IT’S SUMMERTIME! TIME FOR FAMILY AND BARBEQUES AND FRIENDS AND BARBEQUES AND VACATIONS AND BARBEQUES AND ROAD TRIPS AND BARBEQUES AND BEACHES AND BARBEQUES AND CAMPING AND BARBEQUES AND PICNICS AND BARBEQUES and…BARBEQUES!

EXECUTIVE MESSAGE

Hello, Team City BBQ!

Who is your customer?

Every teammate at City Barbeque serves a customer and serving that customer must be the priority each day we come in to work. For those who work in the joints, the customer is that guest who walks through the door or orders online in pursuit of some great ‘que! For those on the catering team, it’s that group of individuals who have entrusted us with their important event. For those in a support role, the customers are those frontline teammates in the joints and catering needing your support to help deliver competition quality and backyard hospitality a reality each day.

We have an opportunity to create something very special at City Barbeque. I consider our team, culture, and guest experience to be points of differentiation from our competitors, something to leverage as we scale. This is our opportunity to strengthen our culture, to take our guest and teammate experience to the next level. Accomplishing this requires each of us to expand our definition of “customer” to include co-workers—most importantly, those frontline teammates working every day in our joints.

Let’s face it: the joints are the economic engine of this business. All revenue is generated through the work being done every day within the four-walls. Each of us either serves a guest, or serves someone who serves the guest, but no one role is more important than the other: it takes this entire team for us to own the barbeque lane. A team dedicated to serving each other, serving our guests, and—most importantly—ensuring our frontline teammates are enabled and empowered to deliver competition-quality food with backyard hospitality without friction.  

Teammate engagement is all about connection, both with our internal and external guests. As I have said before, at City Barbeque we put our internal customer—our team—ahead of our external customers. That by no means takes away from the importance of our guests; after all, as one of our guiding principles states, we are paid by the guest. We put our team before our guests because if we hire the best and brightest in every community we operate, if we embrace them, if we empower them, and if we instill in them our core values and purpose of serving and creating happiness, we cannot help but deliver on our purpose to all who experience our craft.   

Connection with our customers means to find reasons to celebrate with all customers, internal and external, personalizing our purpose to create belonging. I ask each of you to take responsibility for being that positive force for those around you. Positive energy is contagious: if we all take responsibility for it, it will spread. This is something I am committed to and promise to work harder every day at, and I ask you to do the same. If we each take responsibility for making each other’s day better, every single day, we’ll release the full potential and engagement of our team. If we accomplish that, we all win.

Thank you all for everything you do to make City Barbeque a little better every day. I wish you and your family the absolute best and hope you are enjoying your summer. If there is anything I or any member of the team can do to better support you, please let us know.

Thank ‘que!
~ Mike Muldoon

OPENING SHOTS

WE WON! WE WON!

 Thank you for voting and spreading the word—we brought it home for City Barbeque!  Stay true, Mike

Four Pillars

TEAM

Lots of hard work recently has gone into the complete remodel of our GM/AGM MIT training program, which was launched at the beginning of the month. We are very excited to be able to train our new managers with this amazing redesigned material and program to enhance and elevate their experience. We are taking this same process and applying it our other MIT manuals. Be on the lookout!

Another super exciting change we have worked on is our City Map. Take a moment to review the City Map for detailed development information for you and your team. Added resources make the new City Map a very beneficial tool. Get your copy today.

~ Aletha Dawson, Director of Training

Guest

The absolute best way for us to drive frequency with folks is to get them into City Rewards and make sure they stay active once they join the program. That’s why it’s so important to ask everyone at the register if they’re earning points on their order. With that in mind, we’re rolling out a new mantra to help everyone remember: every guest, every time.

What are you asking? “Are you earning points today?”

Who are you asking? Every guest, every time!

Remember, a City Rewards member comes in twice as often as a guest who isn’t enrolled in the program, and that frequency adds up! Engage your teams, bolster your sales, and connect with your guests: just remember to ask every guest, every time. You’ll be amazed with the results!

~ Annica Conrad, Chief Brand Officer

Process

Good day City BBQ! 

We are so excited to get back to opening new joints in Q3!  With these openings, we will introduce our latest joint prototype, which includes a double-sided Boards and Sides line.  This new design is made for ultimate efficiency and better flow of orders to all destinations (Dine-In, Drive-Thru, Curbside).  It also will help to reduce waste and labor.  It’s a big step forward as we continue our pursuit of Owning the BBQ Lane!  Woodstock, GA is the first joint with these features.  We will share pictures and trainings with everyone once it is complete. 

Other process items we are working on include: Google Food Ordering, ReviewTrackers roll out, InMoment upgrade and roll out, and the evaluation of our current and potential POS systems.  We also will complete the implementation of fry oil filter machines to all joints later this month.  There is a lot to be excited about and we can’t wait to bring these processes to the field!

Thank you,

~ Dave Skerl, Director of Strategic Implementation

Financial

We in Accounting and Finance want to thank all of you for all your work throughout this barbeque season.   We are still tabulating all the results, but we certainly closed out the 4th of July with a bang!!!   So great to see guests coming back and the building of our loyalty base.  

 We had a few individuals in our department leave over the last few months and we are now back to being fully staffed.   I want to extend a warm welcome to:

• Alex Dauer  -  Director of FPA

• Priyanka Nath - Senior Accountant

• Corey Hemphill -  Payroll Manager

• Tara McNeil - Senior Accountant

Alex will be reporting to Greg Lemenchick and the other three will be reporting to Tadd Christensen.  So you may get an e-mail from any one of these individuals, and if you see them in the office, make sure to stop by and introduce yourself.  We will be sending out a communication soon that tells you a little about each person, what their journey has been to get to City Barbeque, and what they will be supporting in their new roles.   We feel very fortunate to have each of them join our team and bring their experience and expertise with them.   

Still a few more weeks in the 2023 Barbeque Season – continue the good work of creating and serving happiness!

~ Diane Reed, CFO

CATERING CHATTER

FIRST HALF 2023

I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate our Joints and Catering teams on the tremendous first half of 2023 in Gross Catering Sales! Together, we finished the first half ahead of the sales budget by $485k and a Prior YTD Increase of $2.1M 18%, serving and creating a lot of happiness at over 116,000 events across the country, serving 710,000 guests.  We achieved an all-time record sales period of $4.1M in period six.    

 As we focus on setting the standards others follow and delivering on our promise, our Catering CSI score is 95% with 916 surveys.  This is a 3% increase YOY.   The ultimate compliment is when a guest recommends you, and City BBQ scored 99% with the guests who took our survey.  What do you say we make it 100% in the second half?  

Because of the great work our people do in our Joints and on Catering Events to make every detail perfect for all our guests and the host the hero for providing delicious City BBQ food, together we will continue to grow Catering sales in a BIG Way!  Here is why our systems work so well and our business continues to grow. 

The Catering Institute states that restaurant catering companies must do the following, and we continuously work to check all the boxes.

 Operators should invest in three key areas to drive growth:

• Reliable, on-time delivery

• Online ordering and menus designed for large groups

• High-impact marketing and sales channels, such as third-party marketplaces, social media, and catering sales teams

Regarding Catering delivery, it’s no surprise that on-time (or slightly early) delivery is the #1 most prioritized factor. Compared with personal food orders, food for work is extremely high stakes. Late, cold, or poorly prepared orders can negatively impact business results or professional reputations. Restaurants recognize the importance of reliable delivery, and operators say they’re finding ways to expand delivery capacity 45% of business catering providers are adding more resources for in-house delivery or finding new options for outsourced catering delivery.

 Let’s continue to focus on making City BBQ reliable and our guest’s #1 choice for their catering needs. Remember: many of our clients/guests order a lot, and nothing will make them seek out a different option faster than a meal that does not arrive on time, as ordered. We must continue to work together and focus on execution and following our systems and processes that will give our guests peace of mind and make them look like heroes.

 Top 5 Joint Catering Sales Increase YTD through Period Six: 

Top 5 Catering Sales Joints YTD through Period Six:

FEEDING THE WORKPLACE: How restaurants win in the new business catering landscape -  ezcater.com

What’s driving catering growth today? Why is the trajectory of business catering so positive when so many more people are working from home today, at least part of the time? Two reasons. First, according to Pew research data, 6 in 10 American jobs must be done in person, and based on our research, the number of people who have fully remote roles is very small (only 5% of the people we surveyed). Secondly, hybrid work has actually created more reasons to purchase food for work. Many hybrid workplaces offer free lunch to encourage onsite attendance, and many employers view food as a way to bring staff together, ordering meals and snacks to boost connection and camaraderie at work. While many business catering buyers cite traditional use cases such as holiday parties, team meetings, and client meetings, the second most common reason they say they order food is for appreciation, thanks, or as an onsite perk. In a post-COVID world, employers are spending more money on food to attract and retain talent and incentivize onsite work.

With the “return to work” still in progress, business catering growth is likely to continue. According to ezCater surveys, overall food spend is on the rise — and for companies with a hybrid workplace, employee attendance increases when food is provided.

Stay true!

~ Scott Erwin, Director of Off-Premise Business 

TEAMMATE ENGAGEMENT

TEAMMATE SPOTLIGHT

RAY MILLS

JULIE FOREMAN

RAVING FANS

AVON

The folks at City BBQ in Avon, Ohio, are amazing! Zechariah and Nick the General Managers are some of the best I have ever met at a restaurant! In fact, every associate that I interacted with gave me excellent customer service. Besides the great customer service, the food is outstanding. I’ll even go so far as to say that it is Exceptional!  If you are in the Avon, Ohio area, do yourself a favor, grab your family and stop in for an unforgettably delicious meal!!!!!!

CHESTER ROAD    

This is our 3rd time here and this time we brought our kids and Johnathan was very patient as he took our order. The food here is excellent and the service is as well! Keep up the good work! 

FAIRLAWN

"I could write a poem about the wonder that is Abbey from City BBQ in Fairlawn you know what I will. A haiku for Abbey

Pickles are the best

Abbey knows how it is done

So many pickles

I offhandedly mentioned to Abbey that I loved pickles and she DELIVERED. She brought me LOADS of pickles and I physically cannot express my gratitude for the tasty and delicious pickles that graced my tongue. I absolutely loved having the presence of Abbey for this wonderful wedding I attended and she offered the best customer service and gave me the best pickles in the world. I love Abbey, she is my queen."

FLORENCE

Tonight we had the pleasure of experiencing truly outstanding customer service, and I cannot praise it enough! From the moment I entered the establishment, completely  busy but was greeted with warm smiles and genuine enthusiasm. The staff went above and beyond to ensure my needs were met and that I had an exceptional experience.

What impressed me most was the attentiveness and professionalism demonstrated by the entire team! Thank you so much!

HARRODSBURG ROAD     

I drive 551 miles at least once a year just for City BBQ. The people, atmosphere and food are absolutely top notch. I have NEVER been disappointed. I will have my wedding at Harrodsburg Road.

HIGHLAND HEIGHTS

My boyfriend and I visit this location frequently, and the employees, food, and experience is always AMAZING! But, today was a little different. We stopped by around 12:40 and we were met with the nicest employee, Tim! Tim insisted on checking our bag of food to make sure everything was perfect before handing it over to us. He even gave us complimentary cookies! You can tell that he genuinely cares so much about his customers! Our sandwiches also tasted phenomenal, and the cornbread??? So yummy!!!! This location is THE BEST!

HIGH POINT

Excellent experience - this was our first time here and we weren’t sure what to expect given that we’re very loyal to the local barbecue places.

We were immediately greeted with warm attitudes from the staff and an all-round friendly vibe from the restaurant - great start! Then the smell hit. Goodness!

We both decided to go with something we could easily compare against local options - the Lolo’s Pulled Pork sandwich. When our food was ready (quick turnaround!) we were impressed by the serving sizes - massive chunks of pulled pork were practically climbing out of the sandwiches. The flavor was smoky and the vinegar sauce, while not quite as tart as a traditional NC vinegar based sauce, was lovely. The French fries were perfect and not too crispy and I’m so glad to have found a restaurant that doesn’t over bread their fried okra!

We already know well be coming back many times - hoping for a Kernersville location soon!

HURSTBOURNE  

Working in the corporate world I tend to visit restaurants regularly for meetings and a bite and were blown away with the service we received from Hailey, she was kind and very informative. She gave us suggestions on sides to get and did an amazing job of providing some of the best service we as a whole have ever been provided. In this day in age service like that is a rarity and I genuinely feel she deserves to be celebrated for her hard work and dedication. TY Hailey for making our day great.

PARK RIDGE

"I called the store panicking; I needed sides for a company cook out and called the morning of. Timothy the Manager, just opened the store. He calmed me down and said, "I got you". He certainly did and even delivered my order to our office.

We purchased Mac-n-cheese and Baked Beans. The team LOVED them both and came back for seconds. But honestly, Timothy's dedication to his customer was outstanding! I absolutely will be using them again, but this time... I'll make sure I order it earlier. Thank you Timothy!

REYNOLDSBURG

My son picked City Barbeque for his celebration meal. He is first generation college grad and did it with honors and double major. I had special requests and Kenny and his crew made sure everything was correct and delicious. Great food for a great day, thank you!!

CATERING RAVES

• Aaron was amazing! He was very professional and everything was set up perfectly! Labeled and ready to go for our big meeting! The food was delicious! We are ordering again next week!

• Alicia was great setting everything up in our small space and explaining all we needed to know.

• Alyssa and her partner (I don't remember his name) texted that they were on their way, arrived early, were very professional and worked extremely well together. Our buffet line and appetizer/drink station were set up on time and were thoughtfully displayed and very attractive. Alyssa and her partner communicated with me frequently that they were ready to begin appetizer service and then the main service whenever I was. Our event was outdoors under a tent but there was a serious thunderstorm that blew through for about an hour during service. The City BBQ team was unfazed. They kept food dry and protected from the elements and gracefully facilitated feeding almost fifty people, even with the wind blowing and the rain pelting down. They expertly packaged up all the leftovers and helped carry them into my house and they did a fabulous job with clean up. They hauled off the trash and after they left, there was no evidence they had even been here. As usual, City BBQ food quality and quantities were excellent. I can't thank you enough for the excellent job.

• Antonia with the Lexington/Louisville area was excellent with communication and answered questions late at night. She’s the definition of going above and beyond for the customer. The food was really good and was a hit with everyone. The venue and my wedding coordinator appreciated the workers communication. Overall it was a great experience having City BBQ at my wedding

• Ashlee, Alicia, Logan, and Cam made our wedding so special! We got a Honeymooner Midnight Snack and they also came and brought me a jacket when I was outside for pictures and it started raining!! They were definitely one of our favorite parts of the wedding!

• Christina is the ultimate professional. Her and her team were knowledgeable, friendly, helpful, fast and genuinely seemed like they wanted us to have a great event. They reassured us. Everything will go well. And it did! Our company employees loved it.

• Crystal is the greatest!!

• Dani was easy to work with and was very accommodating when we had to switch our location due to the weather.

• Danielle in charge of catering was great to work with. The delivery was on time; set up nicely and efficiently! Very courteous staff that went above and beyond to ensure we had everything and was all setup to serve as scheduled for a retirement luncheon. Thank you for the great food and service!

• Danielle our Catering Manager made the experience so easy and loved having the team set it up for us. Made it look more professional.

• Delivery server, Tinzley was fantastic! On time, professional, pleasant, up beat. She really took pride in the dishes and making the presentation look appealing and appetizing.

• Everything was great and Gretchen did an awesome job with delivery and setting everything up perfectly!

• Everything was set up really well. All utensils were given including extras. Crystal was very thorough with setup, ensuring our event went smoothly.

• Everything was top notch from beginning to end. Placing the order with Danielle was a breeze and she gave me more than enough information to complete my order which was greatly appreciated. Delivery was prompt and had all the supplies we needed. I will definitely order again.

• Gretchen was amazing & very efficient. She was a pleasure to work with!!!

• I can always count on city bbq to make me look great! I think I counted 5 graduation parties 2 funeral luncheon 1 baby shower and 1 50th birthday celebration all with food from city BBQ over the last 9 or 10 years. You all are my "go to" .... Joshua said Shelley would be great and she absolutely was! Can I get the points to my account?

• I loved working with Paula Hobbs. She was very experienced with the questions I had and recommendations I needed!

• I ordered yesterday for a catering and within 10 minutes received an email from Temple and Angela. Great support in placing my order and then Sara delivered with plenty of time to set up and was very professional. I will come back!

• James was very polite and helpful!!!

• Karri arrived early and was very precise with the set up. Appreciated her friendliness and professionalism. The food was attractively displayed and tasted great. My guests were impressed and very happy.

• Kay was absolutely amazing and food was delicious!

• Kim was professional and setup everything perfectly! She was awesome, food fantastic!

• LeBraun was the City BBQ employee who set up our catering experience and he was very friendly and helpful. I really appreciated the wonderful service he provided. He's an excellent representative of your company. I hope you share this with him. He deserves the recognition.

• Libby and Melissa did an excellent job! They were on time, the food was hot, and everything was labeled. They both had positive, friendly attitudes. It was a pleasure working with them!

• Lisa was on time (a bit early as she allowed extra time for traffic and construction between the north side and our location on the south side—I appreciated that!) She was friendly, enthusiastic, and thoroughly professional. The order was accurate. Everything was set up quickly and efficiently. The food was delicious and plentiful, with food left for people to take home and enjoy later. This is at least our third experience with City Barbecue Catering. Can’t wait for our next opportunity to use it!

• Sara and Chrystal were excellent and professional. They were prepared and willing to go above and beyond to keep things moving!

• The food is excellent and I love that your company delivers it and its correct. Hillary was very nice too!

• The food looks great, tastes great and our delivery driver Gretchen was super helpful.

• The set up and delivery professional was amazing! Everything was perfect!! Thank you Milly!!!!!

• This is my 3rd large catering order for a church event. Everything was smooth, easy for me and the food was good. Kristine is the BEST to work with!

• Tinzley was very professional and thorough. She was on time and set up things quickly. She double checked to make sure everything was good to go.

• You catered our Wedding Rehearsal Tailgate at Kenneland and we had rave reviews on the entire experience. Our guests loved every dish. Thank you!

SPEAKING OF ROAD TRIPS, HERE’S THE FAMOUS IDAHO POTATO TOUR…AT A CITY BARBEQUE NEAR YOU!

QUEMMUNITY

Highlights from this quarter: Participants at the WFF Leadership Conference 2023; Cristo Rey students wrapping up their internships with us at the Support Center.

BE A POSITIVE MEMBER OF THE COMMUNITY!

Have you participated in any community or charity event/drive, or volunteered for any cause, either as a team or individually, at work, home, church? Please send your information and any photos you can provide to hr@citybbq.com, with Quemmunity in the subject line. We’d love to publish them in a future newsletter under this feature! We want to “share the wealth in a sustainable fashion!”

INSIGHTS

RECOGNITION AND APPRECIATION: WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE?

Appreciation and recognition are often confused, and there’s a slight distinction between the two.

Appreciation is about who someone is, and recognition is about what someone has done.  The key difference is that appreciation is a way to show gratitude for a person’s value, whereas recognition is showing gratitude for their actions.

Example:  One of your managers just conducted a great managers meeting.  After the meeting, you tell them, “You did an excellent job sharing the needed information with the team.  The Pre-Shift planner organized, you facilitated questions with ease, and you got buy-in from your team.  Great work!”  This scenario focuses on what the manager accomplished, and, in turn, is an example of recognition.

Another example:  Your team has been working with you for some time now.  In a Pre-Shift Meeting, you speak up to tell them, “I truly value the time and commitment you put in for the team.  Having you with us means a great deal and you are valuable and important to us.”  This acknowledgement aligns with personal qualities, which shows appreciation, not a tangible accomplishment in which they have succeeded.  This is a great example of appreciation.

Both appreciation and recognition are important aspects to demonstrating gratitude, but they are different and serve unique purposes.  We often rely on recognition to express gratitude in response to a person’s performance or accomplishments, but appreciation is just as important.  It is discussed repeatedly that showing appreciation builds the foundation for people to feel more valued as a person.  This then can drive engagement, build relationships, and propel them to do their best work.   It is obvious why appreciation also needs to be our focus, but we need to work on making that happen!

 How will you make sure your team knows when they are being appreciated or given recognition?