your ‘Q. I decided to try their Original Kansas-style sauce, and I commenced dousing my pulled pork in lots and lots of the stuff–I tend to like the bun to be slightly mushy when I eat it. The sandwich was pretty good, and I actually struggled to finish the 1/4 lb slider. The generous portion of pork had a little fat, a little char, and a lot of yum.

I wasn’t so impressed with the fried pickles, which to me just tasted like pickles dipped in cornmeal. The batter was a little thin and didn’t have much flavor. Since this was my first time trying fried pickles though, maybe they were supposed to taste this way?

City Barbeque serves up the usual suspects found at a ‘Q restaurant: ribs, sandwiches (pulled pork, sausage, brisket, etc), and chicken. The sides are more of the same. I enjoyed my sandwich, but wished I had tried a different side with my meal.

www.cityqbbq.com