On my last trip to Rochester NY, I was told about the Dinosaur BBQ . Given my love of BBQ, I knew on my next trip to Rochester, this is where I was going to eat. I even arranged my flight to ensure I had enough time to go out and eat after arrival.
When you are going to a BBQ what is the first thing that catches your attention when you arrive? For me it is the smoke filled air from BBQ’s preparing mouth watering meats. If you weren’t hungry, you soon will be. Walking up to the Dinosaur BBQ the first thing that caught my attention was the smell of hardwood smoke in the air. My expectation of good food was starting to soar.
Given this was my first time at the Dinosaur BBQ, I chose the sampler plate to get an overall impression of Dinosaur BBQ’s food. Of the choices I went with pulled pork, spicy hot link, and St Louis ribs. Along with my meat choices I selected grill Cajun corn and mashed potatoes. The sides are an important part of the Dinosaur BBQ meal experience. They were a perfect compliment to my selection. The Cajun corn was good, but the brown gravy on the mash potatoes was something else. Not all brown gravy is equal. Dinosaur BBQ’s brown gravy is thick, with a deep rich flavor. Needless to say I cleaned the dish!
The pulled pork and spicy hot link were good, but the star was the St Louis ribs. When you eat smoked meat, you should see the smoke ring where the smoke as penetrated the meat. The meat on the ribs was smoked all the way to the bone. The pork was literally falling off the bones. Dinosaur BBQ smokes the ribs with a dry rub and then serves them lightly glazed with their own BBQ sauce. From the first bite you taste elements of the smokey flavor, chased by a tangy after taste. If I knew how good the ribs were going to be, I would have skipped the sampler plate and ordered a half rack of ribs. The next time I’m in Rochester NY, I want to go back to the Dinosaur BBQ and try their West Texas center cut Rib-Eye Steak. I just don’t know whether I want to go with Habanero Cook’s Butter, Bourbon Molasses Steak Sauce. We will see when the time comes.
The Dinosaur BBQ is the real deal. If you have a hankering for BBQ, this is definitely a destination worth driving too. There are two considerations when deciding to go to the Dinosaur BBQ; first parking at best sucks, and second, expect to wait to be seated. I went on a Tuesday night at 7:30 and there was a 30 minute wait, unless you wanted to eat in the bar. My recommendation, go early and map places to park. But, definitely go!