and I live in Knoxville
have given Famous Daves three times
and it struck out all three times
not a juicy piece of meat on the bone
yet my best friend loves it there………..
so, go figure
we all have different taste buds….
I like my meat very jucy and very tender
fall off the bones, (almost)
linda in Tennessee

quote:

Originally posted by fhoran

Oh, and another thing, Sushi in South Bend is a real big mistake. Trust me on this one. Fred

Don’t they call it "bait" there?

Oh, and another thing, Sushi in South Bend is a real big mistake. Trust me on this one. Fred

I think the regional focus about BBQ is kind of over. When they started building those highway things and BBQ cooking people from the South got tricked into coming North with stories about whole states with no BBQ so they felt sorry for us, it all started to change. I’ve had great BBQ from shacks all over the South (and some great ribs from a hardware store about ten miles from Athens, GA. I’ve eaten at chains like Corky’s and Calhouns (I too don’t know how many restaurants you need to make a chain but both those places have a few). Around the Boston area we have a bunch of good BBQ places and some really bad ones so I guess we are like everyone else except when we talk. Now if you want really bad Chinese food, Minnesota can’t be beat. That’s not a slam on Minnesota but I had lunch once at a Chinese restaurant there that served jello and french fries on their all-you-can-eat buffet. There oughta be a law. Fred

[:D]We don’t have any Famous Dave’s here in San Antonio.With all the BBQ places around including some of the small towns,I don’t know if they would go over big.I think there was one Smokey Bones on Perrin-Beitel,in what used to be a Golden Corral.But now that’s gone and it is a mexican restaraunt.
In Cibolo in an old store building is Harmon’s BBQ.They smoke over oak or hickory instead of mesquite.
I had the smoked catfish plate one day and it was very good.They opened a place downtown.Since it is family owned and run,the quality is probably fairly well controled.
I don’t always like to eat anything mesquite grilled,because it will give me gas.But the Harmon’s didn’t.

I don t believe there is such a thing as  cheating in cooking. My only concern is if the food tastes good. How you got from point A to B should be irrelevant. I do wonder if using gas will leave an off taste? I would suggest an electric heating element if you don t have time to tend a real fire.

quote:

Originally posted by fpczyz


I roast my own green coffee beans for my home brewed coffee.

Frank, what do you use for roasting your beans? I have a Zach and Dani but I use my Whirleypop more often. Sweetmarias is my info source.

fpczyz, A ? to ask your self. Hom many times would you need to cook that much meat at 1 time?

I found that out the hard way after buying a 400$ offset smoker a few years ago. At most I cook 2 pork shoulders or 2 slabs of pork ribs at a time.

If you can really use something that size, then go for it!

BTW, using gas is cheating, not really BBQ.

MikeS.

I went a Famous Dave’s in Utah about 5 years ago and has a good experience. I had the Back back ribs, beans, potato wedges and coleslaw. I found it to be pretty good. I was expecting mediocre at best and was pleasantly surprised. I find that in most chain places, quantity trumps quality unfortunately, but I would definitely go back to Dave’s again. The ribs had some smoke flavor and were meaty, the beans had good texture and flavor, not terribly somky, but tasty nonetheless. The potato wedges were crispy, butbthe coleslaw was ok.

As fairly recent transplants to Maryland from Texas, we had a hankerin for some good barbecue. There is a Famous Dave s Northwoods Grill & Barbecue in our neighborhood (Columbia), so we thought we would give it a try.

Actually, we have visited it twice now. We found the quality of the food to be somewhat uneven. On our first trip, we enjoyed the food okay (a ribs  platter with all the trimmings).

On the subsequent visit, we found the cue to be  mushy in texture . . . obviously too long in a warmer of some sort.

Not only was the food not as good, the draft beer was WARM (terrible sin!) and the  music way TOO LOUD and obtrusive.

We haven t decided that we WON T go back to Dave s again. However, as long as my wife s  pulled NC-style pork keeps my cue appetite in check, we will probably by-pass Dave s for a while.

BUT, I gotta tell ya’, even at its best, Dave’s ribs don’t hold a candle to what we enjoyed in our favorite "joints" in Texas! [:(]

Well I finally pulled into a Famous Dave s in Owatonna, MN for a try. No kidding, the food was really bad. The pulled pork was very dry, the brisket tasted like a briquette. I don t think it s possible that they are smoking on site. The fries we re cold and undercooked. All of the sauces we re not good. I m trying to be nice, but you couldn t pay me to eat there again.

quote:

Originally posted by fpczyz

Frank, do you know how many illegal aliens you could fit in THAT smoker? You could cure the problem all by yourself.

"Soylent Green is PEOPLE!"

Mayor,

I appreciate the response. I absolutely love the site and I get a lot of pleasure reading the posts, but the opening message on this one really rubbed me the wrong way.

Your description of your local locations really doesn’t surprise me. Smoking meat appears to be one of the more difficult culinary skills to master, and the goal to replicate exact results across multiple locations with different people is a daunting task at best. I wish them well.

BBQ joints have exploded across our country and is now going the way of the Starbucks coffee phenomenon. Millions of people are discovering the "Q" and all have their opinion and you know what individual opinions are like……………….. "Q" is no longer regional, it now belongs to all corners of this marvelous country…………… like the coffee craze "Q" has become the "in food" and when every one jumps on the bandwagon to take advantage of the $$$$$ that can be made then this food becomes the mundane and mediocre. But mundane and mediocre to only we fortunate folks that still can remember how it once was. A few wonderful "Q"places still exists so perhaps we ought to keep them a secret, for is it not the business mind that would want his establishment to expand ? ………… If a small "Q" operation is exposed on say the Food Channel then it’s only natural that a business plan will soon be hatched and two years later a chain of this "Q" joint is playing in Peoria………
It wont be long now folks, were the best "Q" will only be found in your back yard.
Famous Dave’s has opened in Gilroy California "the garlic capital of the world" and from the time it’s doors open there is at least an hours wait to be seated just like the line of cars waiting at the Starbucks drive up window………… For me BBQ is now boring.
I roast my own green coffee beans for my home brewed coffee and I am now looking at this smoker……………… I think I’ll get it.

Wanderingjew wrote: I always say that if the Pizza isn’t cooked and served up by someone behind the counter who looks like Danny De Vito or Joe Pesci then it ain’t good Pizza!

You can read the entire article on his web site. I think it’s a hoot.
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