Our family loves Famous Dave's! We've been getting BBQ here for years and it's always been delicious. To me, their brisket is the star of the show, but their ribs and roasted chicken are fantastic too, as well as their other meat choices. Most meals come with 1 or 2 sides, and they give you a bunch of options for those, so anyone can find something they're craving. We get takeout a lot, but when we do eat there we love the ambience of the place, makes you feel like you're not in Rockford anymore but somewhere down south. The servers have always been nice and helpful, too. Surprised by some of the low reviews of this place, I personally don't think they're warranted. Check it out for yourself and see! read more

Another trip to Famous Dave's in Rockford and another great meal. First off, the service was wonderful. I'm sorry I forgot his name but he was great! We had the Baby back ribs plus two meat platter. We actually added a third meat for $4 more. Besides the baby backs, we had brisket, chopped pork, and burnt ends. All of the meats were fantastic! For sides we had the Wilbur Beans and red skin mashed potatoes, along with the pickled onions and hell fire pickles. We love them all. I love going into Dave's and walking around the restaurant looking at all of the cool vintage signs and pictures hanging on the walls. The pictures of Dave in front of all the old historic bbq joints all over the country are really cool too. Stop in at Famous Dave's in Rockford and have a great meal like we did. read more

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I'm gonna say this, and I mean each word of this too! That So Called Famous Dave's in Rockford IL, should be shut down and tore down, so that no one will remember just how bad the food is there? Ridiculous ASF! A large Tip dinner is a joke within itself. Burnt, Rubbery, Could not be chewed, so salty that we had to try and rinse out the taste, the sauce was beyond SUBSTANDARD! That muffin, or whatever the hell they're trying to push it off as? FOUL ASF, crumble and was crumbs and dry as hell! Those damn baked beans must have been used for a whole damn week, with it tasting as if they were continuously reheating them and serving them. A large tip with seven horrible very small chopped pieces. We drove 39 miles to this dump!? I wish I was living much closer? Because I would have definitely went back and slapped whomever put that trash together and sold it to us. Please people, don't patronize that business, it's a waste of your money and time, it's a scam ass business, and believe when I say this with all of my heart. That place should be completely closed down and the city of Rockford IL, should send in some undercover investigators to see and taste for themselves. It's completely insane for people to go out to eat and get served garbage as we were served. read more

Was there about 40 minutes ago. We love famous Dave and eat there often on the road. We were seated and a guy walked by said he would be back but never came. Hostess saw us just sitting there. Other people came in after us and were waited on in different sections even got their drinks and ordered. The guy who said he would return was busy talking to people by the bar. Never came back. We got up and as we walked out I told the hostess we never got waited on. She didn't care. So we left. Went to mission BBQ down the road and are in joying a great bbq dinner. read more

Was not impressed with food portions order the pick 3 serving sizes were really small. Place was really empty especially. for a Friday night. Food was good just not enough. For a place hurting for business you might wanna look to increase the amounts especially. When you get uncharted for everything. read more

The Manager Kyle a.k.a Famous Kyle was so helpful in getting my rewards for me since my bar code from Madison store wasn't working. All the employees was very helpful in providing input as well. This is my go to place for delicious bbq and the whole chicken is so awesome. I mostly order the feast for 2, which last me for couple of days. All the food is GREAT!!!! YUMMY AND WELL PREPARED. read more

My $60 worth of food wasn't like it was before. Very disappointed. I was used to getting fresh and very good food. My last Oder was dry, very little amount. read more

They closed the restaurant down 10 minutes early and literally ate my uber eats order instead of giving it to the driver. Also refused to answer calls as well. read more

We are at Famous Dave's for the first time in about 15 years. We got a coupon in the mail and decided to give it a try again. No coupon will bring me back again. I see I haven't been missing anything. I think the mouse at the front was a sign. The food was nothing special at all, however, it got worse than that. I ordered the chopped pork dinner. There was quite a bit of fat. I know some people like that, and that's fine... but I really don't appreciate the entire mouthful of cartilage. I couldn't believe how much there was. It grossed me out so bad I was pretty much done after that. The server asked me if I wanted a to go box, while I'm thinking I don't even want to pay for this. I did, but I won't be back. The only good thing I ate was the corn muffin. That's why they get 2 stars instead of one. This city just doesn't have decent BBQ. Got to go to Milwaukee for that! read more

My experience at Famous Dave's was rather disappointing. Although the food looks relatively tasty, it does not even begin to compare to the level of food I've tasted at other barbecue restaurants featuring similar price points. The highlights from a culinary standpoint were the french fries and my pina colada mojito. Everything else gave me a feeling of regret for deciding to eat the calories. I walked in expecting a traditional sit-down experience that served fresh meat, and in my opinion, my lunch had all around felt more like a reheated fast food experience. This is great for people on the go, and I don't mind it if the food satisfies me, but the food was all around a huge miss. It lacked flavor and tasted dry, old and reheated. It just wasn't for me. read more

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Best BBQ in Rockford!! The place is a throwback to great BBQ and ambiance. Rib tips and southside dipping sauce is amazing. Staff is great, managers stop by as well to check on guests with a little entertainment value. Def will be back soon. read more

New to the Rockford area brought my family here today our server was Audra she was amazing attentive to us and the food was great! Definitely returning. read more

Famous Dave's Bar-B-Que - Full Feast dinner for 6. - American Near Me - Rockford, Illinois

The food and service was very good but a bit on the pricey side. The barbecue is very good and the cornbread is excellent.

Blake was our waiter he was amazing thank you for making a memorable experience for me and my daughters

WE had a great dinner here this evening in Rockford, IL! This is our favorite BBQ place in town since it opened, years ago. It was at its best tonight, and that's saying something. Cheers for Thom and Blake! read more

Nothing bad to say, nothing exceedingly good to say, just normal service.... Famous Dave's of America is a chain of barbecue restaurants primarily located in the Midwestern United States, serving pork ribs, chicken, beef brisket, and several flavors of barbecue sauce.[3] Dave Anderson, an Ojibwe-Choctaw who served as the head of the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs from 2004 to 2005, started the first Famous Dave's restaurant near Hayward, Wisconsin in 1994. read more

Famous Dave's Bar-B-Que - From Google image bc yelp forced me to have photo before posting review and I didn't have a photo. - American Near Me - Rockford, Illinois

Ok, I am a sucker for their Manhandler sandwich. I really like the brisket and hot sausage combo on a bun. I order this every time I visit a Famous Dave's. The sausage was a little hotter than other Famous Dave's, but not too hot. The brisket was a little on the fatty side, but still good. The service was first class. Megan was perky and cheerful as she waited on me and surrounding tables. Megan is someone who really loves her job. My ticket before tip was $14.18. read more

Famous Dave's Bar-B-Que - American Near Me - Rockford, Illinois

Food was amazing and Nik was even better! Got the St. Louis style ribs and brisket combo.

Crazy to go here. If you like bbq, go somewhere else. I got the burnt ends and they were nothing like at a real bbq place. I had low expectations and this place didn't meet them. The sausage was ok. Cole slaw was awful. The waitress barely paid attention to us and I honestly felt like just walking out bc we couldn't even see her anywhere while we waited about 6-7 mins after we finished. read more

This Famous Dave's needs to get it together! We have been going occasionally for 5 years. Every time we go there's been total turn around of staff and management! We waited 45 minutes for 2 salads in a restaurant with maybe 5 tables of people. read more

Whenever I crave BBQ, this is the first place I think of. I've dined in before but this time we ordered take out. They have a great area for pick up orders and the food was ready when we got there. I got the 2 meat combo (Texas beef brisket and bbq chicken) that came with 2 sides (corn and mashed potatoes) and corn bread muffin. The brisket was tender and the chicken was juicy and had great flavor - everything was delicious! read more

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This place has changed so much and it's a disappointment. It's almost like going to a fast food joint where you order at the window, pick up a number and place it on your table. The drinks are self serve. There is no more fresh chips that you used to be able to snack on. I am so sad that this is a franchise now. Luckily in Arizona things haven't changed there yet. The staff was extremely friendly. Drury was very helpful and kind as he helped ease our frustrations at the new way of operations. The ribs were very delicious and the fries were very tasty and crunchy. I love the sauces here. I am so glad those remained the same. My favorite is Devils spit but I am immune to spicy stuff so beware if you are going to use this sauce. read more

Alisha was the best bartender. Great service. She's very funny and that laugh of hers will keep you laughing. Best food for bbq. Great atmosphere. Ask for drinks she makes them the best. read more

There's nothing famous about Dave's, except maybe the mediocre BBQ, and that's not an understatement.

My friend and I went to Famous Dave's for lunch today. We had the best server her name was Audra. Audra was so nice. The food was good but Audra's service was great. read more

All four of our meals had some part wrong, the server was rude to us. we will not be going back here

Tonight's Big Slab was unbelievable! It was cooked to perfection. Very thing else was amazing as well. Famous Ashley is a rock star. Thank you read more

Famous Dave's Bar-B-Que - Big Slab demolished! - American Near Me - Rockford, Illinois

Waiter was very inattentive, seemed to be pretty coked up. Brought us drinks, and took our order, then disappeared. Someone else brought the food out, sandwich was barely room temperature. Took ten minutes for the waiter to check on us. Sent food back. Someone else brought the food out again, original waiter avoiding us. Sat with empty drinks at the table for remainder of meal, despite the place not being busy. Once we finish he finally shows up again and brings refills, not really any use now. Ask for the bill, hand him cash, and request a ten to be broken, and then he vanished again. Another ten minutes and he finally comes back saying he was in the bathroom. Food was mediocre, service was non existent, won't be back read more

Waited a long time. Never got seated. Phone kept ringing; never answered. So sad. Had to go elsewhere.

Food that I ordered was ok. The problem was the server. She had a mini meltdown when my group requested to change the seating arrangement from a table to a booth. She raised her voice and stated "you said you wanted a table ". I have never seen a server behave that way before. Thanks read more

Terrible food and service! Not sure what's happened to this place - but it used to be really good and now it's horrible. The manager even told us when we complained about the tough, unchewable meat "that's because they buy that cheap meat". read more

Absolutely terrible service... waited 15 min. For a server to take our drink order. After an additional 10 min., we decided to leave. Unfortunately, this place needs new management, consistent closing times and better waitstaff. read more

The hostess and wait staff where all super sweet. The food was OK. They were short staffed at the time.

I don't care how good the food is won't ever be coming here again... Veteran's day they advertise free meals for vets not this one 10% off fricking sad read more

We ordered take out from here because we wanted barbecue and Big Papas closed. We ordered the mixed baby and St. Louis ribs and burnt ends and rib bundle. It came wit four Sides.We thought the sides would be like kfc sides but they were very very small and nothing special Kraft Mac and cheese and garlic mash. The burnt ends were burnt dried beef nuggets"yech". The ribs were dry tough and little flavor. All this "goodness " was over 50 dollars. I will be looking for a new place for Ribs Not here read more

Famous Dave's is a fairly large chain restaurant featuring their style of BBQ and smoked meats. The best part of this restaurant is the consistency. It doesn't matter when you go; the food is usually almost exactly the same each time... and location. I've eaten at this location numerous times over the last 5 years and have had them cater for work related functions. My two favorite meats they make are the Georgia chopped pork and the rib tips. The brisket, St. Louis style ribs and smoked sausage are also pretty good. You really can't go wrong with any of them. They all have a good flavor and are tender. The kind of tender that makes eating with your fingers almost mandatory because it just falls off the fork. Their Wilbur baked beans are pretty good, but I'd avoid the potato salad. It tastes like bland mass produced store bought variety that you can get anywhere. There's nothing distinctive about it, and today for lunch I ended up adding a lot of salt and pepper to it so it was more palatable. The corn is okay, this is the one thing they can't seem to get consistent. Sometimes it's under cooked, sometimes it's over cooked other's its just okay. It's not bad, but honestly as something that comes as part of the meal and you have no choice over, I would expect better. However, they make up for the lackluster corn with the addition of a corn muffin that is fantastic. I love corn bread, and these are really good. I know there is better out there, but mostly those are homemade and you won't find them in a restaurant. I've ordered pans of these corn muffins for luncheons at work and watched people argue over the last one. When you dine in, they have 5 different sauces on the table; usually there is something there for everyone. My three favorites, depending on my mood are the Rich and Sassy, Devil's Spit and Texas Pit. The Devil's Spit is their claim to spicy barbeque sauce. Personally, I don't think it's that spicy, but I like hot and spicy food and have been told that I have a higher tolerance than most people. If you don't know what kind of sauce you like, ask for some chips so you can sample them, most of the time they will give them to you complimentary. Be sure to do this BEFORE you put the sauce on top of your meat, the last thing you want to do is put a sauce on that you think you might like only to turn around and dislike it. Also, try each sauce more than once so you can really get a good taste of each one. The service here is hit and miss. Sometimes it's good, other times it's bad. It just depends on what server you get. I will say that the staff is friendly, almost to the point of being annoying. Today we had the host, manager, and two waitresses stop by to say "hi" and to see how we were doing. I'll tell you how I'm doing... I'm on my lunch and I want to eat and converse with whomever is with me. Not spend chunks of my time talking to you. Checking on us is one thing, dominating a conversation about the previous day's football games and the performance of quarterbacks with the manager is not how I want to spend my lunch. Let alone with all the other staff that seems to keep stopping by. Of course, once the meal was done and we wanted to leave, it took forever for us to get our check and then for her to come back and collect it. Overall, it's a pretty good place, nothing too fancy, nothing to go out of your way to get, but someplace that won't disappoint you. read more

Very good food no issues with that at all. Was very convenient to carry out. Highly recommend

My wife and I drove to Rockford for our regular monthly lunch meeting with Rockford friends. Our group of 12 decided to meet at this place for the first, and now the last, time. It's an interesting place inside. The service was great, and should have been since only 4 other tables, of two patrons each, were busy. I ordered the brisket because I love good brisket and that is supposed to be a feature of this BBQ place. The serving was several thin slices, abut 1" high by 3" long before removing the fat, on a slice of stale Texas toast. A small cup of beans and 2 small slices of pineapple, mostly core, accompanied the few ounces of brisket. Two ladies had salads which they liked, but the other meat-eaters were disappointed, as I was. The best thing about the food was the squeeze-bottle of BBQ sauce. read more

We were really, really hungry for baby back ribs tonight. Bought them carry-out and took them home, only to find out that they We're just tough and dried out. We did call and speak with the manager, and he refunded the money we spent. We live 20 miles away, so getting different ribs was not an option. read more

The waitress we had was awesome it was a lady in the bar this past Thursday at about 230pm she was nice friendly and was helpful great to see happy wait staff still out there! read more

Famous Dave's Bar-B-Que - American Near Me - Rockford, Illinois