Famous Dave’s

I have been coming to Fam Dave’s since it opened… Some folks say its hit or miss, but i always order the Ribs,;-) and have never been let down.
The meat is sweet and falls off the bone. So i say stick to what they do best. And oh by the way, try the bread pudding for dessert, u can split it, its awsome… ;-)

First time experience at Famous Dave’s. Disappointed. I ordered the burnt ends and ribs with coleslaw and potato salad. I didn’t like any of it. The burnt ends had a funny aftertaste, the ribs were dry, potato salad was bland and the coleslaw was only OK. The kids ordered the chicken tenders. They thought they were OK but they were missing something. The waitress was good, she gave us to go cups when we asked for refills. Overall, we won’t be returning. We will be sticking with our favorite BBQ place in Lansing, MEAT.

I have been to Famous Dave’s in the past and had an ok experience. However, this visit was mediocre at best. It was my mom’s birthday and our party of four started with the Sampler Platter and later ordered the All American BBQ Feast. First, the ribs in the sampler platter were dry and salty and the rest was nothing to write home about. The best items were the chicken tenders.
We asked if they would provide dessert or something for patrons celebrating a birthday. We were told no. Ok, no big deal, except we’d seen them sing and bring a dessert out for a patron at a different location previously.
When the Feast arrived, again the ribs were salty and dry. The brisket was also salty and was mostly fat. The best items were the corn on the cob, cornbread and coleslaw. Overall, I was very disappointed in the quality of food at this location. I am hoping this was just a one time ordeal… perhaps a substitute chef for the day. Anyway, I will not be back to find out.

We were the only customers upon arrival @ 4:15 pm on a Monday… Yet it took 90 minutes to eat and pay for the check!
Five mins into being seated, larger party (6) arrived and seated in our area. The young girl who was our server literally had the ONLY customers in the place! Sadly she wasn’t very quick and wasn’t very good at juggling 2 tables.
Order went in quick and came out just as fast… but we had to ask for all the extras, which just annoys me. We waited forever for refills, butter, check, To Go boxes and to pay.
While seeing the MGR standing around chatting with a pretty girl… I flagged him over and had to ask for our check and boxes. He did bring them to us, after a bit, and then the bill and payment just sat there… so I asked another girl to ring up my bill and she just grabbed my credit card & gave it to the waitress BUT CALLED back to me that she couldn’t. So off went my Credit Card for some time.
While waiting, I looked over to the To Go order area & a man waited while staff, once again were all huddled together, chatting. He finally had to flag someone down to get help.
As people started to walk in the absence of waitstaff made people wander around looking for help. I would really hate to be in there when it was actually busy. I counted 5 waitress & 1 MGR. Yet a line was forming and only 8 seated customers!
Seems to me that it was more of a social hour for staff then time to feed hungry guests. It’s not like this place can afford to turn away customers. I drive by there often and the parking lot isn’t very full during the week. They really need to step up their game and make the customers a priority… or they won’t have jobs.

I have to walk this back a bit. We have been here a number of times since that first outing. it is always okay, but doesn’t really bowl us over. My wife never even wants to come here. The catfish fingers are the bomb, but other than that, meh.

Went here for the first time tonight. It was very good! Got the fest for two and it was more like a fest for four! Definitely worth the money! And our waitress was really nice and friendly! We will be back again!

This is a great restaurant in Lansing. It looks new and clean and the food is always good. I have taken people here for a business lunch and everyone always enjoys it.

One if my favorite barbecue chains. We drive 40 minutes to come here. It’s our third visit. What makes the drive worth it is the customer service. The staff here is wonderful.

This place actually knocked me off my socks! I loved the ribs, and I do mean I loved them! I have had a lot of restaurant BBQ ribs before, but this place had the best brought BBQ ribs I have ever had. I loved the sauces, and with six on the table I had a blast trying them. Be warned, Wilbur’s Revenge XXX HOT is what it says, HOT! The fries was different, but great. The catfish was out of sight too! In all, I will be back– and you should stop in too!

This is a decent BBQ restaurant, it definitely has a BBQ and theme in terms of décor and ambiance. the food was ok, but what would you expect fro. a chain restaurant. they obviously found a combination that works, but I would rather support the local (non chain) BBQ place. No real complaints, but its a typical chain restaurant.

Ate here for the first time tonight. The food was really good. They either brought in someone who really knew BBQ or put in some serious effort to train their staff.
The sauces are outstanding. With six at the table there will definitely be something that everyone will like. My personal favorites were the Texas Pit, Georgia Mustard and the Wilbur’s Revenge. The revenge is a habanero pepper based sauce with great heat and flavor.
My only complaint would be the table we got. We were the last seat before the kitchen and it was a two top. The table was just too small to accommodate the food and drinks we ordered.
I’ve got to say that I’m a little bit surprised by the reviews rating this place so low. You can’t fairly judge a place a week after it opens. You have to give the staff a couple of months to iron out the kinks.
To the person with the kid who has the peanut allergy; a one star because they won’t completely sanitize the kitchen for your dining experience makes you a giant dou*h. To be honest, you’re probably being lied to at other restaurants. Just sayin’.
Good job Famous Dave’s, we’ll be back.

A solid 3 star experience here. We were basically satisfied with our meals and may possibly come again sometime. But at the same time I want to say that we felt that it is basically the Red Lobster of bbq… it satifies but isnt necessarily the best at what is offers. The ribs were tasty but overcooked and a bit dry. The brisket was again tasty but somewhat rubbery. The burnt ends were fine. Side dishes were ok. It was nice to have alot of sauce choices at the table but kind of tacky to have a big roll of paper towel sitting there too. The server was sufficient… but seemed young like high school age as did much of the staff… which usually spells hit or miss service. The place was busy and had a pretty good energy to it. I would tell most people to give it a chance but not to have expectations too high either.

I’ve been craving BBQ and this place did not disappoint!
You get slapped in your olfactory with smokey goodness when you walk in.
Appetizer: Burnt ends = 5/5…delicious, smothered in sauce
My meal: ½ slab, mac n cheese, fries, & cornbread
— ½ slab = 4 out of 5… delicious but would liked a tad bit more meat
— mac n cheese = 5/5…nice hint of jalapeño and some fragments of corn… very tasty
— fries = 4/5…nice flavor
— cornbread = 4/5…nice compliment to the spicy sauces
I tried all of the side sauces and really liked the Georgia Mustard, Hot & Sassy and the Texas Pit… all were flavorful.
Wife’s meal: Cajun chicken sandwich & potato salad
— Cajun chicken = 5/5…fresh off the grill, very juicy and the toppings were delicious
— potato salad = ?/5…ehh, it’s potato salad… fairly bland
Service was 5/5…we were here at around 3 p.m. on a Saturday afternoon, no wait, no issues… service was excellent.
This is definitely in the rotation.

We had great service– very friendly, prompt, and attentive. Food was good– we enjoyed it and the portions are adequate.
I had a chicken dish and it was very well seasoned and juicy. The sides were awesome– jalapeño Mac and cheese! Husband got a burger and said it was good. Meals came with warm cornbread.
They give the kids Oreos at the end which is nice. We will go back!

Drove from Jackson up to Dave’s to check out the BBQ. We split the feast for 2. It offers a great opportunity to try several of the dishes Dave’s has to offer. We enjoyed the variety of meats and trying the different sauces available. We’ve even got a little left for lunch the next day. Overall a great meal with cold beers to wash it down.