Dinosaur Bar-B-Que

28. May 2007 American, Upper West Side 0

646 West 131st Street and Twelfth Avenue
212/694.1777
about $60 for two racks and eight sides, without drinks, without tip
â™¥ â™¥

Update: Dinosaur Bar-B-Que is moving to 125th and Twelfth Avenue after Columbia University takes over

People have been talking about Dinosaur Bar-B-Que since it opened in 2004. I just didn’t have a clue about how many people. Jase and Mia came down from Brooklyn to eat barbeque with the Dr. and me one weekend. I was surprised that only a 9pm table was available for four people but I was flabbergasted when the restaurant was crowded. Sure, it was basketball night, but this is uptown and way above 14th Street. Where did everyone come from? I felt guilty that I was the last one to make an effort to visit. And I live about fifteen blocks away!

When we were finally seated and the the live band started playing in the other side of the room, we ate our fried green tomatoes. We also ordered two of the Sweetheart plates: a full rack of pork ribs plus four sides. Soon enough, our table was covered with macaroni and cheese, French fries, coleslaw and cornbread. Mia is almost vegan, but she politely watched the three of us devour our meat while she ate her iceberg lettuce with blue cheese dressing. (I told Jase that she was a keeper after he finished one of the racks all by himself without her glaring.)

I’ve gone through lengths to eat a good barbeque. I once spent $70 for a round-trip cab ride from the Houston airport to find Burn’s BBQ after an Anthony Bourdain episode. I’ve even smoked my own 8-pound pork shoulder. Dinosaur Bar-B-Que makes eating good barbeque in New York City easier for fanatics like me. Their kind of barbeque is my favorite. The meat is moist and falls off the bone with a dainty touch of the fork. There’s a very faint sweet taste which makes the burnt ends even better. Everything else on our table was icing on the cake.