Famous Dave

This famous Dave is new and the Prince Georges County area. Great customer service. But the food is to be desired. The taste of the food needs more seasoning and the barbecue needs to have more barbecue flavor. It taste like it was cooked on a electric grill. I may try this restaurant again in the future once they have been open for more time. They have a great happy hour doing the week and would love to try it out with coworkers.

I love famous Daves but living in va you can’t get it. So visiting family in Maryland is the only chance and this place was just as good as I remember. The restaurant was nice and big and customer service was amazing. Love their brisket and cornbread! Will be back again.

I always enjoy myself, my food is always good and the staff is exceptionally friendly yet professional.

Famous Dave, or should I say not so Famous Dave! Ha ha! I’m joking. I haven’t had a bad experience here and the food is pretty good. Not great, but pretty good. It’s great for catering or group gatherings/​big dinners. Don’t get me wrong though. There is this one dish that they have that I like very much! It’s the two meats deal with ribs and fish. It’s so good! With that cornbread and the sauce for the fish! Anyway, it’s not a favorite spot of fine, but when I do go I get the fish and ribs. The fish are a must try!

They were okay. But not as bad as people said they were. My food was hot and fresh. My cocktail was basic — but good for a chain restaurant.
What needs to happen is more residents of Prince George’s County should support these businesses and give honest feedback to prompt management to improve or sustain.
Will I come back — likely. It was a good meal on an evening where I left work late.

What’s up with these negative reviews? I loved Famous Dave’s when I was a kid but was afraid to come to this location cause of the reviews. Anyway I had nothing but a great experience, same great food I remember, our server was really funny and they greeted me as I came and left. Good stuff!

If there was a way to place no stars on this post I would. Tonight me and my fiancé walked into this location and the hostess looked at us in the face and walked away. We waited for about five minutes, looking like idiots. No one greeted us, or even gave us a second glance! We decided to walk over to Kobes where we had an amazing time with excellent service.

First off, this Famous Dave’s (FD) is a franchise, rather than being corporate-​owned, so it does things a bit different: (1) does not accept FD Gift Cards, (2) does not sell FD gift cards, and (3) does not accept coupons distributed by their corporate office (e.g. birthday discounts).
[NOTE: I will be monitoring this FD to see if they resolve their differences with corporate and begin to accept coupons and gift cards, primarily via their Facebook page. I will report back here and update this review when I have more information.]
In addition to the above, this restaurant’s menu is a subset of what I am used to seeing in a «normal» FD. This Largo restaurant does not serve baby back ribs and only offers St. Louis style ribs. In addition, it only offers 3 BBQ combos (vs. 6 on other FD menus) and none with ribs.
Given all of this, I was disappointed to find out that I could not use a discount coupon I had received via e-​mail for my wife’s birthday, since that was the reason we had decided to eat at this particular FD (given that it is now the closest one to our house). I was equally disappointed to find out that I could not get baby back ribs, which I have started eating with no sauce and FD’s wonderful Memphis-​style rub.
For a Saturday night between 6:30pm and 7:30pm, we had good service and only waited 10 minutes for a table, after being told that it would be 20 minutes. My cocktail at the bar was well made, and the bartender was attentive.
The food was good, but, unfortunately, there were a couple of aberrations.
First, my wife’s rib tips were advertised as being a «pound of Memphis-​style, dry-​rubbed tips,» but there was no rub on them whatsoever and they didn’t even taste like they had been in a smoker. Second, the side of mashed sweet potatoes she ordered was cold, and we had to get a replacement.
On a positive note, their menu does offer some additional items over the ones in Laurel and Annapolis, namely, brisket burgers, beer-​battered cod, a feast for one, and a couple more sandwiches.
I really wanted to like this place, but since I love baby back ribs vs St. Louis style –or even having the option of getting them in a combo meal — I will be going to other FD’s rather than this one, which is unfortunate.

A friend and I visited this location a couple of weeks ago… I’ve always been a fan of famous Dave’s and after coming here I’m still a fan. I got the feast for one with jalapeño macaroni and cheese, fries and baked beans. My food was delicious and everything well prepared (with the exception of a few fries being undercooked). My friend got bbq chicken and didn’t particularly care for her meal. She wasn’t in the mood for bbq so it wasn’t satisfying to her — not famous Dave’s fault.
The service was great, no qualms there. It was a Saturday afternoon so the restaurant was nearly empty and we were seated promptly and allowed to choose a booth.
I will return; this restaurant is a great addition to the blvd and I’m happy to have it.

I ordered the St Louis Ribs combo today and my ribs were not cooked all the way and my rib tips were cold and not charred. Famous Daves made a poor choice in coming to this part of town. The customer service was blah, the inside of the establishment was nice but hey it just opened not too long ago… I’ll give it a couple of months. I was completely disappointed with my food and will stick to the good olé Laurel, MD, Alexandria and Woodbridge, VA locations. Smh. We can’t ever have anything good in this part of town. So disappointing…

«Stick to the Ribs»
Intro: Here goes. I had intentions of giving this place a high rating because I had the takeout once and it was delicious; and also because I root for local (PG) restaurants to succeed. However, I have to maintain the integrity of Unilocal and keep it 100.
Atmosphere: The place is clean with a nice layout and lots of TVs. It has big, vintage portraits above and is spacious. It even has 2 levels, although the upper level was not active. I suppose that’s probably only used on busy nights like Friday and Saturday. I went on a Sunday evening.
Food: We split the rib tips as an appetizer and those were well prepared. I decided on the brisket with collard greens and fries. It’s weird because the first one or two bites of my brisket were OK and then I got a weird feeling where I suddenly wanted to throw up and my food just turned me off. I don’t know if it was a seasoning/​smell of the collard greens combined with the brisket, or because I don’t eat beef often, but I couldn’t get through the meal. I didn’t even take a to-​go box. I’m not going to say that the food was nasty because it may have just been me.
On the contrary, the other person got the ribs and catfish sticks and really enjoyed her meal. I tasted the catfish sticks and they were pretty good. The cornbread muffin is a nice compliment. I’d recommend just coming here for the ribs.
Service: The place is basically staffed by all teenagers. Initially, I was impressed because the host was really nice and efficient, and the teenaged staff appeared to be active and invested. My waitress approached our table immediately and took our drink orders. Great!
As the night progressed, the flaws started to arise. Twice, we were brought food that was not ours and asked if it was what we ordered. It’s not a big deal, but I feel like the waiters are not communicating well with the runners since they have no idea where to deliver the food.
Secondly, we had a Sunshine Anderson waitress. A Sunshine Anderson is when the waitress gives you broken promises and eventually makes you think, «I’ve heard it all befoooore… Let me explain. Baby… it’s not what you think» But guess what waitress, «your lies ain’t workin now. Look who’s hurtin now! Said I had to shut you down. I had to shut you dooown!» OK, I’m done. Anyway, she promised a refill that never came. It was so bad that I started intentionally slurping my empty cup as loud as I could whenever staff walked by. In her defense, she provided the drinks instantly when I reminded her at the end of the meal.
I was puzzled when I ordered an UNsweetened tea and she verbally confirmed the unsweetened tea, yet provided me with a sweet tea. Then, she promised me the refill, she said, «I’ll get you another unsweetened tea.» When the refill FINALLY came, it was yet another sweet tea. I didn’t complain, but found it bizarre. Ironically, when the bill comes out, it has «sweet tea» on the tab. Go figure.
Closing remarks: Despite not having a perfectly night, our waitress seemed like a sweet (much like my tea) young lady. I feel like a jerk writing about this because she is young and probably 100 lbs soaking wet with boots on. She may have been a little shy, so I still tipped her 20%. My suggestion to the establishment is to hire one or two adult employees to keep the kids organized.
My advice to the Unilocaler is to give this place a try, despite my two star rating. I was underwhelmed, but I plan on going back and hopefully being able to give a better rating. Maybe stick to the ribs, which is Famous Dave’s specialty. Call me crazy (OK «Crazy»), but I see the boulevard possibly having a revitalization within the next 5 years and I’m hoping that this establishment can be a positive.

What is it with these Boulevard establishments (with the exception of Carolina Kitchen)?
This is how service is supposed to go (I use to work at the Olive Garden back in HS at the largest one in the U.S. so I know):
1. Take drink orders & Appetizer orders immediately (extra points for asking if a party wants separate checks)
2. Bring back drinks (make sure everyone has napkins, straws, & silverware) & make sure things are cool
3. Bring out drinks & take food orders (extra points for food suggestions)
4. Check up on group
5. Bring out food (make sure they have any sauces or extra items like butter to accompany their meals) & prebus
6. Check up on table & prebus (everything ok, need refills, food taste ok)
7. Anyone want dessert (extra points for suggestions) or refills & prebus
8. Anyone need ToGo containers or bags
9. Print out check & bring containers & bags
10. Cash party out & thank them for their service
If you are a server you should know & exercise this… I’m really growing tired of slow & mediocre at best service at these local establishments. If you are having a bad night, your tables shouldn’t know. I left a $ 10 tip as a message because I was going to leave around a 20% tip, but you messed that up.
Very disappointed!