Jim Neely’s Interstate Bar-B-Q

2265 S 3rd St, Memphis, TN 38109, USA

I’ve included the question mark because, to be fair, it was the only BBQ I’ve tried in Memphis. But it was certainly sold to us on that premise: a friend of mine had been told that, in what claims to be the BBQ capital of the world, there were 2 spots that the locals rave about. And this was one of them. It’s one of those places that you might not give a second glances as you sped past it on the freeway - its neon outer and location (not to mention its name) suggest it’s more of a trucker’s stop than a secret culinary gem. But if what you’re craving is the biggest rib you’ve ever tried to stick inside your gullet, covered in sweet, sticky sauce that will leave a wide brown smear across your cheeks, then this is a place you want to stop. As well as the ribs and the pulled pork (equally delicious) we ordered the spaghetti bbq, because we’d never heard of such a thing and wanted to know what it would actually be. Turns out it’s exactly what you think: a giant plate of spaghetti, with bbq sauce and pork chunks instead of bolognese. All of this was served with the statutory white bread (as if you might still be hungry) and by a granddaughter of the Neely family, who’ve run this joint for the last 3 decades. Friendly, warm service, more meat than you can possibly digest, and something called “sock it to me cake”, which rounds off your meal with a sugary cinnamon hit. What more do you want from your southern BBQ?

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The best BBQ in Memphis?

I’ve included the question mark because, to be fair, it was the only BBQ I’ve tried in Memphis. But it was certainly sold to us on that premise: a friend of mine had been told that, in what claims to be the BBQ capital of the world, there were 2 spots that the locals rave about. And this was one of them. It’s one of those places that you might not give a second glances as you sped past it on the freeway - its neon outer and location (not to mention its name) suggest it’s more of a trucker’s stop than a secret culinary gem. But if what you’re craving is the biggest rib you’ve ever tried to stick inside your gullet, covered in sweet, sticky sauce that will leave a wide brown smear across your cheeks, then this is a place you want to stop. As well as the ribs and the pulled pork (equally delicious) we ordered the spaghetti bbq, because we’d never heard of such a thing and wanted to know what it would actually be. Turns out it’s exactly what you think: a giant plate of spaghetti, with bbq sauce and pork chunks instead of bolognese. All of this was served with the statutory white bread (as if you might still be hungry) and by a granddaughter of the Neely family, who’ve run this joint for the last 3 decades. Friendly, warm service, more meat than you can possibly digest, and something called “sock it to me cake”, which rounds off your meal with a sugary cinnamon hit. What more do you want from your southern BBQ?

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