Barbeque sauce should not be overpowering. It’s about finding a perfect balance and to compliment the slow cooked, seasoned “naked” ribs.
That's what it's all about at Famous Dave’s - Bringing the flavors together for one great, flavorful experience.
The namesake for Famous Dave’s is the founder Dave Anderson, an award-winning barbeque pit master who decided to open his own location more than 20 years ago. His barbeque and sauces traditions have been carried to the Holt location.
“We use the same type of processes he used in competitions,” said Owner and Operator Jerrid Heidel of Famous Dave's in Holt. “We smoke with real wood, hand rub the meats, and turn them out. Our menu is from scratch, and that is pretty unique these days.”
The meats are smoked for a maximum of 14 hours, depending on the type, and the ribs go through a smoking process and cooling phase before being flame grilled.
“That is when we caramelize the ribs and add the award-winning sauce,” Heidel said. “But, the sauce is just another flavor.”
To make award-winning barbeque, Heidel explained that it is not only about the sauce that goes on the ribs or other meat. It’s about the sauce complimenting the spices and flavor of the meat.
“Barbeque is a method of cooking and using different heat sources for different flavor profiles,” Heidel said. “It’s melding together multiple layers of flavor. The smoke process and rubs and seasonings are where the flavors come from truly.”
And the sauce, well that is just an extra which adds to the flavorful profiles that are combined in the barbeque process.
“It is important, absolutely,” Heidel said about adding sauce. “But does it make it good or better? That depends on the person. I like mine naked, with no sauce. I like to taste that true rub and bark on my ribs instead of it being hampered down with sauce.”
At Famous Dave’s, the front runner flavor is the "Smoke and Rub".
“For some, the sauce can end up being the dominate flavor profile, but you know you have perfectly hit it when the rubs combine with the complimenting sauce.”
When you walk into Famous Dave’s, with it's décor and the blues music playing, it's like walking back in time . A place where friends and families can gather to enjoy the flavors and company.
The location also serves other options besides ribs, like seared salmon, rib eye, cornbread, catfish fingers and more.
“People tend to lock into the thinking that if they are going to get barbeque, they are getting ribs,” said Heidel. “Barbeque goes much deeper than that. It is a philosophy of flavor and technique.”
Another must try at Famous Dave’s are the chicken wings, and selecting your favorite sauce to go with them.
Heidel said that they also have catering and take out, and that many of their sales are for carry out.
“We are built to travel, and we are built on many different flavors.”
Famous Dave's is located at 2457 Cedar Street in Holt, MI 48842 and open Sunday through Thursday from 11 a.m .to 9 p.m. and Friday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.
To learn more about Famous Dave's, click here.
To enter to win the Famous Dave's treasure trove of goodies, click here. (Link coming soon)
For more BBQ Week on Big Bang Theory, click here.
