Famous Dave's is a barbecue chain based in Minneapolis. Their new Chicago place is located near Tourist Central and the large room would be right at home in a suburban shopping mall. The menu is almost nauseatingly cute: page after colorful page of things like Toe-Tappin' Tenders, Fire-Kissed Boogaloo Chickin' and Big Mama's Veggie Bowl (this consists of "Slo-cooked Funky Red Beans and Down &-Dirty Rice with Fire- Grilled Vegetables Topped with Mojo Salsa"). I could almost overlook all that if the food is good. So how is it? Solidly mediocre, though I must admit a few things were pretty decent. Did the small Feast ($27.99 for 2). The six large meaty ribs were not very good at all, not fall-off- the-bone but with a spongy, fatty texture. Did have some smoke flavor though. The menu admits they're grilled after smoking. Half a chicken, seemed to be marinated in some lemon stuff, rubbed with herbs, sugar, and paprika, then baked. Not bad but without any smoke flavor and really nothing special though it certainly was moist (juice literally poured out when it was bitten into). The brisket (5 thick slices) was interesting. Extremely tender, tasting more like grandma's pot roast than BBQ beef, I rather liked this stuff. Didn't try the pork (it's either beef or pork with the Feast). The chopped cole slaw was quite good, creamy but with a nice bite (horseradish?). Beans tasted like canned with some shredded beef and sausage chunks added. Three miniature corn muffins came along, buttery tasting and glazed with a honey-chili mix. The large pile of thick cut fries was okay. There are 4 sauces available in squirt bottles on the table: regular ("Rich n' Sassy"), hot ("Devil's Spit Hot BBQ Sauce, It Will Shoot Sparks from Your Mouth!"; doesn't this get pretty tiring pretty quickly?), Georgia mustard, and Texas. I wasn't wild about any of these but a couple were fairly interesting. Quantity was generous, more than 2 hungry people cared to eat (though if all this stuff and more had been from, say, Chuck's I'm sure it would have quickly disappeared without any problem). I understand that most nights there is live music but not while we were there. There is a separate take-out room accessible from the street. It's notable because of a nice collection of framed photographs of many famous barbecue places (from Chicago I recognized the 2 Lem's locations and D. D. & S. as well as several in Kansas City). Of course the Famous Dave's "joints" figure prominently. I can't imagine this fools anyone; Dave's is not at all in the same league.
A September 25, 1997 press release I found while looking up the address contained this frightening statement:
"Based on our success in Minneapolis and our extensive market research, we feel strongly the Chicago region can successfully support over 20 Famous Dave's Bar-B-Que Shacks throughout the Chicago area."
Famous Dave's "Butt Rockin'" Ribs n' Blues
739 N Clark St
312-266-2400
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