The Gossiping Gourmet: Barbecue-style tour for the taste buds
Summer is barbecue time, but I prefer letting the pros do the cooking, which led me recently to Famous Dave’s.
The award-winning barbecue restaurant is part of a large chain, but there are only two locations in Orange County — Santa Ana and Irvine. My dining companion and I visited the one in Irvine, across the street from the Tustin Market Place.
The large space has a floor-to-ceiling rack of stacked hickory logs. The dining room is divided into several spaces, and there is an outdoor patio as well. Plenty of wood including raw lumber adds to the decor. The bar area features three really big TVs, and seating is at communal and traditional tables.
The menu takes guests on a barbecue tour of America with its St. Louis-style spareribs, Texas beef brisket, Georgia chopped pork and Memphis-style rib tips. Also available are sweetwater catfish, country-roasted and barbecued chicken and hot link sausages.
It was hard to choose but we just dived in. We chose the boneless chicken wings served with Buffalo sauce. The many wings had a thick but crispy batter and were perfectly fried, with a back taste of heat. On the side were crunchy carrot and celery sticks with ranch dressing.
Our second appetizer was a cup of Dave’s famous chili, which twe shared. It was rich with tomatoes, melted cheese, beans and jalapenos, which lent just enough spiciness.
In order to taste as many things as we could, we ordered the feast for one, which was enough for two (or three). The plate consisted of St. Louis-style ribs, which were very meaty and came with a sweetish barbecue sauce.
The ribs are grilled, rather than cooked, over indirect heat and smoke. I just wished they had a bit of char and smoke. The barbecued chicken was nice and juicy, but the slices of Texas brisket were dry and over-cooked.
The dish was rounded out with really good corn on the cob, excellent baked beans that were sweet and zesty with bits of bacon and strip steak, creamy coleslaw with the just right amount of sweetness, skin-on sliced-up fried potatoes and very light and flavorful corn bread.
We ordered more St. Louis spare ribs along with two sides: mac and cheese and burnt ends. The mac and cheese was rich and zesty with a hint of sweetness, but the best thing we ate by far were the burnt ends.
They are the pit master’s secret. Tender pieces of Texas beef brisket are seared and caramelized with a sweet and zesty barbecue sauce.
As stuffed as we were, we had to try dessert. The house special is the Famous Dave’s warm bread pudding served with pecan praline sauce, vanilla bean ice cream and a mound of whipped cream too sweet for my palate.
We also tried the hot fudge Kahlua brownie — it was even sweeter. A big square of warm, dense, walnut-covered chocolate brownie was soaked with Kahlua liqueur and topped off with vanilla bean ice cream, three huge dollops of whipped cream and hot fudge drizzled all over.
On my next visit I’ll start with dessert.
TERRY MARKOWITZ was in the gourmet food and catering business for 20 years. She can be reached for comments or questions at m_markowitz@cox.net.
Famous Dave’s
Location: 13122 Jamboree Road, Irvine
Hours: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays and Sundays; 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays
Prices:
Appetizers: $7.99 to $10.99
Entrees: $ 9.99 to $22.99
Feasts: $44.99 to $79.99
Desserts: $6.49
Wine:
Bottles: $30 to $39
By the glass: $6 to $7.25
Corkage: none
Information: famousdaves.com; (714) 462-9179