Neely's Barbecue Parlor

First, this in no way reflects the service. Our waitress was awesome, bus boys were attentive etc. I'm a HUGE fan of the Neelys because of the Food Network, so my mom bought me $100 in gift certificates for my bday. Unfortunately, the food was severely sup-par. My date and I opted for samplings of many appetizers instead of entrees: Catfish appetizer: decent, but much better with the barbecue sauce at the table than with the dip provided. I've had better at other places. Fried green tomatoes: Not too great. Pretty flavorless, smothered in super rich sauce, most of which I left on the plate. Hush puppies: overwhelmingly onion-y, without the smoked flavor stated in the menu. However, they were very light/fluffy. BBQ deviled eggs: basically your run of the mill deviled egg that I could make with a tiny bit on barbecue flavor. Again, better when the barbecue sauce at the table was added. They spent about 20 cents to make this appetizer, as there were 2 eggs on the plate, and it was $6.25 and not even very yummy. Sweet potato side dish: delicious, but very sweet. The only thing we ordered that was prepared very well. (Also the only thing aside from the hush puppies that tasted fresh and not like it was just taken off a line and pre-made. Seriously, everything else tasted pre-made, AND it came out SUPER fast despite a PACKED restaurant, which supports that theory. Blackberry cobbler: Unappetizing And I LOVE desserts, and will finish mediocre ones. My date and I split this. She had 2 bites, I had a few and left over 1/2 of the dessert. It WAS NOT a real cobbler. It was blackberry compote that was extremely bitter with what tasted like store-bought pound cake underneath it. Inexcusable. Drinks: Coco-jito: My date had two of these. They were very good. Lemonade: I was given a plain lemonade when I ordered a spiked peach VIP. The lemonade was super tart and sweet at the same time. Not bad, but it wasn't what I ordered. Overton Park aka tequila w/mulled peaches: very strong, but the mulled peaches were a bit much for me. Pretty good though. This place is NOT worth going to, despite being reasonably priced. The best thing about it is the family portraits and how the inside is sectioned off and made to look like a house. Such a shame the Neelys would put out such blah food and such a horrid "cobbler." Seems like their idea of "A Neely in every restaurant" (to ensure quality) died with this one.

Bottom line: the food isn't good! Cornbread is hard as a rock served with frozen butter, pulled pork is dry, mac and cheese is subpar, brisket is underseasoned. The menu isn't very exciting, the atmosphere isn't anything to write home about, service was friendly but super slow. Overall, I would never go back with all the other high quality bbq places to choose from. I wonder if the Neely's are even involved and know their name is on a bad restaurant.

I went to Neely for my nephew's wedding. It was a party of 20 people and no one had any complaints. The food and service was excellent. I would definitely go again.

What a let down! The portions are small, the sauce tastes like it is full of artificial stuff, and the food is anything but fresh!

If you don't know about BBQ then please don't say this restaurant is poor. The cornbread is great. The fried pickles are great. The Memphis style ribs (must get them "dry" so they are authentic) are true Memphis ribs. The Kansas city style ribs are amazing. Don't go to a rib/southern/soul restaurant and order a salad or you will be disappointed. Never had a bad meal here and I know Southern food.

Ist time at Neely's. Took my wife and we were very happy with everything. Was seated right away. And our host Brenda was excellent. We had the 3 little pigs (Pulled Pork) and was not disappointed. Out of this world. Corn Bread was great. Had the Memphis BBQ Ribs. Very good. Wife had BBQ Chicken also good. Great atmosphere. Had 2 Appetizers, 2 entrees and 2 Drinks. Paid $60.00. Not bad. Will be going back. Thank You to the Neely's.

We were looking forward to a meal there as we hadn't been in about a year. Well we had to send the fried green tomatoes back as they were soggy and oily. Our very sweet waitress was very apologetic and brought us another order only to have the same experience. She said that there was a new cook and he really didn't know what he was doing! my husband ordered the brisket and there were literally four small slices on a big plate with nothing else. He said it tasted ok, but a little chewy. He expected thick juicy pieces. I had the crab cakes and I thought they were good. A couple sat down next to us and when we heard them order the fried green tomatoes the waitress told them not to. Overall, I think the Neely's would be very embarrassed by our experience. I even told the waitress I would write them, and she said she thought that I should! We won't be going back. Overpriced and mediocre at best. Too many great places in nyc!