Dinosaur BBQ (NYC)

[brooklyncook]

It trys to look like a hole in the wall joint, and looks fake.  That's part of the problem.  Along with the food.  I have a distrust for any BBQ place that serves sauce in pre-packed bottles from a factory.  One of the people I had lunch with has eaten at their Syracuse branch many times.  She says its much smaller than the Manhattan version, with a much different crowd, its a "dangerous" place and that is part of the appeal.  She's also not sure how great the food is in Syracuse.  Most of their customers have had several drinks by the time the food comes, its as much of a drinking as an eating place.  It's become part of the popular culture in Syracuse, as the place to drink and eat BBQ.  That is the key: as she pointed out, every male college grad in the area wants to have his graduation party catered by them.  I'd be curious to hear from people who've actually eaten at both the upstate and Manhattan locations.  If they say the food is the same, then I think Dino is a cultural and not a food place.

←

A couple of points:

1. No "hole in the wall joint" is going to be that BIG. Since this isn't the first time you've commented on the decor, I can only presume it seriously affected your enjoyment of the food.

2. The sauce on your ribs, your pork, your chicken = the same stuff in those bottles. The. same. sauce. The only difference is that the sauce in the bottles isn't hot, it's room temperature.

3. One of the people you had lunch with has eaten at their Syracuse branch many times, yet "she's also not sure how great the food is in Syracuse"?

I think you're going with the logic of

p = Manhattan Dino's food wasn't that good (your opinion)

q = Syracuse Dino's food is the same food

so therefore,

If p is true, and q is true, than z = it must be a cultural thing, and the food's not good at any location, and people are going there just to eat in a decorated restaurant.

That's the overall vibe I'm feeling from you at this point.

[Todd36]

If p is true, and q is true, than z = it must be a cultural thing, and the food's not good at any location, and people are going there just to eat in a decorated restaurant. 

That's the overall vibe I'm feeling from you at this point.

←

That's actually what my friend said (she's from Rochester and went to college near Syracuse). After eating the food in the Manhattan version, she said something to the effect of "upstate, it's more of a cultural place than a food place." And she thought what made the upstate versions so interesting was missing in the Manhattan location, which may be why I keep saying chain restaurant feel. She pointed out that some scary looking people hang out in their Syracuse location, and that makes it. She also described it as much smaller and not very nice inside. She also mentioned that because of the wait for a table, she usually drinks for one to two hours at the bar first.

[Todd36]

p = Manhattan Dino's food wasn't that good (your opinion)

←

The ribs were not good and the brisket tasted reheated, like it had spent time in a microwave. Objectively, by any standard, it wans't good. The sides were good, better than average for a BBQ joint, and the pulled pork wasn't bad, but they had an acrid taste of smoke that stayed in my mouth for two hours. It wasn't good stuff in the view of the three other people I was eating with. Either we had an unluckly meal or.....

[jhlurie]

Let's try and stay in-bounds with each other here folks. It's okay that our opinions vary, as long as we bash each other with debate instead of personal criticisms. Be passionate, but be civilized, okay?

[Burt1961]

Had dinner at DINO again a couple of days ago.

The chicken wings were great - loved them - some of the best wings ever

The fried green tomatoes were not good at all

Chili was good

Ordered the Tres Hombres

Pulled -pork was great - Flavorful, Smokey - simply delicious - not a NC or SC style pork, but who says it has to be. I like the concept of a restaurant creating its own style of food, not necessarily copying that of another region

Ribs were mediocre - I like them with a little more tooth, not cooked to falling off the bone - Smokey, but not flavorful - almost no detection of a rub - best used a medium upon which to serve bbq sauce

Brisket was sliced to thin for my taste - Smokey but lacking any flavor as with the ribs - also on the dry side

I was impressed with the atmosphere - people were having fun - lots of big tables with lots of beer being consumed - I would have to say that a great time was being had by all - remember, bbq is a communal food - I'm guessing that bras will shortly start to sprout from all the beams

If I was a bbq purist I would never leave the comfort of my own smoker, because nobody makes the kind of bbq I like better than I make it for myself (at least within reasonable travel distance), but as someone looking to go out for a fun night with friends, who are going to enjoy the food (because this is what they like and they don't want or need to know any better) DINO would be near the top of my list for a large group wanting to have fun.

Edited January 21, 2005 by Burt1961 (log)

[jogoode]

I was walking to Fairway yesterday and stopped by Dinosaur for a snack. Don't shop on an empty stomach, they say--so, you see, I had to!

It was 3:30, and my mac & cheese and pulled pork were luke warm. The "simmered greens" were hot and good, though I didn't appreciate the three tiny cubes of carrot on top. After reading consistently positive reviews about the pork, I expected better than my somewhat dry, un-porky pork. This summer, thanks to Sir Varmint, I had a taste of the real thing, so I was disappointed.

[Burt1961]

I was walking to Fairway yesterday and stopped by Dinosaur for a snack. Don't shop on an empty stomach, they say--so, you see, I had to!

It was 3:30, and my mac & cheese and pulled pork were luke warm. The "simmered greens" were hot and good, though I didn't appreciate the three tiny cubes of carrot on top. After reading consistently positive reviews about the pork, I expected better than my somewhat dry, un-porky pork. This summer, thanks to Sir Varmint, I had a taste of the real thing, so I was disappointed.

←

Sorry to hear your report - I was hoping the pulled-pig would be consistent. Oh well, what ya gonna do...

[joiei]

Could some of those bottles be private label? Made somewhere else according to the recipe provided by the seller? Happens all the time. And in places where they sell this way, it means the customer can enjoy a sauce they have found paletable to that person.. A lot of places to do not have the time or facilities to make and bottle massive quantities of products that they sell on the side. They are too busy cooking up the food for the patrons.

[Todd36]

Could some of those bottles be private label?  Made somewhere else according to the recipe provided by the seller?  Happens all the time.  And in places where they sell this way, it means the customer can enjoy a sauce they have found paletable to that person..  A lot of places to do not have the time or facilities to make and bottle massive quantities of products that they sell on the side.  They are too busy cooking up the food for the patrons.

←

It may very well be private label made according to Dino's recipe. That would be fine if they were selling it in the supermarket. They use the pre-pack stuff on the table, and that's a problem. It's a BBQ place remember? They should be giving me fresh sauce on the table. Or, to put it another way, what would you say if Rao's gave you a pre-pack jar of marnia and told you to pour in on your plate.....

Semestra in the curent Village Voice goes on a Texas BBQ review, in which he mentins that he attended UTexas and real BBQ places have big stacks of wood. I think he is reinforcing his Dino review.

It also seems like the food at Dino continues to be inconsistent, judging by these most recent reports.

Edited February 1, 2005 by Todd36 (log)

[mtkr]

I've been to Dinosaur many times and I haven't found it at all inconsistent. I've had very good meals there every time I've visited. Most recently I had the shrimp, salted potatoes, and vegetables. My date had the catfish, veggies, and fries. We both found the main courses very good. I loved my salted potatoes and the veggies were just right. My date found the veggies a bit underdone for his taste (but perfect for mine). That's the worst complaint I've heard since I started going there.

Mary

[Burt1961]

While you're all up in NYC trying to figure out where to get good Que this weekend, I'll be in Charlotte, NC enjoying some pulled pork from Boy Scout Troop #33's annual fundraiser; possibly some of the best BBQ made anywhere. They set up pits made from stacked cinderblocks and expanded metal grating. They have enough wood stacked for the weekend to fill a couple of average sized NYC apartments. Hey maybe US Air has a super saver and y'all can come down and see how it's done.

Edited February 4, 2005 by Burt1961 (log)

[Daniel]

While you're all up in NYC trying to figure out where to get good Que this weekend, I'll be in Charlotte, NC enjoying some pulled pork from Boy Scout Troop #33's annual fundraiser; possibly some of the best BBQ made anywhere.  They set up pits made from stacked cinderblocks and expanded metal grating.  They have enough wood stacked for the weekend to fill a couple of average sized NYC apartments.  Hey maybe US Air has a super saver and y'all can come down and see how it's done.

←

Where are the pictures Burt. HOpe you had a good weekend.

[Burt1961]

While you're all up in NYC trying to figure out where to get good Que this weekend, I'll be in Charlotte, NC enjoying some pulled pork from Boy Scout Troop #33's annual fundraiser; possibly some of the best BBQ made anywhere.  They set up pits made from stacked cinderblocks and expanded metal grating.  They have enough wood stacked for the weekend to fill a couple of average sized NYC apartments.  Hey maybe US Air has a super saver and y'all can come down and see how it's done.

←

Where are the pictures Burt. HOpe you had a good weekend.

←

Sorry - no pictures, but the pulled pork was great; flavored with a rich smoke, moist and tender. I was told that they sold thru 7000 pounds of sholder in under 2 days, which @ $8/LB, is not too bad for a weekend's work.

[weinoo]

Finally ate here last Thursday for lunch, and was thoroughly un-impressed.

As they used to say in the commercials, where's the smoke? It smelled smoky in the restaurant, but not on my plate.

So, the ribs were obviously of high-quality pig, but lacked any discernible flavor, be it smoke, rub or whatever. And, in agreement with some of the previous posters, too tender - I like my bbq to have some chew to it.

Brisket - same deal - tender but lacking flavor.

About the sides, just mediocre.

I have no problem giving them another 6 months or so to get the smokers working properly, but Blue Smoke's ribs are just much better at this point.

That said, no matter who has said it or what has been said before, you just can't get the same effect using gas heat and some wood, or electric heat and some wood, that you get with wood heat and wood. Ask the Klink. Ask the pitmasters. Ask Everett and Jones. Ask Arthur Bryant. Ask Wilbur.

[zimonsays]

I don't want to burst your bubble but if your talking about Everett and Jones in San Francisco they use the same J&R pits as Dinosaur; and for that matter Aruther Bryants also has an Old Hickory in the back where you can't see it....Why is everyone so hung up on this...Smoke is just ONE aspect of BBQ.

[weinoo]

Well, it might be just one aspect of great bbq, but probably the most important one.

My bubble is not burst - the Everett & Jones locations that I've been to in the past (on San Pablo and the old one on 3rd St. near Candlestick) did not have J&R pit ovens. If you read their web site, you'll know they had real wood burning pit ovens. If some of the new locations (if all the locations) have J & Rs now, perhaps they know how to use them to produce a better product. Additionally, E & J's sauce and dry rub are far superior - imo. So, my opinion is that Dinosaur can't hold a candle to E & J -it's that simple, but it's only my opinion. Or to Blue Smoke for that matter.

I used to produce great ribs, duck, chicken, brisket, salmon, trout in my old 22" Weber when I lived on the west coast - using only kingsford and either hickory, oak, alder or mesquite. No gas, no electric - smoldering charcoal and wood.

http://super-que.com/history.htm

[Burt1961]

Well, it might be just one aspect of great bbq, but probably the most important one.

My bubble is not burst - the Everett & Jones locations that I've been to in the past (on San Pablo and the old one on 3rd St. near Candlestick) did not have J&R pit ovens. If you read their web site, you'll know they had real wood burning pit ovens.  If some of the new locations (if all the locations) have J & Rs now, perhaps they know how to use them to produce a better product. Additionally, E & J's sauce and dry rub are far superior - imo.  So, my opinion is that Dinosaur can't hold a candle to E & J -it's that simple, but it's only my opinion.  Or to Blue Smoke for that matter.

I used to produce great ribs, duck, chicken, brisket, salmon, trout in my old 22" Weber when I lived on the west coast - using only kingsford and either hickory, oak, alder or mesquite.  No gas, no electric - smoldering charcoal and wood.

http://super-que.com/history.htm

←

You seem to like Blue Smoke - I guess it doesn't matter to you that they use a gas fired smoker to which they add some wood for smoke, because they "know how to use it." Is it better to say that the smoke source is important, but there are other ways to get "good smoke" than simply having a stack of burning logs? Do you think Blue Smoke is as good as what you have had at E & J?

[weinoo]

While I was pointing out that the two locations of E & J that I thought produced superior ribs did not use gas fired smokers, I also mentioned that they (gas fired smokers) can produce a good product, once the "pitmaster" figures out the best way to do that.

I like Blue Smoke's ribs because:

a: I think they figured out how to do that (good "pitmaster")...took 'em awhile,

b: their ribs have a different tenderness level (or lack thereof) that I personally enjoy, rather than the falling off the bone tenderness that dino's have, and

c: I like their rub more.

I don't think Blue Smoke is as good as E & J - the smell from E & J's ribs used to make me eat them in the car on the way home on 101 - I just couldn't wait and their sauces just totally rock.

E & J was one of the reason's I got into barbecuing in my backyard. And I still feel that given a weber, about 8 hours, a 6 pack or two, some good hardwood and a bag of kingsford, maybe rich davis's "All- American Barbecue Book" and any bbquer worth his or her salt can make ribs that are better than those produced with a gas or electric fired smoker.

[Jammin]

Well, after reading all the hype, we finally tried Dinosaur tonight more because we recently discovered a friend of ours is a waitress there than anything else. (Yes, she's cute and single) It was all I could do to keep a straight face when she asked us how we liked the food. Because quite frankly, I didn't.

Maybe it's a Northeast palate thing. We split a Tres Hombres with sides of the Salt Potatoes and Baked beans and started with the Fried Green Tomatoes.

I had never had Fried Green Tomatoes, but I really liked these. Fried to just the right crunchiness level for me and the dipping sauce added a nice depth to it. Without a basis for comparison, though, it's hard for me to say anything more.

So... the cornbread. Well, it *is* advertised as Honey Cornbread. Personally, I didn't like this because it was just too sweet for me - I much prefer a richer corn flavor and less grittiness. Oh well.

The Pulled Pork was mushy and the sauce weak at best. If I had eaten this blind, I would have sworn someone chewed it up for me in advance.

So on to the brisket. Being from Texas, I love brisket and perhaps it's just me holding too high a standard, but the brisket was very much lacking in flavor and smokiness. I would even agree with some of the previous comments that it was more like pastrami than brisket. For the record, my favorite brisket is from Goode CompanyBBQ in my hometown Houston. It can not be mistaken for pastrami. Not even close.

The ribs were perhaps the only passable meat offering on the platter. These were average, IMHO, but being a "wet BBQ" kind of guy, I was really disappointed the sauce offerings didn't do a better job complementing the meat.

Side orders... the Baked Beans were a little too gluey for my taste, the Salt Potatoes were perhaps the highlight of the meal, and the BBQ Fried Rice... oh what was I thinking?! Before we ordered, I asked our waiter if it was more like a "dirty rice" but he was completely clueless. So my morbid curiosity decided to try what turned out to be a very Americanized fried rice with hints of BBQ smoke. Silly me.

Finally, we finished with the Chocolate Ice Box Pie dessert (whatever it's called), which was fine, but by then, the damage had already been done.

Score this one a 5/10. Here's hoping Paul Kirk will crack the code. I'm tired of having to wait for the holidays to get good 'cue.

[lambretta76]

Of interest - while in Tokyo's Shibuya neighborhood - I noticed a cafe proudly serving Dinosaur BBQ sauces. On what - real BBQ in Tokyo? Not quite - it was being used as a topping for hot dogs. I'll have a picture later this week - it was described as a "Taste of New York!" Gotta give a picture to John Stage.

[lambretta76]

Here's those pics - from a place called Craighton's Grand Cafe in Shibuya. As you can see, you have your choice of three sauces to top your hot dogs with. BBQ, at least American-style BBQ, isn't that big in Japan...

Edited June 16, 2005 by lambretta76 (log)

[slkinsey]

Awesome. If you get a picture to John Stage, I'll be interested to hear his reaction.

[weinoo]

Re-tried Dino on Saturday for lunch and gotta say it was so much better than my first time there.

The chicken wings with chipotle garlic sauce were great - juicy and flavorful.

My ribs were so much different this time - nice and toothsome and porky and smoky - just real good.

A smothered brisket sandwich was also good - but could have been even smokier for my taste - however, sliced just right and nice and tender and moist.

Sides were also quite good - simmered greens, mac & cheese, slaw and beans...no complaints about these, except that I was too stuffed to finish it all.

Great, smiling service, something I always like.

It seems like one of the biggest complaints with Dino in its infancy may be wiith inconsistency - a great restaurateur like Meyer makes absolutely certain that everything pretty much comes out the same all the time. Does Dino do the same - I've only been twice, so I can't say for certain - but at Dino's prices you can go and have a good meal and not be pissed off that you just dropped a ton of dough for your meal (although I did drop $100 at Fairway after lunch - ). And after my second meal there, now I'll go back - wouldn't have given it another thought if it sucked twice.

Also, as with Blue Smoke, maybe it's taken the cooks some time to get used to the quirks of their smokers, and it's starting to show up in the 'cue.

Anyone else been recently?

[Jason Perlow]

Awesome.  If you get a picture to John Stage, I'll be interested to hear his reaction.

←

You have to wonder if they were using Dinosaur sauce just because they liked the logo, though. I mean, with their Godzilla fixation and all.