Famous Dave's Bar-B-Que — Restaurant in Forest Lake

This is a review on their Catering services.

I used Famous Dave's last year for a wedding since our family has always enjoyed the food there. The day of the wedding came and dinner was to be served at 5:45pm. At 5:15 I was a little worried that they hadn't arrived yet since I was told they'd arrive by 5pm. They arrived at 5:30 and I was told it wouldn't take long to set up and they were true to their word and were ready to serve by 5:45.

I was running around greeting guests and looked at the buffet, but didn't eat right away. When the crew was getting ready to leave, the lead server came over to show me all the Mac-n-cheese that was left and how she was surprised noone ate any. Come to find out later, that the macaroni and cheese I ordered had NOT been put out until the very last guests. Several kids were complaining about not liking anything and I know if the macaroni and cheese was out, they would have eaten it.

Another HUGE issue: they ran out of PLATES and did not come and tell me that they were out. So now guests are standing there with no plates. Thank goodness someone had some in their camper that they drove to the wedding! Apparently the plastic plates stick together and guests sometimes grab 2-3 by accident which the catering coordinator told me about later. If you all know this is an issue then bring more plates, or separate them with napkins!

After complaining to the coordinator at Famous Dave's, she refunded me for the macaroni and cheese. I'm bothered by the lack of communication the lead server had with me about the plates and her attempt to fool me by telling me no one ate the Mac versus telling me she just forgot to put it out.

If you have an event, keep a close eye on the food and make sure it's all there. Also, keep extra plates on hand...

★FOREST LAKE, MN★

ONE STAR OVERALL. 0 STARS SERVICE.

The usual scene when I'm noticed in a restaurant in a city that acts like I deserve to be treated like Im nothing.

I waited and wasn't greeted by a greeter ever. When I walked into Famous Daves in FOREST LAKE, MN.

I was most definitely ignored on purpose.

I looked around for assistance and there wasn't anything keeping the greeters attention. The staff wasn't busy with customers, they were talking amongst themselves and I tracked one of the associates down who eventually made it obvious that she was the greeter.

She helped me understand that customers are supposed to visit, grab a menu, order then sit down.

I wasn't about to argue with her about how or why she ignored me. I figured I would just give everyone who is looking to know how bad the service here may be a heads up.

EVERYTIME A CUSTOMER CAME IN AFTER I WAS IGNORED, THE GREETER THEN BEGAN ALMOST "TAUNTINGLY," GREETING CUSTOMERS WHO LOOKED LIKE PEOPLE SHE'D RATHER GREET.

I know this is how you run your business when I come give you money, but I rather you be transparent and say, we don't want your business.

I didn't feel appreciated for my business. I'll avoid Famous Daves everywhere because of this little amateur waitresses attitude and lack of knowledge of the hospitality industry.

I now believe every Famous Dave's is this way.

Forest Lake, MN has taken the cake on how to make paying and tipping customers feel under appreciated when they are different from the usually expected small town customer.

Food was the usual stuff I can make at home, but I wanted to eat there and found out I should have passed them by.

Noted for never goto Forest Lake, MN Famous Dave's. Thank you for treating me so much different Negatively than you treated...

Updated 2021: We tried this again yesterday after discovering that our favorite BBQ joint was closed for the day and I'm dropping down to one star. The ribs are still very tough, but this time we also got brisket which was also very tough. The food is cooked all the way through but they're not cooking it long enough to get that true BBQ texture. Famous Dave's simply isn't a BBQ place anymore.

Updated 2019: I used to say "four stars for the food" but am dropping that to three stars for the food. I think we've made our final Famous Dave's run. Two things I've always loved here is the memphis style baby backs and the sausage. The past few times I've been here the baby backs have had a very tough texture. They appear to be cooked all the way through so I can only assume that the quality of the meat has gone down or they're just not letting them cook long enough to get that proper texture. During my most recent visit I also got the sausage. This has changed since my last visit and now has a lot of cheese in it. It felt like I was eating overly-spicy cheesy cream in a sausage casing.

From 2017: It's a franchise so if you've been to one, you've been to them all. Their food is good, prices are OK. One thing Famous Dave's used to do is make you feel like you're eating at a local BBQ instead of a franchise or chain. They're losing their touch with this and it's starting to feel more like a franchise or chain including their service and menu options. On our last visit we ordered takeout and it turns out they use a call center to take those orders so instead of talking directly to the store, you go through a third party which can (and did) cause errors in the order. Even the employees were complaining about...