Dave's Famous BBQ

With my kids off from work this week, I decided to take off. When asked what they want to do, my daughter said that she wanted to go to Famous Dave's restaurant. So there we went.

Located in Owings Mills near the Best Buy and a host of other restaurants like Qdoba, Noodles & Company, Tahinas, and Chick-fil-A, Famous Dave's serves a wide variety of meat. Non-meat - not so much.

Adorned with the southern BBQ pit motif, there are paper towel racks on the table along with a half dozen bottles of assorted barbecue sauces.

My daughter and I both chose the lunch combo platter. Our choices were St. Louis style ribs, BBQ chicken, sweet water catfish, Texas beef brisket, Georgia chopped pork, hot link sausage, and rib tips. I chose the Georgia chopped pork and the rib tips and my daughter got the St. Louis style ribs and Texas beef brisket. Each meal comes with a freshly baked cornbread muffin, a half ear of corn, and a sides. My daughter chose french fries and I chose spicy Wilbur beans.

Additionally we got an appetizer of sweet water catfish. For drinks I got iced tea and my daughter got root beer. I couldn't be drinking as we were going bowling afterward and who can bowl a good game after a brew?

After we ordered my daughter slyly asked, "What's better than ribs?" "Nothing!" I proudly retorted. "Wrong!", she exclaimed. "More ribs!"

The appetizer was quickly brought to the table with the drinks as if they knew we were going to order them. And they were GOOD. Hot, spicy, and good. And did I mention good?

Not long after that the main meal arrived. Served on a large round platter-sized plate, it was stacked high. The meat sat on a soggy piece of toast and my beans in a side dish. The corn was mushy, but sweet. The beans tasty, but still beans. Both of my meats were juicy and sticky and hot. My daughter loved hers.

Meanwhile, the waitress was very attractive. Why would I mention this? Because I said that she would be even prettier if she smiled now and then. My daughter then said that she wouldn't smile if she worked there because it would be torture to serve all that food and not be able to eat it.

Half way through the meal it was like an episode of Man Vs. Food. We hit that proverbial wall. We could eat no more. Our finely tanned waitress brought us a to-go box. And man did we stuff that thing with a lot of food. We probably should have had two boxes. And let me tell you it was just as good on the second day, if not better.

All in all, a good meal. Famous Dave's is not a place for vegetarians and I would have to say that the only non-vegetarian option is the Classic Caesar Salad. And that's not vegan.

So if you're in Owings Mills, check out Famous Dave's. I don't think you'll be disappointed.

Rub: It is supposed to be about more than just meat.

Every so often you hear about a place and your expectations begin to rise. You hear how good the food is, how fun the people and atmosphere are and your own anticipation builds. You hear that it is a magical place where all of your dreams about “low and slow” can come true and you cannot wait to try it. Then you get the chance to try it and your expectations, your hopes and dreams are crushed with the mighty blow of a pretty bad restaurant. This was my experience at Rub BBQ in the Riverside section of South Baltimore

Rub is billed as a classic, Texas style, Barbecue. They have a number of classic southern Que items on their menu with the occasional, we are a restaurant in the city, twist. The atmosphere is pretty laid back, a mix of a BBQ place and a sports bar. It was a couple minutes after being seated that my initial positive impressions and excitement were crushed like a little boy who didn’t get the bike (read Nintendo Wii) that he wanted for Christmas.

First let’s talk about the service. Rub prominently displays their signature drink as “Lone Star Lemonade”. It is on their website, their menu, even their menu cover (I mean the laminated piece of paper that is clipped on the front of the heavy clipboard, which contains the actual food you can order). When the waiter asks us for our drink orders and our response is “Two of The Lemonade” you would imagine we would be getting the signature drink. You would be wrong. Minute Made… Seriously… Minute Maid. This was followed by another futile attempt where the waiter wanted to bring what was basically a Zima. When we did finally get the “Signature Drink” and it was very good, and pretty whimsical, being frozen and served in old milk jugs. The drink could not make up for the next service mishap. My dining companion and I were served on two plates, which would have been great, except the individual items looked like they were thrown onto the closest thing that the kitchen staff could find. We had to play a little game of Three Card Monty between us until the food was in the right order. Isn’t grouping the food onto a plate so it can be served to the person who ordered it Restaurant 101? I thought so.

We decided to order the fried green tomatoes for an appetizer. Once again these did not hold up to their potential billing. I am all for salting food when it comes out of the fryer, but you shouldn’t drown items in salt. Hopefully the people at Rub get this message. Entrees included samplings of brisket, turkey and Texas flat ribs accompanied by corn pudding and sweet potato fries. The meat on the plate almost saved the meal. The Brisket was very good, tender and flavorful. The Texas flat ribs, a beef rib as opposed to the standard pork that is prevalent in the area, were also full of flavor. The turkey was moist and tasty. In fact the meal could have been saved if it wasn’t for the lack of taste in the sweet potato fries (I guess they got the message about the salt and decided to go without it) and the incredible heat in the corn pudding. I appreciate the attempt as a corn pudding that is not sweet, but seriously, if all I taste is pepper and the burn of Serrano chilies, well it is just not successful. If Rub paid attention to more than just the meat it would be a great place.

I really want to say good things about Rub, I just can’t. I will hopefully find better barbecue in the city.