"City Barbecue is here for you on your best days and your darkest days." – Matt
The See Food Diet Podcast's Memorial Day episode brings together hosts Bob, Kate, and Matt alongside returning guest Nila M. Shyamalan for a gloriously chaotic, food-obsessed hang. The episode kicks off with a deep dive into hot dog discourse — toppings, condiments, steamed vs. grilled, and the revelation that little smokies (not cut hot dogs) are the "traditional" pig in a blanket filling — before spiraling into a passionate discussion about Cincinnati chili variations, with Price Hill Chili emerging as a surprise favorite over Skyline. The crew covers kielbasa, bratwurst, Korean hot dogs at Myungrang in the Short North, and a full barbecue breakdown that culminates in an unexpectedly heartfelt and hilarious extended love letter to City Barbecue — including the story of how it became forever tied to grief after being catered at a family funeral.
The second half of the episode gets nostalgic with a segment about beloved family recipes that, in hindsight, were a little unhinged — including Kate's mom's minimalist brothy potato soup (water, milk, butter, potato — that's it) and Bob's story of his dad's hearty cream-of-everything chicken noodle dish that his grandma slowly dismantled into an unrecognizable can-chicken catastrophe. The hosts also swap childhood food memories involving bologna salad, grilled peanut butter sandwiches dipped in chili, and the regional card game Euchre. The episode wraps with lightning-round pop culture coverage: glowing reviews of the horror-comedy series *Widows Bay*, Star Wars discourse, MIA's surprise Christian album, a Yugoslavian avant-garde band that may or may not be Nazis, Michael Jackson's *Bad* album holding up poorly on relisten, and a wholesome subplot about trying to curate age-appropriate country music for a child named Millie.
The overall vibe is exactly what you want from a friend-group podcast — chaotic, warm, deeply specific, and packed with the kind of tangents that somehow circle back to something genuinely touching. City Barbecue being there for you "on your best days and your darkest days" might be the most sincere thing ever said about a fast-casual chain
