One for Bambi (or... Famous Dave's!)

It has recently come to my attention, that when I talk with my friends from home about my experiences in Pittsburgh, particularly when discussing my culinary and fashion adventures, that I can turn a bit... snarky. So, just to prove that I am not eternally nasty (and perhaps thus give some credence to the negative things I do say) I will take a cue from Bambi.

I had previously thought it was Bambi's mother, but perhaps it was Thumper, who said, "if you can't say something nice, don't say nothing at all."

All double-negatives aside, I think at times there may be some value in that concept.

Just not as a blogging food critic. Nontheless, here's something nice for ya.

Famous Dave's.

Seriously. I would say that, to date, the dinner I enjoyed at Famous Dave's was, arguably, the best (I think it comes in a short second to The Red Room, actually, but more on that later...) that I've enjoyed in Pittsburgh.

I had never seen a Famous Dave's before my arrival in the Steel City, and from what I have observed, it seems to be a small local chain. The restaurant branch which I visited was in the Waterworks shopping complex, in Fox Chapel near the UPMC St. Margaret Hospital. I found myself in the neighborhood, later than anticipated, with one very mean and headachy husband (who had gotten quite hungry while he kindly and patiently found me a pink and purple tennis racket with a 4.25 in. grip for only $25! I call my racket "my little pony" now...) So, to Famous Dave's we went, since it was the closest edible-looking thing.

and

it was good.

actually, I'd say for a simple, honest, not-at-all fancy meal, it was a terrific bargain. Our server was prompt, friendly, and efficient. The table, floor, and ladies' room were all immaculate. But most importantly: the food was genuinely good.

Todd ordered a brisket and chicken dinner, which arrived complete with a cornbread muffin, a small ear of corn, and choice of two sides - he chose the amazingly sweet (too sweet for my palate) and buttery yams and the spiced green beans (which were the only thing we were served that I thought was bad - they were limp and not very tasty). But the real superstar was the meat. The brisket was beautifully seasoned and sauced, cut-with-a-fork tender, and not at all gristle-y or fatty. All tasty, soft, edible. The chicken was just as nice.

For me, as my appetite is smaller, I ordered what has to be the most adorable thing on the menu: 5 little slider-sized sandwiches, each filled with a different little taste of a barbeque meat offering. I will confess that I enjoyed the spicy sausage the most, although it is a bit greasy. There were also little samplings of chicken, pork, brisket, and I forget the last one... or maybe there were only 4. The point, dear friends, is this: they were good! My one critique, if this is even a real negative, is that I found the little buns my babywiches arrived on to be too soft and potato-ish and too buttery-tasting for me. I think most people would find them delicious.

Oh, and just about everything on the menu comes with their special spicy pickle chips. Ordinarily, I do not like southern-style pickles since I find them to be too sweet, and I do not like pickles presented in a chip format since they're often not crisp. But, Dave, I can see why you're famous, because even the pickle chips were good. They were cold, crisp, and very tasty with a bit of sweetness that was tempered by the combination of vinegary acidity and a spicy bite of heat. After I downed all of mine, I ate most of Todd's. Those pickles are green gobs of joy.

Each of the branded sauces was special, had a reasonable amount of well-balanced heat (except, sadly, for their supposedly fire-hot XXHELLXX burn-yinz-mouf-down version, which I did not find particularly hot. Todd did. Then again, I put siracha on cucumbers as a salad. Incidentally, if you haven't tried cukes (cut a seedless or "Japanese" cucumber paper-thin with a mandoline) that way, you should, with a bit of kosher salt and a tiny chiffonade of fresh mint and fresh lime juice if you've got it). I tasted each one alone thought that they were all good, but I did find that for a nice balance of sweet, salty, acid, roastiness, and heat, the Famous Dave's eponymous classic sauce would be hard to beat. It was way tasty, I like it better than the stuff I have in my fridge. Feel free to send me some as a gift.

I was too full to eat all of the cuteburgers, but Todd ravenously devoured his entire meal (and the portion sizes were very generous!) and ordered dessert. If you are a sweets person (and as you know, I do not pretend to be one, so I know that I am hard on desserts), this dessert is for you: pecan-praline bread pudding with vanilla icecream. It was HUGE. So huge, that despite my usual two bites, and Todd's typically superhuman capacity for snacks, we left more than half of it on the table. I think one would feed a sugarjunkied family of four. Dang, that thing was sweet. But it smelled amazing, and had a rich flavor. It was too sweet for me (did I mention that it was stickily, toothrottingly sweet?), I admit, and I would have enjoyed it more, perhaps, if the bread pudding had been lightly smoked and caramelized on the grill or served with a shot of espresso. But even the icecream was of high quality (not that strangely yellow over-crystallized cheap catering-quality mass produced crap I would have expected), with a rich creamy texture and full, natural vanilla flavor.

So, if you find yourself in the vicinity of a Famous Dave's and you want something well-prepared, unpretentious, and flavorful to eat, I'd say to go for it. This is probably the best chain-style vests-with-flair kind of place I've ever tried.

Even if you buy into that Bambi line, you won't be forced into silence with this one. Yum Yum.

P.S. I forgot to mention the baked beans, which I chose for the side to my bbq-munchkins. They're far from vegetarian - there were huge honkin' pieces of pork in there - but they were delicious. The beans weren't overcooked or mushy at all, the sauce was thick and tasty, and the flavor was smoky, sweet, savory, and well balanced. And the beans were clearly well prepared, as they did not leave me feeling at all musical later.