Clark's Outpost

Gene Autry Drive at Hwy 377, Tioga, TX - (940) 437-2414

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Posted By Michael Stern on 6/18/2008 1:53:00 PM

Clark’s Outpost, a good hour north of Dallas, is a Lone Star legend patronized by local horse breeders, city folk hungry for a country meal, flamboyant high rollers who arrive by helicopter in the field across the road, and good-food pilgrims from all over the U.S. in search of Texas on a plate.

Clark’s fame is built on beef. Briskets are put into smokers over smoldering green hickory or pecan wood, where they bask in the pungent smoke at 175 degrees for a few hours, then are turned down to a superslow 150 degrees to cook for three days more. Nothing is put onto the beef as it cooks – no seasonings, no sauces, no marinade. The result is beef and smoke laced together in exquisite harmony that words cannot convey. Rimmed with a crust of smoky black, each slice is so supple that the gentlest fork pressure separates a mouthful. The warm barbecue sauce, supplied on the side in Grolsch beer bottles, is dark, spicy, and provocatively sweet.

Pork ribs are another Clark’s treasure. Neither tenderized nor marinated, they are rubbed with a seasoning mix and cooked until they are soft enough that the chef can easily poke his finger into the meat between the bones. Rib dinners arrive at the table severed into individual bones, each one lean and smoke-flavored, glistening with its own juice but also begging for some of that good sauce.

Clark’s offers country-style side dishes that include crisp-fried okra, jalapeno-spiked black-eyed peas and a marvelous oddity, French fried corn-on-the-cob. Lengths of corn, unbattered and unadorned, are dipped in hot oil about a minute or so, just long enough for the kernels to cook and begin to caramelize. The result is corn that is quite soft with a mere veil of a crust, and is astoundingly sweet. Each piece is served with blacksmith’s nails stuck in its ends to serve as holders.

Despite success and renown, Clark’s is deliciously rustic. Located in a town that is little more than a farmland crossroads, it is a small agglomeration of joined-together wood buildings surrounded by a gravel parking lot and stacks of wood for the smoker, with the flags of Texas and the U.S. flying above.

Scorecard

Overall: Legendary - Worth driving from anyplace

brisket	fried corn
ribs	Fried Cheese Balls
BBQ Sauce	Tamales
Beef and Ribs	Fried Okra
Beef and Sausage

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"Tender, smoky brisket and falling-off-the-bone ribs make an unbeatable combination"
Anne Ritchings

"Buried under an avalanche of chili and cheese, the pork tamales were an unexpected excellent find."
Cliff Strutz

"This unusual side dish comes with nails for easy eating."
Cliff Strutz

"Although Texas is beef country, the meaty pork ribs should not be ignored."
Cliff Strutz

"Been here three times. Every time I think "this is the best brisket I have ever had!" The ribs were mediocre."
Joel Thomas

"BBQ'd sausage is unique to Texas establishments and is quite a taste treat"
Anne Ritchings

"Clark's chocolate meringue pie is the tallest we have seen this side of Stone's in Iowa."
Cliff Strutz

"Clark's weather-beaten front entrance is pure Roadfood!"
Cliff Strutz

"Tioga, Texas, is where Gene Autry was born. It remains a country-crossroads town, which adds great local color to Clark's four-star barbecue."
Michael Stern

"This sign is easier to spot than the one letting you know that you're in Tioga"
Anne Ritchings

"The non-smoking dining room is comfortable and gives you a view of the kitchen"
Anne Ritchings