My new favorite sandwich...the "Ultimate" B.L.F.G.T. at Dinosaur Barbeque, Harlem, NYC

Re:My new favorite sandwich...the "Ultimate" B.L.F.G.T. at Dinosaur Barbeque, Harlem, NYC (billyboy)

Sun, 31 May 2009 21:36:41 GMT

Twinwillow, a LOT has changed in the past 40+ years! Harlem has undergone a bit of a renaissance. Dinosaur is on the West side near the Hudson River, which is markedly different than 125th Street on the East side. I'm a huge Dino booster and I don't presume to think they the the "best" (a term I have a great disdain for anyway). But I think they are really doing some top notch barbeque and they do so many things, so good, so consistently.

Re:My new favorite sandwich...the "Ultimate" B.L.F.G.T. at Dinosaur Barbeque, Harlem, NYC (Twinwillow)

Sun, 31 May 2009 15:31:22 GMT

billyboy

. About a 5-10 minute walk. Get off the train and walk west on 125th Street til you hit 12th Avenue, turn right and walk up one block and you're in front of the Dinosaur. Enjoy!

Pardon me. Did you say, "walk on 125th Street"? Doesn't sound like the NYC I remember from the 60's. Things must have gotten better since I last lived in NY.

Re:My new favorite sandwich...the "Ultimate" B.L.F.G.T. at Dinosaur Barbeque, Harlem, NYC (Twinwillow)

Sun, 31 May 2009 15:27:04 GMT

This is one Texan that would love to eat at Dinosaur BBQ. All the reports I've ever seen about this place made my mouth water. The ribs you pictured look awesome!!!
Thanks for the great report and pictures.

Re:My new favorite sandwich...the "Ultimate" B.L.F.G.T. at Dinosaur Barbeque, Harlem, NYC (billyboy)

Sun, 31 May 2009 15:10:01 GMT

Mandalay, Virgil's is okay. I have been there 3-4 times, the last one about 6-7 years ago. I think I need to revisit it to see how it has held up and to just compare it to my favorites right now (Dinosaur, Hill Country and R.U.B.). I also want to check out and get some pics of the new "car-free" Times Square! Virgil's does a lot of different styles from around the country and seems to do them fairly well. I think a lot of locals avoid it because they don't want to deal with the throngs in Times Square.

Re:My new favorite sandwich...the "Ultimate" B.L.F.G.T. at Dinosaur Barbeque, Harlem, NYC (Rick F.)

Sun, 31 May 2009 09:32:05 GMT

You said, "The greens were good, but seemed a bit sweet, perhaps maybe some bbq sauce had been mixed in." One possible explanation: a lot of people actually do add a little sugar to their greens (not me!). Greens suffer many indignities in this sad old world, but at least the folks here try!

Re:My new favorite sandwich...the "Ultimate" B.L.F.G.T. at Dinosaur Barbeque, Harlem, NYC (MandalayVA)

Sun, 31 May 2009 02:26:12 GMT

What's your take on Virgil's? My husband and I were in NYC a few weeks ago to catch a show at the Nokia Theater in Times Square (hurray for Finnish symphonic metal!) and as we were wandering around I spied Virgil's, where I ate a number of times while I was working in the city. I would have done a report had I not forgotten my #$&%^@) camera because I thought it was great. Not too pricey by NYC standards and they had lamb, which you don't find outside western Kentucky. And it was AWESOME lamb.

Re:My new favorite sandwich...the "Ultimate" B.L.F.G.T. at Dinosaur Barbeque, Harlem, NYC (billyboy)

Thu, 26 Feb 2009 15:05:53 GMT

Baah Ben, I've eaten at Blue Smoke a couple of times, the last was about 5 years ago, so it's been a while. The food is pretty good, but it's more of an "upscale" barbeque place and the focus is equally on the jazz and liquor and presentation of the food. To me, it seems to lack the "spirit" of what epitomizes a Barbeque joint. Just people getting together and chowing down, sleeves up. Sides don't come with the mains, they cost extra. If you have the cash to spend, it is really tasty though.

Re:My new favorite sandwich...the "Ultimate" B.L.F.G.T. at Dinosaur Barbeque, Harlem, NYC (Baah Ben)

Thu, 26 Feb 2009 08:37:33 GMT

Looks like NYC has finally arrived (BBQ) Those ribs look terrific. The attention to their sides is obvious! It's so nice to see a place cares enough to try to do all the small things right!! Good for them!

Great pictures..Thanks BB!

Have you been to Blue Smoke, too? How would you compare the two?

Re:My new favorite sandwich...the "Ultimate" B.L.F.G.T. at Dinosaur Barbeque, Harlem, NYC (MiamiDon)

Tue, 24 Feb 2009 13:21:41 GMT

That sandwich looks great, billyboy. I'm sorely tempted to get one for lunch the next time I visit NYC. I've never seen anything remotely like that in a FL BBQ joint.

Re:My new favorite sandwich...the "Ultimate" B.L.F.G.T. at Dinosaur Barbeque, Harlem, NYC (joerogo)

Tue, 24 Feb 2009 12:06:58 GMT

Billyboy, First Class Report!!!

Excellent pics and food choices. I see you keep your pencil close by for note taking

Re:My new favorite sandwich...the "Ultimate" B.L.F.G.T. at Dinosaur Barbeque, Harlem, NYC (Food_Fan)

Tue, 24 Feb 2009 11:48:27 GMT

Thanks for the directions and link, your name made me think of this lovely Irish tune.

   Oh Billy boy, the ribs, the ribs are calling   
   From Bronx to Queens, and down Manhattan’s side   
   The summer's gone, and all the ribs are smoking   
   'Tis you, 'tis you must eat and I must bide.

Re:My new favorite sandwich...the "Ultimate" B.L.F.G.T. at Dinosaur Barbeque, Harlem, NYC (jaylhorner)

Tue, 24 Feb 2009 11:41:07 GMT

Real good report!

Re:My new favorite sandwich...the "Ultimate" B.L.F.G.T. at Dinosaur Barbeque, Harlem, NYC (buffetbuster)

Tue, 24 Feb 2009 11:35:22 GMT

Now that is a sandwich! And for being in Yankee territory, that is a fine looking cobbler. Great report as always BB!

Re:My new favorite sandwich...the "Ultimate" B.L.F.G.T. at Dinosaur Barbeque, Harlem, NYC (cecif)

Tue, 24 Feb 2009 11:27:33 GMT

Great stuff!!! Yummy AND fun!!!

Thanks!

Re:My new favorite sandwich...the "Ultimate" B.L.F.G.T. at Dinosaur Barbeque, Harlem, NYC (billyboy)

Tue, 24 Feb 2009 01:27:33 GMT

Hey Food Fan,

Here is the link to the Roadfood Dinosaur review. It has the map, and contact info on there. I would definitely suggest calling about a week in advance (especially if you're planning on going during the evening or on the weekends) as they do a really brisk business.

http://www.roadfood.com/Reviews/Overview.aspx?RefID=2755

If you're at Port Authority, you can walk through the tunnel or on the street to Times Square and catch the 1 train to 125th Street. That's the closest stop to Dinosaur. About a 5-10 minute walk. Get off the train and walk west on 125th Street til you hit 12th Avenue, turn right and walk up one block and you're in front of the Dinosaur. Enjoy!

Re:My new favorite sandwich...the "Ultimate" B.L.F.G.T. at Dinosaur Barbeque, Harlem, NYC (TnTinCT)

Mon, 23 Feb 2009 10:59:04 GMT

OH YUM!!! First, anything with bacon....second - REAL smokehouse bacon!.....third - those tomatoes look amazing! Although even in the pic I am pining for some nice white toast. Nodine's smokehouse (mail order all over the world is available) is a nice drive away for us, and we head there several times per year to stock up on amazing smoked bacon. At Christmas we bought a cajun bacon, an applewood smoked, something called 30 cloves of garlic bacon, and a "breakfast" bacon. So far we've eaten almost of all of it, and my favorite of all was the garlic bacon - it wasn't overly garlicy, but added a nice depth on top of the smoky goodness. GREAT for sandwiches.
Thanks for sharing the pics - we're headed to the city in April with my nephew, and the list of places for "must eat" is growing every day!

Re:My new favorite sandwich...the "Ultimate" B.L.F.G.T. at Dinosaur Barbeque, Harlem, NYC (wheregreggeats.com)

Mon, 23 Feb 2009 10:57:09 GMT

Nice report.
Thanks.

Re:My new favorite sandwich...the "Ultimate" B.L.F.G.T. at Dinosaur Barbeque, Harlem, NYC (Food_Fan)

Mon, 23 Feb 2009 10:53:59 GMT

billyboy,

GREAT PICTURES!!

Could you throw in the address of the place and the train to take from Port Authority and what stop/station Dinosaur BBQ is near?

Thanks.

Re:My new favorite sandwich...the "Ultimate" B.L.F.G.T. at Dinosaur Barbeque, Harlem, NYC (brittneal)

Mon, 23 Feb 2009 02:48:10 GMT

Wow that guitar player is so huge his guitar looks like a ukelele.

My new favorite sandwich...the "Ultimate" B.L.F.G.T. at Dinosaur Barbeque, Harlem, NYC (billyboy)

Mon, 23 Feb 2009 01:59:13 GMT

My girlfriend and I headed out to Dinosaur Barbeque last night as her friend from high school was singing there with her band. Who was I to refuse? We started out with a 1/4 rack of ribs.

These were pretty good; tender, smoky and just enough sauce on them.

Dayna went for the spicy boiled shrimp platter. These were excellent and the BBQ sauce based cocktail sauce was spicy with a wicked horseradish kick.

Her side of mac and cheese was gooey and super cheesy.

The greens were good, but seemed a bit sweet, perhaps maybe some bbq sauce had been mixed in.

We split a side of Dino's beans as we love them and these didn't disappoint. Lots of pulled pork AND sausage chunks were in the mix!

I had Creole Potato salad as one of my sides. It had a bit of spicy kick to it and there was a nice balance of mustard and mayo. Tasted almost like my sister's recipe (except no chopped hard boiled eggs)

And the vegetable of the day: Cajun Corn, spicy fried corn with red and green peppers, onions and a spice mix that brought some depth of flavor to it.

My platter: the "Ultimate" Bacon, Lettuce and Fried Green Tomato sandwich! Each time I go to the Dinosaur, I try to eat at least one new thing. I've had my eye on this sandwich for a while. I ate a lot of BLTs growing up and I can take or leave fried green tomatoes, but everything on this sandwich made perfectly wicked sense. I felt as though I was doing something naughty with each bite!

Lemme tell ya something...they don't skimp on the bacon at all! Dinosaur smokes it in-house. I've always had BLTs on toasted white bread and I knew that the Dino's sandwiches all come on their sesame seeded rolls. I asked the waitress and she said they have the rolls or the Cuban bread they use for their Cuban sandwich. I figured I should try it the way they present it. Hey, I'm willing to try a twist on the tomatoes, why not the bread too? The roll was great and held up really well under all of those ingredients. That bacon was soooo smoky, crispy and chewy! The FGTs were slightly tart and crunchy. They didn't use mayo, but I think their Buttermilk Ranch Dressing and the creaminess played nicely with the other ingredients.

Billyboy prepping for the first bite...

I'm goin' in!!!

We topped off our meal by splitting an Apple-Cranberry-Blueberry Cobbler with vanilla ice cream and it was divine.

There are a number of these motorcycle sculptures around the Dino by NYC artist Linus Coraggio.

A few of the B-movie posters throughout the Dinosaur...

The wall mural in the main dining room. A barbeque take on the classic "dogs playing poker" scene.

Our other reason for coming. Sweet Suzi and the Blues Experience. They knocked out some killer blues of their own and threw down some covers of Jimi Hendrix, Joe Cocker, Stevie Wonder, and many others that I can't even remember. I finished off the night with a pint of Syracuse Pale Ale, which went down smooth.

A quick note to Cosmos: I asked our waitress if Abby was in and a little while later, a man came to our table and introduced himself as "Abigail". He waited for us to respond, then broke out in a smile, It was the manager, Steve. He sent Abby over to us and we had a really nice conversation with her. We exchanged contact info and she said to give her a call the next time we need a reservation. Good times we had, good times!