Eye Street RSS Feed
Print Story
E-mail StoryWho's ready for some barbecue?
| Friday, Feb 15 2008 1:40 PM
Last Updated: Friday, Feb 15 2008 1:45 PM
Screaming hook-and-ladder fire trucks and a rib-cutting (forget the ribbon-cutting) will usher in the latest gut-busting barbecue joint in Bakersfield.
Our readers recommend:
Loading Stories
Famous Dave’s, 7777 Rosedale Highway
(east of Coffee Road)
Ceremony 10 a.m. Monday.
Opens for business 11 a.m.
Smoked salmon spread with fire-grilled flatbread: $7.49)
Texas beef brisket: $13.99
Georgia chopped pork: $11.99
“The Big Slab,” 12-bone ribs: $20.99 a la carte, $22.99 platter with cornbread muffin, corn-on-the-cob and two sides (6-bone and 4-bone ribs available)
Side of firecracker green beans with bacon: $1.99
Kids’ rib dinner: $4.99
Famous bread pudding: $6.49
Photos:
Famous Dave's Chopped Pork Sandwich. (Photo courtesy of Famous Dave's)
Famous Dave's The Big Pig. (Photo courtesy of Famous Dave's)
Famous Dave's Kahlua Brownie. (Photo courtesy of Famous Dave's)
Famous Dave's Sassy Salad pork. (Photo courtesy of Famous Dave's)
Famous Dave’s on Rosedale Highway, east of Coffee Road, will open to the public at 11 a.m. Monday following its 10 a.m. grand opening. The festivities will include Mayor Harvey Hall and Bakersfield Fire Chief Ron Fraze cutting and tasting a barbecued rib, according to a corporate release.
Local dignitaries will also pass along embers from the last Famous Dave’s to open (in Redlands) for the Bakersfield restaurant’s smoker.
The Midwestern chain boasts about 165 restaurants in 35 states, said Vice President of Marketing Glenn Drasher.
The Rosedale restaurant will employ more than 200 people, said Peter De Young, the company’s Fresno-based spokesman.
In a hokey, corn-fed spirit, each member of the company, from the CEO to the wait staff, takes on the Famous moniker before his name. De Young said he’s known as Famous Pete.
Founder Dave Anderson started the restaurant in Hayward, Wis., in 1994.
He spent some 20 years researching barbecue recipes and sauces across the nation, Drasher said, fueling his love for the grill. The result is a restaurant that draws from various regional traditions.
“It’s not any one style, because what’s barbecue in North Carolina may not be in Texas or in Georgia,” Drasher said. “He thought Texas had the best beef brisket. That’s what ours is.”
Georgia represents the best chopped pork, while St. Louis is king of the ribs, Drasher added.
The restaurant was slated to open last Friday and Saturday for test lunches and dinners, De Young said. VIP guests, such as food suppliers, were invited to freely sample six or seven dishes, including ribs. The proceeds from beverage sales were to benefit The Salvation Army of Kern County.
The 10,000-square-feet restaurant seats 250 and features a Southern-style interior, De Young said.
Famous Dave’s sells its barbecue sauces, which can be sampled at the table. There are seven in all, including Devil’s Spit, he said.
Order ribs or chicken “naked” and add your own sauce from the table. Appetizers include catfish fingers and smoked salmon dip with fire-grilled flatbread. The dessert menu features the popular bread pudding and a hot fudge Kahlua brownie.
FAMOUS DAVE’S BY THE NUMBERS
180: Racks of ribs the restaurant’s smoker can cook at a time.
8 to 10: Number of hours the pork butt is smoked
300 to 400: Slabs of ribs cooked per day at a location
200 to 300: Chicken halves cooked per day at a location
Source: Famous Dave’s corporate offices