Minnetonka-based BBQ restaurant Famous Dave's continues to undergo its transformation with a new name change.

Come September 17, Famous Dave's will begin going by a new name -- BBQ Holdings Inc. The name change will only be a legal one corporately and will not effect local restaurants which will continue going by the name Famous Dave's. The company will also give up its Nasdaq name DAVE for BBQ instead.

The move comes as the company -- which has 134 restaurants under the Famous Dave's name nation-wide plus one in the United Arab Emirates -- continues making plans to expand. They're currently in the process of getting financing to purchase other restaurants around the country. Famous Dave's -- soon to be BBQ Holdings Inc. -- already owns another restaurant in Oklahoma City named Clark Crew BBQ.

Bring Me the News reports that -- after closing down locations in both Minneapolis and St. Cloud -- Famous Dave's still has 12 restaurants in Minnesota: Duluth, Apple Valley, Coon Rapids, Maple Grove, Plymouth, Forest Lake, Minnetonka, Owatonna, Rochester, Woodbury, St. Paul (Highland Park), and Roseville.

The BBQ chain was started by Dave Anderson, BMTN notes, in Wisconsin in 1994. Anderson would go on to leave Famous Dave's to work under President George W. Bush for a time before returning to work for the chain in an advisory role. He's currently working on another restaurant chain he created, Old Southern Smokehouse, which has five locations across WI and MN.

Sources: Star Tribune / Bring Me the News