San Antonio Express-News (Sunday)
Proof is in its pudding — and potato
Meaty spud, luscious dessert from Lockhart
Lockhart is considered the Barbecue Capital of Texas, but you don’t have to drive all the way to Caldwell County to get a taste of it. That’s because Lockhart comes to San Antonio several times a week via the Mighty Oak BBQ food truck.
A fixture outside the Black Clover Pub on Thousand Oaks Drive, the truck’s owners, David and Pamela Stokem, regularly commute from Lockhart to San Antonio to serve their take on classic post oak barbecue. The duo used to run the food trailer Thumper’s in Lockhart, but they have rebranded into
Mighty Oak and have been parked outside the North Side San Antonio bar for about a year.
“We held our own there against the best of the best (in Lockhart) but thought San Antonio was a new opportunity for us,” Pamela Stokem said.
Brisket, pork ribs, pulled pork, sausage, chicken and turkey are on the menu, but customers can also get beef ribs, nachos, loaded baked potatoes, desserts, wraps and sandwiches.
Best dish: There is a bit of a competition for bragging rights inside the Black Clover to see who can finish the meaty potato ($11.99) in one sitting. The enormous baked potato comes
topped with a choice of meat and easily weighs more than 2 pounds.
I got mine with moist pulled pork that tore off into ribbons. Pitmaster David calls it one of his specialties, and it certainly was special, butterflied like a fish then topped with layers of butter, sour cream, cheddar cheese, onions and chives. The potato was perfectly cooked and absorbed the toppings like
a delicious sponge.
Other dishes: Normally, I would finish with dessert, but the banana pudding ($4.99) here is special and something I would start with any day of the week. It’s made from scratch and has a whipped, creamy texture on par with a high-end mousse full of real banana flavor.
Another nice surprise was the Elvis Panini ($7.99 with chips),
considered the “vegetarian” option of the menu. It’s loaded with creamy peanut butter, sliced bananas and bacon that cometogether for a kingly experience.
On the barbecue menu, the brisket ($12.49 for a half-pound) was the best of the smoked meats, and it came loaded with smoke flavor. The fat was well rendered, and the meat tore easily to the touch. Put it on a piece of bread and douse it with the Mighty Oak barbecue sauce, and you will be happy.
The ribs are another story. Pork baby back ribs ($16.99 per pound) have a tendency to dry out when left too long on the smoker or in a warming tray, and it tasted like that was the case here. They had plenty of smoke, but the texture was gritty, like sandpaper, and drowning them in sauce was the only way to eat them.
The beef rib ($18.99) had the opposite problem, turning into a barely recognizable mush when pressed with a fork. It had a solid, beefy flavor, and you can’t beat the price when beef ribs often sell for $25 or more. Still, it was closer to pot roast than barbecue.
On the sides menu, go with the housemade mac and cheese ($2.99). The Mighty Oak uses shells and loads it with black pepper and creamy cheese that holds up as one of the better barbecue sides you will find in the area.