Famous Dave's BBQ & Blues

kylebarber
kylebarber
First Reviewer
5 out of 5
Avg. Member Rating
2
Reviews
5
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Editor Pick

Famous Dave's BBQ & Blues

  • January 15, 2007
  • Rated 5 of 5 by travellingdave from Calgary, Alberta
Famous Dave's BBQ & Blues

Arguably Minneapolis’ best-loved restaurant chain is Famous Dave’s BBQ. With locations all across town and one hugely popular one in the massive Mall of America, the restaurant is home to good times and great food.

You’ll be ecstatic to be eating in such fun surroundings. The walls are covered in a cookhouse-style ranch setting, with fishing gear, trapping equipment, and other neat furnishings strewn across the walls. Some might be offended, as some restaurants feature (what I believe are real) taxidermies on the walls. Other than that, it’s a great place to bring family and friends for what may be the best BBQ outside of Kansas City.

The rather extensive menu has items for almost every budget – from cheap but filling sandwiches to hot plates of three-item BBQ. I ordered the latter, with succulent BBQ pulled pork, chicken, and rib tips, along with drunken apples, corn-on-the-cob, and coleslaw. Corn bread is complimentary.

Each table has an old pipe fitted to it, with a paper towel roll on it for easy clean-up of the excellent BBQ sauces on offer. The sauces include 6 different flavors, from rich and sassy to a spicy Georgia mustard. Each sauce is as unique as this restaurant, and all are available for purchase at a very reasonable $3.99 per bottle. Try them all, they’re really what make the meal as good as it is.

After dinner, try one of the warm peach cobblers with vanilla ice cream, or perhaps a milkshake. Try your meal with a sweet tea (cold black tea sweetened with sugar – not Nestea Iced Tea). If you order an Iced tea, you will receive a cold, unsweetened black tea with ice. Make sure you specify "Nestea" or "Raspberry iced tea" or ask what sweetened varieties they have on offer. And if you make a mistake, don’t worry, they’ll get what you want at no extra charge.

The restaurant is a great place to bring the little ones, who will receive fun kids cups for their drinks, and have access to a wide variety of non-BBQ items on the kids menu. They also get crayons and coloring sheets.

The restaurant can get both very busy and very pricey at both its Mall of America and Calhoun Square (Uptown) locations. If you’re looking to escape the crowds, try to location across from the Har-Mar Mall in Roseville, just north of downtown Minneapolis on Snelling Avenue. Here you’ll have the place to yourself.

There is covered outdoor seating in the summer months for those who want to relax. Full bar with extensive beer menu is available.

Visit Famous Dave’s online at: www.famousdaves.com

From journal Mingling in Minneapolis

Editor Pick

Famous Dave's BBQ

  • December 29, 2000
  • Rated 4 of 5 by kylebarber from Seattle, Washington
My brother claimed that I would love Famous Dave's BBQ, but I was a little skeptical. I mean, who would imagine that good barbequed ribs and chicken could be found in Minneapolis of all places? It's freezing cold outside, and everywhere you look are blonde hair Scandinavians. But the food and atmosphere really surprised me, and I'm happy to report that Famous Dave's was among the best eats I had while visiting the Twin Cities.

I gave up eating red meat about six years ago, but the ribs that my brother and sister-in-law were muching on sure looked good. There could be no doubt that the heavily sauced chicken was anything less than scrumptious, as I wolfed it all down though I wasn't the least bit hungry when first sitting down to eat (apparently New Yorkers tend to dine a little bit later than the folks in the Midwest). The mashed potatoes that accompanied the meal were excellent, and the biscuits and cornbread were also particularly good. Though I had no room whatsoever for dessert I just had to get a piece of the pecan pie to go, being the weak man that I am. Three hours later I was kicking myself for getting the whole pie to go!

From journal Minnesota: Minneapolis

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