Famous Dave’s

It is closed now. Sad.

Well the food was good, but the server was slower than snail. Appetizers came out like a few seconds before the meal and when she asked if we wanted more drinks she would leave the empties on the table. And those tables arent that big in the first place to be doing that so by the end of the meal our table looked like we had a monument constructed on it.

A pound of rib tips. Devil’s Spit. Cornbread. Wilbur Beans. Goodness, I hope they serve BBQ in heaven. But this kind of BBQ – where it comes out, already drenched in sauce, and then you add more onto it, making it get all over your fingers. The only way to eat barbeque, I’m convinced.
It’s quite a drive from Boston, but I think it was worth it. Spicy, zesty, Dave-​y deliciousness. It was a little different from what I was used to back home in Denver (where we’re not served on metal trays???), but it was still a taste of Famous Dave’s. Yum. The service is always nice and never pretentious.
And the food always tastes the same, and is given in very generous portions. End your meal with their bread pudding — you won’t be disappointed. Mmm.

Not a bad experience by any means, but nothing that absolutely stood out. It’s your typical knick knack laden chain restaurant atmosphere with the usual middle-​of-​the-​road fare and middle of the road prices. Not cheap but not expensive.
The food: Not bad, but not outstanding. Portions are huge if you feel like gorging.
The service: the usual high school /​college kids.
The beer list: heavy on the boring macro brews. They had one or two local brewery offerings on draft.
Very interchangeable with any other RedRubyAppleBeeGardenChiliLobster.

Usually everything about the food is fine but tonight myself and 2 other chicken wing eaters I was with came across 1 out of 10 foul tasting wings. Nasty but luckily there was enough sauce on mine to let it drop down my gullet. Additionally, the prices seem to be creeping upward each time I go. I could have dined at a a 4 star restaurant for same price. it’s BBQ for god’s sake. Keep the prices affordable. Im only going to the $ 10 lunch buffet from now on. I can’t afford the dinners here — and I have a reasonable salary. Service is fine, atmosphere good. BUT getting overpriced.

Tried this for the 1^st time last week. Right when you walk in, the atmosphere is that of a down south BBQ joint. The waiter explained the rack of 6 BBQ sauces by drawing their letters on a plate. I ordered Dave’s Favorite Burger. Its hard to mess up Burgers and this was pretty good. GF had a pulled pork sandwich, also good. I guess the sauces set this place apart, but other than that I found nothing special with it. If you live in W. Mass, Bub’s BBQ is a much better option.

Let me be clear – the food was okay and the servers were great but as a bbq place, there are so many better options (just not in this mall) and I would probably have dinner at the Uno’s or the Olive Garden next time.
They’ve got bbq platters, chicken tenders, red-​skin mashed potatoes (best part of the meal!) and inventive offerings like smoked salmon/​flatbread (think of a cross between tuna salad and nova lox).
Points to the waitress who cashed us out quickly and recommended that we spend an extra $ 1 for a larger portion of mashed potatoes (to share).
While the food filled us up, it just wasn’t special – it’s like eating an after-​school snack that you make before your mom comes home to get dinner ready. It does the job, but I think the price demands that they deliver a bit more.
This place is popular though – it’s clean and there were lots of families. It’s a nice-​looking place, but doesn’t match backyard barbeque or dedicated bbq place standards (to me). I guess I was disappointed.

This is the Springfield branch of the national chain restaurant out of Wisconsin. They’ve got a nice honky-​tonk kind of atmosphere going there, with the red-​and-​white checkered vinyl tablecloths and paper towel dispensers on the table. They’ve also got five different BBQ sauces in plastic squeeze bottles right there for you to sample. Try the spicy Devil’s Spit. It’s awesome. All that’s authentic enough.
The food was pretty good there, but the meats were overdone IMHO. My friend’s ribs were kind of barky and my chopped pork sandwich was dry. BBQ pork should never be dry, friends. Good fries and sides, and the cornbread muffins were pretty good. My favorite side was the chili, which was spicy and good, though it wreaked havoc on my stomach later on.
Big, spacious parking lot and interior with lots of tables. Service was good enough, but not terribly attentive. It was not very crowded when we got there around 8PM on a Saturday night, so even with a group of 16 we got seated pretty much right away.
Just learned about the eating challenge they have there. If you eat a $ 35 Feast for Two without leaving the table, your food is free and you get a T-​shirt and some other stuff. My friend was almost tempted to try it, but he wasn’t properly trained for it at the time. He said it just seems doable.

Great BBQ! I split the ‘Feast for Two’ with my mom. IT cam with a half slab of St. Louis style spareribs, a ½ chicken, ¼ lb of beef brisket, coleslaw, fries, baked beans, 2 corn-​on-​the-​cob, and 2 corn bread muffins. I also got a side of the mac and cheese. Needless to say, we both had our fill and had plenty left over to make another meal of the leftovers. My favorite was probably the beef brisket, tender, smokey and delicious. The ribs were very meaty. Loved the mac and cheese, it had some jalapenos mixed in for a little kick. I tried all of their sauces (5 in all) and finally decided on a mix of the ‘sweet and zesty’ and ‘devil’s spit’ as my favorite combo. Overall, it’s a great value for some very tasty food. It’s definitely a welcome addition to the restaurant selection in my hometown. I’ll be looking forward to a return visit!

I’m not sure how good the BBQ itself is. Basically if you cook the right things long enough they fall apart and become tender and smoky and tasty no matter what, and I think that’s mostly the case here. I would not come here expecting serious meats, especially if you’re accustomed to the good stuff.
But like I said, tasty no matter what, and the sides, which are delicious here, would not be tasty no matter what. Mac and cheesy is good, and not the ooey gooey kind I’m totally not into. Potato salad tastes like a real person made it. Cole slaw, usually dire everywhere you go, is yummy as can be, and the green beans, spicy and salty and porky, were probably the best green beans I’ve ever had at a restaurant. The only real misstep is the corn on the cob which is totally waterlogged. Otherwise the sides here are really well crafted and way better than they’d have to be.
The place also has a bunch of fun sauces on the tables waiting to be sampled. Prices seemed reasonable, service was good. Here’s hoping the fine people of Springfield really support this place, it’s a winner.

Great value, great service, great food… I’m hooked on this place!