Backyard hospitality: We treat all like good friends who’ve come over on a summer day for a barbeque and good times. We’re friendly, helpful and care about your experience with us.

Frank Joseph Pizzo, 55, of Ostrander, OH, passed away Friday, July 19, 2019, at Select Specialty Hospital in Columbus, OH, with his loving family by his side. He was born January 2, 1964, in Erie, PA to the late Sam and Eleanor Ferrante Pizzo.

He was a graduate of Tech Memorial High School and Gannon University in Erie, PA. He moved to Columbus, OH in 2000, where he helped found the first City Barbeque. For the past 19 years, Frank served as City Barbeque’s Director of Training, opening nearly 50 restaurants during his tenure. Frank’s passion and focus was to serve and support others, and he inspired teammates to always improve a little every day. In his final conversation with friends and colleagues from City Barbeque, he said, “It was always all about the people.”

Frank was known for his warm and charitable heart, which led him to serve on the board of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, as well as serve Christmas Eve dinner each year at Columbus’s Faith Mission. Professionally, he was a member of the Association of Training and Development (ATD) and the Council of Hotel and Restaurant Trainers (CHART).

His love of people, relentless positivity, kindness, selflessness, and big booming voice will be missed by thousands of friends and co-workers
He is survived by three sisters, Paulette Cherico (Tony) of Pittsburgh, PA, Pam Reingold (Geoff), of Buffalo, N.Y., Maria Potthoff (Steve) of Erie, PA and many beloved nieces and nephews. Arrangements were handled by the John R. Orlando Funeral Home, Inc., of Erie, PA.

In honor of his mother, memorial contributions may be made to The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, Donor Services, P.O. Box 98018, Washington DC 20090-8018 (www.lls.org).

Message From Mike

Owning the Barbeque Lane.

Anniversaries & promotions

They’ve been here for how long?!

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Our latest openings and fabulous teams.

scholarship winners

The City Barbeque Scholarship Fund began in 2006 as a way for City Barbeque to support and promote educational opportunities for City Barbeque Teammates in their chosen field of study and has grown from supporting one Teammate each year to being able to support five scholarship winners consisting of Teammates and their families.
Since the scholarship’s inception, including this year, City Barbeque has awarded 47 scholarships.

Scholarships are awarded based on character, academics and financial need and recipients are selected by an outside independent committee through The Columbus Foundation.

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Raving Fans

Beachwood

Hello, We went to this location for dinner and I am sorry to say that I was not expecting a lot...I tend to keep the bar low for most chain restaurants. I had never been to one of your locations before...I was stunned. The staff welcomed us in - we were not the only people there or the only ones in line. Doretha (per the receipt) took our order. I was dumbfounded at hoe much fun she made ordering food. I never tip order takers (sorry) - I cannot say that anymore. There was no tip jar which I liked also - but I did tip her. She is a fabulous asset! The food was awesome and when we were leaving everyone wished us a nice evening. I have been to many five star restaurants (thus my - wrong - impression of most chains) This restaurant should have five stars; the food was to die for. It is not right around the corner, but we WILL be back for more of the delicious food..and hopefully to meet the delightful staff - especially Doretha! Thank you....it was a VERY refreshing visit to a place that treats the customer quite right.

Florence

My family and I went to city BBQ last night (2Jun, 8pm) for dinner. When we walked in my daughter who was “hangry” said she would not would not eat anything. Two ladies, one at the register and one working the line, took total control of the situation. They offered to cook just one chicken finger for my daughter to try. And when that didn’t work they cooked up a basket of chicken fingers and fries for my daughter. After a few frightening moments (JK) of my daughter staring down the basket she finally gave in and tried the chicken fingers. And what would you know but a big smile that came across her face and saying how good the chicken fingers were. If that wasn’t enough the ladies would periodically come back and check on my daughter to see how she was progressing. After eating, my daughter really opened up and became quite talkative. That is just one little tid-bit of the night but I wanted to write and tell the corporate office what a gem they have at the Florence, KY store. Those ladies were the highlight of my families night and I wish I would’ve have asked their names so I could’ve written their names in this quite long text. I know one lady plays golf at Boone Links, in Florence, every Wednesday because we had just come from the same course for my daughters golf match and that was a little ice breaker. And the other lady was working the register for us. If you have read this whole text so far please tell the store and the ladies, if you figure them out, that my family was very appreciative of their efforts and hospitality. I grew up in the restaurant industry and also have worked in a restaurant for a few years in and out of college. I have never felt so grateful and welcomed before. Thank you for allowing me to share.

Greenwood

On June 17th, I believe that was the date, I came to the Greenwood location to pick up 2 motherload orders that were placed online. The cashier could not locate the order, so she asked for Tara to come help her. We were then taken to a different register while Tara tried to locate the order. She discovered that the order was actually placed for the downtown location not greenwood. She was SOOO kind about it. She told me to sit down and not worry that she would get it taken care of. What she didn't know was that I had spent the last 24 hours in the ICU with my gravely ill father in law and a family member ordered this food to feed my family during this time. She not only took care of the mistake on my end but she offered me a drink while I waited and a piece of chocolate cake for the inconvenience. She was so kind. In a world where kindness is hard to come by, she was there with the kindness that I needed at that moment and she had no idea. She was doing her job and doing it very well. My emotions were high as my husband and I faced the most difficult thing we have ever had to do and she made things just a little easier during that time. So to Tara at the greenwood location, thank you. Your act of kindness was not overlooked and very appreciated. Keep up the good work and setting an example to your co-workers on what customer service is all about. :)

Huntersville

I routinely order lunch from this store. I absolutely love the way every employee has a smile and makes me feel important each time I come in. They make me feel important down to knowing my name. The cook, in the back, even smiles and waves. My last order was large, due to ordering from my workplace. Dot and Cheryl made sure every detail and request was taken care of down to the specific request for butter and ranch dressing. They packed the 10 meals separately so it would be easier for each employee to find their meal on returning back to work. They even helped me carry the large order to my car. The reason I return to City BBQ time and time again is because Danielle(Owner),her managers and employees go the extra mile to make each person that dines there feel special AND that the food is super duper yummy!! Thank you!!

Toledo

My name is Doug and I’m a BBQ freak. I worked on Silica Rd. a long time ago and was really into coming to this same store for lunch break BBQ. Around age 30, I got restless in Toledo and moved around the country a bit. Houston was one of my homes and I fell in love with SO MUCH access to great BBQ everywhere! I thought often down there about the BBQ places I’d been to and food I had before then and only a select few, in hindsight, ever stacked up like they’d even be able to compete were they somehow located in Texas too. City BBQ was one of them. So imagine my joy when I found myself moving back to Toledo at the end of last year after 12 years away that City BBQ was still there!!! The only downside is there’s only one location in the area and it’s not really “close” for +90% of us. But I finally made my way back over there last Sunday and let me tell you what! Hallelujah. Here’s where I get to the important part in my opinion. The food was outstanding as always and, with my(sad but true) traveled and snobbier palate, it legitimately stacked up to the great Texas BBQ that was so ubiquitous down there. But it was the service experience that made this visit worthy of me writing you about it. You’ve got two ladies there that simply made my day and I think they should be recognized for that. Laura, who seems to be the front-of-house manager, greeted me as soon as I walked in the door and didn’t miss a beat filling orders like a smiling octopus doing the arm work of 4 people by herself. I was impressed before I even ordered. When I got to the register, the sweetest young lady named Emma took my order and chatted me up about my choice of sliced brisket(which was awesome! Great bark!). That was key after a recent visit to Deet’s BBQ ended in disappointment as they ONLY sell chopped brisket- which is shady and lazy for reasons I won’t get into here. But y’all don’t exclusively do that to your brisket and I commend you for it. Laura filled my order and, like Emma, kept the experience from door to door smooth and fun. She even had the carver get me an even better pound of sliced brisket after deeming the original serving too fatty. I love fatty brisket anyways but just stood quiet in appreciation that somewhere in Ohio there are people who take their BBQ seriously. It’s not common and that blew me away that Laura cared about stuff like that that most of the people I know in Ohio wouldn’t even notice. I’m not a Yelp-er and I’m not interested in that whole review world. But I had an exceptional experience and, to me, I’d want to know about that if I were in your shoes reading feedback. That store in Toledo and those two ladies, especially Laura, solidified to me that my favorite BBQ place in Toledo 12+ years ago as well as in 2019 is still City BBQ. Bravo, and 100% I’ll be seeing y’all again real soon.