Jerry Neel's Bar-B-Q, Catfish, & Catering — Restaurant in Fort Smith

Place is definitely a solid 4 Star restaurant, staff very friendly and great clean atmosphere. The owner was very engaging and even offered up some suggestions on what to try. The BBQ ribs & brisket were okay (a bit dry though) being a BBQ place I had higher expectations but still enjoyable. The coleslaw was kind of interesting, very crunchy and not too sweet the baked beans were very tasty and had a little ooomph to them highly recommend. The catfish was very good, I’d like a bit more bold flavor to the mix they use but they cooked it perfectly so fluffy and delicious. Footnote for you to ponder is why there is no hush puppies served with fish plates…low cost & easy to make meal more well rounded. Their shrimp was some of the best I’ve ever had full of flavor, perfectly cooked and my only complaint was they need larger order sizes. The owner was adamant that the twice baked potato was kind of a signature staple for them; so ordered to give a try. My advice is to never order this it was one of the worst twice baked potatoes I’ve ever eaten. The skin was limp & not crunchy, the potatoes were over whipped and then topped by some single slice Kraft cheese. No butter, no bacon bits, no chives & no sour cream…absolutely awful. The potatoes alone could of dropped score lower especially when bragged about but I try to be fair and we truly enjoyed the overall meal. So definitely give a thumbs up recommendation as worth the stop to try.

Almost forgot, tried deserts as well they are a bit pricey but we’re good. If you are looking for sweet strawberry shortcake or cobblers these won’t fix the craving but...

I ordered a pulled pork sandwich that was absolutely doused in overly sweet BBQ sauce. So much sauce was on this sandwich it was all over my hands and ran everywhere. You could not even taste the meat, just overly sickly sweet BBQ sauce. I also ordered their "famous" twice baked potato that was visually unappealing and had what looked like sliced cheese just melted over the top of it. Taste wise it was ok but nothing special, certainly not good enough to finish I can tell you that. The BBQ sausage I ordered tasted like sliced bologna that was simmered in BBQ sauce and a pound of sugar all day. This did not taste like a BBQ sausage and I really cannot overstate how sweet their sauce is, it dominates everything with no other flavors.

I have no idea how this place is staying in business. Save your money and time and go to Pink Flamingo or Arts because they both blow this place out of the water. I'm sure this place had the best BBQ in town 20 years ago (that's not saying much) but times have changed and that is no longer the case. I will never eat here again unless some drastic changes are made to the food because the price you pay is most definitely...

My family and I finally tried Jerry Neel’s today (after having tried most of the barbecue joints in Fort Smith over the years; some of them many times now). It was a really good experience overall, I must say! Not only were the ladies who took my order on the phone super friendly and accommodating from start to pickup, but our whole family really enjoyed their meals too (the others got a couple of burgers and fries, and another got a chopped pork sandwich, fries, and coleslaw). The fries were crispy and tasty. Some of the better fries we’ve had in a while (and we’re picky when it comes to our fries 😄). My smoked sausage (pictured) was better than many that I’ve tried in the area, and not overly salty for that matter (one of my pet peeves with some others), and the the baked beans I got (also pictured) were some of the better, more memorable and distinctive beans I’ve gotten at a barbecue joint in some time. They stood out from the crowd. All in all, we really enjoyed our meal (without breaking the bank, by any means!), and I think we’ll be keeping Jerry Neel’s in mind for future barbecue cravings,...