News Times Two (Like 'Que for Two!)

Maybe it's three pieces of news.

1. I asked innocently if there was a way to track signups for the Famous Dave's P.I.G. Club. The initial answer was "no." A few minutes later, John Roach Projects and the Fishbowl people proved that human ingenuity can still overcome computers, and the answer became "yes."

So now, I have to ask you: are you a member of the P.I.G. Club? (You may ask back, "What club is that?")

The Pretty Important Guest Club gets you occasional emails laden with special offers, grilling tips and--most importantly--a birthday gift of free food each year. Signup is free, there's no spam, and no sale of your address to third parties.

If you sign up through my personal P.I.G. Club link, I get credit. Now that all of the Famous Fans are using their links, I need your help in this area as well. So much for asking innocent questions. It's an exciting addition to the contest.

If you can't click on that link, here it is in a form you can copy:

http://www.fishbowl.com/clt/famdvs/lp/join/cp/FamousFans_1.asp

My link is unique, so please don't go clicking on random links of this sort. Thank you very much.

2. My Facebook group, Famous Dave's BarbeQuest, is exploding in popularity. I set it up on Memorial Day, because I learned that Facebook might not like my original BarbeQuest page (because it was not listed as a group). So, on Tuesday, I had 30 group members when I turned on the computer, and I was up to 45 by the end of the day. I thought that was pretty good.

Again with the innocence. Today, dawn brought the total members to 50. Right now, I am at 152. The group tripled in size today, and some members plan to spread the word to several hundred people each. I hoped originally that I would reach 100. Now I dare to dream of 1,000.

If you're not a Facebook BarbeQuest member, please know that joining my group helps me considerably in the competition. Thanks!

3. This is mostly for Minnesota people. Thursday evening, May 28 at 6pm, I am going to visit with some BarbeQuest group members at the St. Cloud Famous Dave's. Each person's first three wings are on me. I want the people who have signed up out of kindness (and through blind faith) to have the opportunity to meet the person they are helping. The wings are a bit of giving back for the loyalty and assistance.

If you can come, either let me know through the BarBequest group at Facebook or leave a comment here (for non-Facebook people).

4. I was talking to the St. Cloud general manager today, and she said that, during a lull in the morning, she and some of the crew watched my YouTube videos of the Stillwater photo shoot. Between seeing me on the Famous Dave's site and on YouTube, they were pretty happy for me.

The St. Cloud people are an amazing bunch. They have been very gracious to me over the past 18 months, and so I recommend to you that, if you pass through St. Cloud, you stop in there for a meal. No one deserves your food dollars more.

I'm off to plan some more promos. Talk to you soon!

BarbeQuest Visit: Stillwater, Minnesota

This is a prototype post for my BarbeQuest visits. I had already eaten at the Stillwater location several times, but I never remembered to take a photo of it. This time, in addition to capturing the image for my website, I made some videos. Here's the first one:



More tomorrow, after they all load. Keep eating Famous Dave's!

Ramping Up!

BarbeQuest friends, I'm the Featured Fan this week on the Famous Dave's website! Here are screen shots of the two pages, and links to them:

See this page here: Famous Dave's site

And the actual fan page looks like this:

Famous Dave's Famous Fans site

There are competitions occurring this summer that can win me a year of free barbeque and a meal cooked by Famous Dave himself. Please keep an eye out for ways you can help me--I'll find a way to thank you!

There are just ten of us vying for this prize, so it's not even a long shot. I'll keep you posted.

Thanks,
Sean

Weekly Challenge #1: Write Haiku!

Over at my Facebook site (link to your right), I put up a discussion topic from John Roach Projects, the creators of the Famous Fan competition. Each week, there will be a challenge that is not limited to the Famous Fans--you get to participate as well!

Here, I'll post the challenge, and I'll include the entries that have shown up as a result. If you feel the urge to write a haiku after you read the ones I have already received, do so in a comment here or on Facebook. I have received some amazing verse, but don't let that stop you!

The challenge:

CHALLENGE #1: Write a Haiku about the ‘Que for Two. For those who need a brush-up on their literary devices, a Haiku is a short poem with 3 lines. The first line has 5 syllables, the second has 7, and the third has 5.

Here is an example Haiku about the ‘Que for Two, written by my co-worker JT:
“Que for Two platter
Makes me a barbeque fiend.
Heaven here on earth.”

Winners for the weekly challenges will be chosen based on creativity… so don’t’ be afraid to have some fun with it!

Entries in my Facebook discussion, in order received:

Stephanie wrote several:

Friends of BarbeQuest
Gather round to share great 'que
For two, eat like pigs!

Bring me your poor, tired
huddled masses of chopped pork.
Feast, and choose two sides!

Hark! Who goes there?
'Que.For Two! Heap on the sauces
And now, a pig pile!

Knock, knock. Who's There? Platt.
Platt, er, who? 'Que for Two, who.
Seuss would love Que, too.

Am obviously
having too much fun with this
'Que for Two, haiku.

To dream, 'Que for Two.
To dream, the impossible
dream...not fantasy.

Greg's takes on the Platter:

I sit in my booth,
My 'Que for Two plate empty.
Sorrow fills my life.

We seek our true joy:
Somewhere it must rain brisket;
'Que for Two fans laugh.

'Que for Two fans face
the fundamental question:
With sauce or without?

Nathan chimed in:

'Que for Two... FOR TWO?!?
I'll eat it all by myself.
Hey! Go get your own!

Then came Charles:

'Que for Two brings angst:
I want the ribs, but love her.
Did Adam feel this?

A unique guy, the Balsa Woodsman, wrote:

I would love to eat
Dave's barbecue in all its succulent glory
but have no useful mouth

I crave those tasty ribs
but my arms were carved right into
my balsa woodman's hungry body

My owner has no heart
she lets me yearn for Dave's Barbecue
while she eats chicken wings

I need to eat Dave's
to keep my manly physique
my arms can't reach food

Memorial Day
My owner tried to cook me
I told her eat Dave's

I need tasty ribs
but my wooden mouth can't chew
where is Gepetto?

Que for two for me
but I need a mouth that chews
can I get false teeth?

Paul added:

Smoke, marinade, rub
Tender juicy meats, tart sauce
Real, honest bar-b.

Only the bravest
Endure heat, spice, bone and musk
Dave's bar-b challenge!

Barbeque for you
And bring the family too
A rhyming haiku?!

Finally (so far), Cindy wrote:

I crave 'Que for Two
not only for ribs, but you
zesty sweet desire.

I took a darker, yet jubilant look at the 'Que for Two concept:

Pigs all run and hide
Now there's twice as much to fear
'Que for Two's a hit

It's time for you to add your haiku, before time runs out!

Famous Dave's Is My Happy Place

Before school ends and I roll out the serious attempt at a full BarbeQuest, I want to note some FD-related events in my world. Tuesday was my birthday, and that afternoon, I received a FedEx envelope from John Roach Projects. The envelope held a gift card so I could enjoy the Not'cho Ordinary Nachos. I also received a Famous Dave’s t-shirt, which I wore to school on Wednesday.

Oh, do me a huge favor and join my BarbeQuest group on Facebook, friend barbequest on MySpace, and follow me on Twitter. You will be linking to good chopped pork, but you won't receive any spam!

The birthday party:

I waited till Wednesday to visit Dave’s in St. Cloud for my birthday meal. I had my P.I.G. Club birthday email, and the code earned me a free dessert. Last year, I won some ribs, but I’m content with dessert this year.

For starters, the management team restocked IBC root beer for me, a kindness they had provided for the first year they were open, before I told them to stop going out of their way for me. It’s my favorite barbeque beverage, so I’m glad they don’t mind bringing the stuff in for me.

I had already enjoyed the Not’chos once, and I decided I should try another item I had never had: Dave’s Ultimate BBQ Burger. The burger comes topped with Georgia Chopped Pork, jalapeño bacon (hot!), and a sauce that is not available any other way: Beam and Cola sauce. This sauce seems to be based on Rich & Sassy, but there is a hint of Jim Beam and, of course, a cola. I’m going to try to talk them into bottling this version, because I loved the sauce, but I love the Georgia Chopped Pork and the St. Louis Style Ribs so much that I’m rarely willing to give them up to eat a burger.

The burger was delicious, with better cheese than I expected. I got fries, rather than my usual Wilbur Beans, and as usual, the fries were very tasty.

Some friends had come along to celebrate my birthday, and they loved their meals. They both had the current St. Cloud special, an $8.99 two-meat combo that comes with corn on the cob, a corn muffin, and a side. It’s a huge deal.

When it was time to choose my dessert, I settled on the Sweet Dixie Minis, because the three little desserts gave me a variety of flavors, as well as a chance to try the bread pudding, which was new to me, even after six years. That one was a revelation, because I had no idea that bread pudding could be cooked properly (as this was), or that the pecan praline sauce would be worth drinking by the gallon. I’ll be eating that one again.

I didn’t use my gift card from JRP after all, because the manager on duty comped my meal as a birthday present. That was sweet of her, and it means I can use my card the next time I visit. I’m thinking tonight, or tomorrow, would work out nicely.

I’ll post any info I get about turning the BarbeQuest into a summer-long project. Until then, get over to Famous Dave’s and enjoy the best summer (and winter) food around!

How the BarbeQuest Started

In the mid-1980s, a guy I know opened a barbeque joint in Bloomington, Indiana. He was from Kentucky, and he brought Southern barbeque to a town that didn’t really know the stuff. I had never had hickory-smoked chopped pork, and while I enjoyed tomato-based commercial barbeque sauces a lot, nothing tasted as good as this guy’s vinegar-based hot sauce. A few drops on your pork sandwich, and you were in heaven. If you overdid it, you were in hell. But oh, what a beautiful hell it was!

After awhile, the guy got out of the business, and there was nowhere to go for such amazing pork. Even worse, the unique sauce disappeared from my world. I travel often, and everywhere I went, I kept an eye out for barbeque joints. No matter how I searched, I never found anything like the sauce I loved.

Fifteen years after my favorite barbeque place closed, a friend in Minnesota took me to the Famous Dave’s in Maple Grove. I was glad to see real smoked chopped pork, but what really made the experience amazing was the Devil’s Spit sauce. It was virtually identical to the Indiana sauce. Finally, I was “home.”

I lived an hour from Maple Grove, so I traveled there for barbeque about once a month. Another Famous Dave’s opened in Baxter, an hour away in a different direction. I kept lobbying for a location in St. Cloud, where I lived. It didn’t happen, though plenty of people were asking for a St. Cloud Famous Dave’s.
In the meantime, whenever I was out of town and bumped into a Famous Dave’s, I would eat there. After I drove through La Crosse, Wisconsin and visited the Famous Dave’s there, I decided I should document my many visits. I put up a web page to list the places I had visited: places I had visited and another to show photos of each location.

It’s worth my while to photograph each location because, unlike many chains, Famous Dave’s has used a variety of building styles over the years. While there may be uniformity on the horizon, there are a lot of unusual buildings to celebrate. I hope you enjoy the photos.

Finally, in 2007, I got word that Famous Dave’s was coming to St. Cloud. I put up a web page to chronicle the construction progress and opening.

When they opened on November 12, 2007, I was one of the first customers, and I visited each day for the first week, with a variety of friends. (One actually stuck with me all week.) They knew about the web page in advance, and from the start, the management and staff spoiled me a bit. On Day 6, knowing that I preferred bottled root beer to the fountain root beer they served, the general manager placed an IBC root beer in front of me. They stocked the bottles for me for several months. Once I learned how good the sweet tea was, they were off the hook.

During a recent Customer Appreciation Week, the managers gave me the Famous Dave’s stainless-steel grill set. It comes in a beautiful steel suitcase, and I am waiting impatiently for grilling season to arrive.

My ultimate goal is to visit every Famous Dave’s location and write a book about the experience. Something along those lines is in the works now. That’s the purpose of this blog: to keep you informed about the BarbeQuest as it develops and as it proceeds. I’m glad that you have come along for the ride. Talk to you soon!