Famous Dave's Bar-B-Que
Reviews

great food okay service not perfect and my mom got a dirty plate what is up with that I was afraid of getting sick after that but it was good food, but it also took an hour to get our food but the food was worth the wait the service wasn't, It was a while before we got a server but or server did not ask if we needed refills or anything I recommend it for the food not the service and food is kind of expansive...

We had to ban the Yakima location from our local restaurant tour after a good sample of 13 visits. Our experiences were always about average for the area (but far below restaurants in metro areas), but our last visit was so terrible that we decided we would never return. We would recommend Miner's, El Porton, or NY Teryaki (or a Polish dog at Costco) over this place in Union Gap, at least until the current management and wait staff decide they want to earn repeat business. When the food is average, service make the difference, and the workers here obviously hate life and pass that feeling on to the customers. We lived in Minneapolis and our local Famous Dave's was an enjoyable dining experience. The food was never objectionable and the service was above par, but most of all, friendly. Yakima's Famous Dave's had friendly hosts when it first opened, but over the course of a year, the good hosts quit and those remaining proved to be sour apples. The dining room was about 50% capacity on our last visit in the fall. The hostess was at the front desk when we entered and she made eye contact with me when we entered, but immediately looked down, turned around, and walked to the back of the restaurant. After about two minutes, she returned and started shuffling items at the desk without acknowledging me standing there. Finally, she asked how many were in our party (uh, the only two people standing in the wait area) and took us to our table. I knew I was ordering ribs and my wife knew she was ordering the jalapeno burger. I sent a text and 10 minutes later our waiter emerged to get us drinks. From our previous experiences, we knew not to order anything but plain sodas since bar refills or satisfactory flavor would not be delivered. We placed our food order with our drink order. Our waiter assured us quick service since they weren't busy. I replied to the answer I received from my previous text and waited. And waited. And waited. Our waiter never returned, except to bring our sodas shortly after ordering. Finally, I walked up to the hostess and asked her politely if she could have the waiter check on our order. She told me that sometimes the food took a while to cook, but that she'd go get the waiter to come to us. I left, but she just went back to putting silverware in napkins without leaving her station. Thankfully, the manager walked by as I was sitting down and I asked him to please send the waiter by our table. Without a hint of apology, the manager said the waiter was on break, but that he'd come by when he was back. 5 minutes later the waiter emerged with our cold food. The beans had even developed a hardened upper layer. The manager sulked by a couple of times while we ate, but never bothered to ask about the food as he steamed by with his head buried toward the floor. We would have been friendly had he done so. Since he didn't care, we don't care to return, ever. Famous Dave's in Yakima is dead to us and we share our experience with all locals who will listen. Most people here prefer to eat at local diners, but since BBQ is scarce in Yakima, Famous Dave's had its opportunity and missed. We have heard similar sentiments when we've shared our experience and it appears Famous Dave's is after the one-time customer.

[updated] I've ate here semi frequently (which is going to change) I like their food, but management and alcohol prices suck. I like their cheddar burger, catfish, cajun chicken, best macaroni and cheese side, famous tea is semi fair for the price $8 with reduced ice. ALWAYS under staffed, their waiters are alright, management seams to think they are better off under-staffing the waiters, forcing them to manage too many guests which results in slow/poor orders, and often no complimentary chips. Especially notable bad experiences were: * wax paper left on my chicken sandwich one night * being seated by the receptionist who forgot our silverware until I mentioned it to the waiter, AFTER getting appetizer and main course. The price of most of the alcohol is inexcusable, and this is the only place I ever find myself asking for reduced ice, $8 for shots sends me across the street to Apple-Bees bar, and I hate their food. ------ I should of updated this month's ago. Reg. manager was nice, and I happened to pop in afterwards and actually noticed a manager in there working the staff for the very first time. Staffed well. We had one of our common servers who was especially attentive. That's how I want to remember this place. I moved to Spokane how ever and feel bad not having had the chance to be back in, hopefully some of the good staff are still around next time.

Horrible!! The worst restaurant in the world! Dry pulled pork with a dollop of flavorless sauce i could buy as a Walmart brand. Burnt crispy cheeseburger, flavorless yuck. But the service is what take the cake! Or i should say NO SERVICE! And when i asked to talk to the Manager who was there the whole time walking around the place, to complain. He was suddenly "Not Available" and the only way to make a complaint was to "Fill out the Survey form" on my receipt. Which indecently had charges for 3 items we didn't even order! And they refused to remove them???? And on top of that my waiter actually stood over me as I wrote in the Tip and complained??? He did not even deserve one, but i gave one anyway because i figured i would get jumped and beaten in the parking lot if i didn't give him one! DO NOT EAT AT THIS PLACE!!!! ITS HORRIBLE!!! GO ACROSS THE STREET TO APPLE-BEES AT LEAST THE SERVICE IS BETTER THAN THE FOOD!!!!

My wife and I have been there twice within the last 7 months. The first visit we ordered the combination platter and my wife was sick to her stomach for two days. She swore she would never eat there again. I decided to give them one more chance yesterday but boy was that a mistake. I had the ribs and catfish and felt ill within two hours. I experienced quick trips to the toilet throughout the night and a severe stomach ache accompanied by a headache. Trust me, I have learned my lesson. And as long as I'm commenting, the wait staff were very slow and inattentive. I can't imagine they stay in business very long at this rate.