What I Did For Summer Vacay: Dinosaur BBQ, Harlem
In honor of back-to-school time, I’m sharing several pieces for my “What I Did Over Summer Vacation” homework assignment. This Summer, I visited Maine and New York City. Maine was Part I. NYC is Part II. Halloween’s near so this report’s late. Can I get extra credit for the succotash photo?
Part II – Chapter 4 NYC: Dinner in Harlem at Dinosaur BBQ
It’s hard to find good barbecue in LA. We’ve got sushi (and now poke) galore. But real BBQ’s a must-Google-must-ask endeavor. Not so in Harlem. The locals I talked to agreed that Dinosaur BBQ was the place.
After I visited and found DeathbedFood, I researched Dinosaur. They have an impressive set of accolades as they list on their site – and it’s no surprise why:
Our bar-b-que is nationally acclaimed. Our food and sauces have won honors in publications such as Men’s Health and Eating Well magazines. We were named the country’s Number One BBQ on Good Morning America and have been featured on various Food Network and Travel Channel shows. Our spice rub and full line of specialty sauces are available throughout the country and in Europe and Japan. Our cookbook, Dinosaur Bar-B-Que: An American Roadhouse, was voted as one of the best BBQ cookbooks in 2002 by the National Association of BBQ.
I also found out that “Dino” has many locations back East, each with a different vibe:
And without any research, it’s apparent that these guys know food. It’s likely from their focus on having great ingredients, humanely treated animals and perfectly mahogany brisket:
At the Harlem store, I recommend sitting in the bar in the red corner booth. That way you get to see and be seen on the scene. I ordered the BBQ Pit Plate with ribs and two sides: curried succotash and simmered greens. All fabulous but the succotash was DeathbedFood.
People hate succotash. Even if they haven’t tried it, noses are turned up once they learn that it has lima beans. Just hearing the words “lima beans” makes most people turn the same shade as the ashy green beans themselves. No wonder there’s a book called “Suffering Succotash: A Picky Eater’s Quest to Understand Why We Hate the Foods We Hate.”
It’s time we have more restaurants follow Dino’s lead here. The key is curry! ‘Course curry makes cardboard taste good. So let’s get #StopSufferingSuccotash and #CreateCurrySuccotash trending.
My only complaint about Dino is that they have zero locations in LA. Dino, help a girl out, man. Angelenos need that mahogany brisket now!
