Famous Dave's Bar-B-Que (To Go Only) — Restaurant in Meridian

Ok, so, tonight, my husband and i had to celebrate valentine's day a bit early, because of work schedules and because boise, as per usual is putting on NOTHING fun, unique or original, on the actual day... i mean, candy, flowers, candlelight dinner, etc.... ? just seemed so dull and forgettable... Same 'ol boring routine... but, monster trucks was going on, in nampa! Now THAT is a fun, exciting evening! so, in keeping with that, sort of, "country boy" type theme, we decided to try famous daves, for our pre-show meal. I normally don't much care for bbq, but i gave anthony bordeaux's show a shot as well, recently, and he did an episode on bbq, which really got me into a mood for it. So, i thought i'd give "dave's" a chance, as well, already knowing my husband digs bbq...

Unfortunately, his meat was disappointingly dry... he had the brisket, which, to my understanding, is supposed to be a tougher cut, but, i thought if you slathered it enough, it's supposed to turn out great... well, i had the ribs and the chopped pork, both just a wee bit dry, the ribs more so than the chopped meat, but still quite good, especially knowing bbq and i were on shaky ground, to begin with... The potatoes were also a tad bit dry, but pretty good flavor (could've used a little something... bacon...? pepper, maybe...?). But, the brussels sprouts, the burnt ends, the corn muffins, the mac n' cheese, the sweet pickles, the onion strings and those vineger-y onions, were amazing! Oh, and the moscow mule- perfection. Soo dangerous, because i could drink that stuff like water! That was my first time trying that drink and it was awesome....

Plus, the waitress was quite friendly, and was also cocktail proficient... darn, forgot her name, but, really, all our interactions with the staff were great, so... even the manager gave us a bit of free meat, since we were a bit underwhelmed with the meat portion of our orders, so, we certainly can't be mad at that... AND, he took it as a learning opportunity, rather than getting defensive and i just love that! It must be a nice place to work, because everyone was very pleasant and made our date night that much nicer. The manager also threw in a free bottle of bbq sauce, so, again, who could ask for more, just because our meat was imperfect? So, we left a nice tip and thanked everyone for being so great and giving us a good experience and such awesome service. Keep up...

This place is an enigma... some days I have gotten it and it has been the most tender and juicy ribs I've ever had. The sides are cooked to perfection, and I'd call the place one of my favorite BBQ places in the area. Then other days it's worse than the premade ribs you buy from the grocery store. It's a problem with quality control and consistency. For instance, today my order had ribs that were not cut highlighting the fact that my order was assembled from two separate rib racks (as 3 of the 4 ribs were connected uncut and sauced, one was un-sauced and separate). But then when I went to cut it myself, I found they did not remove the membrane on the back of the connected ribs. The rib meat itself was gristly, tough, and overcooked. The roast I got on the side was so salty it was inedible, and the mac and cheese could better be called a soup than a mac and cheese (watery and runny with the occasional pasta pieces between the Spoonfuls of sauce). However last time I ordered the ribs were cooked to perfection, the jucy meat falling off the bone, the sides while nothing special were enjoyable, and the chicken I had on the side was juicy and perfect. So I rated it 3 stars as some nights it deserves a 5 stars, others 1. Hopefully, they can get their consistency right and this changes going forward but its probably going to be a while before I give them another...

Staff was very kind, no issues there. When I searched famous daves this location popped up. I pulled into the drive and noticed JC was the restaurant. They did confirm the are a famous daves and would make the food for us. I had a to-go order placed. Brisket, beans, coleslaw, and corn. Large order $$. My husband, myself, and 2 yr old were very sick after eating our meal, hard trying night for us all. We called about the issue and was very kind and asked to speak with manager. They stated the manager was not working but when they would be back they would deff reach out about the issue. Maybe we shoud have been karens! Well, I did give it ample time and now its weeks later so I am leaving this review and turning them in to the correct channels for not reaching out when they made my whole family sick. I find it revolting and careless. I will share this with many ppl and tell them not to eat here to avoid food poising. After getting on here and reading reviews it is very apparent...