Famous Dave's is a full-service restaurant with a bar, a dessert list and the most expensive appetizer menu in chain barbecue — which means the calorie spread between a careful order and a careless one is enormous. A Big Slab of St. Louis spareribs alone is around 1,700 calories. A Georgia Chopped Pork platter without sides is about 520. Same restaurant, same visit, a difference of more than three times.
Famous Dave's prices at a glance
The prices referenced on this page, collected up front. They vary by location and change without notice.
| Order | Calories | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Georgia Chopped Pork Platter | ~520 | $14.29 |
| Fresh Steamed Broccoli | ~50 | $2.99 |
| Collard Greens | ~100 | $2.99 |
| Texas Pit sauce, light | ~60 | Free |
| Total | ~730 | $20.27 |
The three decisions that actually move the number
Ignore everything else and get these right:
- Ribs or not. The Big Slab (12 bones, $36.69) is roughly 1,700 calories. A Half Baby Back (6 bones, $25.59) is around 880. Nothing else on the menu swings this hard.
- Which of the $3.29 sides you take. Dave's Cheesy Mac & Cheese is about 320; Fresh Steamed Broccoli, at $2.99, is about 50. Most people take two sides, so this is a 500-calorie decision made in four seconds.
- Whether dessert happens. Dave's Award-Winning Bread Pudding is around 900 calories on its own — more than a Texas Beef Brisket platter.
Platters and ribs by calorie count
| Item | Approx. calories | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Georgia Chopped Pork Platter, no sides | ~520 | Lightest platter, and cheapest at $14.29 |
| Texas Beef Brisket Platter | ~610 | |
| Country-Roasted Chicken Platter | ~640 | Roasted, not fried |
| Half Baby Back Ribs (6 bones) | ~880 | The lightest way to eat ribs here |
| Burnt Ends Platter | ~1,100 | Fat is the whole point of the dish |
| Big Slab St. Louis Spareribs (12 bones) | ~1,700 | Split it and you halve it |
The lean end of this menu is better than people expect. Country-roasted chicken and Georgia chopped pork are both smoked or roasted with rub, not battered, and both come in under 650 calories before anything is scooped next to them. Iris' Down Home Fried Chicken at $18.99 is the one platter that is fried, and it belongs in a different bracket entirely.
Sides: the cheapest lever you have
Every standard side at Famous Dave's is $3.29 — Wilbur Beans, sweet corn, garlic red-skin mashed potatoes, creamy coleslaw, Famous Fries, Dave's Cheesy Mac & Cheese, side Caesar, side garden salad. Collard greens and steamed broccoli are $2.99. Because the price is flat, the calorie choice costs you nothing.
Two sides of cheesy mac and Famous Fries is a meal's worth of calories bolted onto a meal. Two sides of steamed broccoli and collard greens is closer to 150 total and saves you sixty cents. Our full breakdown of every Famous Dave's side ranks them on more than calories, but on this metric the order is not close.
The five sauces are not free calories
Every table carries the full bottle lineup — Rich & Sassy, Sweet & Zesty, Georgia Mustard, Texas Pit and Devil's Spit. A generous application adds 60 to 140 calories, and nobody counts it.
The two lightest are Georgia Mustard and Texas Pit, both thinner and lower in sugar than the molasses-heavy Rich & Sassy. If you want a single change that costs nothing and alters nothing about what arrives, use those two. The sauce guide covers which one belongs on which meat.
Building a meal under 700 calories
Swap the collard greens for a side garden salad and it lands under 700. That is a full-service barbecue dinner at a chain whose reputation is 1,700-calorie rib slabs.
Where the calories hide
- Appetizers. Dave's Sampler Platter ($27.79) and Double Winger ($31.99) are shared plates ordered as if they were starters. A table of four splitting both has eaten a meal before the barbecue lands.
- Desserts. Bread pudding and the Chocolate Cookies & Cream Cake are both $9.99 and both genuinely built for two. Ordering one each rather than sharing adds more calories than a second meat would.
- The bar. This is the only national barbecue chain on this site where a round of drinks is a normal part of the visit.
A note on accuracy
Famous Dave's publishes nutrition data on its official site, and figures here are compiled estimates. Portions are cut and scooped by hand across roughly 130 restaurants, so 10 to 15 percent variance is normal, and sauce application is entirely up to you. Treat these as planning numbers, not laboratory ones, and check the official sheet if you are managing a medical diet. For every item and current price, see the full Famous Dave's menu.