Famous Dave's Barbeque
 

I took my son to Famous Dave's Barbeque tonight. It wasn't planned, but his default choice, the Old Country Buffet, had a massive line, and Famous Dave's was in the same shopping center (corner of Rt. 420 and Baltimore Pike in Springfield, PA for those keeping score at home). So we decided to look at the menu and see if we wanted to stay. Bottom line: it was OK. I won't hurry back. Those who are more into ribs, etc. may have liked it better.

But I just had to post because... the mascot is a pig. They serve barbeque... served up (on the posters and kid's menus at least) by a pig. That's just messed up.

Oh, and the pig's name is Wilbur. I bet the E.B. White estate's lawyers crinkled their noses at that one. (IANAL but I doubt they'd have a good case.)

In real life the food was served by servers who attached "famous" to their own name.... "Hi, welcome to Famous Dave's!! I'm Famous Susan! What can I get you to drink tonight?" I had to bit my tongue to keep from asking, "What exactly are you famous for, Susan?"

So how was the food?

It was OK. My hickory smoked chicken sandwich was good, but nothing to make me go out of the way to come back. My son liked his burger, but it looked way to big for a kid's portion.

But I'm not a big BBQ connoisseur... I expect they would say their cheeseburger and their chicken sandwich are not what made them, well, Famous.

Oh, I forgot, after Famous Susan brought us a couple glasses of water and took our order, my son had to go. I got up to go with him (after insisting he didn't need me to come along, he came back because he couldn't interpret the signs--"Setters" and "Pointers"--to figure out which one he should go in). When we came back some overeager Famous Busboy had cleared our table. :rolleyes:

I promise you, she gets that question at least a few times a night, and has half a dozen very snappy answers lined up, ready to put you in your place.

I didn't know that there was Famous Dave's in other places besides Illinois... the one here in Champaign is in a round barn - it's fun to eat there. I really like their baked beans and their corn bread. As for the BBQ, it's not Carolina Style, so I think it's too sweet. But, if someone else is paying, I'll definitely go :).

I just had this amusing vision of what's NOT a teachable moment... When presented with a gift like this, SonofV wants to do something on his own, but gets stuck, my habitual response is to ask him what his thoughts are, usually with a liberal repetition of what he's already told me about his situation. When I imagined him and me in SD's story and what I would do, my habit took over and formed the question to SonofV "Setters and pointers, hmm. You have to go to the bathroom, do you have to 'set down' or can you point?" Pure reflex, honest. Cause when I thought it out, I realized that there was a pretty good chance of disaster as a result of my urging him to use his judgement that way. :eek: Ok, so, thanks, SD, for when that one comes up, I'll just tell him. "You're a pointer." :lol:

Well , I agree with you about those pigs advertising their own taste , SteveDallas . It just isn't modest , is it ? But this counter-example could be used in a 'teachable moment ' .

I'm sure you're right. Maybe I should have said it just so I could hear the comeback.

He might have to take a crap.;)

Yeah, xoB, that's the potential flaw in my first draft of the plan that I discovered as I was rehearsing it in my mind. I quickly discarded the plan, with a few giggles, in favor of plan B: "You're a pointer". Precious little time to loose in those situations. Certainly not the time and place for a thorough Socratic dialogue. "Pointer. Run. Wash. Go!"