Life is too short to eat bad bbq. When you have staff walking around wearing shirts with this phrase on the back, you need to live up to it. Maybe I caught them on an off night. But it was, in fact, bad bar-b-q. The chopped pork was so salty I couldn't finish it. And you can see from my picture it wasn't a huge serving. The cole slaw was bland but the mashed potatoes were okay. The sad part is perhaps the best tasting item was the stale corn muffin. I took a picture of it to show how stale it was. The paper muffin cup was so stuck to the side that it tore in several places. And when I tried to remove the muffin the bottom stuck to the paper. Still, I ate part of it and it tasted good. And it's pricey for bbq. If it were good bbq that would be one thing but... When in San Diego try Ph**'* for comparison.

I'm in town for work and decided to visit a familiar place to eat. The bartenders were very friendly and the service was acceptable. The food, that was horrible. I ordered a 3 meat plate with chopped pork, brisket and hot sausage. My sides were fries and mac n cheese. The chopped pork was cold, but overall it was great. The brisket was extremely overcooked and dry. The sausage was cold, and just tasted bad. I asked the bartender to take my food, mentioned that it was not good. The manager came over to speak with me, and I mentioned that it was not cooked correctly. She apologized, and walked away. When I got my bill, the full $24.99 was still on the bill! I would have been ok with paying for part of the meal, since I did eat the pork. But nothing was taken off. I asked the bartender if he felt comfortable charging me full price for my meal. He said it was the managers call. Stay away from this place. Bad food, even worse management.

Best place for bbq in the Imperial Valley! It can be a little bit pricey but it's worth it. I always get the St. Louis rib & meat combo!

So sorry but it was the worst ribeye we've ever had: It was mostly gristle (see photo). Also, we asked for medium well and we got medium rare; However, the corn bread and onion strings were excellent.

I had a really great meal. I had the three item plate with an additional item for $6. I had brisket, ribs, hot link sausage, and bbq chicken. It came with a cornbread muffin and one side. I chose french fries (wedge style). After dinner I had the brownie and ice cream desert. My friend had a similar meal but with catfish. This meal was really good and the service was also good. Update: I'm not changing the stars but I was disappointed on my last visit. I ordered a burger medium and it came out like charcoal. Medium is light pink in the middle. They took the burger off my bill and they were friendly about everything. I was told they have to cook well done which might be a company policy OR it could be a cook that hasn't a clue how to cook medium. It's not only this restaurant. I don't know if it's a regional custom or not but so many places literally burn the burger and for egg dishes burn the eggs. Stop overcooking food.

Amazing flavor and texture, the fries were super savory. Cornbread was sinfully good! Service was great too. Only issue was very little meat on the baby back and a bit tough. Other than that it was super good

I was disappointed in how drastic the flavors in all the recipes seem to have changed. The presentation of the food was not as once was, and the portions have not only changed in consideration of inflation, but drastically. I think maybe you need to get cooks in the kitchen that have worked at other Famous Dave's so you guys can get a refresher on what the recipes should be like.

O...M...Gosh! This place is BAD!!! Okay, I'm leaving 2 reviews that happened in less than one week. 1st, the most recent was Thanksgiving. I've got to say that the smoked turkey was delicious but they didn't give nearly enough. You think you're getting a decent serving until you realize it's sitting on a large piece of bread. Who wants bread on Thanksgiving? We're "supposed" to get stuffing! Well, the stuffing was the real problem. I'm hoping to post pictures of it on here. Apparently they opened a box of StoveTop, forgot to prepare it, and just poured the loose bread crumbs into little bowls with lids and passed that off as a side. It's not cooked, it's not anything! It's just loose dry bread crumbs!!! The broccoli wasn't cooked, completely raw. I cooked it at home though and we were able to eat it. The savior of the meal (at $21 per person plus an additional fee.) was that turkey, just wish they had given more. Okay, now onto the meal my husband and I ordered less than a week before. We had ordered 2 chopped pork sandwiches. THEY WERE DISGUSTING!!!!! It tasted like they had literally poured salt over the entire sandwiches, both of them! We were so dehydrated after choking them down. I had ordered them to go and it was too far away to take them back. They were also soooooooo dry!!!!! I had to use an entire packet of bbq sauce on mine and it was still chokingly dry. The beans were good but we didn't pay $35 plus (with tip) to have to force a sandwich down. We have always been patrons of Famous Dave's but in Yuma Az. I guess the El Centro store needs a serious manager change. I cannot recommend this place to a stray dog.

Came from TX so I know BBQ, even if slightly spoiled. Food was alright but not good. Serving size was acceptable but slightly skimpy. Nothing came out hot enough. Didn't serve the combo with pickles or pickled onions. Corn muffin came without butter. Sauce is way too sweet and had no tang and was lacking in spices. Brisket had good color but bark wasn't very bark like/no splash of juice on top, just the syrupy sauce. Ribs are also fine but feels like they skimped on the rub and opted for sauce alone. Turkey was okay smothered in gravy but was weak. Store style gravy made it acceptable, though not something I would pay for compared to what you can get from a store. Didn't offer sausage. Chicken was okay. Mac and Cheese had chopped peppers and bits which were good but was underseasoned and overcooked, reminded me of Kraft and needed more cheese, maybe a crumb topping. Admittedly, the food smelled better from the outside than it tasted when i got inside, so maybe it was a bad day? Unsure why they served the food on two trays when the paltry amount could have fit on one. Service was friendly but hit or miss in terms of always being there when I was trying to eat but disappearing when I wanted to pay. Left a solid tip because I guess it's an A-for Effort. I wouldn't come back here again unless I was coming for the bar or was going out with friends who wanted to come here, though I'd do my best to discourage them if they're really friends. Ambience is good. Has great decor.

It’s a great place to have a really good BBQ meal! Just ask for juicy ribs…

The food tasted great however it's overpriced. The water was absolutely disgusting! The water tastes like bleach. The price for non-alcoholic beverages is absolutely ridiculous!

Typical chain restaurant. Mediocre atmosphere and large portions of food that were okay but not spectacular. Service was good. By default, they put cheese on the BBQ chicken sandwich. I thought that was weird, but I'm from Texas and have pretty set ways regarding BBQ. Prices are high for what you get. Gave most of it to my dog.

GOD AWFUL!!!!!! I’m not sure where Dave of Famous Dave’s is but he really needs to pay a visit to the El Centro location ASAP and show them how it’s done or shut the place down all together. Dave would be ashamed of this place. There’s a reason he became famous. People really need to stop going to the El Centro Famous Daves. The people giving them good reviews are probably high, drunk or they are fake restaurant owner accounts. Food was way too salty and the beef sandwich was covered in some sticky pan grease, which added to the saltiness. I highly doubt they smoke anything. Didn’t smell any smoke in the restaurant. Paid 20 bucks for a few dry pieces of fried chicken. The chicken never made in near a smoker. Clearly it was fried and over seasoned with some dry rub and liquid smoke. Service wasn’t terrible but no drink refills and she seemed bothered by our one request. I should have asked for my money back but didn’t want to make a scene. 0 stars for this place. DO NOT GO HERE!!!!

Started with sticky bbq laced menus! Cold mashed potatoes baby-back ribs were burnt and dry and the cole slaw had no dressing! Terrible! Boy did I have a bad idea for a good dinner. If there were no stars it would be better!!!

Sorry to say, terrible service. We dined in on a Tuesday evening. No one at front desk so we sat down and waited few minutes in a family comes in and waited in front of desk until someone came. So we lost our place for sitting down. We're not to lazy to stand. We just have disabilities. So after this we finally get noted and we were told it be about a 20 minute wait to be seated at a table which we were ok with. So after being seated at a table we're there waiting and waiting and no one would bother to ask us if we had be waited on. At this point we were debating walking out but my friend decided to call out one of the waitresses to get us help and only because she invited here for birthday dinner. The waitress sent us the waiter that was responsible for that And instead of apologizing for the very long wait he responded by saying we should have called him out. "Really" this gentleman passed by us a few times and completely ignored us. And I was supposed to know he was assigned to our table Still trying to give this place the benefit of the doubt in this review but this is the truth. With an open mind, they might of been short staff. But I would suggest placing a sign at the front desk apologizing for being short staff and that this may cause delays

I ordered the loaded BBQ brisket potato, and it was delicious! However, we also ordered the 3 meat combo with turkey, brisket, and Buffalo boneless wings, which was not so good. The brisket was tender but extremely salty! The turkey was not bad, but the plating was a horrible idea. The brisket and turkey were placed on top of toast, which made the toast soggy and unedible. The wings were tasty but scarce on meat.

Went into famous daves tonight with a group of 10 for a birthday celebration and Vanessa is phenomenal server ! Food was great and customer service was fantastic. Definitely we will be returning.

Ordered food for Thanksgiving and was extremely disappointed. I always make sure I check my orders and I'm glad I did again this time. I ordered 2 $26+ appetizers, I couldn't believe the boneless wings were dime sized! Yes dime sized, I initially thought it was a mistake and they just gave me left over crumbs. I was then told by female manager they only give you 6oz of each item, so then I asked if that's how they sell it by oz? Or if that's worded on the menu (maybe I didn't read the fine print) she proceeds to say no it's not printed on menu but that's the way it is and always has been. And let's talk about the family platter, chicken was burnt, so we're ribs and they were out of the big containers so who knows how many oz of that I got too, My bill was close to $175 on 3 items that apparently they sell by ounces... BEWARE check your food.

AMAZING service, GREAT food. A cozy place to bring the family for dinner.

We visit El Centro once per year. We always take our family there for ribs. Great all around place for everyone. Thanks for always being consistent with your operation.

Was staying at Yuma hotel across the street and was craving BBQ. Ordered the 2 meat combo for $25 and was throughly disappointed with the meats. I ordered the spare ribs and brisket to go. When I got back to the hotel there no ribs just chunks of rib meat that were so tough you couldn’t eat it….like jerky!! The brisket was a little better but super greasy. I have a home Green Egg smoker and know good BBQ. This is not it. Maybe since it was a to go meal they Gave me the scraps. I would have sent it back if I ate at the restaurant. Corn bread, Mac n cheese, and potato salad were good.

Visited this area on work notice. It was time for dinner and decided i would do a take out and eat back at the hotel. Boy was the brisket tender & juicy. Ribs amazing flavor and portion size of serving was more then bargained for.