City Smoke

We were here for the first time about a week ago. We sat at the bar, ordered drinks and appetizers. Our bartender was awesome, can’t remember his name (sorry). We had wings, tater tots, which come with some amazing sauce. Can I have the recipe? We also had the deviled eggs and a cheese dip. We loved the wings, so tasty. They were charred and just perfectly cooked, we also loved the sauce it came with! The only issue I had was the seasonal beer on the menu was listed at $ 4.5 but once we got the bill it was $ 8 per… my boyfriend had 4! Other than the wrong price being advertised we had a great experience. If we come back to Charlotte we will definitely stop in!

Went in for lunch on a very cold and snowy day. The Coffee and Baileys hit the spot. No flair to it, which is fine by me. Had the rotisserie chicken and added collard greens to the side. If you are on a low sodium diet then avoid all of these foods. Everything was juicy, tasty and hot. The waitress was very helpful. I will definitely be back next time I am in Charlotte.

Great sandwich and really enjoyed the pineapple BBQ sauce with the frys. Bartender was great and he was from Chicago so made it a little more fun for us. Had the sandwich special. Like a chopped smoked meat on a bun

Was in Charlotte alone for work on the Sunday of the Charlotte/​Seattle playoff game. All the bars downtown were hella packed and this place was quiet so I stopped in. The bartender was amazing! She was super friendly and very knowledgeable about the beer selection. The food was great and the service was awesome! I’ll for sure be back next time I’m in town. Great job!

I was surprised at the poor Unilocal ratings for this place. I went here afterwork with 30 co-​workers, we just showed up without warning and they were very accommodating. I think without us being there, there would not have been a very big crowd. We were just going to have drinks, but they let us hang at the bar, with 2 adjoining tables, so several of us also ordered food.
First, I was very impressed with the Bourbon/​whiskey selection. This isn’t something I know much about, but been trying to grow my palate in this area. They have an extensive list of Kentucky Bourbons, plus different scotch whiskey’s, etc. They aren’t cheap, but if you want to try some Bourbon, this is definitely a great place. They also have probably 10 craft beers on tap.
Since this is a BBQ place, I got the Pork Sandwich. I thought it was very tasty, comparable to Mac’s and other better BBQ places I’ve been to in Charlotte.
If you want a quiet place to hang out, sip some bourbon, grab a BBQ sandwich, this place has a nice vibe, and nice location. I’ll be back.

The wings here are great! Dry rubbed, oven roasted and finished on the grill. Served with a great blue cheese dressing and Devil Butter (hot sauce and butter mixed together). I placed a call in order and asked if they were whole wings or party style wings. The young lady informed me they were whole wings, they were not (ahhhh, our young people today). Anyway, I was still really pleased and can’t wait to try their other offerings!

This is my all time favorite BBQ joint! Every side dish I’ve had there is amazing. Standouts would be Mac and cheese and the banana pudding although everything I’ve had there I’ve loved.

Here’s a tip, just don’t go here. The food is mediocre and it is in uptown? Why??? Meats were so dry and burnt. Seriously, hire better chefs or cooks!

This is somewhere between 3 and 4 stars. Nice ambiance and pretty good food. Ribs (sweet), mac and cheese, and fried okra were my faves.

Ok place. We stopped in for a beverage and appetizer before having dinner elsewhere.
Chip and brisket chili appetizer was disappointing. Chili was more tomato sauce with a few veggies and jalapeños with sour cream. We had ONE piece of meat about ¾″ square in the whole dish.
The chicken wings someone else ordered looked and smelled great so maybe we just made the wrong choice.

I was not expecting flavor bbq in Uptown Charlotte but man this place delivered. I had the smoked wings, mac and cheese and the collards all of it was amazing. My girlfriends were all smiles with their food too.
Oh they validate parking which is a nice extra.

Very accommodating to our large party on a busy Friday night! The food was excellent. The cornbread muffins were mini size which was a little disappointing but the rest of the food definitely made up for it. Drinks were kept full, food was served at the right temps, and what a fun spot to visit in downtown Charlotte. Hope I get to go back soon!

This place should have a better rating. The ambiance was fun and the décor was neat. The food was delicious. Their special was a «pork apocalypse brisket burger». It was amazing, and I’m not even a huge pork eater. Our waiter Dan was hilarious and very attentive. I’d highly recommend giving this restaurant a try!

Had high hopes for this place and I HATE writing negative reviews but we just were not impressed.
We had a large group and upon arriving were offered drinks. After 3 attempts at ordering a craft beer I thought I would like and being told they didn’t have anything like what I was looking for (no stout? No Belgian type ale?) I switched to Jack and Coke. Then the server said they were out of Jack and Gentleman’s Jack and my only option was single barrel at $ 15 a drink. So finally went with a specialty drink that tasted watered down. As I started looking at the menu I learned they are a whiskey bay with like 30 types of bourbon starting at like $ 4. And my only option was single barrel at $ 15?
Came time we to order food and our waiter was nowhere to be found. After a good 10 minutes he came by and I ordered the brisket with Mac n cheese and loaded potato. Brisket was ok, not great not terrible, mac n cheese was ok but I didn’t feel it lived up to the other reviews. Potato was just bland.
I wanted to like it but just didn’t have a great experience all around. Will not be going back.

Lunch. Great selection of local beers, not a overwhelming list. I had the roasted chicken (½ portion was half a breast) it was plain but very tender. The bbq sauces on the table were a perfect match with the chicken, as I tried all three flavors. The mayo coleslaw was great, finely chopped with carrots but the potato salad was okay. The red potatoes, celery, ham and onion sounded great but there was too much mayo. The fried okra was great, as well as the mac n cheese. I did not realize they cater, my friend asked about a upcoming event and the manager came out and explained everything. Their prices for catering is reasonable and they were willing to travel 35 minutes away.
I gave 5 stars because the food was what I expected and a good value, service was friendly, bathrooms clean.

You have to try the roasted chicken with mac n cheese, collards, and corn bread.
Man, this food is so so good! A MUST if you are ANYWHERE near Uptown Charlotte, NC.

Had dinner here with clients and colleagues on a Monday night. The service was good and the staff had great personalities with a sense of humor. Enjoyed the peach smash and a colleague had the lemon ginger smash and enjoyed it.
I had the rib sampler… Three different types.
Prices seemed reasonable.
Restaurant is on the corner of Trade & College, in the Bank of America building… GPS had trouble finding it.

I went to City Smoke with a co-​worker a few weeks ago and was pleasantly surprised with the service we received, the atmosphere and the bbq!
I ordered one of their house salads with brisket, and although the brisket was not the best I’ve ever had, it was quite tasty and made for a delicious lunch.
We had no problem getting a table and had a charming server who was funny, attentive, and got all of our menu modifications correct!
I tried a taste of the mac-​n-​cheese from my co-worker’s place and it was pretty phenomenal… I’ll definitely order it the next time I’m there!
I’d love to go back for happy hour sometime, the bar seemed really neat and they have an extensive bourbon selection, so I’ll definitely be back!
City Smoke has my vote as a solid, not too pricey, bbq restaurant in uptown! A great place for lunch!

City Smoke was the first BBQ place I’ve been to since I moved to the Carolina’s. I’m seeing there are only 3 stars and I’m not sure why.
The atmosphere is cool, really laid back and has a brewery feel to it, which I like. They have chalkboards with all of their drink specials posted and they serve local beers, which I also like. My friend and I posted up in City Smoke for a couple hours to sip some drinks and have a couple snacks and other than the general location, we weren’t disappointed.
What I mean by the location is that, it’s hard to have that real BBQ feel in the middle of a city, for me anyways. I tend to think a BBQ joint would be the most legit as a hole in the wall, and city smoke is more contemporary. That doesn’t mean it wasn’t good! We got a couple local beer flights, the cucumber-​jalapeño cocktail and the bacon bourbon bloody mary. The cucumber-​jalapeño cocktail kicked my ass. That thing was so strong and it wasn’t that spicy, it was more refreshing. The bacon bourbon bloody mary stole the show though. It was hearty but sweet at the same time, in a good way. Just try it, you won’t be disappointed.
Finally, after like 2 hours of sipping making small talk with our server (he was pretty cool and recommended some other bars for us to check out), we ordered food. We shared a combo platter so that we could try everything. It came with two types of ribs, pulled pork, brisket and a couple sides. The green beans were decent, mac n cheese, killer. The meat was on point though. The ribs were tender, the pulled pork flavorful and the brisket was smoky. I was very pleased with everything we ate.
If you’re in the downtown area and looking for some BBQ, you should try this place out. It’s slightly hidden though. It’s like built into a big glass building, you have to really look for it but it’s worth it.

I met some friends here for dinner and drinks, finding the place is a little tricky especially if you don’t make frequent trips Uptown.
They offer valet but I’d suggest just parking I the BoA parking garage and taking the elevator down to the restaurant. The atmosphere is fine, nothing fancy but you should expect it from a BBQ joint. The place wasn’t busy so we were seated right away.
The menu is not very extensive, but includes all the classics: ribs, pulled pork and brisket just to name a few items. For starters we ended up ordering some wings. It’s not a bad deal for just $ 5 you get half a dozen wings with blue cheese and some other dipping sauce. The wings were very tasty! The came out hot and packed with flavor.
For my meal I went with the pulled pork sandwich and cheese grits. Meh, it was okay. I’ve had better pulled pork at other BBQ places and they didn’t really give a lot of meat on the sandwich… more bun than meat is no bueno!!! The cheese grits were decent… but again nothing to write home about. If I came back I’d stick with the wings.
So why the low score??? Aside from the average food the waitress/​bartender had a horrible attitude. I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again… if customer service is NOT your thing… please do us all a favor and pick another job!!! Shitty service ruins the experience and meal every time! Even if the food had been better I’d have to strongly consider give my money to someone who rolls their eyes at me and my guests AND ignores my requests while I’m eating (excuse me for needing a refill on my drinks and extra napkins… ugh!).
So try this place at your own risk… or just grab some wings to go!