Famous Dave’s

I am a big fan of Famous Dave’s when I want my ‘que fix, but I am nowhere near North Carolina. However, I was very disappointed on my most recent visit to the Famous Dave’s outpost in Bloomington.
I ordered burnt ends, a pulled pork sandwich, and a side salad to go with a sweet tea. As I looked at the bill, I noticed they charged me $ 4.49 for a side salad. The menu clearly states that you can add a salad side to an entrée for $ 3.29 or substitute a side salad for $ 1.99. When I asked about this, the hostess said, «We just changed our menu and I can understand how it might be a little confusing for you.» Umm … there is nothing confusing about it — I showed her my three options and she went to get her manager. The manager came and explained to me that it was the same side salad no matter which option I chose. Yeah — I get that. I finally got them to understand me and got the price adjusted on my bill.
I then sat down to enjoy my sweet tea and wait for my food. Except that my sweet tea was not sweet. I asked why it was not sweet and the hostess said it was sweet tea because it said sweet tea on the outside. She went to get her manager again. I asked him to taste it, which he did and said it was not sweet. Thanks for that. Again, my bill got adjusted.
I got my order and went back to my hotel. As I opened my order, I found that the burnt ends were not burnt. They were warmed up cubes of fat with cold BBQ sauce brushed on them. I have had this appetizer before and the secret to it is to sear the sauce on to the pieces of brisket. This was far from that.
The pulled pork sandwich was OK and the salad was fine.
I will still go to Famous Dave’s, but I would think twice before going to this location.

Went for dinner last night. We got the 2 person feast. Great choice. We selected the beef brisket as one of the meats. Wow was that great! Ribs, chicken and beans also very good. Only complaint was desert choices, wished for something like key lime pie or a good quality cheese cake.

I had the St. Louis style ribs, pulled pork, kids cheese burger, kids chicken strips and an extra 6 corn bread muffins.
Ribs where incredibly dry, even past jerky, impossible to eat.
Pulled pork was good
Cheese burger was burnt, my kid took one byte and had to spit it out. He Normally loves burgers.
Chicken strips was good
Corn bread muffins were exceptional, everyone loved them.
If you order take out, you will need to check the quality of your food before leaving. It appears they use sauce and cheese to cover up over cooked meat.

We went late Sunday night, thankful they were still open. Open till 10… We arrived at 8.
To tackle hunger, the best place to go is out for sone BBQ!
I wanted the brisket nachos. Nachos just sing to me, even at a BBQ place. If you have not had BBQ nachos, Oh I suggest you try them out! Two layers of chips, Wilbur Beans, jalapeño cheese sauce (not spicy at all), brisket, lettuce, tomatoes, shredded cheese topped with bbq sauce. Yum! The best part of eating these is if you eat them in the restaurant instead of takeout, you can put more BBQ sauce on them at the table! Yay!
At 7.99, that is a great deal already but we found out that it was happy hour on Sundays… So they were only $ 5! BOOOYA!
Always get a side of fries…
The spouse got some ribs and brisket and was so happy. Now I am wanting to go back.

Yeah its a bit pricey but for the quality you get it’s more than worth it. The food and workers are amazing. One time they messed up my order but quickly fixed the error and allowed me to keep both. They are perfect for family friendly meals even with a big family or smaller grab dinner with a friend type meals.

So good! I don’t really like ribs! But my friends like it! So we just stop by there! I try that ! That was so yummy! the price is very expensive! But still ok! We order the big plate sharing together! Ribs were good! Chicken were good ! Veggie were good! Fried were good! But the rest thing I don’t like! Resturant like good! I like the decoration on the wall! But server was slow to serve table! I don’t see too much People there when I was there! So I don’t think them because they are busy to delay to serve customers! But anyway! I think there still good to try!

This place is quite a bit smaller than most Famous Dave’s, and is located in the end of the Normandale Village strip mall. I only came in for a beer waiting for my buddy to get off work from the Wells Fargo across the way. The bartender was nice and polite, but I didn’t really try the food there either. I’ll probably come back again sometime because it is pretty much the only bar/​restaurant within a mile and a half of my friend’s apartment.

We used to love Famous Dave’s. We usually go to the Linden Hills location which is always very good. Now I’m thinking we are done with FD. their Full Rib platter keeps going up in price. was $ 19.99, then $ 20.99, then $ 21.49, the $ 22.49, now last time it was $ 25!!! Ribs are a cheap quality of meat, which is why they slow cook them for hours. I can get a good Ribeye or even a filet or prime rib at other restaurants for $ 20-​$ 25. I make better pulled pork in my crock pot for cheap.
This last visit at this (Bloomington) Famous Daves on W 98^th street Dec 2012. (yes this address is in Bloomington, not Mpls) anyhow. last visit price was $ 25 for the full rack platter. the ribs were the worst ribs we’ve ever had — Anywhere. there was very little meat. the outside of the ribs meat seemed old like they’ve been sitting. they were too dry. and there was also some odd extra bone or whatever in what is usually the most meaty part of the bones. and it was along the whole rack. it was the worse rack of Ribs I’ve had ANYWHERE.
also later in the evening we realized they never gave us the corn you usually get with it. just some fries (which seemed like a smaller portion than usual) and a cb muffin and drunkin apples. For the Money, even if we got GREAT rack of ribs, they are just getting too expensive for what they are. a cheap cut of meat. unless they have a $ 10 coupon or something and even then we will not go back to this Bloomington location. the Ribs at the Bloomington location never as good as other locations. this last time they were horrible.

I’ve been to this location three times now, each time with a large group of people. While the host will frequently give us a little bit of an issue when we try to reserve a spot for our group in advance (their policy is no reservations), they always accommodate us. The service is generally friendly and mostly attentive. For that part I give them 4 stars.
The food, however, gets 3 stars. It’s funny since most chains are consistent when it comes to their food. However, almost every time I’m here the ribs are just too salty — once it was nearly inedible. Considering how infrequently I get to enjoy Famous Dave’s, I’m always very excited for the opportunity. Unfortunately, this is almost always a disappointment.
I’m rounding down the 3.5 average.

Typical Famous Daves which means solid if not out of this world BBQ. Came here for lunch and had the baby back ribs with chicken tenders. Both were OK if not spectacular. Again I tried the dry rub ribs and while OK were not as good as the ones i was eating last year. Service was top notch and my friend even got a free bottle of sauce because it was his first time there.

August, 2009 — This restaurant used to be one of our favorite local eateries. There has been a recent management change, and their service has declined. For example — my wife loves their Mac-​N-​Cheez — bur can not handle the Jalapenos. We used to order it by the quart. There was never a question asked, and it was always made fresh for us! Since the change in management, you would think I asked them to build the Taj Mahal. One poor order taker even told me she got in trouble for taking our last order.
Ribs are good — Wings are good. Other than the management change, I would have given them a 3 — 4 star rating

It’s a Famous Daves, enough said? Good location not too busy at all generally but, not very large either. I like this area for finding something a little less busy for lunch working in the 494/​Normandale area, this area is generally overlooked and pretty slow compared to the 494/​Normandale restaurants.