Erica the bartender has some audacity. A table had a conflict with us for absolutely no reason whatsoever. Self entitled geriatric folks. Erica told us that WE needed to leave when we were not causing any problems. Everyone knows Sam's is a dive bar. Do yourself a favor and go somewhere else. Plenty of other options with better service and less attitude. read more

The staff here is amazing and the facility is so clean. I would drive to this location just because the atmosphere is great here. read more

Best Famous Sams in town. Free parking & moderately sized seating inside (bar stools & tables to choose from). Multiple televisions, a few arcade games, and pool tables. Men & women bathrooms. I came with the hubs & my toddler whom they gave a "buzztime" hand-held gaming device to to preoccupy her before the food came. So one of the reasons why I love this location for more than the other in Tucson is that they have the original sweet chili pepper sauce. A perfect amount of sweetness coupled with chili makes a totally flavorful topping for nearly everything on their menu. Our waitress was amazing. read more

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No stranger to Famous Sams. Generally a good experience. I get it's a new location but they have work to do. Sams Reubens are generally great. Not here. Lots of meat but the sauerkraut had NO flavor. Beer carbonation was off. Server got wife's order wrong. She was paying more attention to what kids in another booth were doing. Presumably her kids since they left together. Again, they're new. Hoping for better next time. read more

I came here mid-afternoon with a gaggle of friends after a morning of hard work. Our waitress was really friendly and took care of everyone promptly. We all arrived at different times over the course of an hour or so. The chili fries are pretty good (everyone ate mine), and the season fries are good too (I ate someone else's). A few other people had burgers which they enjoyed. The ambiance is kind of like a dive bar; dark in the middle of the afternoon. But it was very cool on a hot day, and is a great place to kick back and relax. read more

Ordered food to pick up. Fish and chips, fried zucchini, and sandwich. When arrived we sat at bar waiting to be acknowledged. Bartender was conversing with a couple. After about 3 minutes, I walked to back by kitchen window, where I find 3 employees standing and chatting. I asked if the order was ready. It was and was sitting there. I said we are at bar, and my friend is paying. His response was "tell her to walk back here." What a lazy employee. I pulled out my card and paid. However, that guy got NO tip. Then the food was lukewarm...not hot. It sat within the Styrofoam box..sweating. so the fries and fish were not crisp but soggy. The sandwich was good. Zucchini not stellar enough to charge 8.00. I will start visiting Trident Grill and Old Father's Inn.... not trying Sam's again. read more

Was in N Tucson and went to Famous Sams for a bite to eat and watch some sports. Enjoyed a delicious Philly Cheesesteak at the bar. Erica was an outstanding bartender and very personable. Enjoyed the meal and conversation immensely. Recommend Famous Sams if you're in the area! read more

Great place to gather to watch football with friends. Most outstanding food. Service on a crowded evening the best.

Famous Sam's. Nothing really makes this place famous. The lighting is your typical dive bar lighting, so dim that when you walk in from a bright sunny day your are taking your own life and limb in hand. Grade D- They say that consistency is key to a well run business. Well it goes the same for a poorly run business also. I' ve been in this bar one just about every day of the week, during football season, basketball season and when its no season and it is consistently poor service. I was watching people play poker one afternoon, and several of the players were waiving down the waitress. She would come over take one order, go to the bar, wait a few minutes for the drink to be made, the come back and take the next order. There were 8 people at that table, do you know how long it took them to get drinks? Lets just say I saw them take a break after about 20 minutes of playing and she was still taking orders. Grade F Lets talk food. Fried, oily, sometimes luke warm. The fries are fairly decent if you get them on time and they are hot, but then again refer to the previous paragraph. Typical overworked out dated bar menu with attempts at burgers, wings and other bar type foods, frozen not fresh. D- I dont know why I keep visiting this place, maybe its my hope that this will someday become a hip place to be, or maybe I am just a glutton for an upset stomach, either way my over all grade for Famous Sam's on Ruthraff D-. Happy Bar Hopping D. read more

The food is out of this world ! The service is fantastic. We love Millie. They give you generous portions. You get a lot for the money.

Ordered nuclear boneless wings and was given Buffalo ... while they offered to remake it the woman on the phone never apologized.

I have left a couple good reviews of this place. Tonight the bartender was more interested in talking than working. I sat at the bar for 5 min while she talked. I finally went and sat at a booth with the hope I would at least have some confirmation that I hadn't turned invisible. Took me 10 min to get a beer. My server had to interrupt her from the same conversation... second round she poured it herself. It's a shame she has to give the idiot bartender part of her tips when she does nothing but hinder the overall experience. SMH read more

Sam's sadly disappoints. Although it very much looks like a sports bar, it doesn't sound like one. I asked if the volume of the game could be put over the speakers instead of BTS. I was told politely, no. If that wasn't bad enough. I had the Nuclear famous wings. Which left me unclear, as to why they're famous or called nuclear. I've had milk spicier than this. So disappointing. I left Sam's with a headache. read more

I'm sitting in this busy place for 10 minutes. Two waitresses have my area. Both have gone by many times.

This is the strangest review I've ever written..... 1. Brand new location - clean, close to work, great stop after work for a quick drink before heading home..... 2. Typical dive bar food - always fun to watch your ass get fat with deliciously crisp friend zucchini and mushrooms, crispy hot wings and some fake cheesy nachos that melt in your mouth 3. Good beer selection 4. Pleasant and attentive servers So what's the problem you ask???? FOAM PLATES PLASTIC FORKS PLASTIC MINI CUPS for salsa and sour cream WTF???????? So I asked the server what the deal was. His response, "The owner doesn't want to buy a dishwasher. This is easier." Like for reals. This is what he said. Aside from the fact I am not at a picnic ( would rather kill myself than use foam even so), Huh??????? Did I hear you right?????? Disgusting. Absolutely the most horrifying thing I've ever heard. I guess all the years of destroying the planet and hoping to educate the stupid on the importance of multi use items and recycling has resulted in a restaurant/bar franchise thinking foam and plastic are acceptable for daily use. NEVER will I enter this spot again and I'll fire anyone who works for me if I find out they are spending their hard earned money in this establishment. Boom. PS single use items are bad for the planet and therefore, bad for you too. read more

We get treated SO well by the staff -- Erika, Joey, and Brittany give us the VIP treatment every time. The drinks are great and fairly priced. The karaoke is just too much on the weekends. When I'm off work on a weekend, the last thing I want to hear are the same 5 people singing breakup songs for four hours straight. I think this would be a great weekend spot if it weren't for the karaoke. read more

My first experience was last week. Melinda was awesome. Personality, service a great 7 & 7 mixologist. Had asked if she made a good Whiskey Old Fashioned and she was honest with me, which is commendable. Really enjoyed watching her as my dad owned a country club, a bowling alley and a restaurant and I started bartending at 14 back in 1976, and preparing meals at 16. Earned degrees in Hotel Restaurant Management, Culinary Arts, and Mortuary Science. I appreciate good food, which doesn't have to be fancy to be fantastic. I really appreciate good service more. I left the hotel industry and became a funeral director in WI. Melinda served my friend, Diane & I at the bar, both drinks & food, Great food. Then we moved to a table when our spouses arrived and our waitress was wonderful and spouses were happy with their meals. Now for the problem leading to 3 star rating. I stopped in Sunday night about 11 pm with 2 female bartenders not working, but comparing dog photos on phones. I was ignored. The one had her back to me for 7 minutes, never turned away from her phone to even notice me, or turn away from the other bartender and the two guys at the bar they were sharing photos with. I sat for 7 minutes and LEFT Unacknowledged. Went to Old Father Inn and stayed till bar time when my Uber picked me up. I won't drive drunk. I was raised & professionally trained in the hospitality industry. There is no excuse for the behavior of two employees ignoring a customer when there were only 7 patrons in the bar, including me! I had a great time talking with folks at Old Father Inn, and Highly Recommend Old Father Inn. Vic is a great bartender and server at Old Father Inn. It's called Customer Service in Action! Check it out management and fire people who find their phone photos of dogs more important than your reputation, customer service & your bottom line, or the lazy dead-weight will drive you out of business. read more

Ok, so I just moved here from NYC and took an Uber to this place. GUESS WHAT? It's not there anymore. It did move to another little strip mall. The service was unbelievably nice and fast. However, we both had a rum and coke.......minus the rum. I didn't ask for it that way, but my rum and coke came with a thought of rum but no rum in the glass. The wings are just like pretty much any bar's frozen wings drenched in sauce. Not that bad. My gf had the sliders with fries and even though the sliders are well done, they were great. Fries were really freaken salty but I like them that way so they were great. Overall, a smaller, version of the one I did like on N Oracle Road. read more

For years & years we have followed Scott for Karaoke. How in the world could Sam's on River not do Karaoke on Saturday nights? We walked in tonight to find out that as of 2 weeks ago they no longer do it on Saturdays, which shocked us!!! Bring it back cause it's the only reason we go to Sam's on Saturdays. read more

I used to love this Famous Sam's when it opened. Really nice and friendly bartenders, and really enjoyed the sandwiches and fries. The last few times I went, very unfriendly short dark-haired bartender. She was extremely rude today. I won't be back. read more

Definitely a local hangout, I went in with my in-laws for some cheap games of pool and food. I'm not of drinking age so I don't know to much about the drinks but the food wasn't anything great expessally for what you pay but the food isn't really catered to me so it's probably really nice after a few drinks! The place isn't the cleanest looking, the bathroom even comes complete with a condom dispenser! Maybe in a few weeks when I turn 21 I will appresheate the atmosphere. The karaoke machine is very expensive so I'll have to drink a bunch before I'm willing to pay that! read more

This Sam's is in a very Blue collar neighborhood but when I stopped in when I was in the area for business for a pastrami sandwich, which had come highly recommended I immediately felt like I was a regular. I sat at the bar since I was eating alone I felt more comfortable. The bartender immediately served me my beer and took my food order as I listened to the conversations around me. It's obvious that most of the people who come in there do so on a regular basis because several different groups of people were interacting with each other. Pretty soon I found myself involved in the conversations too and even though I had never been in there before they included me and didn't make me feel like an outsider. By the time I left people were actually telling me bye and to take care. Now I actually look forward to going to our Tucson store because it gives me reason to go to Famous Sams. read more

Truly a neighborhood bar. My friend and I arrived at 2 for happy hour and football. From 2-6 there are specials on drinks and food, so we got brew for under $3, and a big plate of hot wings for half off. We drank about 8 beers total, including wings and her bowl of chili, for about $30 total so not bad. The atmosphere is locals, with a mix of college kids coming in during the evening (we came on a Saturday). Sports was the big draw, and this bar is friendly to the Bronco's football team. This included us being given free shirt, towel and stickers donated to the bar by Denver. Cool. I'm not a major fan of Famous Sam's generally and don't go often, but it hit the spot for good drinks and lots of sports and good service. There were pool tables and poker games taking place. The prices aren't all that good outside of happy hour, so I suggest checking out the deals if you go for maximum value. If you have a Sam's in your neighborhood, you can bet all the neighbors go there. read more

Great place to enjoy a good cold beer and enjoy some karaoke. I came in just to check it out and was amazed by the enthusiasm of the bartenders. I would say please try ans cheers... read more

Have never been at this Famous Sam's before (normally go to the one on the eastside of town) and was pleasantly surprise at how nice the interior was. We purchased tickets for the Crawfish Boil and were eagerly looking forward to this event. But we soon realized that the restaurant was having a slight issue with getting the food out. I understand because this was such a popular event - many, many people pre-purchased tickets to this event. But I will have to say, even though many customers were starting to get a little frustrated at the wait, the staff, and I mean all the staff at Famous Sam's was apologetic and as kind as could be. Not sure what the problem was, but you can imagine how hard it is to keep a smiling face on when you have a full restaurant of waiting customers and a line outside the door. The band that was playing was exceptional! As we left, the person at the door again apologized to us and thanked us for being patient. She also reassured us that this was a learning curve for them and it will be much better next year. I wouldn't judge this restaurant based on this one event because Famous Sam's does have the best, and I mean the best pastrami sandwiches & fries. read more

Don't try to place an order over the phone unless you wanna hear "I can't hear you" the whole time you are placing the order because they aren't smart enough to somewhere they can here over the noise! I just hung up never finished my order just hung up read more

Alright first let me say I HATE the Pac-12 network. Grow up Direct TV and Pac-12!!! But I must say Famous Sam's fits the bill to watch the UofA football game! The food was good, the beer was good and the crowd was good. Thank you Lisa for taking care of us! A bar with bar food but it was clean, the TVs in the right place and it was a great place to watch the game! read more

Delicious burger and sweet potato fries. Sports bar fun.

I know it was football but to have Frys cold and not totally cooked. Stake fingers that are under cooked is really bad. TV so loud you could not hear anything but the TV, is a little over doing it read more

my first time there. good service, good food. nice clean place with lots of TV's. i will return. not cheap, but not expensive.

Unless you want to suffer the fate of every other previous location in town I suggest giving your staff a swift kick in the teeth on how to show patrons some proper respect. Here we are on St. Patrick's Day, happy to see that after the mandate from The Mayor that you are one of the establishments outside of city limits to remain open due to your geography and we were ecstatic to be able to get some themed food of the day. Or, so we thought... Your long and straight blonde haired, blue-eyed staff member (I shall assume a server even though I did not see her working while on shift however her green shirt "FAMOUS SAM'S ON RIVER" indicated that she works there) was sitting at the bar, WITH THE SHIRT ON (perhaps turning it inside-out or simply changing it altogether would have not only been wise, it really should be policy), drinking, clearly showing signs of intoxication, and was talking to another male patron. She made some off-color comment about me and my companion to the effect of "Over here on the left?" and nodded in our direction which made us uncomfortable that why in the world a staff member is talking about us in the first place, much less within earshot. We then had a very bizarre, uncomfortable, and awkward interaction after I walked over calm and collected to see if I needed to be concerned in any kind of way that our presence was somehow an issue. Another female friend of hers (not wearing an employee shirt but she may or may not have been for all I now) with curly blonde hair and glasses got belligerent and obnoxious with words I won't repeat here but were not the kind of force my calm and polite approach needed to be met with. Your employee was then evidently signaled in her brain to team up with her to gang up on me and say harsh things to a legitimate patron, all kickstarted by her prior comment to the male who by now was in the bathroom. Luckily we were paying our check at the same time and ready to leave this horrible social interaction not a second too soon. Even the bartneder himself seemed aghast at what he witnessed. Our personal server, the girl with the jet black hair, did a fine job so no reason she should be collateral damage due to this incident. But for God's sake, in these trying times where every establishment needs every patron's pennies and good graces with lockdowns and quarantines ravaging Civilization, check your employees, tell them to conduct themselves in a mature and professional manner, instruct them NOT to talk about guests especially in a condscending and pretentious manner, and if they want to drink at their place of employment for God's sake do it out of uniform or perhaps even ban them from doing it altogether, because the blonde girl is both an embarassment and a disgrace and could potentially be the downfall of your business and dreams, mark my words! read more

I love coming to this bar. I always feel comfortable coming here by myself to decompress after work. With that being said when I came in on Tuesday to watch game 6 of the World Series after work, I was very disappointed to see that karaoke was back. I had one beer and had to leave bc I just could not stand it. The environment of the bar is way better without it in my opinion. Love the staff, they're always great to me. read more

Walked in about between 6-6:30pm on Saturday March 23, 2019. Waitress saw us going to a booth but that was it. No one even checked to see if we were waited on. We waited patiently for 15 minutes or more before we got up to walk out. Then a waitress acknowledged us. Went to Golden Corral where we were waited on right away. Lost money that night Famous Sam's. read more