Pat and Gina Neely found immediate fame with their Food Network television show "Down Home with the Neely's". Prior to becoming food celebrities, the Neely's worked diligently with other family members to build a chain of restaurants known as Neely's Barbecue. To date there are three family owned restaurants throughout Tennessee, two in Memphis and one in Nashville. One of their Memphis restaurants is located in East Memphis on Mt. Moriah and Clarke Roads.
The Neely's Restaurant Decor and Ambience
Guests visiting Neely's might envision a somewhat upscale or five star restaurant; nonetheless, the Neely's have remained true to their roots of being a "down home" barbecue joint. The restaurant decor is very simple and southern. There are red and white checkered (picnic style) table cloths on each table, wooden chairs, wood paneling and photos of the Neely's along with other Food Network stars throughout the restaurant. The whole Memphis flavor is continued with the playing of the blues and Beale Street style music throughout the restaurant. Other features include a fireplace and flat screen televisions (tuned in to the Food Network of course) throughout the facility.
The Menu at Neely's Barbecue
The Neely's standard menu consists of a variety of "Memphis style" barbecue dishes such as their smoked turkey sandwich topped with cole slaw and sauce, chopped/pulled pork, hot wings, barbecue ribs and chicken dinners. The restaurant also offers a variety of desserts including sock it to me cake (an extremely popular southern dessert with the main ingredients being that of yellow cake and sour cream), pecan pie, ice cream and peach cobbler. There are also many of the Neely's own recipes on the menu such as their signature barbecue spaghetti and barbecue nachos. The entire menu is reasonably priced with sandwiches costing around $5, dinners around $10 and desserts about $2. Beverage options include sweet and unsweetened tea, sodas, lemonade, beer and coffee.
Although the restaurant seems to have some popularity amongst the locals, it is most sought after by out of towners, especially extreme Food Network fans. This is evident by the number of photos being taken on both the outside and inside of the restaurant.
In addition to tasty southern style dishes, the Neely's restaurant sells an array of restaurant memorabilia such as t-shirts and hats, along with the Neely's special barbecue sauce. Catering services are also available.
The East Memphis restaurant is located about twenty minutes from downtown Memphis, fifteen minutes from the airport and less than twenty minutes from the Memphis suburbs of Germantown, Bartlett, Cordova and Southaven, MS.
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