23 barbecue teams are going to be battling furiously this weekend at the Blues, Bandits, and BBQ Festival in Oak Cliff. This feast, featuring more than 1000 pounds of barbecue, will take place on Friday (5 to 10 p.m.) and Saturday (noon to 6 p.m.) at 715 W. Davis Street, three blocks west of Bishop Arts.
According to Clyde Biggins, who’s been babysitting barbecue longer than I’ve been alive, there’s really no competition. He and his team, the Texas BBQ Posse, are going to win. Plain and simple.
Biggins used to own his own restaurant, Clyde’s Old Fashioned Hickory Smoked Barbecue, until he was arrested for drug charges. From 1993 until 2010, Biggins carried out his term while fellow prison mates called him the most fitting name he could ever own: “Barbecue.” Ever since he’s been back in his Oak Cliff neighborhood, people have been telling – more like begging – him to open a restaurant again. But Biggins is 68 years old. He can’t go to sleep unless his barbecue is fully cooked. And he cooks his barbecue all night long. For now, Biggins is perfectly happy giving away his meats right off the street. (He takes donations.) Police have come and shut him down for not having a food service permit, but then Biggins just finds another corner in East Oak Cliff.
Cooking barbecue is what Clyde Biggins is all about. He lives and breathes it, which is why he’s not worried about the 22 other teams at the Blues, Bandits, and BBQ Festival. The only hindrance he has right now is a collapsed canopy on top of his pit.
“The pit collapsed and these guys are depending on me. Rob and Gary and the rest of ’em. They’re entering this contest. They asked me if I wanted to enter this [contest], and so I’m goin’ to bring it home for ’em. I’m goin’ to bring it home.”
Biggins isn’t sweating about the setback, though. He’s getting his friend to fix it up, and he should have meats smoking in no time.
To read more about the Texas BBQ Posse and their tasting adventures with Clyde’s BBQ, read the whole story here. If you also want to taste Clyde’s brisket, sausage, and ribs (as well as the meats from the other 22 teams), you have to buy a pre-purchased wrist band for $20. The tasting goes from 2 to 4 p.m. on Saturday, October 27. (Warning: It’s likely to sell out soon.)
