Neely’s Bar-B-Que

Went to Neely’s and will never ever return. The food was horrible and a waste of my hard earned money. I had the ½ slab platter. My 3 sides were mac and cheese, baked beans and somehow I also ending up with green beans. Nothing was good. The meat which were baby back ribs had been dryed out and were old judging from the darkness of the bones. They also lacked seasoning. In fact nothing was seasoned! The beans were straight from a pork n bean can, the mac wasn’t even as good as stouffers and the green beans were just that… green. My co worker was also unenthusiastic about her entrée. She opted for the cole slaw which was ladled with blk pepper, something I’ve never used an abundance of when preparing Cole slaw. I want my 18 bucks back… I threw all of that nastiness away. The Neely’s should be shame!

I visited the spot at the airport because I wanted to get some local BBQ while I was in the area. I was told that Neely’s is one of the best but on the expensive side. They weren’t lying on both counts but the cost was really far too expensive for the meal. I order the beef brisket sandwich which was good though I’ve had much better in Texas. The macaroni and cheese was ok as well. The coleslaw was actually the best part of the meal though oddly they give it to you to go in a teensy weensy container of about two spoonfuls. The cost was ridiculous. I asked for a substitution (macaroni and cheese instead of french fries) and the cashier told me that it would be ok. However when I looked at my receipt she had charged me extra for the substitution which caused me to end up paying for the most expensive sandwich in the airport. To add insult to injury, she didn’t tell me that she was charging me extra plus she didn’t give me the French fries either even though I had already paid for them. Had she told me that the substitution was going to result in me paying for 3 side orders I would have simply ordered a platter which would have cost less. I made her give me the French fries and left. I will never go there again because the food was average and a $ 16 bbq sandwich in Nashville is just crazy.

Ok, so the food was average but I will definitely say the the service was quite nice. Yes, it was Saturday so the terminal was not super busy but still our server was pleasant and just the right amount of attentive. They were closing and the manager Tish was kind enough to allow us to get some water for our flight even though they were already closed. Thanks for your kind service.

I can say with honesty that this is the second time in my life I have purchased something and thrown it in the rubbish bin.
Hideous! Our plane was late, was really hungry and admittedly, very desperate.
Both eating experiences at Nashville airport were B.A.D., not sure which one was worse.
Horrid with a capital «H».

Full disclosure, this is the location in the nashville airport, so it’s understood that the meats are smoked at the main location and delivered. The pork is decent, but you can tell it’s not fresh out of the smoker. I prefer whitts bbq when in the Nashville airport. Btw, this is a bbq place so unlike many of the poor reviews seen about the breakfast here, I wouldn’t even try breakfast here and would say caveat emptor to those expecting a great breakfast from a bbq joint.

Slow service. Average breakfast. Can’t comment on other food. «Hash browns» are just tater tots. Biscuits a little doughy. Taste frozen. Service EXTREMELY slow. Took 10 minutes for someone to come to counter for me to order. After I ordered cashier disappeared. At least 3 potential sales walked up and then left after waiting about 10 minutes. Took me about 20 minutes to get my biscuit. They were not busy and had been open at least 3 hours by the time I ordered. Not sure what took so long. Won’t be back.

Worst BBQ ribs I’ve had. Not sure how many days ago they were cooked but extremely dry and strange spice taste. Would give 0 stars if possible.

While edible (because I was so hungry) it was not good. We watch the Neely’s show and I expected more despite it being airport food. Biscuit was doughy, cheese was gross, egg and bacon was warmed up and had no flavor.

Bad experience bad service brisket is good that’s about it fries was old and cold. …would go here

Typical BBQ. The atmosphere was nice. The service was great. The coleslaw was not that good (I love coleslaw), but the ribs were fine.

Pulled pork sandwich is great! Sandwich looks small but is packed full of meat. Very filling.

Ordered a bacon and cheese biscuit with no egg
After much discussion cook finally agreed to produce
Biscuit was doughy, bacon almost raw, cheese almost non existent
Included some type of over fried potato pancake?
Cold and greasy
Never again

With 2 kids, we had a layover of 2 hrs and definitely didn’t want the usual fast food. Didn’t look at the reviews until afterwards but yes I can see that if in a major rush, u may get impatient. We had a wide range of food… Rib Platter, sliced beef, mac & cheese, french fries, Texas toast, green beans & cole slaw. Keep in mind, this is an airport but the food is on point if u have time. They have a to-​go counter that helps but sit down & enjoy if u can… I know we did. Only downsides, the restaurant area is a bit cramped (but which one isn’t) luggage bags & all don’t help, & ask about the spice level as a few things had a bit more kick then the kids expected (but they still enjoyed). Would definitely do again if flying thru Nashville with time on our hands.

The only local Neely restaurants in Tennessee and it close at, 7:00pm. I travel here just to taste the food now I guess I have to live with my memories. They should move to terminal c were Southwest files out of more business because terminal B is dead no flights nothing. Thanks for nothing on this trip.

Wow, maybe it’s because I’m a Yankee, but the Neely’s really like spice! The cole slaw was spicy hot, which isn’t my style for cole slaw. I usually look to my slaw to put out the fire from other foods. The ribs were good, but not the best I’d ever had. My friends said their beef brisket sandwich and salmon were good.

I’m always a bit skeptical of airport barbecue, but I needed some food in me before my flight. Neely’s is run by Tony Neely, brother of Food Network’s Pat Neely, so I hoped this airport location would offer up something at least halfway decent.
Granted airport food is always more expensive, but $ 14.00 plus tax is a bit much for a one-​meat plate. Even their sandwiches start at $ 9.00 each, and a full rack of ribs is $ 22.00. Hell, just a small thing of cobbler is $ 6.00. I took the plunge anyway and ordered a Platter of sliced beef brisket, which also comes with three sides. They were somehow out of potato salad, so I settled for mac and cheese, bbq beans, and french fries. Neely’s wasn’t very busy mid-​afternoon, but food still crawled out of the kitchen at a turtle-​like pace.
The mac and cheese was exceptionally orange and looked really artificial. It reminded me of the macaroni at KFC. The beans had some meat (I’m not sure what kind) mixed in, but I couldn’t taste anything other than canned beans. As you might imagine, the fries were nothing special and likely frozen.
Much to my dismay, the brisket was drowning in a thick barbecue sauce. It’s sadly very common for fast food style barbecue joints to mask bland meats with globs of potent sauce. My razor-​thin slices were really lean and dry. I managed to find a few small pieces of un-​sauced meat, and it was virtually devoid of all flavor.
I certainly wasn’t expecting world-​class barbecue at the airport by any means, but I expected better than this, especially considering the price. Their slogan is «The Finest the World Over.» I don’t know if the rest of the Neely family can cook good barbecue, but what I do know is that the airport Neely’s is absolutely terrible.
UPDATE (August 9, 2014): I was mistakenly under the impression that the Nashville airport Neely’s Bar-​B-​Que was owned and operated by Pat and Gina Neely, of Food Network fame. As it turns out, Pat’s brother Tony is actually the one who runs the airport Neely’s. I apologize for this error, and I have edited my review accordingly.

Gross gross gross. Total cafeteria food. Watery BBQ sauce. Mac and cheese from a can (seemed like it anyway). Smoked turkey? Thick sliced lunch meat. The girl at the counter — totally uninterested in her job whatsoever. I would have forgave a bit being that it’s «airport food» but for the love of all things holy, get it together! If I were a popular TV personality I would be MORTIFIED to have my name plastered all over that place.

Possibly the worst service. The attendant didn’t smile. Barely said a word. Seemed like I was bothering her the whole time. Had to finish her conversation with her co worker before she could take my order.
This is an airport. Speedy service with a smile is preferred and much appreciated when it happens.
Disappointing because neelys has great BBQ.

I was highly disappointed with the $ 10+cardboard burger I had at Neely’s. For years I’ve watched this pair cook delicious meals on the Food Network Channel. Naturally I expected top notch food instead I was served a burger full of fillers that my body struggled to digest.
The fries were okay but not worth $ 10. I do not recommend this restaurant unless there are no other choices including vending machines.

I’ve enjoyed watching Pat and Gina Neely on the Food Network, so I wanted to try their BBQ when I was visiting Tennessee. Unfortunately, we never made it to one of their restaurants in Nashville or Memphis, so my last chance was at the Nashville airport. I remembered seeing it there when I arrived the week before so I knew it was an option. We got to the airport early to allow time for lunch at Neely’s in the airport. I was disappointed to find out that it was only a fast food/​take-​out restaurant and not a dine-​in one. We ordered two BBQ pork sandwiches to go. It took longer than normal «fast food» to prepare. I think we waited about 10 minutes after ordering. That would be okay for a sit-​down restaurant, but if our only option is take-​out, then it should be faster. Luckily, there wasn’t a long line, otherwise the place wouldn’t have been able to accommodate. I don’t think there was enough staff on that Saturday afternoon anyway. After waiting, our next assignment was to find a place to sit and eat. This turned out to be a difficult challenge. The small food court tables a terminal away were full, so we turned back to our gate and took a seat there. Do you know how hard it is to try to eat messy BBQ sandwiches out of a box on your lap?
At any rate, the BBQ sandwich tasted good (although probably not near as good as «fresh-​made» at one of their sit-​down restaurants), and there was plenty of Neely’s BBQ sauce on it. The French fries were once very good and different, I think, but now they tasted old (and cold). My partner ordered baked beans instead of French fries, and that was the better option. They were hot, barbeque-​y, and even had more meat cooked right in. Our sandwiches also came with small containers of coleslaw. Normally, I do not like or eat coleslaw, but this one was yellowish in color and had a kick! (No surprise that it’s probably Pat Neely’s recipe. He likes his food spicy, just like me.) I actually enjoyed it; it had a unique flavor (curry?) in addition to the heat.
Would I eat at Neely’s Bar-​B-​Que again? You betcha… but not at the airport. They don’t do the Neelys justice.