Famous Dave's Bar-B-Que — Restaurant in Jeffersontown

My husband and I just left your restaurant. Apparently, we have been gone far too long because the quality of the food and service has gone down. First off, we got Megan. Lovely person, but slower than molasses. She took our drink order and two other tables order and disappeared. When she returns with the drinks, she delivered the other two tables drinks before she delivered ours. We ordered a diet Pepsi with lemon, water and Arnold Palmer with unsweet tea. No lemon for the drinks and they were all watered down. We then placed our order, rib tip dinner, rib & burn ends dinner, add a hot link. Should have been simple. Nope, not simple at all. Megan's two other tables received their food and we were still waiting. My husband had finished both his water and Pepsi and I had a half full glass of my drink....still no food, no offer of refills and no explanation. Finally, our food comes out and it is lukewarm. The fries my husband received were old, but he ate them anyway. My rib tips were done, but tough. As it is, I will have to take them home and slow cook them to be completely edible. My husband always gets some mustard or some condiment with his sausage. Nothing. I did not have my pickles garnish with my meal. The corn muffins were semi sweet compared to other visits. Oh, did I mention that I knew that Megan and her friend were tired, but we still didn't have refills? We had to ask for refills and the way she looked at us, she totally forgot what we were drinking. We asked for two to go boxes because we were done. She returned with one cardboard box and no foil. I asked if she could get us another box and some foil. I went ahead and paid her at that time because I wasn't sure how long the wait would be. When she returned with the boxes, foil and receipt, she asked if we enjoyed everything. I told her no, I've had better. She said ""sorry about that" and walked off. I had to ask her for a bag for our food. She was two tables over and never offered to give us one. I would have provided all of this to the Manager, but no one was at the front desk when we were leaving. We came out to enjoy Bar-B-Que to avoid cooking, but seems like we should have stayed at home and cooked ourselves. Even after all of this, we still left a tip. This has been sent via Messenger, but thought I'd go ahead and post my review...

So this is not an easy review. This was one of my favorite restaurants to visit in Louisville. In fact, two years ago, I left a great review. I would be here every week before the pandemic. And during the last 18 months, it has truly gone downhill. In service, in food quality. Also, I have had a couple run-ins with a particular server in the past there and have just made a point to avoid him. His behavior had not been corrected and with this most recent incident, the fact that they keep him employed, I really can’t feel bad about posting this footage. I went in for my usual and waited for my order. Right after she placed my food down, I started to dig in. I was cutting the meat when a cockroach crawled along the table right past my arm. I got up from the table and started to record this while trying to get my server’s attention. The table next to me also noticed me recording the cockroach crawling around the table. At this point my server approached and I asked her to get the manager. I was just about to stop recording since I knew I had proof of the problem and the waitress also saw it. Then I noticed a second cockroach crawling along the table. Still recording, it was at this point that the other server (the individual I’ve had run-ins with before) decided to yell out to me. “What are you trying to do, run us out of business?!” That’s his first concern? Not that a customer was subjected to a disgusting experience?? The manager approached and saw the cockroaches still moving around and now crawling on the wall. She didn’t give me any hassle about leaving and not paying thankfully. But they also didn’t even try to kill the bugs. I mentioned to her the comment by the server and how this isn’t the first time he has acted ignorant. The general manager and I had a telephone conversation about the incident. The fact that he still works there tells me I don’t need to continue to patronize this establishment. For hygienic reasons as well as really poor customer service. Sadly, this place isn’t what...

I seem to be on a bit of a barbecue binge lately, and that is OK with me.

Our most recent visit was on a Friday. We expected the place to be packed (re: Friday at a restaurant on Hurstbourne), but we were seated immediately in the bar area. Just as we were about to give up (about 10 minutes) we were finally greeted by our server. By then we knew what we wanted.

I came here expecting to get the amazingly awesome Jalapeño Cheddar Smoked Sausage. I had it the last two or three times we were here, but I was saddened (and almost cried) when I was told that they were no longer available. :( :( :(

However, then I noticed the smoked ribeye. I thought to myself "A smoked ribeye? I wonder..."

......and I wondered.....

And then I asked our server. He said they are limited to Friday and Saturday nights only, and when they run out, that's it for that weekend. I was intrigued, so I figured "What the heck?".

All I can say about that steak was: HOLY COW (no pun intended). I've never had a smoked steak before, at least not like this, and it was amazeballz. The smoky flavor carried throughout, the edges were slightly burnt (giving the the steak a lot of character), and it was WAAAY tender.

So..there went any apprehension or misgivings I had about ordering this item because it more than made up for the no-longer-on-the-menu Jalapeño Cheddar Smoked Sausage (which I still weep for).

I was told by another server that the ribeye they use for this steak is smoked for several hours, then cut into the serving size. Whatever magic they do, I'm on board. It really was a steak worth writing home about.

Famous Dave's is, if nothing else, reliable. If you're looking for a menu with a huge amount of variety and reasonably priced, this is definitely a good place to go. I wish I could grade in 1/2 grade increments because I'm still going to hold them to the 10 minute wait time before we were greeted, so this is...