7051 Ames Street

Omaha, NE 68134

402-333-6391

Now, when people think of where to go to get the best BBQ they probably wouldn’t think of Omaha. Kansas City, Chicago (Home of the Blues), and Georgia would probably be at the top of the list. Famous Dave’s menu is the best of all those BBQ styles and is the best Omaha has to offer.

My recent trip to Famous Dave’s on the Fourth of July…

Our group of four, three of us in wheelchairs, decided to get there early to beat the holiday crowd. We pulled into the parking lot promptly at 11:15. The lot was deserted but the large, red, neon “open” sign was glowing. Once parked, as we unloaded ourselves, it would have resembled the “Clown Car” at the circus as wheelchair after wheelchair after wheelchair exited the mini van, if anyone would have been there to witness it. As we made our way into the small waiting area, their staff politely holding the doors, we were greeted and immediately shown to our table. “Awesome” we collectively remarked because we were hungry and armed with a coupon! Only a couple of minutes after being seated our food server, who welcomed us to Famous Dave’s and introduced himself as “Famous Dave” (He was merely adding a little humorous personality to our dining experience), took our drink orders and wanted to give us a few minutes to decide on our menu choices. “Coupon, coupon, coupon.” we began chanting louder and louder each time. “Coupons… You don’t need no stinkin’ coupons!” he replied in his best Spanish accent. Our coupon was for the “Famous Dave’s Feast” which included a half slab of Beef Ribs (6), half a Chicken, ½ pound of either Beef Brisket, Georgia Chopped Pork, or Double Smoked Ham, Coleslaw, Wilbur Beans, Famous Fries, cornbread muffins (2), and Corn-on-the cob (2). Our waiter, Dave as we called him (the “Famous” part was silently implied), suggested we order two of the feasts at the coupon price of $19.99 each, allowing us to keep our coupon for another day. I secretly think Famous Dave’s is run by the tobacco industry, you eat here once and they know you’ll be back… it’s that addicting. Barely being able to hear Dave over the roaring grumbling of our stomachs (luckily a few of us can read lips) eagerly ordered two “feast” platters choosing the Beef Brisket on one and the Georgia Chopped Pork on the other. The ten minute wait for the platters felt like an eternity and a few of us had to resort to calming our hunger by nursing on the five different bottles of BBQ Sauce… “Holy S**t!” my voice echoed in our dining area and the realization of why they might have named the bottle of BBQ Sauce I was sucking on “Devil’s Spit” came over me.

Soon Dave returned with wooden tripods to hold the platters and the platters themselves. The platters which were actually garbage can lids (I kid you not, but I‘m assuming they had washed the garbage can lids… If not, that just means more flavor.) The lids were nicely covered by red and white sheets of paper that matched the table clothes with the food displayed in the most eye appealing way possible (remember the chef has had to resort to using garbage can lids.) Starting clockwise, since we’re above the equator, was Beef Ribs swimming in BBQ sauce, a golden brown cornbread muffin, a mini ear of corn-of-the-cob, half a Chicken (quartered) with now beautiful, sticky BBQ sauce that has baked in creating a glistening sheen, a generous amount of golden steak fries (Ooops!… Famous Fries), ½ a pound of Beef Brisket on one platter and ½ pound of chopped pork on the other, followed by the other matching cornbread muffin and mini ear of corn-on-the-cob, with all this food surrounding the coleslaw and Wilbur Beans.

After immediately digging-in to the platter as it was placed on the tripod practically in front of me, I was told to use a plate which was handed to me in a not-so-friendly manner. How was I to know? The damn garbage can lid (Damn it…I mean platter) look like a trough to me… And someone could have told me before I stuck my face in the trough, I mean platter. As I was wiping BBQ sauce off my face and eyebrows Dave put on a demonstration explaining the different BBQ sauce in front of us on the table. “Now, the *sshole tells us?… My tongue is still smoldering!” I thought to myself.

Dave finally left us to eat and it took us longer to exit the mini van than it did for us to tear into the food like a pack of wolfs tearing into an already wounded deer. Once our bellies were full and we drunkenly gazed at the food that was left, we realized (as we always do) that we ordered way too much food. We were able to knockout one platter but only one third of the other. The rather pleasant up side of this was looking forward to eating the leftovers tomorrow. The damage for the meal and leftovers came to $50.01 plus the $10.00 tip (We usually leave the standard 15% tip unless it’s this good then we leave 20%). So, it worked out to be $15.00 per person, but easily could have been only $10.00 a person if your not into leftovers like my crew.

I would recommend this BBQ joint to anyone looking for delicious food at a reasonable price. Chef BK