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Famous Dave's Legendary Pit Bar-b-que
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Take-out:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
2 reviews for Famous Dave's Legendary Pit Bar-b-que
Holy Hog Waller! Sweet Tea! Sweet Tea waaaayyyyyy north of the Manson-Nixon Line!
Yes, that's right. In our rapidly homogenizing country, you can get a facsimile of nearly anything, nearly anywhere.
Baltimore-ish crab cakes in North Dakota. Chicago-esque deep dish pizza in San Mateo, California. Tandoori in Toledo. Sushi in Sioux Falls.
But the last, stubborn food tradition--that restaurants north of an imaginary boundary I call the Sweet Tea Line cannot, for the life of them, figure out how to make good-tasting, sweetened Iced Tea, the World's Most Refreshing Beverage--has just been broken. In Greece, New York, just outside Rochester.
Up until now, you might (on occasion) get a good glass of well-brewed iced tea jn Northern and Western climes, but you will struggle for 30 minutes trying to get sugar to dissolve in it. Your vendor might even offer you some simple syrup, but it is likely to have long since gone sour or be crusted with flies. Unless I'm drinking it at my house, iced tea, despite being an essential nectar of my life, is often a struggle.
So imagine my shock last week.
Our clients wanted barbecue for lunch, and suggested we head to Famous Daves after our morning-long meeting. I gulped. How good could chain barbecue just off the shores of Lake Ontario really be? And when we arrived, this nearly-new place was spookily, eerily empty for a lunchtime near so many large businesses. Not looking good, right?
And then, it happened. I ordered my beverage with a muttered "Iced Tea, please" and was met with the shocking, never-heard-north-of-Virginia question, "Sweet, or Unsweet?"
Come again?
"Sweet, or Unsweet?"
I had to stop, look around, verify that I was still in Rochester with my colleagues and customers, and then looked at the server. She was serious!
"SWEET. DEFINITELY. SWEET!" I crowed in glee. I'm sure my eyes were tearing up. Could this be real? Have my Yankee brethren finally seen the light?
5 minutes later, there it was. A huge, ice-filled glass of real brewed iced tea, already perfectly sweet. No, it wasn't tea on a par with what you'd get at Bojangles or the Sanitary Fish Market or Bill's Barbecue in North Carolina, but it was fresh, it was sweet, and it was real tea.
I had three glasses.
My pulled pork sandwich? Fine. Obviously, the Eastern North Carolina vinegar barbecue line still hasn't been breached and I settled for something called Sweet and Zesty sauce on the pork, which was tasty. The pork was lovely, well-smoked and tender, and the fries were just fine. Honestly? Who cares. I was happy with my sweet tea.
Look, this is a chain. The food is better than average, probably 3-star on my normal scale, but listen--I could just as easily be 5-starring this place for the Sweet Tea.
Sweet Tea! In the North! It can't be long now--soon all Americans will be able to request cool, refreshing, Sweet Tea at any meal, anywhere, right? Right?
A boy can dream.
Great ribs, excellent deals on the specials menu.
Check the combo and specials menu for the best deals - you can save quite a bit by choosing one of these. Ribs and chicken alike were enjoyed by these reviewers, and both made excellent leftovers the next morning.
Nothing earth-shattering about this barbecue, but the service is good and waitstaff friendly. Good for a taste of Texas.