Dinosaur BBQ, NYC

The other week I went to Dinosaur Bar-B-Que in Harlem, a branch of a Syracuse NY bbq joint that opened in NYC 2004. It was a mini-trip down memory lane as I walked up to lower Harlem where I used to live way back in 1996. A French bakery near 120th Street made me worry that NYC's gentrification had made it all the way up to my old neighborhood. But I was happy to see that my block between LaSalle and Tiemann Place hadn't changed with the exception of one new restaurant where the hostess stood outside on the sidewalk trying to encourage Columbia University-types to stop in for dinner. The Chinese take-out, the African restaurant, and most importantly the Bubbles laundromat above which I used to live were all still there.

Dinosaur on 131st Street, though, is a sign of the encroachment. Despite it's street address, it's clientele, like that of the Fairway supermarket across the street, was almost 100% white.

The place was packed on a Sunday night. My friend and I shared the pull pork platter and a side of 6 hot wings. It was solid BBQ, but I'd probably choose other places in the city like Hill Country or Blue Smoke, unless I happened to be back up in the Columbia area.

Dinosaur Bar-B-Que
646 W 131st St.
New York, NY 10027
212-694-1777