Sauce is the thing Famous Dave's genuinely leads on. Dave Anderson built the company out of competition barbecue in 1994, and the bottles are the part of that heritage that survived scaling to 130 restaurants. Every table carries the full set of five — Rich & Sassy, Sweet & Zesty, Georgia Mustard, Texas Pit and Devil's Spit — and the spread between the mildest and the hottest is wider than any other national chain offers.
The five bottles at a glance
| Sauce | Base | Heat | Sweetness | Order it on |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sweet & Zesty | Tomato | None | High | Kids' plates, chicken |
| Rich & Sassy | Tomato and molasses | None | High | St. Louis ribs |
| Georgia Mustard | Yellow mustard, vinegar | Low | Low | Chopped pork, sausage |
| Texas Pit | Tomato, thin | Low–medium | Low | Brisket, burnt ends |
| Devil's Spit | Tomato and habanero | High | Medium | Rib tips, wings, burgers |
Rich & Sassy
The flagship, and the default that arrives with most orders. Thick, tomato-and-molasses sweet, clings to a bone rather than running off it. This is the sauce the brand is built on and the one most people mean when they say they like Famous Dave's sauce. It belongs on the Big Slab of St. Louis spareribs ($36.69), where sugar plus fat is the entire point of the dish.
Sweet & Zesty
Milder and softer than Rich & Sassy, with the pepper edge sanded off. This is the bottle children reach for, and it is the right one to steer a Lil' Wilbur plate toward — a kids' rib dinner is $9.49 and does not need heat complicating it. Adults generally find it one-dimensional next to the rest of the lineup.
Georgia Mustard
A yellow mustard base cut with vinegar, and the most regionally specific bottle on the table. Sweet tomato sauce does nothing for pork shoulder that vinegar and mustard do not do better, which is why Georgia Mustard on the Georgia Chopped Pork Platter ($14.29) is the single most correct pairing on the menu. It is also excellent on the hot link sausage that comes in the All-American BBQ Feast.
Texas Pit
Thinner, smokier, noticeably less sugar. This is the beef sauce. Put it on the Texas Beef Brisket Platter ($17.59) or the Burnt Ends Platter ($24.99) and it does what a Central Texas sauce is supposed to do — season the meat rather than coat it. If you have only ever used Rich & Sassy on brisket, this is the swap worth making. The same principle is covered in our Texas barbecue guide.
Devil's Spit
Habanero-forward and genuinely hot — not chain-restaurant hot. It is the most distinctive bottle any national barbecue chain puts on a table, and it is hot enough that a first-time taster should try a small amount before committing a whole slab to it. Famous Dave's takes it seriously enough to build a burger around it: the Devil's Spit Burger at $17.79 sits alongside Dave's Favorite at the same price.
Where it truly earns its place is on fatty cuts. Southside Rib Tips ($16.99) and the Burnt Ends Appetizer ($16.69) both carry enough fat to absorb serious capsaicin without the dish falling apart. Traditional or boneless wings at $17.79 are the other natural home.
How the range compares
Mission BBQ puts eight sauces on a wall; Famous Dave's puts five on your table. Fewer bottles, but a wider spread — the distance between Sweet & Zesty and Devil's Spit is larger than anything Mission BBQ offers, because no other chain carries a habanero sauce that is actually hot. Compare the two approaches in the smokehouse barbecue guide.
Ordering notes
- Ask for meat unsauced if you want to choose. Ribs and platters arrive with sauce applied; the bottles are for adding, not deciding, unless you say otherwise up front.
- Sauce is not calorie-free. A generous application is 60 to 140 calories. Georgia Mustard and Texas Pit are the lightest, which the nutrition guide covers in detail.
- Two sauces on a three-meat plate. The 3 Meat Combo at $28.89 is the best per-meat value on the menu, and the right way to eat it is Texas Pit on the beef, Georgia Mustard on the pork, Rich & Sassy on the ribs.
- Retail bottles. Famous Dave's sauces are sold in grocery stores, which means the ingredient panel is easy to check if you are avoiding soy, gluten or anchovy in Worcestershire.
If you order one thing to try the range
Take the 3 Meat Combo ($28.89) — chopped pork, brisket and ribs — and use a different bottle on each. It is the cheapest way to taste four of the five sauces against the meats they were built for, and it costs $9.63 per meat against $17.79 for a single meat platter. The full list of every combination sits on the Famous Dave's menu.