7-24-2008 Famous Dave's BarBeCue

I have been to Famous Dave's (in Tacoma) exactly 2 times. The first time was in January or February of this year and the meal was very good. If I was rating them on that visit they would have scored an 8 out of 10 stars easily. But alas, this blog did not exist at that time so my rating is solely based upon my second visit.

Taste: 5 stars. I had the sampler platter. The brisket was tender but lacked any real smoker characteristics. The ribs were pretty good. The chicken was very dry and again, like the brisket, lacked any indication that it had ever touched a grill. The sides of bread, beans and slaw were really good. The corn bread muffin was piping hot and melted into the BBQ beans. The iced tea was cold, but took forever to arrive and refills were nonexistent.

Value: I thought that a big ol' plate of BBQ for under $20 was a pretty darn good bargain. The portions were small, but it was only the sampler platter, so I really cannot complain there. I had a bunch of BBQ for my money. 8 stars.

Staff: Wow! Well, its not a good wow. My friend and I were seated right away, but it took many minutes (at least 15) to flag down a waitress and get our drinks ordered. Also, it took just a little too long to get them. After a wait of 20 more minutes we received our food and the staff just disappeared. Folks that were seated before us were still waiting to make their order after we had received ours. 4 stars.

Ambiance: Famous Dave's is a pretty cool place to be in. They have massive log walls and old timey hunting/trapping decorations to look at. I also enjoyed reading the tee shirts of the staff that happened to scurry by at 50 paces. They are not a Ma & Pa place, but they try to not be a"chain" either. 8 stars.

Friends: Is this someplace I would rave about. Probably not. Would I take my friends to dinner there. Again, probably not. If we just happened by and the "mood" was right, then I would propose eating a meal there. 6 stars.

Overall, based upon this visit I would rate Famous Daves a solid 6, perhaps just leaning into a 7 if the wind is blowing right. I know that someday I will revisit this BBQ chain and perhaps then I will have a better experience.