After talking about Texas barbecue and the health benefits of brisket all day, I was ready for a serious barbecue sandwich on the way back to Houston. So I stopped at Clyde's Wyldwood B-B-Q Shack and Casino. There I asked for a sliced brisket sandwich--a decision I regretted as I watched the woman behind the counter slice a very dried-out looking piece of brisket. Thinking fast, I asked the lady to add a link of sausage cut in thin slices on top. The juicy sausage and lots of barbecue sauce moistened the dry meat.
Clyde's Wyldwood B-B-Q Shack and Casino opened for business just north of Bastrop on Highway 71 last December. You can't miss it--it's several stories tall and it has a barbecue pit in the shape of a locomotive on the front porch. Waterwheels fashioned from cut-up propane tanks, a golf ball cannon and other goofy contraptions decorate the grounds. There are a bunch of slot machines on the second story--but the casino is not yet open due to the fact the gambling is lllegal.
The proprietor is a colorful eccentric named Clyde Clardy who said it took him three years to erect the restaurant. Clyde also owns the Wyldwood Trailer Park which is also located on the same ten acre tract. He is quite sure gambling will soon be legalized and he'll be way ahead of the game. Clyde ran the Bastrop Meat Market on Main Street from 1962 to 1979. He left the barbecue business to become a Bastrop County Judge. He claims to be using a 100 year-old sausage recipe that he learned while working at another Bastrop butcher shop. The barbecue leave much to be desired, but shooting the breeze with Clyde is highly recommended.
-Robb Walsh
