Dave’s Famous Bar-B-Q

Dave’s Famous Bar-B-Q

Dave’s Famous Bar-B-Q opened up off of Eagle in Boise a couple months ago. It seems that they are attracting big crowds. Though this may be largely attributable to the fact that its just something new.

Now, I make it a rule not to write up a review of any restaurant until I have eaten there at least 3 times.

Why you might ask? Simple.

Good restaurants can have a bad day. Bad restaurants can have good days. Also, food often varies with different cooks, at different times of the day, and even with they are busy vs. when they are not busy. So I try to go at different times and get the best overall picture that I can. And with Dave’s, I am very glad that I did.

When I first visited, I was very impressed. Our waitress was the best I have ever encountered. She was older, very warm and friendly and took excellent care of us. Our food was also excellent. But then on my subsequent visits, I started to get a different picture of Dave’s.

Every time since that I have eaten at this location since, I have been met with nothing but very young and less and than attentive or capable wait staff. In fact on one visit, our waiter told us that they were out of straws. After he left our table, we looked over at the bar, and there on the corner was a huge container filled with straws. My wife and I came to the conclusion that the wonderful waitress we had gotten on our first visit was a ringer. Someone with tons experience that corporate probably brought in just for the purpose of opening the new location.

On my first visit, I had ordered sliced brisket, which is my personal favorite. The portions were large, it was presented well on the plate and it was nice and lean. But on every visit since then, the brisket portions were small, it was put on the plate in unappetizing piles, and it was fatty and tough. Also missing are smoke rings and a black crust. Brisket that has been well smoked should have a brown to black crust. It should also have a reddish area that penetrates the meat about a 1/4 inch or so.

On one visit, I ordered their Devils Spit Hamburger. First, the good news. This is easily one of the best burgers in town. They are char-broiled 1/2 burgers and they are to die for.

Ok, now the bad news. Here is the description from their menu.
"Devil's Spit® Burger Careful, this cow kicks!
A seasoned burger slathered with Devil's Spit® BBQ sauce and topped with melted pepper-Jack cheese, jalapeño bacon and Hell-Fire Pickles."

I have eaten this hamburger 3 times now just in case the kitchen had a bad day the first time. But each time I’ve ordered it, it was the same.

• No Devils Spit Bar-B-Que sauce was slathered on the bun.
• No Hell Fire Pickles. In fact, they are sweet pickles.
• No Pepper Jack cheese. It was boring ole American.
• The bacon was hit and miss, but was never Jalapeno bacon. Sometimes it was thick and meaty; sometimes it was thin and bland.
  

This cow not only had no idea how to kick, but it didnt even have a leg to kick with !!! The burger was so not hot, that my wife took several bites. (My wife’s idea of hot sauce is Ketchup).

The ribs are good, but the portions are sometimes small and the flavor just does not seem to linger like good Bar-B-Q should. The sauces are good and well worth a try.

Now I do recommend going to Dave’s Famous Bar-B-Que restaurant and trying them on for size. But if its good lean brisket that you crave, you wont find it here.

In my opinion the best overall Bar-B-Q restaurant in Boise is still GoodWood. Hands Down!

(See my Goodwood review on this blog)