Blue Plate Special -- Dinosaur Barbecue

After spending four years in dark, grey, and dreary Syracuse, NY, there is very little that I miss about the Salt City. There was a coffee shop (long since closed) just off campus where I learned that there is more to a cup of joe than Folgers or Maxwell House. I spent many, many hours at 744 Ostrom Ave. at the offices of the Daily Orange at my first sort-of real job as the sports editor of the campus newspaper (lot of good that did me).

But in reality, there is only one place that I truly miss about Syracuse -- Dinosaur Barbecue. The Dino (no one calls it that but I'm going to anyway, dammit) was one of those places that stand out in part because it is so much better than everything around it, but really just because it is frigging awesome. Picture Angelina Jolie living in, I don't know, let's say Decatur, IL. People would be drooling at the sight of her. That's what happens in Syracuse when you walk up to The Dino. It's really not much to look at -- a blues and biker bar that just happens to have the best barbecue I have ever eaten. They pile it on thick, they pile it on meaty, and they pile it on yummy. I must have eaten there or gotten take out 50 times in my four years at SU -- it was right around the corner from the "real" newspaper in Syracuse, so when I interned there as a senior, I used to call and the food would be ready to be picked up 2 minutes later. It never failed.

A few years ago, the mom bought me the cookbook from The Dino and to this day, it is one of my favorites. So many awesome recipes to choose from. I ALWAYS have a large tupperware full of homemade barbecue sauce, which has so many uses. I could eat it by the spoonful (and sometimes do).

The Dino has been in Syracuse since probably the 80s (just a guess) and a few years ago they branched out to Harlem and Rochester. I had sort of talked about going once or twice, but had never really seriously planned anything. I did try to go to the original Dino when I was back in Syracuse two years ago, but I kept getting turned around and never did find it (cue the sad music).

But I digress...

On Monday, the wife had an idea that we should drive to Harlem the next Saturday to go to the Dino for dinner. I thought it was a great idea. She emailed the brother-in-law and the girlfriend, who live in Manhattan, to see if they wanted to come along. They were in.

One problem -- no available reservations, at all, for Saturday night. $#@!%

I tried on Tuesday. Nothing. $#@!%. Wednesday. Nothing. $#@!%. Thursday. Friday. Nothing and nothing. $#@!%. We had pretty much given up hope by then, but nonetheless, when I woke up Friday, I tried one more time online (OpenTable.com I love you!)

Table for 2, 7:30 p.m. Book it. Unfortunately, the brother-in-law and girlfriend were already tied up for the night, but that was pretty much expected at that point.

Needless to say, I was incredibly excited. We left with plenty of lead time to account for traffic and potentially getting lost, but the drive wasn't too bad -- a little under 2 hours each way. The Dino is actually right over the GW Bridge, so it was very easy to find. And oh was it worth it.

The full rundown on one of the best restaurants in the whole wide world...

THE FOOD: What can I say. The fried green tomatoes with blue cheese sauce were OK, but during our appetizer portion of the meal, I tried all five of the different barbecue sauces on the table. The primary sauce (or the Mutha Sauce) tasted similar to the one I have. in the fridge -- yum. The others ratcheted up on the spicy scale. Interesting experiment. The wife and I got the "Sweetheart Sampler" -- a full rack of ribs with our choice of four sides. Oh mama. This was no stringy, cheap ass rack of ribs. The ribs were perfect in size and in flavor. I slathered each bite in the Mutha Sauce and it was heavenly. I mean, really really good. The sides I chose, the baked beans and potato salad, were also excellent. I don't like mac and cheese but the wife liked it. The cornbread was also yummy. Despite being stuffed, we took a shot at the key lime pie for dessert -- I like the one I make better. It was just OK. But only a minor damper on the evening.

THE DRINKS: We "pre-partied" at a bar down the street to kill time until our reservations. We were just about ready to ,leave when the bartender said, "Did you guys know this was happy hour? All drinks were half off." I did not know, but thank you, thank you, thank you. The wife was already wobbly by the time we sat down for dinner, so we stuck with water at the Dino.

THE STAFF: The place was packed. It made Honey's look empty. I imagine it was a very long wait for walk-ins to be seated, but they sat us in less than 5 minutes thanks to our reservations. Despite how big and busy the place in, the food came at us quickly and our waiter was pretty attentive. Good stuff.

MAD PROPS FOR: Now I know that a dirty bathroom is usually a turnoff. But one of the coolest things about The Dino in Syracuse was all the poetic graffiti on the wall. No poems in Harlem, but lots of graffiti. And since I didn't need to sit down in a stall, it was all good. We had a very cool table as well, really a neat location.

OVERALL: It takes an awful lot for me to be convinced to drive 2 hours each way to eat dinner. The Dino is a special place and it was nice to see that while the vibe was a little more upscale in Harlem, the food was still the reason to be there.

THE CHECK: $50 for the two of us, with tip. I mean, c'mon, how can you beat that?

Back to the real reviews later this week... weather permitting.