Neon Pig Tupelo — Restaurant in Tupelo

Where to begin? After scouring the internet for places to eat during our recent trip to Tupelo, we ran across great reviews and even a write up in Southern Living magazine for the Neon Pig. Unfortunately, it appears that Southern Living must have sent their field reporter that horrifically lost her taste buds in the war.

I decided not to write this review immediately upon leaving the establishment. This was mostly because I couldn't quite wrap my head around what I had just ingested. No worries, it soon became more obvious, as the meal would haunt my digestive tract for the better part of the next eight hours. It was tasted and enjoyed again and again, as it repeated like a howitzer.

After receiving our drinks "self serve", we were educated by our waitress on how all of the meat was processed, ground, and formed into patties in house. Sounded great!

Looking over the small double sided menu...filled with what I can only describe as items dreamed up by Bobby Flay while on a two week bender, I settled on the Belvis burger with a side of loaded fries. Here is the description directly from their menu for your enjoyment.

BELVIS BURGER​ $15 smash grind + pork belly + benton's bacon pimento cheese + jerky sauce + creole mustard + ciabatta bun

LOADED FRIES​ $4.50 parmesan + scallions + benton's bacon bits + jerky sauce on the side

I also decided to add a fried egg for good measure.

The food arrived to our table in short order, and actually looked very appetizing. This would however, be the highlight of the meal. Upon taking my first bite of the burger, I was immediately confused. The flavors were weird and clashed terribly. The meat could have been 100% wagyu, or 99 cent hamburger from Walmart, but no one will ever know, because all you can taste is the horrible jerky sauce and smoke...lots of smoke!

While I absolutely adore smoked foods, this wasn't going to be one of those times. I was well down the road when I am pretty sure I put my finger on what had transpired back in the restaurant.

You know that camping trip with the neighbors, where everyone was too busy setting up to gather wood for the campfire? The one where you send the kids to pick up sticks, and they bring back everything from wet leaves to pine cones. The campfire where that nasty little neighbor kid decided it would be a great idea to throw the dead squirrel he just found into the mix. This was the fire my burger was cooked over! I was quite sure of it.

It became very obvious why only the preparation of the meat was discussed by the staff, and absolutely no menu items were recommended. There is no possible way that anyone who works in the restaurant actually eats the food from the restaurant.

This is a place to leave permanently on your bucket list. The "Winner of the best burger in America"...has like Elvis...left the building. The fries, very similar to the burger, were subpare...cold and confusing as well.

Save yourself time, money, and regret by skipping this one. You'll thank me later.

Please note that the service and atmosphere are quite good. However, even great service and neat decor can't overcome...

I recently ate here with my family on a Saturday night. The place is set up like a grocery style restaurant with a meat counter and several provisions for sale, etc...mostly nice atmosphere with a few exceptions that I will get to. We entered and were told to seat ourselves. It was moderately busy and they have several large tables so we sat at one of the picnic style ones. After placing our order we proceeded to wait close to an hour for our food. There was nothing complicated about our order (Smash burger, Shrimp Po-boy, "loaded" fries). When I asked our waiter about our order she came back and stated "you are next up on the grill". This was after already waiting 45 minutes. I'm guessing maybe they missed the order. I realize this happens sometimes and if the food is really good/fresh/hot when it does come out I can let it go. However in this instance it wasn't. It arrived another 10 minutes after they told me this. My shrimp Po-boy had tiny...and I mean tiny grilled shrimp. Yes...grilled. I thought maybe I missed it on the menu but the Po-boy just says "shrimp". They should definitely say "grilled shrimp". Every shrimp Po-boy I've had anywhere ever has fried shrimp. In any event, the bread was completely stale and not wrapped so the whole thing fell apart on my plate after a few bites. My son's burger was cooked within an inch of it's life and completely tough and had a total lack of seasoning. They have all over their menu and on their window that the burger was voted "best in America" I looked it up and apparently Thrillist did make this claim. I really did not think this was even close to the best burger I've ever had. The "loaded" fries were bland and tasteless. There was no apology for the long wait. Will not return to this restaurant. I am being generous giving two stars because I think the concept is good...just horrible execution. I've noticed recent reviews on TripAdvisor were trending negative so maybe it is...

Service is absolutely terrible…hands down the WORST service I have ever received at a Tupelo establishment or perhaps any restaurant— and I eat out a lot and consider myself somewhat of a foodie. I have enjoyed my food but the service ruins the experience completely. Two trips (a few months apart) my boyfriend and I tried going to the Pig to eat dinner. Both times, we came in and sat ourselves and were IGNORED by the staff. No smile, no nod, no “hey, we’ll be right with you”…you know just basic customer service protocol stuff. It is like we were not there. I work in customer service and I can tell you my boss would tear me a new one if I ever failed to acknowledge a customer when they walked in. I get being busy but, trust me I know from experience, it is easy to keep working and just smile at someone and say “we’ll be right with you” or “hey, just a minute, thanks for your patience”. You can do that at the very least. Service like this makes one feel unwelcome and like my patronage doesn’t matter…not exactly the message you want to send if you hope to remain in business. Tonight and the time before, we ended up leaving after sitting several minutes being ignored. I was disappointed. I had been craving their fries which I have loved before. Never again, though. I gave the Pig a second chance and they failed me again. I will never return and trust me, I will tell anyone who asks or mentions this restaurant how bad the service is. Thank goodness Lost Pizza is just a couple of doors down. Both nights, we left the Pig and went there….and were greeted with smiles and quickly served some delicious food. So, shout out to Lost Pizza for taking care of us and doing their jobs. Shame on Neon Pig. An award several years ago from an obscure magazine is not something to continue to ride on when you obviously cannot take care of your...