I remember a time when Famous Dave's had decent bbq, sadly those days seem to be done. I ordered the founder's feast and I am going to break down each item. First, the ribs might have been from a rack of st. louis style ribs but they were definitely the short/less than meaty end of the rack which were overdone, didn't taste like they'd ever even been near smoke or a fire and most likely were par boiled. This goes for the chopped pork as well which without the sauce would have been flavorless as there seemed to be no seasoning and the pork was bone white with not even a hint of a smoke ring I would expect from bbq/smoked pork. The chicken was bone dry and flavorless as well save for the sauce. In fact the sauce was the only thing saving any of the meat meaning this was bad bbq. The only good parts? Dave's fries, the beans and the cornbread muffins and...again the sauce since it was the only flavor on the meat. I cannot speak to the service or the ambience as I ordered for delivery. Delivery was at least on time. I cannot recommend this place anymore. read more

The ribs tasted old.. The wings was dry. Never Going back..I spent to much money For this nasty food. read more

This review is based on an Uber Eats delivery order for this location. Ordered the family feast for my in laws Anniversary. Followed my order from 'preparing' status to 'delivery' status. Thankfully, There did not appear to be a long wait as many have stated. I'm always reluctant with the quality of food when you're getting it delivered-however, there weren't any issues. The food arrived and was just as described. My in laws said the food was delicious and really enjoyed it. I would definitely order delivery from their restaurant again. read more

This review might take a few minutes. I hope it's not too long. I bought a heavily discounted $50 gift card for Famous Dave's from one of those marketplaces when I thought I was buying one for Dave's Hot Chicken. I even tried to use it at Dave's Hot Chicken! So now I needed to find a Famous Dave's and eat there. The closest ones to my house were in Downey and Long Beach. Also, both are getting a cool 2.5 stars on Yelp, which makes me regret my gift card purchase even more. I piled my family in the car and headed towards Downey. It took forever to find famous Dave's in Downey. There is zero signage but that's because it's located inside a Carino's. Even once you're inside Carino's you can't tell that it shares a dining room with a Famous Dave's. No customers were inside at 6:30pm on a Friday night so the waitress sat us down and handed us three Carina's menus. I explained about my gift card and she said Famous Dave's does not accept gift cards at this location for dine in. She was very nice about it and recommended Famous Dave's in Long Beach. We headed for Long Beach. The Long Beach location is in the shoreline area in between all the busy restaurants. We expected to have a hard time getting a table, but once we were inside, once again, it was completely dead. Another promise that we were about to be diaappointed. Only one table was occupied and no one came to us in the waiting area for several minutes. It also smelled like bathroom freshener very strongly. We almost turned around and gave up when a young man came by and offered to show us to a table. It was then that we noticed one other family dining for a total of two in this giant restaurant. He sat us by the bathrooms. A waitress stopped by and gave us menus but disappeared for a very long time. She eventually came back and I decided to be upfront about the gift card because the only way to ruin an already terrible situation would be if we ate at the 2 star restaurant that smelled like bathroom and then had to pay full price. This is when our whole experience changed. Our waitress offered to take our order and charge the gift card immediately to make sure it worked. We ordered a sampler platter that feeds 2-3 for $55. Perfect. During the next 20 minutes of waiting we helped people who didn't know the code to the bathroom about twenty times. Then the food came out and again our mood shifted. The food was actually.......really good! We had baby backs better than Lucille's. We had brisket that was super tender. The fried chicken was hot and juicy with a crunchy cornmeal crust. The jalapeño Mac and cheese was fresh and so was the cole slaw. The beans were perfectly cooked and had meat floating in it just like Texas (but way too sweet). The corn muffins were similarly too sweet but impossible to set down once you have had a bite. The waitress brought the bill before the food came (for a good reason) and it was $12 after my gift card was applied. She saved the day by providing excellent service even though her job was obviously challenging and in a failing restaurant. Her name is Nyasha. She (and the cook, to be fair) made all the difference that night. We entered grumpy and hungry and left full and happy. Thanks Nyasha! read more

Located inside Johnny Carinos in case you get lost. Multiple restaurants inside. I chose the pork sandwich that was bbq tasty. From the fresh bread to fresh tender pork and really yummy bbq sauce. Had a side of Mac n cheese that is so southern different delicious because it cooked with pieces of corn and jalapeño pieces. Its one of best Mac n cheese I've had in a long time. I would absolutely visit again. Plenty of free parking near Chili's. I did take out but I cannot tell if you can dine in or not? No matter what thank you Famous Daves for a wonderful Southern lunch. read more

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Best BBQ in downey. I've had Lucille's, and other bbqss, and they fall short. The beans are delish with meat. The sweetness and a bit of spicy kick are a great addition. The ribs were great tasting the chicken tender and full of flavor. And Bret brisket were good. The potato salad took me back to homee barbecue. The mac and cheesee was very creamy. The only thing that I didn't like was the coleslaw. I am a person who doesn't want my BBQ slathered in sauce, I still like to taste the meat with sauce, not sauce with meat. The pick up place is inside of casinos. This place will be out to go to for BBQ. No more Lucille's. The price is fair. read more

I ordered 12 bones yesterday and once I opened my order I discovered they had only put 9 inside yet I paid for 12. I didn't open it till hours later so next time I will check my order before I leave. read more

Eh .. disappointing. I would not eat here again. Ordered from Uber Eats , paid a lot of money for less then mediocre food. read more

Go somewhere else. Order was not ready at the time promised (12:30). It's 12:45 and the girl said "they are working on it right now ". No call or email stating that they would be late. read more

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So after ordering delivery for my birthday because I love the comfort of my home we are very disappointed they do not allow you to change the sides online even though when you go sit down they do the ribs were overcooked the brisket was very dry the corn seemed like they microwaved the coleslaw tasted old and like refrigerator gross I will not be ordering to go from here again read more

The service is always good in the bar area. The food is scrumptious and always consistent.

Did a phone order and food was ready fast. Always clean. Ordered the 12 bone combo with mac n cheese and baked beans. Everything was delicious. My fave is the cornbread muffin I always order extra. Elizabeth was very friendly and had great customer service skills. Thank you Elizabeth for making the pickup experience amazing. read more

Famous Dave's - Barbeque Near Me - Downey, California

Food and shakes are good, but a bit pricey. If I'm gonna pay $19 for an entree (average entree price), I'm going to Texas Roadhouse or Outback. read more

This location isn't a Famous Dave's restaurant. It's for catering and takeout only. The food tasted old and it gave me the runs. I'm never going there again. read more

I should have read the review before giving this place a try. Ordered online, arrived 30min later and the order was not ready. The worker said " oh, I'll put the order in right now. It'll be ready in 25min " , no apology, acting like that's totally ok. I reminded her that I put the order in 30min prior to have it ready to go, not to wait 25min when I get there. She said " I was busy ". This restaurant was 1/3 full and while I was waiting for my order, she was only " busy " on her cellphone. read more

Would it be possible for a negative star review? Sadly I guess not. Been getting ads in general about trying this place out, so I finally decided to give it a try. Ordered their Famous Nachos Appetizer via Doordash at 19:14 (7:14 pm) and at 20:15 I get a call from the driver that there's no one that is willing to help her find out what's going on with my order. So, I decided to call them directly only to be told by whomever answered that the kitchen is really backed up (her words) and they're really busy and have no clue where my order is. Spoke to a "manager" only to basically get the same response and when I pressed her about the order she comes back an tells me that they gave that order out a few minutes ago (odd since Doordash had just sent me a message that the order WAS JUST PICKED UP). The manager and the first person I spoke with both tried to blame the hold up on the fact that they had a lot of graduation parties going on. Seems that they don't know how to manage the staff shortage that comes with special celebration days. Doubtful I'll ever order from them again. Really the worst customer service ever. And while nachos are usually not hot this was just plain cold! Cold BBQ sauce as well (probably becuase it took them over an hour to give it to the driver that was there waiting for someone to help her). read more

Famous Dave's - Rather cold BBQ sauce on chicken nachos, :( - Barbeque Near Me - Downey, California

Ordered in 10/21/23 online for pickup from the Downey location. The food was not bad. I ordered sides were baked beans and coleslaw. Instead I got mac'n'cheese and coleslaw also they did not give me a cornbread muffin. I drove all of the way back home to La Puente and made that discovery. I was too angry to call about it because I would have been insulting them. The upside was that fortunately I had a can of baked beans at home that saved my meal but I still missed the cornbread read more

Ordered online on Christmas Eve. Service was quick and easy. The food was superb! Will definitely be ordering again soon! read more

Famous Dave's - All-American BBQ Feast - Barbeque Near Me - Downey, California

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I would not give this shiz to my dog. My order was 50% Fat! I got 5 dinners and one was 100% fat! $170 order so $85 of Fat! I called and the girl who answered said "I don't" know who to transfer you to for that". read more

This place has 2.5 stars for a reason. They SUCK. Employees are the worst! NEVER place an order thru third party or pick up because they will give your order away to someone else or it will never be ready they are full of bullshit! read more

Worst brisket ever. Tasted more like cheap thick cut deli meat and the corn bread tasted bad. Pricey food for horrible food. Will never go back. read more

So glad there is one closer to DTLA. The to go pick up option is great, and is actually inside another restaurant. They need to do a better job letting people know this. The address correct. Food was outstanding. Ordered online and pickup was excellent. Will def be ordering here again! read more

Horrible service tonight by Jessica who claimed she is a manager and the hostess at 713. They lost my order and then was extremely rude and yelled at me via phone that she wasn't giving me her supervisors name nor the hostess. Ifbshe don't like her job she needs to quit. I see this establishment struggles with service, communication, quality and management issues. I sure hope the manager or corporate contacts me regarding my less than gracious experience at this location. I see why the order is always an hour plus behind. read more

This place is a piece of shit specially the way the manager talks to customers he said that this is not a sit down restaurant then wtf is it. Manager very rude negative stars for this place.... read more

Honestly better than lucille's I loved the thin pieces the brisket I recommend the long beach location ! read more

Famous Dave's - The big platter not sure what the name but this is sooooo fireeeee bomb!!! @binaababbyy - Barbeque Near Me - Downey, California

If I could give this place 0 stars I would. First off this is not a famous Dave's restaurant. It is a To Go location where they have the famous Dave's catering truck deliver food and you can pick up orders from inside of the Italian restaurant, Johnny Carinos. I'm not sure why famous Dave's opted for this type of services but it was a bad move. I went to pick up my pre ordered food around 3:45. My order was set to be ready by 4. When I arrived there were already 3 people ahead of me complaining about their orders not being ready. All of which were Famous Dave's to go orders. One lady had waited a hour before they found her order, which was sitting right at the front counter. When it was my turn to be helped. I was not greeted at all. After waiting over 20 minutes to be greeted by staff, I finally got the attention of a server and asked on the status of my pick up order. After waiting and additional 20 minutes for someone to return with either my order or an update, I requested to speak with a manager. I watched the server go to the Manager, she looked over at me and the Manager shook her head and preceded to walk right past me to assist patrons who just walked in and needed to be seated. I walked over to the hostess desk and asked her if she was the manager and she responded yes. By this time, I had been at the restaurant waiting for a pick up order for over 45 minutes. When I told her my name and my issue, she proceeded to go to the kitchen and never returned. I waited an additional 15 minutes and asked the actual hostess for a refund. The hostess then went to the kitchen and came back with my order. The manager never returned to the front. By the time I got my food, there was a line of 5 or more people all waiting for their famous Dave's orders. DO NOT ORDER FROM HERE!!!! I'm not sure how Johnny Carinos is still in business. They were understaffed. Under managed and under trained. They are not a good representation of Famous Dave's. Oh and by the time I got home to eat my food it tasted as if I stood in line at a hospital cafeteria. The food was microwaved and put in to go boxes. A complete waste of my time and money. read more

Disappointed...it's inside an Italian restaurant??? Do the cooks work double duty, Italian and/or barbecue??? Maybe I ordered the wrong items in my combo?...the chicken was ok and the Texas brisket was tinder but too "salty" and fatty ...I was expecting better and probably won't go back... read more

The counter is inside the italian restaurant. I went for the tmobile free combo (bbq sandwich and side), like literally everyone. This meal costs 20 bucks. No way. the brisket was dry. the mac and cheese is flavorless. Everyone works hard for their money and wants a nice meal. do not spend it here. please read more

Great food , good staff clean bathrooms. Food great overall nice quiet place to eat definitely would come often five stars

I will admit their food is delicious how ever the ordering and picking up is a bit complicated. I put the address on my maps when I get there no sign of famous Dave's, so I get out of the mall thinking I'm in the wrong place retype the address and it takes be back to the same place I just left. Finally I decided fuck it I'm going into Johnny carinos Italian restaurant and make a total fool of my self asking for my bbq food. Finally in a very small sign inside says pick ups for Dave famous bbq. I was only lost for 15 minutes. FOR ANY ONE LOOKING FOR FAMOUS DAVES. There you have it. read more

I've seen less-than-stellar reviews, but we placed our order online for 2 full slabs and a half slab of their ribs, and they were very tasty! They were hot when we picked them up, they smelled AMAZING, and they were not over-sauced. We had a bit of trouble finding the location we visited (turns out it was inside John Carrino's), but a quick call to the restaurant fixed that for us real quick! We tasted the ribs that day just to beside we could actually enjoy them the following day, and boy DID we! They were the hit of the function! Lol! Well, now we know where to come for our BBQ fix when grilling on our own isn't an option. The sides were very good as well, and there was a little extra sauce for our order just in case we wanted it. Thanks a BUNCH Famous Dave's! read more

AMAZING BBQ! On a whim, ordered the feast that feeds 4-6 and not gonna lie, I was skeptical. Restaurants say "feeds 4-6" but it really ends up being 2-3 and you have to order extra food. Famous Dave said, "naaaaah boo, I got you" Feast arrives and it's more than enough for four people! Packaged with care, tray overflowing with ribs, chicken, brisket, corn cobs, potato wedges and a generous pint of baked beans. Ok, so there's a lot of food, but does it taste good? Umm, we just wrapped up the second order because my family wanted it AGAIN. Ribs were on point. Beans and corn muffins tasted homemade. When my mom is impressed off someone else's corn muffins and beans, we're in business. Food was amazing, packaging was everything, and it was an incredible value for the amount of food received. Five stars, will eat here again! read more

I haven't had such a bad experience pre-ordering until today and would give this place zero stars. Got to the restaurant about 10 minutes past my pick up time. I went in and the room for pick up was full of people waiting so I already thought it was disorganized. I checked in and the hostess said someone "from catering" will give me a status. 15 minutes later and I followed up and she said that they're having issues with their 3rd party catering system. I talked to the manager who said they didn't receive my order despite me getting a confirmation that they received it. So I'm already about 40 minutes in and was being told that I'd have to reorder and repay because they didn't get my order. He tried to make light of the situation but I clearly was frustrated because today is Father's Day. There was no offer of making it right or doing something better next time. Definitely won't be returning. read more

I have been to other famous Dave's. This one messed up my order, forgot items and delivered late. 1) Nachos instead of chicken meat I had a lot of skin and grissle. 2) there was even pieces of beef 3) no onion straws on the BBQ chicken salad 4) forgot my corn bread 5) the BBQ sauce packets were sticky and open. I called to complain and no one answered the phone read more

Food was horrible , the burgers bun was hard and dry! Prob the worst burger I've had in my life. But my wife's salmon was pretty good and the server was nice. read more

While its certainly nice to have a Famous Daves near LA and accessible as this chain has been hard to get to in certain areas around LA. Its kinda tricky figuring out that this location is "ghost kitchening" in an Italian restaurant but gotta give it to them for the creative adaption Im sure is due to tough times right now. But in any case, the bbq is decent and on par with Lucilles or Dickeys but not crazy good above those places. What disappointed the most is the portion sizes for a 3 item platter costing just under $30 bucks. You would expect decent portions for that price but disappointing to say the least. Flavors being equal somewhat, Lucilles and Dickeys at least give better portions for the high price of bbq these days. read more

Food was horrible old burnt no barbeque sauce they said they put some on there and they lied and also they had no more bbq sauce compartments at a bbq spot. This the second time workers were not good at all not helpful at all Attitude not good social skills read more

For a corporate BBQ place this place definitely tastes authentic. The sweet corn bread and various bbq sauces are definitely the highlights of their menu but nothing I've ever had from this place has ever disappointed me. The ambiance has a heavy southern feel and is great for families read more

Don't waste your time or money. I'm a Famous Dave's lover but their food sucks, food doesn't even have the favor and taste that Famous Dave's is known for. I guess that's what you get when you combine a Italian restaurant with a BBQ. Wish they stayed in Downtown Long Beach. Guess next time I'll drive to Irvine when I want some REAL Famous Dave's BBQ. Plus they don't even honor Dave's gift certificates!! What's up with that? read more

This location is inside the Johnny Carinos restaurant. Don't waste your time going here, I got the all American feast with chicken, baby back ribs and tri tip. The baby back ribs were super chewy I couldn't even bite through them, the tri tip was like eating beef jerky, the chicken was the only decent meat. As for the sides the beans were way too spicy, the fries were soggy and the corn was decent. The only good thing from this meal was the chicken and the biscuits. Not worth my money or the drive down there, next time sticking to the Irvine location. I didn't even receive any bbq sauce packets or napkins. read more