New restaurant in Gilroy Crossing known for grilling up some
tasty St. Louis Style ribs
By Rachelle Gines, Special to the Dispatch
Gilroy – Plain old English just doesn’t seem to do the ribs justice at Famous Dave’s restaurant.
“The ribs are slab-ulous. In fact, they’re snoutstanding,” John Costello said over the sizzle off sauce-slathered meat on the grill at the restaurant’s recent rib tasting.
Costello, director of operations for the local franchise, made sure everyone who stopped by sampled enough ribs to bring them back for the opening Monday of the first Famous Dave’s restaurant in California.
The Famous Dave’s movement began in Hayward, Wisc. in 1994, and has now made its way to the Gilroy Crossing shopping center off Highway 152. Clouds and rain couldn’t keep curious shoppers from the free rib tasting Jan. 14, as the wind whipped sounds of blues music through small clusters of people who gnawed on ribs while smoke from the grill swirled around them.
Under Founder Dave Anderson, who is Native American and a member of both the Choctaw and Chippewa tribes, Famous Dave’s has won more than 150 regional and nationwide awards. Mark Cohen, General Manager of the Gilroy location was quick to point out what separated Famous Dave’s award winning ribs from other ribs.
First, Cohen emphasized that St. Louis Style ribs are used instead of baby back ribs, meaning a larger rib and more meat. Secondly, he said the ribs are not boiled because boiling removes the natural flavor of the meat.
“These are the bestest ribs in the world. They’re spork-tacular,” Cohen said in the swine-speak popular with employees.
Cohen went on to explain the difference of the ribs at Famous Dave’s is also due in large part to a three step process. It begins with a special dry rub followed by smoking the meat for several hours. The last step involves grilling the ribs over hickory wood from Texas so the sauce becomes caramelized and the ribs are marked by the grill.
The process seemed to work for Juan Carlos Saldana, 11. The Solorsano Middle School student huddled under a blue tarp with his family away from the rain and wind, while licking barbecue sauce off his fingers from his second helping of ribs.
“Heck yeah I would tell my friends to come here,” Saldana said. “They have way more meat than other places.”
A small, flying bronze pig crowned with a halo is stationed above the front door of the restaurant, poised to greet customers. The restaurant opens into an inviting space with light wood-colored paneled walls leading customers into two dining rooms and a bar with five televisions and eight beers on tap.
Cohen said the comfortable feel of the restaurant combined with the friendly staff at Famous Dave’s go a long way to ensuring people feel welcome. In order to make sure people feel especially welcome, Cohen said servers give first time customers a “sauce tasting.”
Much like wine tasting, a server conducts a sauce tasting with Famous Dave’s five different types of sauces. The server explains to the patron each of the sauces have different blends of spices, different bases like vinegar or tomato, or go better with different kinds of meats.
Although Famous Dave’s signature food is ribs, the menu offers a host of other items that include country-roasted chicken, Georgia chopped pork or Texas beef brisket. For others, there is sweet and sassy grilled salmon or streetwater catfish. Children can enjoy smaller portions form the lil’ Wilbur menu. And for a place that serves up lot of meat, Cohen says that hot fudge kahlua brownie for dessert can’t be beat.
Costello says for a true Famous Dave’s experience, the All-American BBQ feast lets people sample everything the restaurant is about. Good for four or five people and served on an the upside down top of a clean metal garbage can lid, the feast features a full slab of ribs, one whole chicken, a half-pound of brisket or chopped pork and five side dishes.
Famous Dave’s joins a growing number of new restaurants that have come to the Gilroy Crossing Shopping Center. Larry J. Mickartz of InfoPower Communications said restaurant franchises came to Gilroy after noticing the large amount of revenue Applebee’s brought in.
“For awhile there, Applebee’s was one of the only restaurants and it was always busy. Always. You go for lunch. There’s a line. You go for dinner. There’s a line,” Mickartz said.
The boom of new housing is another reason restaurants have come here, Larry F. Cope, Gilroy Economic Development Director said.
“The housing growth and the level of income it brought with it make it attractive for new business to set up here,” Cope said.
There will be a “rib” cutting at 11am Monday in front of Famous Dave’s, 6925 Camino Arroyo.
For more information call 842-1400 or visit www.famousdaves.com.
