Famous Dave's - Temecula, CA

The History of Famous Dave's

Dave Anderson, founder of Famous Dave's, lives for ribs and barbecue. So much so that it led to an extensive study of barbecue, sauces and cooking techniques.

Originally from Chicago, home of the Blues, Dave's passion for ribs started with his Dad, who used to bring home ribs in his lunch bucket. His Dad, an electrician in Chicago, worked with construction workers who would disappear during their lunch hour and return with some of the best tasting slow-smoked ribs you couldn't find in any regular or fancy restaurant.

It was those barbecue ribs, in that lunch bucket, that led Dave to realize that there must be as many ways to make barbeque as there are to spell it. So passionate, he spent twenty-five (or more) years searching all over the country, savoring and sampling the variety of smoked meats from every barbecue joint, shack, smokehouse and mesquite pit he could find. This passion was, almost religious in nature-his trips were really "pilgrimages" to the hallowed "Shrines of Barbecue!" His understanding of the Holy Trinity is "Smoke, Meat and Sauce," and the exhilarating aromas wafting from ribs fresh from the smoker is heavenly.

Taking learning's from his travels, Dave made thousands of batches of sauce and smoked tons of ribs in every contraption he could think of (if you know how creative his thinking is sometimes you can imagine how outlandish some of these smokers were). His first barbecue pit was nothing more than a garbage can with an electric hotplate and an old pie tin full of hickory chips. As a tribute to his first smoker, he continues to serve his famous *All-American Barbecue Feast *on a garbage can lid!

Once he was sure he had barbecue recipes that honored what he savored during his youth, he let us all have a taste - including publishing a cookbook Famous Dave's Backroads and Sidestreets that was voted the Best Barbecue / Grill Cookbook in America by the National Barbecue Association!

The Famous Dave's restaurant in Hayward, Wisconsin opened in May of 1994 and is still owned and operated by Dave Anderson today. Nestled on the shores of beautiful Big Round Lake in the resort Mecca of Hayward, the restaurant is an Adirondack lodge (only bigger) complete with an 18' double-sided fireplace and rustic real log framing.

The Company began to open additional locations in Minneapolis beginning in June of 1995. These locations were designed to simulate a "shack" in the back country of the Deep South. Rough-cut cedar and actual old barn wood give the restaurants an authentic BBQ feel. Hand-picked antiques adorn the walls in the restaurant to complete the atmosphere. Elements of Dave's original cabin-inspired location and the BBQ shack feel can still be found in every Famous Dave's today regardless of building size or location.

Now, over 186 restaurants, over 600 awards and countless new recipes later, our "famous" story continues!