Famous Dave's Barbeque

Famous Dave's Barbeque
3250 W Frye Road
Chandler AZ 85224
(480) 782-1212

My experience with Famous Dave's began at the coffee shop where my number one dining accomplice works saturday mornings. We like to get a lunch after his shift, around 1 PM or so. On this particular Saturday, he had been reading an expose in GetOut magazine (newspaper? one of the free rags distributed in little bins at places like, say, coffee shops) on Phoenix's offerings for BBQ. It had a scorecard which rated all 5 or 6 BBQ joints GetOut managed to locate which graded them on ambience, price, net weight, and more subjective whatdidyoulikeabout...? questions on the brisket and ribs (the only two items GetOut's crack team ate). At the right hand side they spat out a grade school ABCDF score. Having previously eaten at all three HoneyBear's locations (another day we'll tackle those), and seeing that Famous Dave's got the best or second best score, we chose it. Also it was closest.
Unbeknownst to my companion and myself, this Famous Dave's national chain location in Chandler, AZ, was located at the byzantine Chandler Fashion Square mall, formerly the location of Marvos. Not only was it at the mall, but it had opened maybe a few days earlier, because we had never seen it there before. Now, the problem with a new restaurant at the mall is that it attracts a lot of stop in "douchebags." As we entered, we were informed there would be a 25 to 30 minute wait. For BBQ. We declined.
Again finding myself at the coffee shop, having skipped extra Saturday work because of whiskey-related complications, my buddy suggested we make another attempt. We were in luck, because the novelty had worn off. The crowds were gone.
As we entered, the quite pert and miniature hostess accosted us: "Hi boys, how are you today? Would you like to sit on our lovely patio?"
Having never been upsold al fresco dining, I asked for verification that the patio was in fact lovely. I had just walked by it and it had seemed most patio-like in every way. The hostess started in about the weather (October in AZ = beautiful, it's true), and then pointed out that the mountains would be visible if not for the clouds. As it turns out, the mountains were visible, in a far-off way, behind a freeway, and there weren't many clouds at all. Who were we to refuse? We followed her peppy stride out to our table on the lovely patio.
I would like to put a word in here about the decor and ambience of Famous Dave's, but it's hard to do so, because we were upsold the outside seating. It looked like a solid wood interior, with some black and white glossies and framed this and that on the walls. Probably a trophy case or two. The ASU/USC game was on a television facing the door above the benches where we might have waited last time. Famous Dave's boasts a bar we walked through, and the place looked a lot nicer and newer than many BBQ joints I've been to. It was built a month ago. As for the ambience outside, the paper towel roll holders had some little pipe elbows on the end of them which were sorta cute, and that was all I remember (still new at this = no notes).
The tables are stocked with old beer six packs which have all of Dave's Famous sauces in them, instead of beers. Our table and the one next to it had O'Doul's sixers on them, which made me worry how the place had sold 12 O'Doul's in 2 weeks. Never to worry, though. The other tables had fancier varieties of beer, with exotic-sounding names like Rolling Rock and Miller Genuine Draft.
The menu features your favourites: pulled pork, brisket sandwiches, ribs, and the like, and it also has appetizers, salads, fish?, burgers and chicken. It had some pretty mean-looking "feasts" that I was tempted to "go in" on, but I just got a brisket sandwich (the menus calls it a "que" sandwich, which is odd, because in Spanish "que" means "what" so I was wondering where the "como" sandwich was... not that it makes much sense either way). It was a good enough size, though not as loaded as I might have liked, with little smoky slices of beef. It might be a good thing it wasn't overloaded, as it was actually easy to handle and didn't end up in my lap. Here is where the sauces come in: Georgia Mustard, which is peppery and zingy; texas pit, which is very peppery; sweet & tangy, which is sweet and tangy; Devil's Spit, which was spicy and not saliva-like; and a more classic type of smokey sauce. I liked the Georgia mustard and the Texas Pit the best, but my friends liked the sweet & tangy. As for my comrades, one went big and got a nice rib meal, 8 bucks for a big ol basket of smoky ribs which were good, had more meat than fat and bone, and outlasted even his appetite. My other compatriot went with a chicken sandwich. Now, to be honest, I scoffed at him for chicken at a BBQ place, because, though chix is great, today was about the MEAT. He promptly called me a dick and told me he'd get what he wanted. When he got the chicken sandwich, however, it looked good. A giant slab of some sort of uberchicken, it was marked by black grill lines and covered with some sort of hot-looking cheese. The damn thing was twice the size of the bun Dave supplied. He wasnt' complaining, and didn't even give me any.
The sides are pretty standard: despite the menu's assertion that they are so good, children will want to eat their vegetables, there are no vegetables as sides. Beans, fries, slaw, corn on the cob, baked potato for another buck fifty. I got the fries, but I think I should have tried the beans. The fries were little and crispy, krinkle fashion.
What was interesting about the place, and also the BestBuy across the street, is that we were waited on by at least 7 different people. We had one waiter, and he gave a very presentable performance (not over-the-top like the flirty little hostess), but every other person in the black shirt with a saying like "get sauced" or "it's not BBQ unless you get it on you" also asked to refill our drinks, if we needed anything else, etc. etc. I felt quite serviced, even when 2 or 3 would show up at once. One staffer was noticed by my companion for a sort of far-off loving stare she gave us, before she realised we were fine and rushed off.
The bill for all three of us before tip was under $30, but we didn't drink. We did get decent sleepy from the food though, which is always nice on a sunny Saturday afternoon.
All in all, I was pleased with how the whole thing went down. My biggest complaint was the crazy people who almost took off my door parking their mercedes at 30mph in the parking lot. That and the hostess. As we were leaving, she made sure to tell us to come back and see her real soon. Hopefully not when it's raining, because she has such a hard-on for that patio. A little less attempt at sex appeal, and upsell something worth upselling, and she'll do fine. Maybe by the time she's old enough to drink.
Join me next time for more fine dining in AZ. And go see how lovely that patio is.


If you liked Mike's review, and would like to know more about Famous Dave's Legendary Pit Bar-B-Que, please visit www.famousdaves.com