In The News...
McClard's Bar-B-Q Restaurant
McClard's Bar-B-Q Restaurant has been written
about in several magazines, books, tv shows
and newspapers. Here is a sampling of what
others have said about this Hot Springs,
Arkansas tradition...
McClard's Bar-B-Q is featured in 1,000 Places To See Before You Die by Patricia Schultz.
McClard's Bar-B-Q is featured in Ian Jackman's
book, EAT THIS: 1,001 Things to Eat Before You
Diet.
McClard's was recently voted one of Travelocity's
Local Secrets, Big Finds!
McClard's was featured on the Food Network's
"The Best Of" Television Show!
McClard's was voted one of The Travel Channel's
"Top 10 Barbeque Restaurants"!
In March 2004, members of the band, Aerosmith,
stopped in to eat at McClard's. Joe Perry
even gave us a hand in the kitchen! Tony
B. wrote in the "News from the Road"
Report, "I should mention on our way
to Little Rock we stopped at McClard's BBQ
and had maybe the best ribs and brisket I've
ever had. Joe took a tour of the place and
even threw a few logs in their smoker."
Click here to read Tony's entire report on
the Aero Force One website.
In the March 2002 Southern Living Travel
Weekend: Head on Over to Hot Springs, Arkansas,
the McClard's tamale spread was described
as "Possibly even more heart-stopping
(not literally) than the track (Oaklawn Jockey
Club racetrack) is McClard's hot tamale spread.
'I was trying to kill a dishwasher that came
in a little under the weather one time,'
jokes owner Joe McClard. He came into the
restaurant not feeling good so I threw a
bunch of stuff on a plate hoping he'd feel
better. Well, he liked it, and the dish became
a mainstay."
The dish includes Fritos, hot tamales, beans,
chopped beef with barbecue sauce, chopped
onions, all covered with shredded cheese.
Mouthwatering!
The Southern Living feature noted: "You
don't have to go to Memphis for good barbecue;
McClard's restaurant serves it up bountifully."
McClard's was featured in the March 1998
Gourmet "Two for the Road: Blue Plate
Highways" by Jane and Michael Stern.
"The best place to appreciate the style
of the local pitmasters is McClard's Bar-B-Q
...McClard's has become Arkansas's premier
house of barbecue."
While Runner's World is not exactly the place
where you would expect to find an endorsement
of McClard's Bar-B-Q, the October 1999 edition
featured McClard's as a favorite for getting
fed after the Mountain Valley Spa 10-K. "A
slab of ribs the size of a football is the
house specialty, along with the Whole Spread
Tamale Plate."
McClard's fries have been named in a book,
"The French Fry Companion," written
by David Graulich. McClard's fries were named
one of the 15 "local legends" included
in the book.
In the July 1999 Sky Magazine of Delta Airlines,
"Spudhounds" included French fries
from McClard's ...."Generations of Arkansans
have waited in line for a table at McClard's
of Hot Springs, where they order some of
the best barbecued ribs in the state, usually
as part of the rib-and-fry plate, on which
the rack of meaty, sauce-crusted bones is
completely eclipsed by a piled-high web of
gorgeous thin-cut fries..."
Willard Scott, weatherman for NBC's Today
show, stated in his All American Cookbook,
"McClard's of Hot Springs, Arkansas,
is the Best Barbecue in America."
A Little Rock newspaperman once wrote in
the Arkansas Gazette that "McClard's
Bar-B-Q in Hot Springs was the best restaurant,
bar none, in Arkansas."
McClard's Bar-B-Q Sauce is a favorite of
many, including President Bill Clinton. 4
generations of McClards gathered to chat
with President Clinton during his visit.
Greg Johnson and Vince Stanton, authors of
Real BBQ, published by Harper & Row,
logged almost 40,000 miles and visited more
than 700 barbecue restaurants in search of
the ultimate barbecue. They stated in Southern
Magazine, "We found 24 of these in America,
19 of which were in the South."
An excerpt from their books states, "McClard's,
the top barbecue restaurant in Arkansas,
boasts a sauce hot enough to make your lips
feel like Mick Jagger's. It's a masterfully
balanced amalgam of flavor and fire!"
Johnson and Stanton further exclaimed, "McClard's
motto 'Best in the state since '28' aims
a little low - McClard's is one of the best
in the nation."