City Barbeque is a fast-casual barbeque chain founded in Columbus, Ohio, in 1999 by founder Rick Malir and his wife, Bonnie Coley-Malir. City Barbeque has over 70 company-owned [1] restaurants across ten states and is headquartered in Dublin, Ohio. Mike Muldoon currently serves as the company's CEO.[2]
History
The first City Barbeque location opened in a former doughnut shop in Upper Arlington, Ohio (located at 2111 W Henderson Road, Columbus, Ohio, and still in operation as of 2025).[3][4][5] A number of delays pushed back the opening of that first location, so Founder Rick Malir started fulfilling catering orders out of his home to sustain the business while waiting for the restaurant to be ready.