Tail O' The Pup in Adirondacks a theme park for taste buds

RAY BROOK — Driving along the road between Saranac Lake and Lake Placid, you can't miss the sprawling Tail O' The Pup restaurant complex.

Well, I say restaurant. It's a combination barbecue/clambake joint-theme park-campground-lobster pot-picnic area-movie set-ice cream stand-roadhouse with tiki torches and all the potential to be a giant tourist trap that serves food.

True, it counts on the tourists who make up the better portion of their clientele in the thick of the summer. And as we were about to find out, a trap it's not.

We hit The Pup just before the big season hit. No one was eating inside the restaurant, presumably the original building dating back to 1927. We did check it out, though, with its décor right out of the '50s — red vinyl booths and funky pictures all over the walls.

It was a crisp, clear evening in the Adirondacks, so we opted for the great outdoors, the air fresh with the scent of pine and barbecue. Rows of long, red picnic tables, each with a big roll of paper towels and a bottle of ketchup, were lined up under the tall pine trees.

A façade of buildings like you'd see on a movie set or in an amusement park faced us. A bright pink neon sign proclaims "Camp Store." A tiny cabin with a cozy porch light and gingham curtains turns out to be a break room for the staff.

Families and couples are chowing down. One woman gives us a thumbs up as we ask her how her meal is. Children are playing pool with their parents at a table set up outdoors. It's preseason, so the locals (including owner Eddie Yanchitis and his family) were getting their licks in before the city-slickers swarm in.

The menu is exactly what you'd expect. Barbecued ribs and chicken. Barbecued brisket and pulled pork. Burgers, dogs and wings. Baked beans and collard greens. Poutine.

Lobsters. Clams. Fish 'n' chips. Corn on the cob. Cornbread. Homemade coleslaw. Homemade potato salad.

Root beer and pink lemonade. Milk shakes and malts. Fudge brownie sundaes. Homemade apple crisp a la mode.

We began with drinks. I'm not much of a beer drinker, but if I was going to have a beer somewhere, it would be here. A very good selection, too. It's not the place to get a glass of wine, as the foodie at our table found out. The most likely out-of-a-box mediocre chardonnay served in an undersized glass was a mistake.

Ordering an appetizer of riblets ($7.99) was not a mistake. Four St. Louis-style ribs, their tender meat falling off the bone, were mouth-watering delicious with a sweet and smoky homemade barbecue sauce that was perfect. The ribs were served with a cornbread muffin in a basket lined with red checkered deli paper.

A bowl of New England clam chowder ($5.59) had a slight institutional taste to it, but good clam-to-potato ratio and thickened just right. It was enough for the four of us to all get a taste.

New to the menu: deep-fried pickles. I love deep-fried pickles and couldn't wait to share them with my friends who hadn't had the pleasure. Unfortunately, they were unavailable the night we were there. Hopefully you'll get the try them when you stop by. Let me know how they are.

The family-style atmosphere seemed to lend itself to sharing, and we did just that with a large portion of Rio Grande Salad ($9.99) — romaine lettuce and chopped tomatoes tossed with a sneak-up-on-you spicy Southwest dressing, topped with a dollop of sour cream with tortilla chips stuck into it. Shredded barbecued chicken, a little short on flavor, was placed around the base of the greens. We got the $2 add-on, Gorgonzola cheese that was served on the side.

Beef brisket dinner ($12.99) was some of the best barbecued brisket we've had in some time. Brisket is an inexpensive, generally tough and dry cut of meat. It needs to be smoked for a long time at a low temperature and it magically becomes tender. They did it up right, tender as can be and moistened with their tasty barbecue sauce.

We just had to have more of those fabulous signature ribs, so we ordered the Full Slab O' Ribs dinner ($16.99). These were truly outstanding, done to a "T," tasty and tender, as was the barbecue sauce with just enough heat to make you wonder if you were still in the north country. The roll of paper towels was quickly getting a lot smaller...

Of course, the foodie in our foursome would order the only foo-foo item on the menu, ahi tuna steak ($18.99). You can get it grilled or blackened. We asked our waitress, a congenial, always smiling young gal from the Caribbean, what the difference was.

It took her a few seconds, and with a little prodding from us, agreed that the blackened would be spicier. So we ordered it grilled in order to appreciate the full unadorned flavor of the fish.

I guess we were expecting the commonly accepted practice of tuna being grilled to medium-rare, at most. Well, it arrived darn near well done, true tuna texture and flavor gone. Partially our fault for not asking and partially our server's fault for not asking, but in any case it was a disappointment. Wasabi mayo helped make it edible.

As one friend at the table put it, "It was a reminder to stick to a long-standing personal rule I have: If you want fish, go to a fish place."

OK, somebody had to do it — get the Tail O'The Pup Lobster Clambake ($27.99).

That would be me.

First, the plastic bib. I don't care if you're 5 or you're 50, wearing a plastic bib in public that says "Time to get crackin'" in bright red is more than just a little goofy. But I went along with it, because I'm a good sport. And my friends agreed it looked pretty good on me.

Maybe it was the idea that I was eating outdoors on a clear night at a big red picnic table with little kids and little chipmunks running all over the place, but this lobster clambake was just the thing to complete the nostalgia trip for me.

The lobster was excellent, all 1 1/4 pounds of it, right down to the roe — nicely cooked, cut up for easy eating and attractively displayed on the large oval plate. A half-dozen littleneck clams were just fine, more so when dunked in the melted butter provided. Corn on the cob, for mid-June and obviously flown in from somewhere far south of the Adirondacks, was surprisingly good.

The sides, without exception, had a freshly made quality and taste and were welcome complements to our dinners. Thick-cut coleslaw had the right amount of sweet and sour tanginess. Collard greens lent a variety of texture, color and taste to the meal. Baked beans were good to the last bean. And nothing says summer like potato salad. Their homemade red-skin potato salad was superb.

We really didn't have room for dessert, but homemade apple crisp a la mode tempted us, so we got an order and asked for four spoons. It was a little wet and runny but had lovely overtones of cinnamon and clove. The slightly underdone apples made for a light crunch to complement the soft vanilla ice cream and the whipped topping. A maraschino cherry on top topped off the nostalgia for the evening.

A fine evening shared with fun people at a rustic table loaded with flavorful, enjoyable food cost $115 before tip and before figuring in the beer and wine.

Service was spotty at times, but in her defense, our waitress had a trainee in tow who is going to need a lot more training if she's going to survive the crazy busy that this place gets in the summertime.

It's clear that Tail O' The Pup knows exactly what it is and makes no bones about it: a place to go for a reasonably priced good meal with decent service and a fun atmosphere.

TIDBIT

A limited edition Adirondack cookbook debuted last week. According to the Upper Saranac website, "The Upper Saranac Cookbook: An Adirondack Treasury of 500 Recipes" is a hardcover, three-ring binder with recipes contributed by 240 families and chefs. The cover and recipe category divider pages feature color photos by well-known Adirondack photographer Burdette Parks.

Recipe categories are appetizers and beverages, breakfast and brunch, soups, salads, main courses, vegetables and sides, from the grill, breads and rolls and sweets and desserts."

Proceeds from the sale of the books, priced at $25 each, will be used to fight Eurasian water milfoil, an invasive aquatic plant that threatens the lakes of the Adirondacks.

For more information, go to www.uppersaranac.com/cookbook.asp

You can contact restaurant reviewer Walter Siebel via e-mail: wsiebel@wdt.net.

Tail O' The Pup

1152 Route 86 (Sara-Placid Highway)

Ray Brook, N.Y.

1 (518) 891-0777

www.tailofthepupbbq.com

A rustic lobster clambake and barbecue restaurant in the heart of the Adirondacks

HOURS:11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday

11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday

Some of the best barbecue we've had in a while — great ribs, great brisket

We certainly enjoyed the lobster clambake too, with properly cooked lobster, littleneck clams, corn on the cob and homemade red-skin potato salad.

RATING: 3 1/2 FORKS