Famous Dave's is probably the biggest barbecue chain in the country, and we would go occasionally through high school. Something I never picked on until I got to Chicago--the atmosphere is terrible. Their interior design philosophy is cram 10 pounds of hokey bullshit in a 2 pound bag. They make their waiters introduce themselves "Welcome to Famous Dave's, I'm Famous Mike." Their website includes the sentence, "Heck, we didn’t even have ta’ bribe the judges."
But I'm not here to write for Kitchens and Baths, I'm here to eat barbecue.
I ordered the two-meat combo for 13.99: beef brisket and rib tips. It came with two sides: I picked fries and 4-cheese jalapeno mac & cheese. It also comes standard with a mini corn on the cob and a cornbread muffin, so I basically got 2 meats and 4 sides.
My mom got the Georgia chopped pork dinner with fries and beans, so I got to taste the pork and beans.
I'll start with the bad: both the beef brisket and chopped pork were uninspired. Not much flavor, seemed like decent quality meat, just not a lot going on. And there are 5 sauces on the table, which I appreciate: sweet & zesty, rich & sassy, georgia mustard, texas pit, and devil's spit. It's a shame that all the sauces taste bland and are heavy on the high fructose corn syrup.
Wait...researching...
Yep. You'd expect the sweet & zesty to be loaded with HFCS. But on their main sauce, rich & sassy, it's the #1 ingredient. And on the hottest one, devil's spit, it's #2 behind water.
I don't think it's a coincidence that Gates and Arthur Bryants make the best sauce and neither one has HFCS.
/soapbox
On to the good, the rib tips were pretty darn good. These aren't trying to be one-inch chunks of meat like burnt ends, these are larger, un-uniform meat piles full of cartilage and bone. But they give you enough that you get a decent amount of meat, and it's almost like eating a fried chicken thigh. These meat tasted slow-cooked, and it made me wonder if the ribs are the way to go at Famous Dave's.
(Though that's not an excuse. Just like an advertising campaign--a person only sees one ad a time. You can't say, well we have some good ads in that campaign, you just happened to see the bad one. Famous Dave's can't say we have good ribs, you just happened to order the brisket and chopped pork.)
The other good things were all the sides: the mac & cheese was a standout. The fries and beans are both solid. (Although I rarely complain about fries. Maybe they're just easy to do right or maybe I'm not picky enough when it comes to fries.) And I like getting the cornbread muffin that doesn't count as one of my sides.
Rib Tips: A-
Sides: B+
Brisket: C
Chopped Pork: D+
Overall: B-
So if you order the right things, it's not that bad. It falls toward the bottom of my rankings, but a B- can get you into a Big Ten school. Not Illinois of course, but let's say Purdue.
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For The Record:
Gates, eat-in, Overland Park (11/22/10): A+
Arthur Bryant's, eat-in, Kansas City (4/21/10): A+
Gates, eat-in, Overland Park (2/13/09): A+
Jack Stack, eat-in, Overland Park (11/21/10): A
Jack Stack, carryout, Overland Park (10/6/07): A
Gates, stadium, Arrowhead (10/7/07): A
Oklahoma Joe's, eat-in, Overland Park (10/6/07): A-
Oklahoma Joe's, eat-in, Kansas City (4/23/10): A-
Corky's, eat-in, Memphis (5/24/08): A-
Carsons, eat-in, Chicago (2/7/09): A-
Jack Stack, carryout, Overland Park (2/13/09): A-
Smokehouse BBQ, eat-in, Overland Park (2/14/09): A-
Smoke Daddy, eat-in, Chicago (5/23/09): B+
Rum Boogie Cafe, eat-in, Memphis (5/25/08): B+
Neely's, eat-in, Memphis (5/25/08): B
Famous Dave's, eat-in, Peoria (11/26/10) B-
LC's, eat-in, Kansas City (4/24/10): B-
Blues City Cafe, eat-in, Memphis (5/24/08): C
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