Jim Neely
Jim Neely, a Memphis native, bought the Interstate Grocery at 2265 South Third Street in 1978 and in 1979 converted it into Interstate Bar-B-Q, which he ran with his wife, Barbara; he handled the pit while she ran the front. Neely served barbecue spaghetti, a dish Brady Vincent taught him and that he adapted. In August 2026, after more than 40 years, Neely retired and sold the business; the new owners said they would keep the Interstate Bar-B-Q name, and Neely said he would stay on as an advisor.
Philosophy
Neely has described sauce as secondary to well-seasoned, well-cooked meat: "the barbecue sauce is just an accentuator to that taste of that meat."
Technique
Neely built his own closed pits that cook with indirect heat from natural gas and hickory wood (the Memphis Flyer also cites charcoal), so no flame touches the meat; he said the closed pit creates a vapor that keeps the meat moist. Meat cooks for about five hours. He developed the sauce himself over two and a half years of talking with older cooks.
Recognition
- Interstate Bar-B-Q — rated second-best barbecue in the nation by People magazine (1989)