I definitely had my trepidations about this chain when my daughter and I approached it in it's newest location on Rainbow Boulevard at around 9:30 at night. The exterior is extremely gaudy, as if NOT designed by anyone who had design experience.
My daughter and I both had the St Louis Rib-N-Meat BBQ Combo. Kathy had the Rib Tips as her second meat, and I chose Hot Link Sausage as my second. Despite the fact that Famous Dave's is a chain, the Combos were surprisingly good and generously heaped with a decent amount of food for the price. This was my first experience with Famous Dave's and my daughter's second visit to this location. You get to choose two sides with every Combo... I chose Potatoes and Potatoes (Famous Fries and Potato Salad) and Kathy chose Famous Fries and Firecracker Green Beans.
The Combos came out on square platters with the food placed on checkerboard patterned paper. Meat was not immersed in their Rich & Sassy Barbecue Sauce, which the restaurant uses on their Ribs. You can still taste the Sausage and/or Ribs and not the Sauce, which is typical of most BBQ places. My daughter and I both had compliments about the Fries and the Corn Bread Muffins which were moist and tender.
We both had to drink the Southern Sweetened Ice Tea - nothing special.
The only detraction? The slight over-saltiness of the meat. And the interior can get a little tiring... their use of steel galvanized pipe on their door handles to the use of it as paper roll dispensers at each table... Someone actually had to use their creative energy to design this???
In summary, better than Casino food any day of the week. And better than some independent BBQ establishments!
From conversing with the proprietor, Famous Dave's wants two more of these restaurants in Las Vegas... Believe it or not!