McClard's Bar-B-Q

505 Albert Pike, Hot Springs, AR - (501) 623-9665

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Posted By Michael Stern on 4/7/2010 11:20:00 AM

Crowded, boisterous, and perfumed by the intoxicating aroma of smoked meats, McClard’s is a destination for serious barbecue connoisseurs from Hot Springs and beyond. In this 1942 stucco building that once offered toot-your-horn car-hop service, hordes of happy eaters crowd the booths to work their way through plates of beef and pork sided by cole slaw, French fries, and hot tamales. Although barbecued goat was the original star of the menu and is no longer available, the pork ribs, crusted with an eye-opening red sauce, are good enough to put McClard’s in the upmost echelon of America’s barbecue parlors.

Many regular customers get their ribs on a “rib and fry” plate, which is a rack of meaty bones with crusty edges and succulent insides completely covered over with a serving of superb French fried potatoes. Eating such a meal is an inevitably messy task, requiring nimble fingers and plenty of napkins, for utensils are useless; but the process of picking up a few fries every time you tear off a rib soon becomes an art unto itself; and the savor of the moist, sweet meat close to the bone is simply beyond description.

A whole section of McClard’s menu is devoted to tamale plates, ranging from plain tamales with beans to a full spread. A spread is McClard’s term for a pair of tamales topped with sauce-sopped chopped smoked meat, beans, crisp Fritos chips, raw onions, and shredded orange cheese. Spreads remind us of the locally-favored Frito pie, but with the added zest of genuine pit barbecue.

Scorecard

Overall: Legendary - Worth driving from anyplace

rib and fry	Chopped Pork Plate
tamale spread

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"The flagship item on McClard's menu: a rib & fry plate. It's a perfect combination, finger food at its best. Beneath that layer of potatoes is a whole rack of lip-smacking ribs."
Michael Stern

"A textural (as well as taste-buds) adventure, McClard's tamale spread is a layered mountain of steamy corn tamales, spicy chili, crunchy Fritos, crisp raw onions, rich grated cheese, and hot barbecue sauce."
Michael Stern

"Pork lovers will swoon over McClard's chopped pork. It is hacked fine and brushed with hot sauce that teases every bit of savor from the fibers of the meat."
Michael Stern

"The perfect palate-refresher: fine, sweet cole slaw"
Michael Stern

"McClard's does have beer, but ice tea and water seem to be the preferred beverages among Hot Springs BBQ hounds."
Michael Stern

"If the tamale spread is too big for your appetite, fine-looking single tamales can be ordered."
Cliff Strutz

"This close view of the tamale spread shows the immense variety contained on a single plate."
Michael Stern

"The mural on the building next door lets you know what to order."
Cliff Strutz

"A landmark barbecue parlor since 1928 when a customer at the McClards' trailer court couldn't pay his bill, and so offered a barbecue sauce recipe in place of cash."
Michael Stern