Good Eats - The Dinosaur Bar B Que

New York = BBQ?

Harlem Dinosaur by Flickr User Alex Halavais

Not many people would consider New York State a hot spot for barbecue.  But, there are a few shining beacons of BBQ goodness in the Empire State.  If you find yourself in Rochester, Syracuse, or Harlem, I definitely recommend stopping by Dinosaur Bar-B-Que.  I've never been to the original location in Syracuse, but I've been to the one in Rochester a few times, and visited the Harlem location for the first time just last weekend (happy birthday, Ryan!).

These places have great atmosphere.  Whether you're there for the food, the beer, the blues, or some combination of all three, you're bound to have a good time.  The Rochester Dinosaur is located downtown in an old train station overlooking the Genesee river - a great little spot.  This place was started by bikers and you're bound to see a row of hogs out front, but non-bikers are welcome - unless you knock over all the motorcycles like Pee Wee then you might find yourself having to dance out of sticky situation.  Otherwise the only sticky situation will be getting that BBQ sauce of your fingers, in which case you can use the wet naps or the preferred method - put 'em in your mouth and suck 'em.

Rochester Dino-BBQ (by Flickr user _yoshi_)

The history of Dinosaur Bar-B-Que (from their website):

The Dinosaur Bar-B-Q 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. For five years the road was our home, slinging Bar-B-Q at motorcycle shows, fairs, and festivals up and down the east coast. It is from our travels that our Bar-B-Q evolved. By 1988, burnt out from the road, our gypsy journey settled into downtown Syracuse and opened up as a take out BBQ joint.

In 1990, feeling the need to couple some booze with our Bar-B-Q, we doubled our space and added a full bar and waitress service. Blues always served as our musical backdrop so the next step became live music. Starting with our first act, Dr. Blue, we went from one night of live music to two, then three.... as they say, the rest is history.

Over the last decade, our Bar-B-Q has been nationally acclaimed, as well as our blues club, as one of the best in the country. We're really proud of that. We also manufacture and distribute five of our own specialty sauces throughout the U.S., England, and Australia.