City BBQ
MAKING COMPETITION-QUALITY BARBECUE AN EVERYDAY OCCASION
70+
RESTAURANTS ACROSS 10 STATES
30+
LTO RECIPES CREATED
What were the aims of the assignment?
Global Montello sought to elevate their culinary offering with a refreshed food and beverage menu for their regional brand Honey Farms.
TCE was engaged to design an operationally streamlined program, capable of supporting a high-quality, contemporary, and convenient menu that would drive repeat, routine usage across a range of audiences and occasions.
What consumer challenges needed to be solved?
We identified a fundamental challenge: many consumers viewed barbecue as an occasional indulgence—heavy, time-intensive, and reserved for larger sit-down meals. While City Barbeque excelled at authentic barbecue, the category itself wasn't always associated with convenience, portability, or everyday use.
To unlock future growth, we needed to make barbecue feel more relevant for modern lifestyles without sacrificing the craftsmanship that made the brand special.
What insight informed the strategy?
City Barbeque had already mastered the craft of barbecue. What it hadn't fully unlocked was its versatility.
We recognized that barbecue could satisfy far more occasions than the category traditionally owns—from quick lunches and drive-thru meals to lighter entrées and portable handhelds. The key wasn't introducing barbecue to new consumers. It was helping consumers see barbecue in new ways.
Our strategy focused on making barbecue more accessible across formats, channels, and occasions without compromising its authenticity.
This ultimately became our culinary mission:
Make BBQ everyday.
How did TCE evolve the menu to achieve that goal?
We re-engineered the menu around the way guests actually eat.
Our work included:
Streamlining menu architecture for easier ordering
Elevating handhelds as a hero category
Creating stronger meal solutions and attachment opportunities
Introducing contemporary shareables and snacks
Refining samplers and plates around value and ease of choice
Building a more intentional balance between classic barbecue and signature innovation
Throughout the process of recipe and product development, we focused on helping guests build complete meals—not simply choose proteins.
How did we leverage innovation to attract new guests?
We developed both core and promotional offerings designed to bring new energy to the category while staying rooted in City Barbeque's pitmaster credentials.
New platforms such as loaded shareables, upgraded sandwiches, contemporary salads, and regional-inspired LTOs helped create excitement and expand the brand's relevance with younger guests.
In parallel, we built a long-term innovation pipeline consisting of more than 100 future LTO concepts to ensure the brand could continue delivering fresh news and reasons to visit.
What were the major operational challenges to overcome?
Any menu evolution must work for both the guest and the operator.
Working closely with the City Barbeque team, we evaluated every recommendation through the lenses of operational feasibility, food cost, equipment constraints, labor requirements, and profitability. We optimized existing platforms, leveraged current capabilities, and designed new items that showcased the brand's strengths without creating unnecessary complexity.
The goal wasn't simply to add innovation—it was to create innovation that could scale.
What were the business outcomes?
The evolved menu strategy has been rolled out system-wide, introducing new core products, refreshed menu architecture, and a stronger foundation for future innovation. Results have shown increases in average check, beverage attachment, and repeat traffic, while helping City Barbeque appeal to a broader range of guests and dining occasions.
Today, City Barbeque is better positioned to deliver on its growth ambitions by making competition-quality barbecue feel as relevant on a Tuesday lunch break as it does at a weekend gathering.