Famous Dave’s BBQ

We stopped for lunch, and though less then half of the seats were occupied, and no one was in front of us, we still had a 5 minute wait to be greeted and sat. I ordered the «Feast for One» which is a sampling of all of their entrees. However, even though hotlinks are a staple in a true southern bbq place, I had to order one (for an additional cost). My girlfriend had the bbq pork with coleslaw on top, and a side of garlic redskinned mashed potatoes. Because something was broken, there was no sweet tea available. The food was good at best. If you’ve ever been to Memphis, St. Louis, Texas, or any other known bbq region, you will be severely under impressed. The «hotlink» that I paid $ 4 extra for, was no hotlink. It was like a store bought sausage… To me, Famous Dave’s is to bbq what Olive Garden is to Italian, and Taco Bell is to Mexican… Good food, good service, but not $ 36 for lunch good. Nothing impressed me, or justified the price in my mind. I did grab a handful of wet naps from the caddy on the table before I left though. That was probably my most satisfying moment.

Date of visit:11/27/2015
When I come to visit my parents in Michigan, I know that I can count on my dad — Gibbs to «suggest’ to come and eat here at this restaurant. I laugh because I know it’s coming, «Doughie…let’s go to Famous Dave’s…», and I say «okay Gibbs let’s go…» Well since I lived in Austin in the past, I guess it’s hard for me to judge the quality of BBQ. I feel that Austin has set the bar really high. However„ the staff and the food are pretty good. I usually get brisket sandwich of some sort. This time I ordered a large bowl of soup, as far as soup goes it tasted pretty great. I also ordered the Bread pudding, not bad… not the greatest. nor the worst. Close to the highway, close to a wide variety of stores and the mall. This place is always busy. they do a have a calm atmosphere and there are TVs everywhere for sports. I would have liked to try one of their specialty drinks, but never ever in the presence of my parents! This has been one of my family’s dining places for over ten years… it is great family restaurant.

Went there yesterday waitress was not to friendly didnt wanna go out of her way to get butter couldnt get a refill on my tea had raw chicken served to me the manager argued with me telling me its jus pink and had a slime shoes hes not experienced and no sense ribs were dry as ever no seasoning and clearly frozen not going back

Great food! Ribs, Rib Tips & the Brisket are excellent…
Draw back, the prices keep rising and the portion sizes keep getting smaller. First they took away the cob of corn, now the muffins are about half the size as they once were.

Food was fantastic! Rib tips are always a great value. Eat your fries with BBQ sauce.

This use to be a lot better! the ribs are usually over cooked now and the servers seem bothered !! The sweet tea is not what it use to be ! Other locations much better

Slow service, even when there was one other table. Food was just ok. Don’t know how they do it but they managed to ruin the pineapple by putting some nasty MSG crap on it.

Stopped here for lunch.
Had brisket and a hot link with Mac and cheese. It was very good.
The meats are very tender and have good flavor. Mac and cheese is good. Has a little kick with the jalapeño in it.
Sauces here are pretty good as well.
Service is very friendly and the food was brought out fast.

I don’t think it’s fair to pay a tip when you don’t get service wait staff make their money selling food I should think about that when they want a tip especially if they don’t provide any service.

Busy busy busy!!! But love love love!!! Crystal is such an awesome server! Fast friendly and efficient! Bartenders drinks are always on point but it’s the jalapeño Mac and cheese and their crazy sauces that I love to put on my wings that keep me coming back!

perfect lunch spot amazing food and it’s not even a mile away from my job great lunch deals plus if you ask for a lunch punch card you get a free lunch after the 7^th visit…

I’m not much for chains but we were out and I was hungry.
We arrived during dinner service and it wasn’t too busy. It was a week night so I didn’t expect it to be. We were seated quickly and waited a short time for our drinks. Our waitress seemed pretty distracted with straightening up empty tables and small talk. It wasn’t terribly annoying but it took 10 minutes longer for her to head to the kitchen and find our food. We placed our order and watched 2 tables after ours finish theirs before ours came out. Eh, everyone has an off day and we were there enjoying my husbands birthday. HAPPY BIrTHDAY HONEY! My brisket was super duper dry and our waitress was very kind and quickly brought out something else. (Great job)
Here’s the sour part…
The staff came out 4 times making a HUGE ruckus and singing a birthday song for several tables. They toted out some desert plate and clapped and got silly. I really don’t mind a little celebration but sheesh!!! We couldn’t talk to each other or even think as 3 of the tables were next to ours. So we got our food and every 5 minutes they were singing.
Kudos to the waitress for fixing my meal.
Quick seating
Food was good except brisket.
Tone down the clapping and super loud singing.

I absolutely love this place. The traditional wings are some of the best I’ve had. Always go with Wilbur’s revenge hot sauce. It’s the best hot sauce I’ve had on wings north of Louisiana. The staff is always super friendly and I’ve never had bad service. The beer selection isn’t too shabby either.

I can’t believe we just came for dessert… All this BBQ looks so good! But I guess you can just come for dessert… I had «better than mom’s pecan pie»! Holy crap it was good! A huge slice (good for 3 people) served warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. I also sampled the bread pudding which was really good… and i don’t like bread puddin…(also enough to serve 3!)
It seems like a fun spot. Good for A chill date night with your regular chic if you don’t mind getting messy. The atmosphere was a bit loud, the tables are a bit close together and it was like we were up in everyone’s conversation.
This place «helps pigs reach their full potential…»
…and «smoking is allowed, as long as you have hickory!»

Famous Dave’s is one of those places you land after a busy day on Eureka Rd doing errands, and you just can’t resist that amazing smell anymore.
That said, going in, I was not expecting much from a chain BBQ restaurant. I was pleasantly surprised. Nothing I had was bad; in fact, some of the food I devoured and almost licked my plate clean.
Service wise, I was impressed. One of the occasions we were there, we had both our 4 and 2 year olds with us, and our 2 year old dumped a completely full glass of soda on the ground. I couldn’t even get down there to start cleaning up before there were 3 employees in the ground, all saying «don’t worry about it — we’ve got it — it happens!» I was very impressed. Never had an empty glass, and there were always lots of extra napkins — important for a BBQ restaurant haha.
Overall, I was pleased with both the food and the service we found here. Will definitely be going back.

Well, my sister had to give it another try. She had a coupon for a free appetizer and must have forgot how sick she was last time because she decided to eat here after Xmas shopping.
It’s a basic chain restaurant with a fishing/​hunting/​Bubba therme. If your boyfriend proposes to go here, it’s not to give you a ring… but you might get to romp in the bed of his truck for dessert. Paper towels on the table, flat screens on the wall, very hard wooden chairs tell you to «Eat and leave!» Mullets and mohawks, Christmas sweats and baseball caps are the fashion choices.
A six pack of barbecue sauces on the table is the main focus. The bottles are grimy from the previous guests. Choices range from Rich and Sassy to Devil’s Spit. Taste before dousing your meat so you don’t get surprised. We ordered the sampler platter which had onion strings and pickled veggies, pork, chicken tenders, catfish fingers and dipping sauces. I ordered a stuffed potato with cheddar cheese, sour cream, butter and bacon. It came with a side of coleslaw and a corn muffin. There was about a tablespoon of toppings for a large baked potato. I had to add salt and some of the blue cheese dressing to make it taste like something. My sister had a similar problem with her drink. She added sugar to balance the flavors. Throughout the meal, we were doctoring and fiddling with things to get them to taste good.
The service was fast and competent. We were seated by a work station and heard all about the call-​offs and problems they were plagued with but they kept things rolling. The staff did seem that they were just treading water until their shifts ended. They weren’t having fun and their attitude extended to the customers as well. We didn’t finish our meal or order dessert. We did take the remains home and will see what we can do with them.
Did we get sick this time? No, the food was fine. But I didn’t feel that I’d have to come back.

My favorite barbecue restaurant of ALL time! «LOVE» their St. Louis ribs & their burnt ends are «PHENOMENAL!!!» House salad is really good & their ranch (which has a lot of dill) is the «BEST!!!» Love their wedges, with the Georgia Mustard sauce. Other sides will not disappoint either. Service is usually really good too. GO :-)

Consistency is the hallmark of a restaurant. I’ve eaten at Famous Dave’s before and had reasonably experiences, but this just wasn’t one of them.
All of my sides; cole slaw, green beans, and garlic mashed potatoes we acceptable. The cornbread muffin was excellent. The beef brisket was way off the mark. The rub used was heavy in salt which overpowered the natural smoky flavor of what brisket is supposed to be. The meat could have used about an hour extra of cooking since it lacked the tenderness and the pull apart quality that I expect from brisket.
So overall I was rather disappointed in Famous Dave’s and will move it far down in my list of goto barbecue places.

It’s Famous Dave’s — decent food at a decent price.

I have been to this location multiple times. Some of the best chain BBQ I have ever had.
Burnt Ends — flavorful and tender
Ribs — were cooked to perfection, not overcooked fall of the bone, or undercooked and to chewy. I always order them naked.
Mac & Cheese– avg
Fries– avg
Corn Bread Muffin — Star of the show, could easily eat a dozen.
Service — friendly and prompt.
Sauces are all very good, with Texas Pit being my favorite, I always have a bottle at home in my fridge.
P. S. I am sort of a BBQ snob, and do own 2 smokers at home.
Ate at Corky’s in Memphis last summer, and prefer Famous Daves anytime.