I came across a link today to New York magazine’s annual “New York City Cheap Eats” issue and was drawn like a fly to honey-barbeque sauce to the article entitled “The Great NYC BBQ Battle.” Eight places were reviewed (none of which I would consider “cheap” by New York standards) and I was pleased with myself that I’d already eaten at half of them: Blue Smoke, Daisy May’s BBQ, Bone Lick Park and R.U.B. But what was this? Top honors had been lavished upon a place I hadn’t heard of, Dinosaur Bar-B-Que.
According to the restaurant’s official history, it “was started in 1983 by three bikers, bound together by the love of good food, a 55 gallon drum cut in half, and a serious case of wanderlust.” Ah, yes, those bikers, with their wanderlust and marketing degrees. They opened their first location in 1988 in Syracuse, followed by one in Rochester, then entered Manhattan in the winter of 2004.
Obviously I had to check this place out, so after work and a haircut today, I took the 1 train up to W. 125th Street, where it ramps up from underground into Harlem and becomes an elevated train. In time-honored tradition, I set foot on the street and instantly began walking in the exact opposite direction (east) I was supposed to go. I ended up taking a leisurely scenic route through the neighborhood and came across many of its residents having a grand time beating the 90-degree heat in the Sheltering Arms Pool, built on the grounds of an orphans’ asylum and one of Manhattan’s 12 public outdoor pools.
Back on track, I passed the brick industrial buildings, body shops and parking garages that comprise the ghost town of W. 131st Street between Broadway and the Hudson River. At Twelfth Avenue, under the giant, viaduct-like steel arches of the Henry Hudson Parkway, is Dinosaur Bar-B-Que.
The decor is all rough-hewn wood for the floors, walls, support columns and rafters, and all around are plastered old license plates and signs. The hostess was one of those women who can call you “sweetie” and get away with it. She gave me the somewhat dreaded option of eating at the bar, but it was early and not too crowded. That changed quickly. If you go, you definitely want reservations; although my food arrived less than 10 minutes after I sat down at 6:45, by 7:00, I overheard that the wait for a table was 20 minutes. By 7:20, this had skyrocketed to an hour wait, on a Wednesday, no less. The crowd was a busy mix of folks, neighborhood locals and other New Yorkers, young and old, and at least one gaggle of nattering middle-aged women that could have been a tour group.
I ordered a Guinness from the bar’s well-assembled list of 23 drafts, for $4. (Happy Hour, Tuesday through Friday, from 4:00-7:00 p.m., gets you $1 off all well drinks and drafts.) I got the 1/2 rack of barbecued pork ribs, which comes with two sides: I chose the BBQ beans, which were blended with shredded barbecued beef (I thought they’d merely be flavored with barbeque sauce) and “Syracuse style salt potatoes,” which were like red-skinned potatoes, except with normal potato-colored skins. And salted. The ribs were moderately saucy but with an excellent naturally smoked flavor, and were fall-off tender with not a bit of fat. Great!
Dinosaur Bar-B-Que
- 646 W. 131st St. (at Twelfth Avenue)
- (212) 694-1777
- Meal 20/52: two Guinnesses ($4 for Happy Hour version, $5 post-Happy Hour) and a 1/2 rack platter (6-7 barbequed pork ribs with two sides and a square of corn bread) $13.95.