Famous Dave's Review

It doesn't seem like very often that Springfield opens its arms to a new food chain, but recently it has to the well known BBQ chain Famous Dave's.  Located off South Campbell south of James River Freeway, Famous Dave’s offers a variety of meats such as ribs, brisket and chicken and also an assortment of barbeque sauces to go with your meal.  Famous Dave's also offers salads, sandwiches, hamburgers, seafood and a lot more

Accompanied by my beau, Lee, we decided to try out Famous Dave's after missing the chance to go to our original dining choice, WannaGetta Pizza (meaning the place closed at eight ... sheesh!).  The first things I noticed upon entering the car-lot-turned-restaurant were the decorations. Like most chain restaurants, the decorations fit the theme, for Famous Dave's that meant a lot of western paraphernalia with a southern twist.  Pig cutouts hung around exclaiming that we should eat more meat.

We weren't seated long before a young waiter with red hair named Eric arrived at our table to get Lee and my drink order. The experience was nearly ruined when the waiter denied me a Diet Coke with the dreaded phrase, "is Diet Pepsi okay?" No, it's never okay!  I was saved, however, when I was told that Diet Dr. Pepper was an option. Lee had a beer, his was easy.

After bringing us our drinks, the waiter brought us a small sample bowl of fries and proceeded to make a production to us about the several different types of BBQ at our table. He even described one as “kid friendly” which seemed to be right up my alley.  The Rich & Sassy, which is Dave's original recipe, is sweet and tangy.  The Georgia Mustard is made with vinegar, brown sugar and mustard.  Next, there is the Texas Pit which is a tangy tomato-based sauce with black pepper.  The Sweet & Zesty sauce offers a taste that is a balance of citric sweetness and spirited spice.  Lastly, he told us about the Devil's Spit sauce which is the spiciest one at the table.

Lee and I also decided to order a side of Chili-Roasted Corn Fritters for $5.99.  These little breaded balls were chili-roasted (obviously) with corn and jalapenos inside. The fritters came with honey for dipping sauce to make for, as the menu puts it, a "perfect sweet heat combination." The waiter warned me that some people think the corn-fritters are a bit spicy, I am not a fan of anything spicy, but these were really tasty and not really that spicy at all.

Num Num Num Corn Fritters

For our main entree we thought we would go big and try a little bit of everything. The “Feast for Two” serves two to three people and is priced at $34.99. This HUGE meal comes with a half a slab of St Louis-style spareribs, half of a country-roasted chicken, a fourth of a Texas beef brisket, creamy coleslaw, Famous Fries, Wilbur beans, two corn-on-the-cobs and two corn bread muffins. The corn bread muffins were amazing! They were easily my favorite part of the meal. All of the food was yummy, but I am a sucker for good bread.

Feast for Two

Needless to say, Lee and I did not finish our "Feast for Two" and ended up taking a large portion of it home for leftovers. We didn't order anything for dessert, there wasn't any room for that. We left feeling full and satisfied and smelling strongly of smoked BBQ.  Overall we were both very happy with how our meal turned out and very pleased with our service. With reasonable prices and a fun atmosphere, Famous Dave's is a great place to take the family or a group of friends.

Find out more about Famous Dave's by checking out their website (click here!).

Appitizer Prices:  $6-$9

Average Dinner Price:  $8-$15

Platters/Combos:  $16-$60

Dessert:  $6.00

Hours: Open Daily for Lunch and Dinner

Famous Dave's Address:

Springfield Location:

4406 S. Campbell Avenue

Springfield, MO 65810
Springfield Phone Number:  (417) 877-8646

Branson Landing Location:
1201 Branson Landing Boulevard
Branson, MO 65616

Branson Landing Phone Number:  (417) 334-4858

Facebook VS Google+

Google+ and Facebook share many things in common, but both allow users to do many different things as well.  These two social medias target an audience who want to consume and share information quickly with their friends and family, but which of these two websites should you choose though?

I am figuring that, out of the two social medias, people are choosing Facebook.  Why else would Google+ need to make a commercial marketing their website?  I am almost 100% positive that I have never seen a Facebook commercial, I even checked out YouTube just in case and came out empty handed.  The commercial above shows the basic concept behind Google+ and the use of 'circles' that you put your friends and family in.  The circles allow us as the users to separate our friends from people who aren't really our friends into circles (which you can name anything you want) and share specific information with the different groups.  The commercial for Google+ beautifully shows how easy it is to switch people from circle to circle, I'm happy to know that Kyle has a car and got to eventually move from the creeper circle to the keeper circle.

Both Facebook and Google+ started out the same way by letting only certain people join the website.  Facebook only allowed people with an university e-mail address and Google+ only allowered people who had invites.  This puts the websites at a certain "demand" because not just anybody could join.  Now, both websites allow anybody to join, all you need is an Internet connection. 

The chart above shows the basic components of Facebook, Google+ and Twitter.  According to this chart, Facebook is the easiest of the three to use and to share all of your information. 

Both of these social medias offer us the same thing.  Now, Facebook offers you the ability to put your friends in groups and share specific information, Facebook also allows their users to video chat.  Now... what's so special about Google+?  The one thing that it has different is the 1+ feature that you're able to use to basically "like" a website.  Google+ will  then automatically share it for you combining your Internet surfing and social needs all at once. But what's the point of the simplicity if no one else is on Google+ to read it?

So, as far as I can see... Facebook is the winner of this challenge.  Google+ has a long road ahead of it to build the fan base that Facebook has so easily built and kept.  I also see that you should follow me on Twitter ... i'm lovelylace86!  That's what all of this social media is for anyawy... promoting yourself!

The Iron Lady

I was expecting greatness as I took my seat in an old rickety chair in the small, cold theater at the Moxie.  The Iron Lady, directed by Phyllida Lloyd and written by Abi Morgan, is a film portraying the first female Prime Minister of Great Britain, Margaret Thatcher, played by Academy Award winner, Meryl Streep.  The film seemingly follows her rise to political power and her inexorable commitment for her country, that is – if you’ve only watched the previews.

I was startled to find that the movie focused on the much older, dementia ridden (and retired), Margaret Thatcher.  We first see her buying milk in a convenience store.  She is surprised by the rise in milk prices and informs her husband, played by Jim Broadbent, over breakfast.  The two share a moment before they are interrupted by one of Margaret’s assistants.  The camera pans back to the couple at the table, but now there is only Margaret, her husband has been dead for several years.

The camera follows the ancient Thatcher as she waddles around her home having flashbacks of her political career.  Her memory starts back to when she was a young woman and the daughter of a grocer, getting accepted in to Oxford.  The movie continues on like this, going back and forth between past and present until the credits start rolling.

The movie was filmed nicely, but a few scenes might leave the watcher slightly puzzled.  At one point in the movie, Old Lady Thatcher begins to watch an old home movie on her high definition flat screen television that would be (inevitably) shot with an 8 millimeter camera.  The image that she watches on the screen is pristinely clear; nothing like what the image would actually appear to be, even after a conversion from film to DVD.  Then, in other parts of the film, old pieces of footage are added, some in which you can clearly see the real Margaret Thatcher, but don’t worry, it’s only the back of her head.

The movie might have flowed better if the story had not been so far removed by time.  The writer of the story would have been better to start with a young Thatcher and to carry on from there, possibly ending with a very old Thatcher mourning the loss of her supportive husband and her political career.  The movie might have even been better titled The Lady in Blue since that was the only color that she seemed to wear throughout the entire movie.

The acting, however, was superb.  I wouldn’t expect anything less from Meryl Streep, who brings a little piece of herself into every character she plays along with an impeccable acting style that brings credibility to any character that she is portraying.  Broadbent, who plays Thatcher’s husband, also brings a certain ‘light-heartedness’ to the film with his ghostly antics and fun-loving goofiness.

The writer of the screenplay, Abi Morgan, uses several different types of symbolism in her film.  When the young Margaret, played by Alexandra Roach, is proposed to by Dennis, played by Harry Lloyd, she is overwhelmed with happiness, but informs him that she will never be “that woman” who is silent on the arm of her husband, her life must mean something – she didn’t plan on dying washing a tea cup in the sink.  He simply answers, “That’s why I want to marry you, my dear,” – The very last scene of the movie is of Thatcher, old and slow moving, washing a tea cup in the sink listening to the birds outside, but obvious happiness on her face, she has no regrets, the symbolism very obvious.

Overall, the movie was informative and somewhat entertaining, but lacked the greatness that I had initially expected.  It evoked several emotions from me, like any well written piece of art will do, but the movie felt long and the flipping between times left me slightly confused.  Streep is what keeps this movie afloat with her impersonation of the Iron Lady and her unmatchable ability to play practically any part in any movie, but the constant flashes between scenes were tiring and sometimes hard to follow.  I would recommend this movie to anyone who is a history buff or a diehard Streep fan.


Meryl Streep as Margaret Thatcher



The real Margaret Thatcher

Impressive comparison, isn't it??