Famous Dave's
Operates chain of barbecue restaurants.
Headquarters:
12701 Whitewater Drive, Suite 200
Minnetonka, MN 55343
Employees: 3,000+
CEO: Edward Rensi
Stock Symbol: DAVE
Website: http://www.famousdaves.com
Career Site
Famous Dave’s operates and franchises a chain of barbecue restaurants with 189 locations, including 50 company-owned restaurants and 139 franchise-operated restaurants, located in 34 states, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and Canada.
The menu features hickory-smoked barbequed and grilled meats and chicken. There are also salads, tasty beans, sandwiches, corn muffins, and desserts.
Famous Dave’s of America, through partnerships, has extended the brand into retail stores with a complete line of barbeque sauces, rubs and seasonings.
In 2014, the company reported revenues of $149.4 million, down $6 million from the previous year, and net income of $2.9 million. Average weekly sales were $47,249 for company-owned units and $51,059 for franchised units in 2014.
The company has 5 fewer restaurants in 2014 than the previous year.
History
Dave Anderson, founder of Famous Dave's, lives for barbeque. Growing up in Chicago, home of the Blues, Dave's passion for ribs began as a young boy when his dad would bring ribs home from work in his lunch bucket. His dad would get the best tasting slow-smoked spareribs from street corner vendors who used 55 gallon smokers filled with charcoal and smoldering green hickory wood. They were the legendary ribs just like the champion pitmasters used to smoke way down in the deep south.
In 1994, while continuing to call Minneapolis home, Dave purchased a small resort on Big Round Lake in Hayward, Wisconsin. The resort, with eight cabins, had a restaurant and bar that Dave envisioned as the possible fulfillment of his life's dream — a barbeque restaurant. Planning a modest remodeling, the restaurant was ultimately demolished and rebuilt in the style of a magnificent Adirondack Lodge. From the beginning, the restaurant, named "Famous Dave's BBQ Shack," was a tremendous success — serving as many as 1,000 in a night. Dave regularly heard those from the Twin Cities asking when a Shack might come to Minneapolis. With the success of this northwoods lodge, Dave knew that his dreams of a roadhouse barbeque shack would soon be a reality.
Famous Dave's opened its first restaurant in Minneapolis in 1995.
In September 1996, Famous Dave's BBQ & Blues opened in Calhoun Square at Lake St. and Hennepin Avenue in Minneapolis. Modeled after a street in Chicago,the "true- to-life" blues club was complete with an overhead-elevated train track with sound and visual effects!
The company went public on Nasdaq in 1996.
Anderson also helped found The Rainforest Cafe in 1994, a highly successful restaurant company that was recognized as one of the "Hottest Concepts in America."
Benefits
- Medical Insurance
- Dental Insurance
- Domestic Partner Coverage
- Life Insurance, AD&D Insurance (Company Paid & Voluntary)
- Short Term and Long Term Disability
- Flexible Spending Accounts (Medical & Dependant Care)
- 401(k) with Employer Match
- Paid Vacation / Time Off
- Tuition Reimbursement Program
- Meal Discounts
- Employee Stock Purchase Plan
- Employee Assistance Program
- Monthly BONUS Opportunity for Restaurant Managers
- Annual BONUS Opportunity for Support Center Associates
Updated April 21, 2015
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