# OKCpedia > Restaurants & Bars >  Clark Crew BBQ

## Pete

*Champion pitmaster to open first upscale BBQ concept in OKC*


Travis Clark of Yukon is the most decorated pitmaster in the Kansas City BBQ Society since 2013 and won the 2017 American Royal Invitational World Champion.


Clark recently became National Pitmaster for the Minnesota-based Famous Dave's chain and is helping to launch an upscale barbecue restaurant chain, the first of which will be in Oklahoma City.

The new concept is titled Clark Crew BBQ and work has already started at the old Macaroni Grill at 3510 NW Expressway, just west of Lake Hefner Parkway near the Baptist Hospital Complex.  On The Border is directly east.

The huge 7,272 square foot building is getting a complete reworking and adding a large smokehouse to the northwest corner.



In addition to a large dining area and kitchen, a big bar area will be located towards the rear of the space and a large covered patio will be added to the south.

After a 22 year run, Oklahoma City's only Macaroni Grill closed in July of 2017.

Although affiliated with Famous Dave's, Clark Crew is renowned for achieving the absolute best in barbecue quality.  Other locations are likely to follow, but at a methodical pace to ensure high standards.

Other accolades for the Clark Crew include:  KCBS Team of the Year (2017 and 2015), Rib Team of the Year, and Brisket Team of the Year. Clarks barbecue journey logged over 160,000 miles, 160 contests, 41 Grand Championship awards, 20 Reserve Grand Championships honors, and 130 top 10 finishes.

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## jbkrems

Pete, no offense, but isn't Iron Star the "first upscale BBQ" concept to open in Oklahoma City?  How do you think this will compete with it?

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## jccouger

> Pete, no offense, but isn't Iron Star the "first upscale BBQ" concept to open in Oklahoma City?  How do you think this will compete with it?


It's just the wording of the headline. He is talking about how OKC get's the first Clark Crew BBQ, which is a big deal. He isn't saying its the first upscale BBQ in OKC, but to answer your questions this should be MUCH better than Iron Star.

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## Roger S

> Pete, no offense, but isn't Iron Star the "first upscale BBQ" concept to open in Oklahoma City?  How do you think this will compete with it?


Iron Star will not compare to Travis Clark's BBQ.... I'll be interested in seeing how he translates his product to commercial BBQ but he took the BBQ world by storm and can cook his ass off.

First time I met him was at the Fire Lake Cookoff and he was all stressed out because he had left his chicken sauce at home.... Not only did he get a perfect chicken score that day. He got a Grand Champion call having to improvise in one category.

And Iron Star is "Urban BBQ" or what I refer to as Chef Driven.

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## Pete

I know he has been taking a lot of time to get the food right before they opened this first location.

The fact he lives in Yukon pretty much guarantees he will provide a lot of attention to this restaurant.


Really glad to see a good re-use of that Macaroni Grill space.

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## Bullbear

I had seen work going on there and wondered what would go in.  Excited about this for sure!
and yah I wouldn't put Iron star even close to this Category I really rarely think of Iron star as true Barbeque but that is just me.

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## Roger S

> I had seen work going on there and wondered what would go in.  Excited about this for sure!
> and yah I wouldn't put Iron star even close to this Category I really rarely think of Iron star as true Barbeque but that is just me.


Agreed... And when you read the reviews and the majority are about the sides, salads, and desserts.... That may be what defines Urban BBQ...... Travis didn't do what he's done on the competition circuit with his sides, salads, and desserts.

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## Fingerguns

Hopefully it means he can park his BBQ trailer somewhere besides in the street of his neighborhood.

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## Colbafone

Best part about this is the re-use of that building. It's a huge restaurant and kinda weird looking. I was worried it might be vacant a while. Excited to see it become a home to what looks like an awesome, mainstay, restaurant.

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## Pete

> Best part about this is the re-use of that building. It's a huge restaurant and kinda weird looking. I was worried it might be vacant a while. Excited to see it become a home to what looks like an awesome, mainstay, restaurant.


And this will be a big investment, as in a couple of million $.

I predict this is going to be a huge hit.  Different than anything else in town, large-scale and seems well suited to the broad OKC market.

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## Colbafone

> And this will be a big investment, as in a couple of million $.
> 
> I predict this is going to be a huge hit.  Different than anything else in town, large-scale and seems well suited to the broad OKC market.


Are they changing the facade of the building away from the pseudo Italian look by any chance? From the rendering, it absolutely looks like it, but I just want to make sure.

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## Pete

> Are they changing the facade of the building away from the pseudo Italian look by any chance? From the rendering, it absolutely looks like it, but I just want to make sure.


It looks like they will keep some of the exterior stonework but the facades are more streamlined and modern.

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## OKC Guy

This is awesome news!

Curious why here vice Chisolm Creek?  Maybe its a better locale with all the car traffic and established businesses or could be land/building is cheaper (or just building rehab if renting).  Its a great spot and will do really well.  

Going back west a half mile you have new hotels up now too.  NW Exp is still a huge enticement due to traffic volumes.

Can’t wait to try this place!

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## jbkrems

Sounds like I will still need to try this place out some time!

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## OKC Guy

I may have missed it but any idea when this place will open?

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## Pete

> I may have missed it but any idea when this place will open?


My guess would be this fall.

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## RedDollar

I love barbecue,  I've done backyard barbecue for years and I'm glad to see some good barbecue joints opening here.

I have a suggestion when posting about new joints ( or even old joints )  ,  I really like to know what kind of smoker they're using .... like Maples has those big  1000 gal propane tank smokers,  I'm pretty sure Butcher BBQ Stand uses a pellet cooker ,   etc.      It matters to me if they're smoking with wood or gas, also.

When I visit a joint I always try to find out without going snooping around their cookshack .    And sometimes when I ask,  the help doesn't really know.

If Clark is gonna have a big prominent smokeroom,  then I'm guessing he will be using big stick burning offsets.   The trend in Texas and nationally, is to have the smokeroom visible from the dining room.

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## Pete

^

On the plans, there is a huge storage area for stacked wood.

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## OKCRT

No liquid smoke?

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## OKC Guy

If its good then no matter how they smoke it I’ll be visiting often.  Love good BBQ

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## catcherinthewry

> like Maples has those big  1000 gal propane tank smokers.


Maples uses wood. Not only do they have the ricks right outside, but they had the door to their smoke shack open when I was there last Saturday and you could see the logs burning. I'm really jealous of their set up.

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## RedDollar

> *Maples uses wood.* Not only do they have the ricks right outside, but they had the door to their smoke shack open when I was there last Saturday and you could see the logs burning. I'm really jealous of their set up.


Yes, I'm aware of that.

Those offset stick burners were made from 1000 gal propane tanks , particularly to Aaron Franklin specs.

Something like these people do ...............

https://mobergsmokers.com/

And these folks do similar

https://millscale.co/

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## Uptowner

I’m okay with this. I was re-educated on my recen trip to St. Louis. Sugar fire there has an amazing product, on a large scale, huge output operation. I went to the tiny “legit” places nd waited hours for what was “marginally” better bbq. If a big operation can put out great Q in a normal amount of time and always sell out, I’m okay with it. 

If none of those expectations are met, I’ll hate it, rip dickey’s....

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## RedDollar

Its apparent Clarks will not be a traditional joint with an order window.   The plans show a hostess table at the front door,  they will be seating people and have waiters take orders.   When it comes to the flavor of the barbecue,  that makes no difference to me.    The only reason I visit joints is to taste what other people are doing so I can compare to what I do in the backyard.

I'll find out the meaning of " upscale " when I visit.    I suspect the price will also be " upscale " ,  and good barbecue is already priced high enough.   I have no problem paying $20 a pound for good brisket,  but I don't wanna pay for ambiance.

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## Roger S

> I love barbecue,  I've done backyard barbecue for years and I'm glad to see some good barbecue joints opening here.
> 
> I have a suggestion when posting about new joints ( or even old joints )  ,  I really like to know what kind of smoker they're using .... like Maples has those big  1000 gal propane tank smokers,  I'm pretty sure Butcher BBQ Stand uses a pellet cooker ,   etc.      It matters to me if they're smoking with wood or gas, also.
> 
> When I visit a joint I always try to find out without going snooping around their cookshack .    And sometimes when I ask,  the help doesn't really know.
> 
> If Clark is gonna have a big prominent smokeroom,  then I'm guessing he will be using big stick burning offsets.   The trend in Texas and nationally, is to have the smokeroom visible from the dining room.


If I had to take a wild ass guess.... Travis will be using Jambo's... It's what he cooks competition on and what he's familiar with.

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