Famous Dave's first opened in 1994 in Hayward, Wisconsin. Entrepreneur Dave Anderson spent 25 years touring BBQ restaurants around the country and perfecting his own recipe. Enthralled with the craft of metal barrel smokers on the street corners of Chicago, he practiced with garbage cans of hickory wood fire and diligently studied the vegetables, herbs and spices to create a perfectly balanced sauce.
His decades of perseverance paid off, and the inaugural restaurant in the small town of 1,800 residents reportedly served up to 5,000 people a week.
Buffalo — medium-heat with a flavorful buffalo kick
Pineapple Rage — grilled pineapple blended with habanero peppers
Wilbur’s Revenge — explosive heat, be warned
Devil’s Pit — a spicy version of the Rich & Sassy
Rich & Sassy — standard original barbecue sauce
Georgia Mustard — vinegar-based mustard sauce
Sweet and Zesty — sweetest of the sauces
Texas Pit — tomato-based with black pepper
Shortly after, a second Famous Dave's was opened in Linden Hills, a neighborhood in southwest Minneapolis. It was modeled after the roadhouse shacks of the old South.
In 1996, Famous Dave's BBQ & Blues opened in Minneapolis, and the country-wide expansion began.
By this time, the accolades started filing in and Famous Dave's established its renown reputation. In just under two years, Famous Dave's was claimed the titles of Best New Restaurant, Best BBQ Joint, Best BBQ Sauce in America -- Mild Tomato Division, Best Ribs, Hot New Concept Chain Leader, #1 Ribs in Minnesota Critic's Choice and Best Desserts Annual Reader's Poll. Founder Dave Anderson was knighted Entrepreneur of the Year by Minnesota Entrepreneurs, Inc.
To date, Famous Dave's has 700 awards, including top placement in the Kansas City Barbeque Society competition, Pork in the Park, for the categories of whole hog, pork, wings and most unique wings.
"We are one Famous Dave's, but there are 190 of them," said David Warf, General Manager of Famous Dave's in Rogers.
Opened in 2004, the location is in the Scottsdale Center beside The Malco Towne Cinema.
"Our current mission statement is 'like having good friends over for a backyard barbecue,' " Warf said.
With numerous cuts of meat, all smoked in-house, and a large variety of custom-made sauces, Famous Dave's takes backyard barbecuing to a new level.
The pitmasters arrive and get the hickory-stoked fire started by 7 a.m. Top-quality meats are hand-rubbed with fresh spices and then slow-cooked for hours.
The St. Louis-style ribs and the brisket are top-selling items.
"We started doing the brisket burnt-ends a couple of years ago -- it's brisket seared with sweet and zesty sauce -- those are also popular," Warf said.
The restaurant welcomes a variety of clientele. The walls are adorned with Southern country memorabilia and the entrance displays framed photos of the founder along his cross-country barbecue pilgrimage.
There is a separate room for the bar on one end of the restaurant and two other rooms can accommodate groups. Although the rooms are not completely private, they can be reserved for groups of 8-40 people.
Additionally, Famous Dave's has an experienced catering crew.
"It's really economical. I'd say it's hard to beat in town our prices on catering. Packages starting as low as $5.79 per person," Warf said.
There are delivery, drop-off, pick-up and full service options for catering. It includes plates, silverware, napkins, wet naps, barbecue sauce, spoons and tongs.
Gallons of lemonade or tea are also available for catering.
"If they order drinks we supply cups and ice, as well," Warf said.
The best selling catering option is the barbecue sandwich and chicken combo for $7.79 per person. This choice comes with a chopped pork sandwich, quarter-chicken and two sides per order.
The Family-To-Go menu gives guests the option to pick up larger portions for carryout.
"Call and in 20-30 minutes it's ready to pick up," Warf said.
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We do quite a bit of that on the weekends, especially... before the football games."
Famous Dave's also touts their skills as being a "last-minute catering specialist" and have saved the day on occasion when a caterer backed out or some other unforeseen crisis occurred.
To do what they do well, they stick to what they know.
"We are strictly a barbecue restaurant," Warf said.
"The rib tips are a unique item. They are the tips of the St. Louis-style ribs. We smoke it along with the rib, same seasoning and everything, then we treat it a little different on the grill -- it's a finger food, smaller piece."
There are some items, however, that are not cooked in a smoker, such as nachos, chicken tenders and catfish fingers. All of the desserts are made in-house and also ring true to those found at a Southern cookout.
There is a scratch-made bread pudding with pecan praline sauce, a hot fudge Kahlua brownie a la mode and a rich banana pudding with vanilla wafers and whipped cream.
To keep guests up to date on promotions, Famous Dave's has an email club called The Famous Nation.
"When guests come in they can fill out one of those cards and we submit the form... it sends them an email out on their birthday. When they sign up they get something within 24 hours, and throughout the year they get random other promotions."
There is also a sign-up form at famousdaves.com.
NAN Dining Guide Cover on 01/23/2015