Jim Neely’s Interstate Bar-B-Que
Ever seen Down Home With The Neelys with Pat, Gina and Tony Neely? Their uncle Jim Neely started it all for the famous Neely family here in Memphis with Jim Neely’s Interstate Bar-B-Q. Check out my Quick-Fire Guide below to see what I thought about the barbecue. Also, check out the slideshow and stay tuned for the full review in the future. To read full reviews, select my BBQ Guide from the top menu and click on the bbq restaurants with links labeled, “Full Review” to read the article.
Quick-Fire Guide:
Tenderness-
- Ribs-Mixed results: My 1st visit years ago, I got the “dry” ribs with sauce on the side. The meat pulled easily from the bone where the bite was taken only, which is ideal by competition standards and had a wonderfully seasoned bark. On my 2nd visit, the meat was fall off the bone (sloppy) tender. Taking one bite, resulted in all of the meat falling off of the bone, which is too tender by competition standards, but acceptable by many who still enjoy them this way-1st visit at Third St and 2nd visit at Southaven location. On my most recent visit to the flagship location in the summer of 2016, the ribs were perfectly tender and very succulent, but not mushy. These ribs didn’t have much in terms of seasoning, but did have a deliciously crusty bark.
- Shoulder-The shoulder was overly tender and stringy, almost to the point of mushy and therefore not ideal for bbq-Southaven location.
Smoke-
- Ribs-Mixed results: On my 1st visit years ago, I got dry ribs. The meat was wonderfully smoky. On my 2nd visit the meat did not have any apparent smoke flavor-1st visit at Third St and 2nd at Southaven location. On my most recent visit to the flagship location in the summer of 2016, the ribs were wonderfully smoky. The delicious wood smoke complimented the succulent, meaty bones-NOW MY FAVORITE RIBS FROM ANY OF THE NEELY’S RESTAURANTS TO DATE. I thought the they had the perfect balance of smoke, moisture and texture.
- Shoulder-The shoulder I had from Interstate had very slight smoke flavor-Southaven location.
Sauce-The sauce is slightly sweet and slightly tangy. The flavor profile reminded me of the sauce in which baked beans are canned (the regular kind, not the dark sauce with a lot of brown sugar and molasses). On my most recent visit in 2016 I detected a smokiness in the sauce (Perhaps from liquid smoke. No harm done. I say it’s OK for sauces, just not for meats directly). I found myself enjoying the sauce a lot more this time. Has the recipe changed, or has my palate changed? I accidentally spilled some of the sauce into my beans. I swirled a piece of rib meat in the sauce and beans mixture, and ended up finishing my meal this way.
Sausage-Had slight smoke flavor-Southaven location.
BBQ Pit Chimneys at Interstate Bar-B-Que on 3rd Street
Beef-Had no noticeable smoke flavor-Southaven location.
Thanks for visiting my Memphis bbq blog! Tim Shirley
Was on vacation and stopped at hte one on Stateline Rd. Terrible service, food no good, cold and old. Yuck!