Most barbecue chains run specials as marketing. City BBQ runs two of them as structure — the flat $3.58 two-side bundle and Rib Bone Tuesday — and they are permanent features of the pricing rather than a promotion that expires. Understanding both is worth more than any coupon, and one of them is a third off the item it applies to, every single week.
City BBQ prices at a glance
The prices referenced on this page, collected up front. They vary by location and change without notice.
| Order | Alone | With two sides | Per side |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pulled Pork | $8.39 | $11.97 | $1.79 |
| Beef Brisket | $10.78 | $14.36 | $1.79 |
| More Cowbell | $10.79 | $14.37 | $1.79 |
| Half Chicken | $11.99 | $15.57 | $1.79 |
| Full Slab of Ribs | $27.59 | $31.17 | $1.79 |
| Pack | Price | Feeds | Per head |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pick Two Meats with Two Sides | $21.57 | 2 | ~$10.79 |
| Family Pack | $29.99 | 4 | ~$7.50 |
| Judge\u{0027}s Sampler with 2 Pint Sides | $46.07 | 5 | ~$9.21 |
| The Motherload | $89.99 | 10–12 | ~$7.90 |
Rib Bone Tuesday
City BBQ sells St. Louis-cut spareribs three ways: a full slab at $27.59, a half slab at $15.59, and — unusually for a chain — by the individual bone at $2.70. On Tuesdays the per-bone price drops to $1.80.
The math is blunt. Six bones on a Tuesday is $10.80. The same six bones on a Wednesday is $16.20, and a half slab, which is roughly six bones, is $15.59. Tuesday is a third off, and it also happens to be the only way to buy ribs at City BBQ in a portion that suits one person eating lightly. If you eat ribs here with any regularity, this is the day.
The caveat: ribs are the weakest item on this menu relative to price, and at $27.59 a full slab they cost more than Sonny\u{0027}s charges for a comparable St. Louis order at $17.99 without being better. Tuesday is what makes them worth ordering — it is a genuine deal on a merely reliable product.
The everyday deal nobody calls a deal
Every sandwich, chicken plate and rib order at City BBQ appears twice on the board: alone, and "with Two Sides". The gap is always $3.58, which prices each side at $1.79 against $2.39 to $3.59 à la carte.
Take the bundle unless you genuinely want only the sandwich. Which two sides to pick is a separate argument, settled in the City BBQ sides ranking.
Lite Lunch: the sub-$10 meal
Five items carry a Lite Lunch version at a smaller portion and a lower price. Lite Lunch Pulled Pork is $5.99 against $8.39 for the full size, and $9.57 with two sides — the cheapest complete meal City BBQ sells, and one of very few genuine sub-$10 barbecue meals left at a national chain. Lite Lunch Turkey Breast and Lite Lunch LoLo\u{0027}s Pulled Pork with Slaw are $6.59, or $10.17 bundled. Lite Lunch Beef Brisket at $8.39 is the outlier, and at that price the full Pulled Pork sandwich is better value.
Group packs, where the real savings live
The Family Pack at $29.99 is the single best-value item on the menu at roughly $7.50 a head. Two of them feed eight for $59.98, against $95.76 for eight individually bundled pulled pork plates — 37 percent saved. For ten or more the Motherload at $89.99 takes over. Larger than that and you should be pricing meat by the pound, which the City BBQ catering guide works through in detail.
Building a week around it
- Tuesday — six rib bones at $1.80 each, $10.80. The best value day of the week, comfortably.
- Any weekday lunch — Lite Lunch Pulled Pork with Two Sides, $9.57.
- Family dinner — Family Pack, $29.99. Do not build it out of individual plates.
- Big group — Motherload, $89.99, plus a gallon of tea at $5.99 rather than $3.59 a cup.
A word on limited-time items
City BBQ rotates seasonal items and occasional promotions at restaurant level across its roughly 80 locations, and unlike the $3.58 bundle or the Tuesday rib price, those come and go without notice. Treat anything not listed on the City BBQ menu as location-specific until you have seen it on the board yourself.