Often you find fast casual restaurants focused more on the ‘fast’ than anything else {see: quality, taste, variety, experience}. And while Americans have embraced the fast casual concept for the occasional meal, sometimes you just want to go where you feel like family. And that’s exactly how we felt walking in to City Barbeque in Carmel the other week.
“WELCOME!” exclaimed City Barbeque rep Katelyn as we walked in. She was there to meet us and show us around their Carmel location a bit, but not before being peppered with questions by my kids.
“Are you cooking the food yourself?” said my 8yo.
“Well I don’t but our chefs do and they make it all from scratch right here at the restaurant,” she replied.
“WHAT IS THAT HUGE THING?” Anyone who knows my 5yo knows she likes yelling. She was pointing at a black smoker near the kitchen.
“That’s a smoker for the meat – can you smell it working?” Katelyn said.
“What is this bottle over here?” my curious 8yo was pointing to something called Cheerwine.
“That’s Cheerwine – it’s a really tasty soda that sometimes people buy from us by the box,” she said.
These questions were all ways to really get into the {sorry, pun coming} meat of City Barbeque’s work. We learned it’s a family-owned business out of Columbus, Ohio with 5 locations in Indiana. They pride themselves on their ‘backyard hospitality’ – which we certainly witnessed while we were there – and ‘competition-worthy quality.’
A tray of goodies found their way in front of us and my kids immediately devoured the macaroni and cheese, then skipped right over to banana pudding before I knew it. All kinds of meats and other sides dot the menu with plenty for even the pickiest eaters.
Plus fundraisers for schools, scout groups and teams that give back 25% of the money earned? This seemed more generous than the others I’ve seen around our area.
“That was good, mom!” said the 8yo as we walked out, with a goody bag of leftovers for later.
“I WANT MORE CHEERWINE!” said the 5yo.
City Barbeque has five Indianapolis-area locations found in Avon, Fishers, Carmel, Greenwood and downtown near the campus of IUPUI. Visit https://www.citybbq.com/ for additional details and to get your own peek at their menu. Want to eat a City Barbecue for free?
