Okay I ordered the rib tips potato salad and the baked beans with bread and I'm going to have to give it a two and a half. The potato salad was delicious the baked beans were okay my daughter makes way better baked beans and the rib tips were old tasting ( dry)the sauce was good but the ribs were not anything to write home to Mom about I'm going to have to pass on interstate and the attitude was horrible! read more

Interstate Barbecue - It weighed at least 10 lbs all by itself serving size was wonderful that's about all I can say. - Barbeque Near Me - Memphis, Tennessee

Awful, Awful, Awful. We took a group of twelve there, and not one of us will ever go back. The server was clueless with a terrible attitude. She got the majority of the orders wrong. Some of us didn't get our food, and had to wait another fifteen minutes for our food. Which wouldn't be so bad, if the food was at least good. I ordered the combo dinner, with turkey and sliced pork. I got turkey and pulled pork. The turkey tasted ok, but it is hard to mess up turkey. It was cold, though, and the pulled pork was cold and awful. I didn't get my sides until ten minutes after getting my food. On a positive note, I did like their barbecue sauce. It is quite spicy. But the food it was on was awful. I suggest going to Rendezvous. The service there the last time I was there four years ago was great, and so was the food. This place is just blah. read more

The sides were the best part of the meal. I do not recommend the ribs. My boy who is from Memphis said the pulled pork is the rub at this place. read more

This is one of my favorite places to get a barbecue sandwich. I am tempted to say this is my favorite barbecue sandwich. What makes it so great is the tang of the barbecue sauce company with the coleslaw makes this a perfect match with the barbecue. I will say that it does take a minute to get food sometimes but it is worth it. I also love the rib tips here. read more

Interstate Barbecue - My favorite dish here. Jumbo pulled pork sandwich. Look at all that saucy goodness. :-) - Barbeque Near Me - Memphis, Tennessee

So right before hitting Beale Street, I decided to get a bit more bbq in my system. Interstate Bbq was right downtown, so this was clearly the most logical spot. Recommended by a few folks, Interstate is pretty much in the hood, although they have a dining room, it closes after a certain hour and all you can get is take out. The restaurant was actually pretty full. I imagine its a pretty popular spot to stop by on a Friday evening. You had all types of folks in there, and the best customer was the old guy that asked for 9 barbecue balogna (sp) sandwiches....sounds gross, but ppl swear by it here. I wasnt really hungry at all so I settled on simply getting 1/2 a slab with 2 sides. Usually a great litmus test for a great barbecue spot is this (insider tip coming)-- if they give you a few slices of white bread with your ribs, you got some good bbq on your hands. However a challenging sign as to whether you have rec'd good barbecue or not may be when the teenage girls taking money behind the counter are arguing about who farted....no I am serious, I watched this argument take place...as you can imagine it just made me MORE anxious to get my ribs. When I opened up my to go box, there sat two pieces of soft white bread....good sign. So i quickly dived into the ribs, which were a bit bigger than I anticipated. The sauce was a a dark red sauce...(almost maroon/purple looking) that had a deep flavor. Bold, strong, and rich, the sauce was pretty good, and had a smattering of a "burnt/wood" flavoring...who knows what that was. With five bones, baked beans that were decent and another side that I cant for the life of me remember (I dont think i ate it), I was quickly satisfied w/ just tasting a few ribs, and sat aside the leftover for the late night craving that I get after a long night of drinking...mmmmm. The ribs were just as good later on that night. At this point I prayed this wasnt the best bbq in Memphis, but it was progressively better than Marlowe's Barbecue. read more

Service = 0. Rude, would not let us sit where we wanted. Food = 0. Pork looked like a dogs breakfast. Sauce was watery and not good. I think this place thrived in the 70s and 80s. But its 2015. read more

Word. Huge drinks, dank BBQ, ribs and baked beans...plus it's cheap. All well worth the stares from the locals who knew we weren't from round here. read more

If you advertise that you are open until 10pm why are the doors locked at 8:58pm? I drove several hundred miles out of my way to visit your establishment, to say I was disappointed is an understatement. On my way to Rendezvous. read more

This place is a REAL BBQ joint. The ribs are done perfectly. They have that perfect crust on the outside and are soft and chewy on the inside. My wife and I love this place for their wet ribs (no dry ribs here) and their sides. The cole slaw had a unique but addicting flavor and we inhaled it in a matter of minutes. The rib tips took a little longer due to the portions. If you love your wet ribs, these guys do it right. read more

Interstate Barbecue - Side view of Interstate BBQ - Barbeque Near Me - Memphis, Tennessee

See all

The best bbq i've ever had. and Jim was in the day i went and amazingly approachable and friendly. For BBQ joints, forget the rest get to the best read more

Sliced white bread usually has a very secondary role in a meal, but at Jim Neely's it saved my (tongue's) life - the rib tips, relentless in the face of a full stomach, just kept finding ways to get into my mouth, followed by baked beans, slaw, and then more ribs. Regular BBQ may have very well been lost forever to my palate, if not for the heroics of those slices of plain white bread - the true unsung hero of the Interstate. read more

Wanted great BBQ while visiting Memphis. Went to Central BBQ and the line was way out the door in the heat, so tried Interstate. Restaurant was half empty; that should've told us to turn around and go back to Central - ha! Service was horrid. Very unfriendly, never smiled waitress. She hardly said a word, just walked over and looked at us with a scowl on her face. The other waitresses were the same. It's like our waitress hated us because we walked in the door. The menu was very nice and everything sounded good. It took nearly an hour to get our food - such a LONG wait - and then we had no utensils. I asked the waitress and she went to the kitchen and came back saying that she can't find any. About 5 minutes later, she found them. I had never been INJURED while eating, but the onion rings gave me a burn blister on my lip. The outside/breading was just slightly warm. I bit into it and it was like putting a hot spoon that you just stirred your steaming hot coffee with on your lip. It hurt like the dickens. It's 4 days later as I write this and I still have the ugly blister on my lip. I took pictures; maybe I should post one...? The BBQ pork sandwich was just OK. The baked beans were OK. My fiance got ribs and pulled pork combo platter. He said it was terrible, and he didn't even eat it ($15). The ribs, like another reviewer wrote recently, were BOILED, and he compared the tasteless sauce to a 99 cent bottle of Kraft BBQ sauce from the grocery store. He did, however, love the slaw and said he could've eaten a bucket full of just that. But who goes to a BBQ place for just slaw? The meat was a real disappointment. Next time we'll stand in line at Central. read more

After seeing this restaurant featured on various cooking shows for years, I HAD to try it on a recent trip to Memphis. It did NOT disappoint! It's a hole-in-the wall, dive but oh man the pulled pork sandwich was the best I've ever tasted! The portion was huge, the pork moist and tender, the sauce a perfect combination of sweet and savory, and the slaw added a perfect touch of creaminess and crunch. Sandwich was a bit messy so i had to eat it with a fork but I didn't mind. I added the famous BBQ spaghetti as my side and wasn't a huge fan so I probably wouldn't try it again. read more

I had the beef ribs, my wife had sausage. Both tasted as if they were cooked a week ago. Beef ribs were tough and dry, sausage was dry as well. In fact neither one of us finished our food. We were highly disappointed. read more

Hands down my 2nd favorite BBQ joint in the USA. (Sorry Jim but I'm a Kansas City man). From the beef ribs to to "oh my soooo good" bar-b-que spaghetti. You cannot go wrong with anything you order of the menu. Everything is awesome. MAke sure you grab a couple of Neely's bbq sauce if you live outside Memphis. read more

Summary of this review...Food was okay, service was horrible. We were looking for some good barbque in Memphis. My family kept pointing to Corkys but since I had already had them before I wanted something different. My cousin recommended Interstate....and Yelp co-signed on its goodness. So we gave it a try. Disclaimer: I don't eat beef or pork and my husband eats everything. Food: When I saw the half chicken meal, I got excited. My joy was suddenly crushed when the elderly female waitress lacking a smile and happiness said "we are out of chicken and it won't be ready for an hr". First of all...who runs out is CHICKEN on a MONDAY???? Secondly she didn't offer ANY alternative after I told her I couldn't eat beef or pork (but let's talk about that when we get to the service). So I found something else....the smoked turkey with the sauce. I hate white meat chicken pieces....so that was no bueno to me. It was dry. Not to mention the sauce had so much liquid, it seemed more like a vinegarette than a BBQ sauce. And the only sides they had were potato salad, slaw and bake beans (which have pork in it). I had the potato salad and ate as much as I could. My husband had rib tips. He enjoyed them. Service....not good. No smiles from the employees ANYWHERE. From the hostess who sat us, to the waitress...everyone seemed to hate their job. Our waitress never returned to check on us. And didn't seem to care that they were out of chicken on a Monday. It appears you may starve in Memphis if you don't eat ribs or bacon. You will definitely starve if you are a vegetarian. Nonetheless, I won't be back. This place may be hit and miss. We missed it during our visit. read more

As a fan of Jim's Interstate BBQ for almost 20 years, my last trip to Memphis didn't disappoint. The meat both, chopped pork and beef, has a great smoky flavor. I love both the regular and spicy sauces. The sides are great, especially the slaw and beans. The staff is fun to interact with and very friendly. I've been to so many of the nephews and cousins restaurants there is always something to talk about. There are other good BBQ places in Memphis, but this is the BEST. In fact It is among the top 2 or 3 places in the country. I strongly recommend it. read more

I've been wanting to go here for a long time, being about 4 hours away in Alabama I figured I'd hit it up. I was sadly disappointed. I had the 2 meat combo with a side of BBQ spaghetti. The beef ribs where dry and the sausage was gross, the BBQ spaghetti was the only edible item. As for the service, rude people. Our order got mixed up with the person ahead of us and they treated us like it was our fault. When I asked for my tea I ordered because they forgot to give it to me, I got attitude. Sadly I wont be back. read more

Second time here. I ordered the sample platter, and once again was very pleased. Took half of my meal home, can't beat that. Place is a bit grungy looking from the outside, but don't let that stop you from going in. Service could be better. read more

Got to Memphis at rush-hour. Decided to get ribs to go at Interstate BBQ. Some confusion about which side to enter for 'to-go' orders. Wait line on the to-go side was moving fast. Got the stuff and left 30 minutes later got to the motel and ate the ribs. Wish I had got some extra sauce cuz they were dry and stringy. Dog finished them off! HA read more

I hated this place, I would've given it zero stars if possible. Me and two buddies went here on a BBQ food trip. This was the worst place on the itinerary by a country mile. The food was horrible, the service was worse, and then as the final indignity, they charge you for sauce. What kind of bbq joint charges you extra for sauce? And it isn't even good sauce, but it is required to choke down the dry, flavorless ribs. Based on the hype I was really looking forward to Interstate BBQ, but man was this a disappointment. Yuck. read more

Interstate is close to where I work in Memphis so it's a convienent place for BBQ. I'm not a fan of their ribs or rib tips but the chopped pork sandwich is good. Just order it with the sauce on the side unless you like the sauce all over you. Also keep in mind that Interstate reached it's peak two decades ago so it hasn't changed much in that time frame. Other BBQ has surpased this place. read more

I ate here yesterday, and that was the wrong decision. The customer service is awful. Don't understand why the people behind the petition have to talk so rough with you or act like they have an attitude. I called my order in only to find out what I ordered was not what I received. The ribs looked nothing like what I am accustomed to purchasing at Interstate Barbecue on Winchester. The ribs were old and tough like jerky. The appearance of the sauce looked like someone regurgitated on the meat. I decided to discard the food because I did not want my family to get sick. I am asking all of you to please check your food before leaving the restaurant. When I placed the order, I specifically asked for dry ribs with the sauce on the side. After receiving my order and not seeing the sauce on the side, I informed the gentlemen behind the counter. He stated to me, with an attitude, you did not tell me that. Fabrication at its best, he fixed my order the way he wanted to because it was easier for him than to please the customer. Anyway, the rib tips were hard and tough. They dumped coleslaw in the plate with the rib tips and the juices were all over the ribs. The barbecue was basically old. Be careful about eating here. Again, please check your food before you leave. read more

We must have hit these guys on an off night compared to the other reviews. I got the sampler plate. The best thing on the plate was the sausage. How hard is it to smoke a sausage and sauce it (hold the jokes please). The beef was dry and not that flavorful. The pork was a little more moist. The beef ribs were just OK and the pork ribs pretty decent. My wife ordered the atomic wings and the server forgot them. She said it would take 15 min but a half hour later my wife asked and she went and got them. It wasn't like they were rockin that night either. I did try the BBQ spaghetti. That was pretty decent. Never had that and it's a combo of my two favorite food groups. BBQ and pasta. I also notice no reviews from locals. Hummm ..... Sorry folks but overall I've had much better. read more

Pulled pork sandwich didn't look or taste smoked and had a lot of sauce, which wasn't very good. The ribs had a good texture and decent flavor, if it wasn't for being drenched in that sauce. The potato salad was pretty good. Not sure how its such an iconic place in Memphis. read more

Interstate Barbecue - Barbeque Near Me - Memphis, Tennessee

HORRIBLE EXPERIENCE!!!!!!!!!!!! Came here for the first time and we sat for about 15ish minutes waiting on just our drinks, we finally got them after one of us got up and walked to the front and asked where they were. We then waited about 30 more minutes for our food and when it came they only brought half of our tables order, we THEN waited AGAIN for 20 (TWENTY F*ING) minutes and again had to say something and about 10 minutes later some food came and it STILL some of us were waiting on our food. After almost 2 hours we finally got allllllll of our food!!! On top of that the food we received was cold/warm not hot and fresh!!!!! They have horrible customer service and The waitress we had had such an attitude. Please please whatever you do DOOONT go to this place!!! read more

Worst bbq & certainly the worst service of all the Memphis bbq restaurants. We arrive & request a table for 9. The place is damn near empty @ lunch time (sign #1). Hostess tells us nothing available unless we pull tables together. We say ok, no problem. Start pulling tables together ourselves & then a rude manager comes out to tell us put tables back. We explained her hostess gave us the direction. We should've walked out then with another clear sign of what to come. Pressed for time we sat down & placed orders. Famous bbq tasted old & sides tasted like microwaved dinners. 2 of our guests didn't get orders until 20 minutes after the rest. Don't waist your time wt mediocre bbq & rude service with TOPS & Memphis BBQ not far down the road. read more

We absolutely LOVED Interstate, everything we ate was delicious!!! The two of us shared a Slab of Pork Ribs, Baked Beans, Coleslaw and Onion Rings - which is a ton of food, so bring your appetite. Let's start with the main event: pork ribs. The meat was smoky, tender, and moist. Definitely not over cooked and really nice and lean. And it was smothered in tastiest sauce which was sweet, spicy and had a really deep, rich flavor. I wanted to lick the plate it was so good. The sides were really great too. The AMAZING beans also had a strong bbq flavor and were in a thick sauce that had a great molasses/ginger flavor with small pieces of beef in it. The coleslaw was sweet, mild and creamy with a light vinegar flavor. And finally the onion rings were fresh, crispy and lightly fried. Service is what I call "sassy southern" but very knowledgable and helpful to first-timers. This place is a 10-15 minute drive from downtown Memphis, but well worth the time. An amazing find off the beaten touristy path in Memphis! read more

I recognize the name Neely from the cheesy Food Network show. Now the Neely's were the sugaryest, sappiest, phoniest couple to ever grace the small screen. Their acting talent was so disgusting that I figured they must have got on TV based on their excellent cooking. Boy was I wrong. Now this reviewis is only based on the experience I've had. My freind and I decided to stop at one last barbeque place. I was pretty much barbequed out but I had to try a grilled bologna sandwich. Interstate BBQ is pretty well advertised so I figured I better give it a shot, just to say I've been there. Interstate BBQ had a nice honky tonk feel but not so down in the heels it would make white folks feel like they're in the hood. Restaurant itself was a simple shack with tables, booths and a variety of interesting photos on the wall.. Not clean but not quite grimy. I ordered the balogna sandwich I was craving and my friend ordered a pulled pork sandwich. Both of us had the onion rings. While waiting, I can tell you that the place had a bit of a tourist feel to it. Souvenir cups, t shirts, etc. Waitress was nice and when she gave me a beer, she remarked that it seemed like it was flat. It was flat so she got me another beer. Cool. Like all BBQ places, this place seems to thrive on expediency so they move you in and out as quickly as possible. The sandwich I ordered was a dissappointment. lt really was a grilled balogna slice with bbq sauce on it. What a let down. My friends pulled pork sandwich was pronounced good but not great. Onion rings were pretty good but nothing more than "standard". In summary, this place seemed like it was geared toward drawing in the Food Network crowd, not BBQ entusiasts. It gives you the atmosphere and the BBQ is as good but not great. But that lame bbqed bologna sandwich was a real buzz kill so it ended up earning Interstate two stars. read more

Super friendly staff and great service. The sauce is not sweet or spicy but is good.

Wow! If you're are just a little hungry don't go here! I was starving and still couldn't finish it all! I had the rib tips. I don't know what kind of pigs these things came from because they were HUGE. I think I ate 3 out of the 10 that were on my plate. Memphis is alright w/me! read more

Interstate Barbecue - Barbeque Near Me - Memphis, Tennessee

Did I have a pork sandwich there? Yes. Did I love it? Yes. Have I had other things there? Yes. Would I get anything but pork sandwiches? No. A wise member of the Three 6 Mafia once said, "there's only two reasons to come to Memphis: pork and women." This place is one of the reasons for the former. Truly a great BBQ place. read more

Checking out Jim Neely's was my first yelp experience, and possibly still the best. The only problem that my body had with this place was the size of stomach that day. Chopped Meat on a plate smothered in bbq sauce. Do it. Also, don't miss the signed autographed picture of Jimmy "The Mouth of the South" Hart on the wall. I love that man. read more

I was just in town for a day for work. I came to this place after having ribs at another and being disappointed. I just asked the girl for the best thing on the menu. She said turkey. But i said i don't really like turkey. she said, "They don't pay me to lie." So I ordered it, and sho 'nuff. I loved it. I don't even really like turkey! wroth a try! read more

Zero Service! Avoid Jim's and Go to Southaven! Food - 2 Stars / Service - 0 Stars / Atmosphere - 1 Star Avoid Jim Neely's Interstate on Third, and go instead to the Interstate in Southaven. Much better on all levels! One takeaway from going to the Third Street location, is that just because all the food TV shows go there doesn't mean you should. TV shows are going to be taken care of much differently than you will. We have been to Interstate twice. Once on a quiet weeknight with friends from out of town, and a busy Friday night, just my wife and I. Honestly, I cannot remember too much about the food. Mainly because on our last visit, we did not get our food! 45 long minutes without a visit from our waitress or any attention whatsoever. The manager finally came over to our table, but we had had enough by then. We got up and left. In fact, at the 45-minute mark, the manager was going to put our order in, just then! So, it would have been more and more waiting. We had a similar experience the first time we were there. It was made even more embarrassing because we had brought our friends from out of town then. Even though it was a quiet weeknight that first time, we waited and waited for our food. Mine did not ever arrive, and I left without eating except for samples from the other plates at my table. The manager apologized, but it did not help much. Jim Neely's children are popular Food Network personalities, and will most likely inherit the Jim Neely's on Third someday. That being the case, they probably should encourage Jim to take his restaurant a lot more seriously than he does. Because, when you think of Neely's you think of the Food Network hosts. When you come to Memphis, you come to Interstate on Third. And, this restaurant will leave you with a very poor impression of all of them! It is incredibly embarrassing for us in Memphis to have people from across the country come and be treated like you do at Interstate. Add to that the beaten up condition of the restaurant. It makes you think the last time Jim paid any attention to his place was back in the early 1980's. And the food? From what I remember it was completely unremarkable. For Memphis barbecue, it is much better to go to the The Commissary in Germantown or Old Style Barbecue in Olive Branch. The big name and big reputation of Interstate do not add up to good food or good service. Not Recommended! read more

Amazing pork ribs! Only place that makes potato salad like my dad's and good service!!! Sauce was great with a slight zip! Exactly what I was hoping for! At 2pm on a Friday, not busy and the good came quickly! read more

I could have gone without stopping here. It's not that the ribs were bad, but there was nothing great about it and compared to some of the other great foods, this was simply not worth a stop. I stated that rendezvous was mediocre too, but at least they had better quality ribs. The ribs here were all fatty and the sauce was bit strange. Not bad, but just nothing of great quality. This was a pass and I wouldn't come back here when I return to Memphis. read more

I think its one of the best Memphis had to offer in terms of genuine Bar B Que, I've not had a bad meal here in the years I've been coming.

Drove through on the way back home to TX. Going to great lengths to find great BBQ wherever it exists. This place was a dive with pretty good flavor of meat. The sauce wasn't very impressive. Beef ribs tasted good, but not tender, the pork ribs pretty good. The pork was good, not great, brisket same, but the BBQ spaghetti was really good. We got there and waited for 8 min before anyone came to give menus and take drink orders. Presentation was terrible, it looked like a pile bones with red almost spaghetti sauce all over it. Seriously not like any BBQ place I have been to before and I have been all over trying new places. And I am not one that thinks good BBQ only exists in TX, but this was below average food and terrible service read more

The bbq spaghetti was a nice surprise. Loved the pork ribs too!