Dinosaur Bar B Que NYC - 4 years later

[Fat Guy]

Dinosaur Bar B Que, John Stage's famed Syracuse barbecue roadhouse, opened its New York City location in 2004 in Harlem right across the street from Fairway. There was a lot of excitement when it opened, and also we had reports of the normal share of opening fits and starts, but there hasn't been much eG Forums discussion of Dinosaur the past few years. That's often the case with big openings: they happen, people flock to them, and then things settle into a groove and the attention gets directed elsewhere. There have been quite a few big, interesting barbecue openings in New York in the past four years -- Hill Country, RUB, et al. -- but the Dinosaur has not been dormant.

Earlier this year, I hadn't been to Dinosaur in a couple of years. I had, however, been running into John Stage and his crew regularly at the Big Apple Barbecue Block Party, and I've commented a couple of times on those topics that Dinosaur is remarkably competitive with the world-class barbecue coming to that event from barbecue country. But there was a psychological barrier to going to Dinosaur: my perception that it's hard to get to. I have a car but, I figured, parking is hardly a sure thing up there, and if you try to park in the Fairway lot they yell at you. Taxis are hard to get, I thought, and the address is 131st Street and 12th Avenue so surely that's a bit of a hike from the 1 train at 125th and Broadway or from any of the bus routes.

Well, it turns out all those things are wrong. At most times, there's a lot of parking in the area. You need to learn the ebb and flow but it's possible to find street parking. Taxis turn out to be plentiful if you just walk down to the Cotton Club, where empty taxis coming off the West Side Highway cruise by in clusters, many of them headed for the gas stations near that exit. And because of the unusual curvature of 125th Street, 131st Street is actually only a block north -- and Broadway is very far west. So it's really only about a three-block walk from the corner of 125th and Broadway to the corner of 131st and 12th.

I went back in September because I was doing a barbecue roundup for Crain's and wanted to include some neighborhood outliers. I didn't anticipate that Dinosaur would be the most enjoyable barbecue experience I'd had in a long time, but it turned out to be. Dinosaur has come a long way since opening. It now has strength across its range of offerings and, though it's an extremely busy restaurant at times, it now knows how to handle the crowds. I've made two more visits to Dinosaur since then: once for my mother's friend's 70th birthday and once for Ellen's birthday. (Dinosaur is in the small subset of kid-friendly restaurants that make no culinary compromises.)

I definitely recommend starting any meal at Dinosaur with a "Swag sampler plate." This include the four best appetizers and comes in two sizes, either for two ($9.95) or four ($19.50) people (though those are just rough guidelines). The platter includes spicy boiled shrimp, smoked-and-grilled chicken wings, fried green tomatoes and spiced deviled eggs, plus various dipping sauces where appropriate. At this point in Dinosaur's history, over the course of three visits on which we had the sampler each time, each of the appetizers was terrific. (On at least two of the visits either John Stage or his partner Abigail Doyle knew we were there but my take on Dinosaur is that it's not the kind of place where the kitchen is going to make better deviled eggs for one table.)

All this would be pretty worthless without excellent barbecue to follow, of course. Dinosaur offers a lot of options in this department, so I've always had the various three-item sampler plates. Even so, I don't think I've made it through everything. What I've had I've loved, though. The pork ribs are just at the point of tenderness where they still maintain some structure but are "like buttah." They have a simple, tasty spice rub and a very little bit of sauce brushed on at the end. If you like you can supplement with the various on-table sauces (I prefer them straight). The brisket is as good as any I've had in town, again very tender but without being mush. Both the ribs and brisket have a good amount of smoke flavor without being overwhelming. In other words they are expertly smoked, and consistently so during my visits. I'd say that these two items, along with the terrific pulled pork (which is what Dinosaur serves at the Big Apple Barbecue), are the highest priority items.

If you have someone in your group who insists on chicken, the apple-brined barbecued chicken is moist and quite good. They also offer Elgin hot sausage links (actually from Elgin), pork brisket, and several non-barbecued kitchen items such as Korean-style grilled beef ribs (aka kalbi), catfish, burgers, chicken-breast sandwiches, even a smoked portobello sandwich. I haven't had any of that stuff on my recent visits.

Of the sides, my favorites have been the "Syracuse-style salt potatoes," which are boiled mini-potatoes presumably boiled in very salty water, the macaroni and cheese, coleslaw and very good fresh-cut fries. Everybody I've been ther with has loved the beans, but I think they're too heavily broken down -- more like refried beans in texture than I'd prefer. There are also a few sides (apple sauce, rice) that I haven't tried.

There are a couple of dozen beers available as well as Boylan's soda and good sweet tea. Desserts are homey and tasty, if not fabulous.

The place is a huge roadhouse, it's festive and can get loud. The servers tend towards sassy and efficient, which is appropriate for the venue. Despite the name, there isn't really a dinosaur theme (nor is barbecued dinosaur served), though there's some merchandise available with a dinosaur logo on it.

The restaurant gets very busy, especially on weekends. My suggestion, given that it requires some transportation planning, is to make a reservation, which you can do on OpenTable.com.

Dinosaur Bar B Que NYC

646 W 131st St.

New York, NY 10027

212-694-1777

http://www.dinosaurbarbque.com/nycIndex.php

[flinflon28]

I work on 125th & Broadway and our clients go out of their way to visit us so they finally have an excuse to visit Dinosaur. I've been working here three years and it's still great.

The burgers are excellent too.

[Vinotas]

I have to agree, I've been going 1-2 times per year for a while now and each time it's been fantastic. They are also easy-going concerning BYO, which is nice and can be a fun experiment. I also think the price point is extremely friendly when compared to some of the other BBQ places in the city.

I heard they might have to move a few blocks due to Columbia's planned expansion, is this true?

[Fat Guy]

Yes, apparently they cut a deal with Columbia to relocate to a space just down 12th Avenue -- you can see it if you stand in the doorway of Dinosaur and look across and to your left. It's a very nice building, so I think unlike many business owners in that area Dinosaur is pretty happy to be making the move. I don't know when it will happen but I can try to find out.