Saucy Grub

There is good food and good fun, but Famous Dave's is really all about the sauce.  Its signature ingredient seems to be an extra scoop of cumin, giving it a more chili-ish flavor than most barbecue sauces.  First time visitors get a tour of the sauces from their Famous® server, ours was Famous® Amanda, who squirts samples of the five types onto a plate and leaves some chips for sampling them.  The chips, by the way, are excellent on their own.

Loaded Baked Potato

Chicken and Ribs

In fact, most of the grub we tried was quite good, from my wife's Fried Chicken Salad to Mom's Baked Potato loaded with everything including chopped pork.  My chicken was fork tender and juicy, the BBQ beans flavored with sausage and occasional chunks of jalepeño for kicks, and Cornbread right between the sweet corn muffins I like and the plain, crumbly bread many prefer.  Ribs were the weakest link: while juicy and fall off the bone tender, they had no real flavor of their own, though that did make them a good platform for enjoying the sauce.

This is a chain, but the good kind that gives a town another option without saturating the market. I've been to one before in the Atlanta area and all of Florida has only three.  But they seem consistently good and I'd recommend them anywhere.

Famous Dave's
12148 South Cleveland Avenue

Ft. Myers, FL 33907

Texas Q in Winter Park

Sliders

When I'm hankering for a barbecue sandwich, the best one I know of in these parts is at 4 Rivers Smokehouse in Winter Park.  It's the Burnt-End Sandwich, a mix of brisket and pulled pork that works just right.  Add the BBQ Beans, some Collards and a big cup of iced tea -  you have Lunch!  If you don't like things mixed up, go with sliders, same stuff in multiple buns.

The sandwiches does make the trip worthwhile, but every thing else I've tried, including the beans and collards, is just a point or two above standard.  The one item that has disappointed is the Cornbread Salad.  According to the menu, this is "Crumbled cornbread served with a sweet tomato dressing over chopped Romaine and topped with bacon."  I was surprised that everything was well stirred, not tossed, making terms like "over...Romain" and "topped with" irrelevant and a lot less appetizing than the description.  Twice.

You may want to consider public transportation to get there as the parking is limited and the crowds aren't.  In the nearby neighborhood, authorities have posted, and presumably enforce, signs while some residents have curbs that can ruin a set of tires.

Overall, though, it's a decent place for Q, especially if you're hankering for a sammich.

Four Rivers Smokehouse
2103 W. Fairbanks Avenue
Winter Park, FL