Famous Dave’s

I used to like this place, but the last few times I’ve eaten here have guaranteed that I won’t be back. Ever.
The food has greatly declined in quality, and portions shrank to the point where you might as well skip the sides.
But the worst part, is that the last time I was there I looked up and noticed how dirty the stuff hanging on the walls was, and even though the ceilings are fairly high, I could also see dirt on all the knick knacks up there too. I could not believe my eyes, there was so much dust and cobwebs that there’s no way it had been cleaned within the last two years.
I wish I had looked up on one of my previous visits. I refuse to eat in a restaurant that can’t be bothered to clean the walls and ceiling of their own dining room. That’s disgusting.

Great customer service… manager went above expectations to make sure a happy holiday was had by all!!!

New in the area and loved the Famous Dave’s back in California. Got excited when I saw there was one here only to be disappointed once the food arrived. Baby back ribs were completely burnt. By far worst ribs I ever had. Macaroni was completely dried out and beans tasted very plan. I guess the best on there menu was the cups of water but then again the cup was dirty. Fire the cooks and start back from the basics of what made Dave Famous!!!

I’ve been going to this and other Famous Dave’s restaurants almost every week for 17 years. I once considered it one of my favorite restaurants. Over the past 2 – 3 years they have gradually gone down hill in quality and cutting down on portions at the same time, raising prices. Bums me out that they are sucking so hard now.

This is the only chain restaurant that I would recommend in Woodbury, the place has changed a lot in the past year. You can tell that Dave is not involved with the place, gone is the cool décor, the blues and lots of other changes that took away the roadside barbecue look and turned it into a much more sterile environment. We started referring to it as «Corporate Daves». The food is still good but not like it was before but this is what happens when greedy stockholders take over.

What happen to Dave’s? I’ve eaten at many around the country and liked it very much. Today was a very different experience, the Brisket and Baby Back ribs were extremely dry. The sides were not to my liking and we had 6 different sides. Only the French fries and corn bread were good. Sorry Dave I will not be back!

One of my favorite FD locations. The service is great and food always comes out hot. The space is good and I’ve rarely had to wait to be seated.

What’s happening to Famous Dave’s. The prices keep creeping up and the quality goes the other way. We waited for 50 minutes for our food on Saturday, January 31^st. The ribs and chicken wings were good, but corn on the cob was COLD. How can food take 50 minutes and come our cold. On our last visit we had to send back the baby back ribs because they were charred crisp. I guess Famous Dave’s is officially done.

High fructose corn syrup doesn’t need to be used, ever, but especially in barbecue sauce. Everything was overly sweet regardless of the type of sauce put on. Even the spiciest sauces start with high fructose corn syrup. What a waste.
The brisket was bone dry; it actually crumbled when we tried to pick it up off of the plate. There wasn’t enough sickeningly sweet sauce to make this edible. The ribs and pulled pork were decent, but the sauces are all just overpowering in their fake smokiness and artificial sweetness.
One recent reviewer said that Florida needs this chain. As a Twin Cities resident for 15 years, I would happily send you every Famous Dave’s we have, including the headquarters. What Famous Dave’s does to barbecue is a travesty, and it makes me long for a road trip to Kansas City or Memphis. Thanks for reminding me that there are parts of the country where barbecue is done right. The Twin Cities is not one such area.

All I can say is, Florida needs this chain! We visited FD for a wedding rehearsal dinner. It. Was. Epic. I’m not sure if they food is normally served «family style», but it was for our party. We were greeted at the table by trash can sized lids of delicious bbq goodness. Ribs, pulled pork, beef brisket, hot sausage, potatoes, baked beans, mac and cheese, and some of the best corn bread muffins ever. Two of these platters for each table of eight. And they kept refilling them fasted than we could ask. All of the dishes were fantastic, but two of them stood tall above the rest. The beef brisket was the best I have ever had. It had a perfect bark and was tender enough to cut with a fork. The flavor was unbelievable. And the mac and cheese was holycowthebestever! The super creamy cheese sauce had pieces of jalapeño in it! Creamy deliciousness with a bit of heat at the end,
The staff was helpful, attentive, and all had smiles. An experience I won’t forget.

I may be a bbq snob from KC but come on, you can do better than this! The ribs are dry and burned, the Wilbur beans are boring. The best thing they have to offer are the hell-​fire pickles! THOSE are good!

My husband kept raving about this place because he’d eaten at one in a different state, so we went for dinner. It wasn’t bad but I wasn’t blown away, either. We only had to wait about 5 minutes for a table, so that was definitely nice because we went on a Friday evening. Our server came to our table and after leaving again for about 10 minutes, she came back and said she had to make a birthday treat for another table and she’d be right back. Needless to say, I felt the wait to place our food order was ridiculous. We’d been there for 30 minutes (I know for certain because I checked in on FB and Foursquare when we arrived…) before she came and took our order. My husband wanted one of their t-​shirts, which we figured they sold but when we asked a different server, she told us they didn’t, unless they had extras. She went through the trouble of asking the manager if he had some in his office and then brought out the size we requested, in various shirts, to show us and allowed us to choose one. They were reasonably priced at $ 12.99. Everyone enjoyed their food, for the most part. It wasn’t «bad», it just wasn’t as awesome as hubby made it out to be. Maybe I should be giving him the two stars… anyhoo-​if our server had been a little more expeditious about getting our order, I probably would’ve given them three stars. I did LOVE the different BBQ sauces they put out on the table, though. It was all pretty good but the sweet one was my favorite.
If you’re looking for BBQ in this particular area, I wouldn’t tell you to steer clear, just don’t expect to be blown out of your chair, either :)

Hubby and I both ordered the Hickory chicken sandwich with fries. It was good, consistant with the other Famous Dave Restaurants I have been to. Our waitress was MIA most of the time. I will say the one positive thing was I ordered a Leinenkugel’s Summer Shandy for $ 3.50 and it was very refreshing:) Actually ended up stopping by a liquor store on the way home to get a case. Anyways although the food was good I wasn’t happy with the unattentive service, hence the three stars.

You’re in Woodbury on a Sunday night hankering for que… where to go — go to Dave’s.
We were seated immediately in a wooden booth — comfortable enough for dinner without making you want to linger. The décor was ok, except for the fact that that it was incredibly dusty and had cobwebs hanging from some of the clothing.
Looks like they have some great happy hour specials that are available in the dining room too; however we didn’t try any this time. Dinner was the two meat combo with pork and boneless wings while hubs had rib tips and brisket. The fries were great — crispy and hot on the outside with soft potato inside. The highlight of my meal was the mac and cheese with chilis and corn… it was creamy, spicy and just plain delicious. (I would have licked the bowl if hubs would have let me)
Our server also dropped off a sample of the bbq chips that were really good with some of the different sauces added.
Not the best que out there; however it hit the spot that night and has me wanting to go back to try some of their happy hour specials.

We stopped in here one Friday night for dinner. After 15 mins sitting at the table we still had no server, no drinks, no indication anyone knew we were there. That just starts us wrong.
once our server came (20 mins) he was quite enthusiastic, and helpful. We got our cocktails and initial order in. Not sure what the initial delay was but he did well once he introduced himself.
The sauces, they are good. But overly sweet. I never get the idea we need so much sugar in bbq now. I liked the memphis mustard the best, not overly sweet or loaded with artificial smoke. It doesnt taste like molasses either. White sugar. Ack.
The sauces are really strong. overpowering and can easily cover the taste of the meat. The sauce should accent the meat, not cover it.
The meat itself was good, I had naked memphis ribs and Texas brisket, smoked well and full smoke flavor, juciy. My big problem here, lots of salt, way to much salt on the rub for the ribs. Salt lick. The texas brisket was good, well smoked, juicy, tender.
My friend had salad topped with smoked chicken. She said it was good and would have it again. It didnt look all to bad.
I wasnt a big fan of the BBQ beans. Tasted like some cheap canned version of what beans should be. The fries were good. Crispy and fresh.

We had a craving for some ribs and since my transplant here to the Twin Cities from Texas, I hadn’t been to any BBQ places yet so I decided to give Famous Dave’s a shot. A lot of family and friends swear by this place and almost everyone I know up North has a bottle of Famous Dave’s Sweet ‘N Zesty in their refrigerator.
Walking into this place, the décor emits a ranch-​like ambiance with the wooden accents and the fish and deer hanging from the walls — I found it amusing coming from the South. The host was very friendly and sat us immediately, but it took our server about 5 minutes to find out he was our server, and another 15 minutes to come around and take our order after bringing us our drinks — I was unsure if he had a party of 14 in another section of the restaurant or he just wasn’t up to being speedy on a Sunday evening, but it irked me a little bit.
The menu is chock-​full of what you’d expect from a BBQ joint — a slew of meats, a plethora of sides, and about 50 different ways to combine them all. We opted to go with the «Feast For Two», which included 3 meats (chicken, spare ribs, and brisket) and 3 sides (fries, mac&cheese, and beans — corn-​on-​the-​cob and cornbread come with every meal). We also got an order of onion strings that came with a side of remoulade, just because I have a thing for trying onion strings/​rings everywhere I go.
We received a small plate of potato chips as an «appetizer» to try out the different Famous Dave’s sauces, Texas Pit and Wilbur’s Revenge being my personal choices. Texas Pit has a natural smoky flavor, and the slight bitterness of a vinegar-​based bbq sauce has much more of an appeal to me than the ketchup-​based Sweet ‘N Zesty and even Devil’s Own, the other two I didn’t mention — in all honesty, they were both way too sweet for me.
The food arrived in short order, and it was all pretty delicious. The spare ribs were slathered with SnZ, which made them too sweet, but they were fall-​off-​the-​bone good and although lacking a noticeable smoke ring or a good amount of char, I didn’t expect much more from a chain BBQ place. The brisket was tender and was good with just a little bit of Texas Pit+Wilbur’s Revenge, and the chicken is what you’d expect from rotisserie. The mac&cheese is mixed with corn and a small kick of jalepeno (good) and the beans were pretty plain, although accompanied by bits of sausage and pork. The corn on the cob was sweet (good), and the corn bread was decent — it’s pretty difficult to make really good cornbread; the texture and taste were great, but it’s just not fun to eat cornbread that falls apart after the first bite.
I can see why many Northerners love Dave’s — it’s convenient with so many locations, the BBQ is pretty decent, you get a lot of food for the price, and honestly, how much other «real» competition is out there? I’m sure I will venture out and try to find a true BBQ joint up here in The Cities that gives me memories of Off-​The-​Bone, but Dave’s isn’t half-bad.Now if only I could get a waiter who doesn’t take 15 minutes to greet me and take an order, and another 15 minutes to bring me a box and my check…-1 star on that alone.

I will say now that we are a family of 5. we do not have much money. we seek out comfort food for the whole family. we are not foodies. this is our go to celebration restaurant. birthdays, anniversaries? we come here. we have always had top notch service and food. we always leave with a food coma. we have been to a few famous daves and this is our favorite. it has sit down order service and a full bar. the servers always accommodate us with glee and bend to our every whim. the food has always been perfect. we will keep coming here. it has become part of our spirit as a family. when we can afford it and we have a celebration this place reminds us of why were such a happy family.
the only complaint i have this this place is nothing to do with the restaurant but with the patrons. were are an alternative family. lots of piercings, tattoos etc. but we are very happy and tight knit and the patrons like to give us dirty looks all night. but eh screw em. Ive got ribs in my hand, a good beer on the side and this moment is about my family and nobody else.

I’ve been here a few times since my last review and the experience has steadily worsened. I’ve dropped my four-​stars to a lowly two.
Why?
1. ALL the food is infused with syrupy sweetness. The sauces are too sweet. The corn muffins are sugary. The sodas are thick-​sweet. Even the pickles are too sweet. Worse, I think it’s not even real sugar, but that high-​fructose crap. And looking at the girth of the other patrons, all this syrup has a lasting effect.
2. Their beans, which used to be spicy pinto beans, heavy on the chili, are now just cheapo canned pork-​n-​beans with chopped up leftovers of sauage bits and beef ends stirred in. Oh, and lots of sweetener.
3. The appetizers and salads are also leftover BBQ on smaller plates in unusual mixes. We had a disgusting disappointment called ‘nachos’ which was really super-​sweet BBQ chicken and baked beans on top of a handful of chips. All smothered under a drift of chopped iceberg lettuce. Served cold.
The meats are still quite good. I’ll visit the place now and then in the winter months when I can’t make my own BBQ. But I’ll just order the meat to-​go.

³¹⁄₂ stars but since we can’t do ½ stars I’ll go 4 because for a northern states BBQ joint it’s as good as you can find good sauces and quality meat love the Georgia chopped pork sides are great too good ribs and brisket I love the bread pudding but I can only get it if I don’t get food too much of a meal for desert

Not the best place for ribs