Famous Dave's

I'mm baaack!  Geez after this past week of Spring Break madness it's amazing that I still have my head on.  It's not on straight, but at least it is on.  Kuddos for me.  So as I said, this past week was Spring Break so there was a lot of "kid choices" when it came to dining out, but come on, even Chuck E. Cheese tastes pretty good if you don't have to cook it or clean up.  But, alas, towards the end of the week I put my foot down and said, "It's BBQ time!"

Seeing how I haven't found a good BBQ place here in Lacey or Olympia WA (I'll take suggestions, please!) we decided to hit up one of our favorite BBQ places in Tacoma...Famous Dave's.  Okay call me a corporate junkie, but I love Famous Dave's.  They have consistently good food and a great atmosphere.  On our last lunch visit, we were greeted by a lovely hostess.  She was quick to smile and engage in some friendly chit chat with the kiddos.  We were seated and given a few minutes to peruse the menu.  They have some decent lunch specials that have smaller portions, but still all the lip smackin' flavor.  A one meat combo plate was $8.99 and a two meat combo was  $9.99.  A little spendy for lunch, it's worth it to save your pennies up. After we ordered our waitress brought us a bowl of homemade potato chips for dipping and explained what all the different sauces they offered were. There was the Rich & Sassy that has a great blend a tang and sweet.  The Georgia Mustard is obviously a mustard based sauce that gets your mouth watering.  The Texas Pit is great for chicken or brisket.  The Sweet and Zesty has a "right out of the pit" flavor.  And my personal favorite, Devil's Spit has just the right amount of heat.

Yeah it's a lil' sloppy, but hey, it's BBQ!

I decided to go with the Georgia chopped pork with a side of baked beans.  Hubby went with St. Louis style ribs and the brisket with a side of potato salad.  Each meal also came with perfect corn on the cob and a cornbread muffin that was to die for.  They were deliciously moist and you could see the honey baked into them.  Kid meals were your typical chicken fingers, corn dogs, mac and cheese, but my oldest was pretty stoked that they had a Rib meal.  He's a carnivore.  My chopped pork was delicious.  Fork tender and full of flavor.  I doused it with just the right amount of Devil's Spit and was in heaven...hmmm, maybe not with the "Devil's Spit".  Hee hee.  My baked beans were really loaded with chopped pork, brisket, and jalapenos.  I probably could have eaten just those, but I think the fam would have been pretty upset with me.  The ribs my hubby ordered were ultra tender and had a great bark to them.  The meat literally fell right off the bone and may I say, there was a lot of meat to those puppies.  His brisket was a bit dry and lacked in the flavor department. Unfortunately was not on my favorite list. Some how he ended up with an order of wings too.  They were meaty and juicy, but definitely not your tear jerking heat.  I like to glisten when I eat my wings.  (That's a nice way of saying sweat!) Since potato salad and I have a mutual hatred, I can only tell you that the hubby said it was rich and creamy.  Just like Mom use to make.

Great meal and to top it all off, we ordered a bread pudding to share.  Even with the five us eating, it was a huge portion a of mushy goodness slathered with a decadent pecan praline sauce.  Hello sticky fingers!

So I usually try to search out local venues and support them, but even though Famous Dave's in a "chain restaurant" I really enjoy their family friendly atmosphere and consistently good food.  Sometimes that's the benefit of going to a corporate chain.  You always know what you are going to get.