Clark Crew BBQ

[bigjkt405]

Trying it tomorrow for my 40th bday.... Supposed to be there around 10:45 with a fairly large party. Looking forward to trying it!

[TheSteveHunt]

Had their ribs the other day, very very good.

[FighttheGoodFight]

Got to try it out the other day. First the good things: Turkey, jalapeno sausage link, burnt ends, mac and cheese, corn bread, okra, and comp beans.

The bad: Brisket was dry city. Not my favorite at all. I have had brisket in many places and smoked my own. They clearly had this one pre-cut or sat in the warmer farrr to long. I asked if the brisket slices could be fatty. The waiter said all slices have fat on them. It was 4 pretty lean slices lol. The sweet BBQ sauce helped it. The pork was okay but had almost no smoke flavor to be honest. The service was still pretty bad but I expected that based on the newness of the place and amount of people.

I think it is a good place overall but I honestly don't think it is worth waiting and hour or so in line at dinner time. I'll try it out again this summer when I can sit outside and hopefully some of the newness has worn off.

[Thomas Vu]

The bad: Brisket was dry city. Not my favorite at all. I have had brisket in many places and smoked my own. They clearly had this one pre-cut or sat in the warmer farrr to long. I asked if the brisket slices could be fatty. The waiter said all slices have fat on them. It was 4 pretty lean slices lol.

This happened to me too!

[bhawes]

I have been two times once for dinner and once for lunch and there brisket was very moist the best in OKC area. Both times I got slice brisket.

[Executionist]

I'll be waiting a while, as both on here and on Yelp! they seem to have service and food consistency issues to work out. Looking forward to it.

[RedDollar]

Texas Monthly barbecue snob made it to Clarks Crew


https://twitter.com/BBQsnob/status/1...601219584?s=20

https://twitter.com/BBQsnob/status/1...038065155?s=20

[chuck5815]

Has anyone told Travis the brisket is coming out dry? Seems like there should be an easy fix.

[RedDollar]

Has anyone told Travis the brisket is coming out dry? Seems like there should be an easy fix.

Probably, depends upon time of day that the brisket is ordered.

This is why so many joints are lunch only. There seems to be a great difficulty in serving both lunch and dinner. Especially meats like brisket, spend too much time in the warmer.

But I'm sure Travis will get it worked out. Which is why I'm waiting a few months to visit.

[TheTravellers]

...
But I'm sure Travis will get it worked out. Which is why I'm waiting a few months to visit.

That's our strategy for *every* new restaurant, wait one or two months for the inevitable food and service hiccups to be fixed, and by then you know if they're going to get the kinks worked out or not (some never do). Almost the only restaurants I haven't seen any griping about when they opened were the La Baguette/Grey Sweater/can't remember the other name ones.

[jccouger]

That's our strategy for *every* new restaurant, wait one or two months for the inevitable food and service hiccups to be fixed, and by then you know if they're going to get the kinks worked out or not (some never do). Almost the only restaurants I haven't seen any griping about when they opened were the La Baguette/Grey Sweater/can't remember the other name ones.

That was my plan for the smoking boar too. Oops..

[TheTravellers]

That was my plan for the smoking boar too. Oops..

Ha, I know, we've missed out on probably half a dozen, but others have been added, so it evens out... Oh yeah, Black Walnut is the other DD place.

[RedDollar]

That's our strategy for *every* new restaurant, wait one or two months for the inevitable food and service hiccups to be fixed, and by then you know if they're going to get the kinks worked out or not (some never do). Almost the only restaurants I haven't seen any griping about when they opened were the La Baguette/Grey Sweater/can't remember the other name ones.

Well , yeah .... but this is different.

Clark is trying to serve high quality brisket all day and that is a challenge.

There's reasons why Aaron Franklin has not expanded. Why he smokes 100 someodd brisket a day, opens at 11 and closes at sell out. Mess with that equation and he can lose the quality he's known for.

Here's a new joint in central Texas, Wimberly, that has gone brick and mortar. They're a barbecue joint for lunch then change the menu and become a steakhouse for dinner. I think that's a smart approach if quality is the goal .
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jq3r...ature=emb_logo

[TheTravellers]

^^^ It's not different - "trying to service high quality brisket all day" is a food problem - he can't get it out in the quality it needs to be in. Same as if pasta at an Italian place came out undercooked - food problem.

[RedDollar]

^^^ It's not different - "trying to service high quality brisket all day" is a food problem - he can't get it out in the quality it needs to be in. Same as if pasta at an Italian place came out undercooked - food problem.

Ok , I'll argue with you .................. pasta does not take 12 to 15 hours on the smoker.

[Thomas Vu]

The problem would be solved if he weren't serving burnt ends, which is where I believe the fat bits are going to.

[TheTravellers]

FFS, it's not an argument - any time any restaurant has any problem getting their menu items out in the quality (and quantity) they desire, it's a food problem. Same for service, doesn't matter what kind of food, what language the servers speak, whether they serve Coca-Cola or Pepsi, ad nauseum - if they're not delivering the service properly, it's a service problem. Either problem goes deeper than those details.

[RedDollar]

ffs, it's not an argument - any time any restaurant has any problem getting their menu items out in the quality (and quantity) they desire, it's a food problem. Same for service, doesn't matter what kind of food, what language the servers speak, whether they serve coca-cola or pepsi, ad nauseum - if they're not delivering the service properly, it's a service problem. Either problem goes deeper than those details.

( yawn )

[TheTravellers]

Always gotta have the last word, even if it's something completely worthless?

[RedDollar]

The problem would be solved if he weren't serving burnt ends, which is where I believe the fat bits are going to.

I'm not pretentious enough to act like I know what his problems are ............... but as someone said above, if its dry, its most likely been in the warmer too long. Brisket is challenging because its two separate muscles. But its not just the point that should be moist, the flat can also be moist if cooked correctly. But the longer its in the warmer, the more it cooks.

The problem for all barbecue joints is measuring demand. That's why most who care about quality, only smoke a certain amount of meat, an amount they know will sell. It will take Clark some time to learn how much to smoke.

There are some who do lunch and dinner and do it well. And I'm sure there's others who serve lunch and dinner, but don't do it well.

[RedDollar]

Here we go, allow me to defer to an article in GQ mag about Texas barbecue .......... I know, I know ..............its GQ .... but its truth .............

A place open for lunch and dinner, then, will struggle to hold their meat to a high standard. Running a barbecue pit is not like running a normal restaurant. All of the food is essentially made to order; you can’t spend six hours cooking another rack of ribs just because demand has increased. By only making enough meat to serve that day, a pitmaster ensures that her meat is fresh, soft, and not dry. There’s a promise implied in lunch barbecue: a pitmaster’s hallowed promise that what you’re getting is the best they’ve got.

When Jack Perkins opened Slow Bone in Dallas in 2013, he promised the restaurant would be open for lunch and dinner, never run out of meat, and never serve yesterday’s meat. He broke that promise pretty quickly because it’s an impossible one to keep. To make that amount of meat isn’t just difficult; it’s wasteful. “We probably lost $20,000 in food,” Perkins told Texas Monthly BBQ. “The day we opened we should have done five briskets and run out at 1:00.”

More barbecue joints should follow this lead. As barbecue expands it reaches out of the wide open spaces of the American South, it’s lost one of its most craveable statuses: exclusivity. When the food you create is excellent and exciting—as ultra-hyped restaurants like D.C.’s Rose’s Luxury, L.A.’s Sqirl, even Dominique Ansel Bakery and their still-loved cronuts—people will show up early and wait for it.

The true shining proclamation that a barbecue place is worth your time and your money isn’t a line out the door and around the corner, it’s a piece of butcher paper taped to the outside of the front door at 2:00 p.m. that maybe says “Sorry y’all” or “Come back tomorrow” but almost definitely says “sold out.”

https://www.gq.com/story/authentic-barbecue-lunch-food

[Thomas Vu]

It's honestly whatever. I'll be back if I want something other than brisket. I only bought it up because I find it odd on two fronts1. Previous comments mention that they run out of meat. Lines out the door, and demand shouldn't be an issue.2. It's being advertised as wagyu. There should be more marbling than what the pictures provide. I'll continue to be there for the burnt ends, and maybe the ribs. Look forward to trying other things.Maybe also worth noting, check out the timestamp on the photo. It's 12:30 PM on a sunday, and they open at 11.

[RedDollar]

It's honestly whatever. I'll be back if I want something other than brisket. I only bought it up because I find it odd on two fronts1. Previous comments mention that they run out of meat. Lines out the door, and demand shouldn't be an issue.2. It's being advertised as wagyu. There should be more marbling than what the pictures provide. I'll continue to be there for the burnt ends, and maybe the ribs. Look forward to trying other things.Maybe also worth noting, check out the timestamp on the photo. It's 12:30 PM on a sunday, and they open at 11.

I don't know either .................... all I've said , is he's trying to do lunch and dinner ...... and that's tough for any barbecue joint. Barbecue is not like normal restaurants. And Clark did not start on a small scale just doing lunch and then slowly grow to include dinner. He jumped in whole hog, no pun intended.

He might get it worked out, he might not. I think Maples does dinner and lunch well, I'm not sure.

It really does not matter to me. I'm happy with the barbecue I smoke in my backyard.

[OkiePoke]

If brisket is that difficult to keep, they should just stagger their cooking and only offer it in a window.

X briskets good to serve between 11 & 1
X briskets good to serve between 6 & 8

Once they are sold out, you can order something else.

**I'm not a bbq'er, so I'm not sure how feasible that method would be.

[RedDollar]

Brisket can also lose moisture when its sliced. Should not slice it at the cutting table till it goes on customer plate. I don't know if Clark has a cutting table.

But I gotta think that would be way too amateur for Travis Clark. Surely, they're not pre-slicing the brisket.

I don't have any suggestions cuz this is over my pay grade.