Food Dudes: The Food Dudes and the Smoked Meat Spectacular

Dinosaur Bar-B-Que! Finally! Woo!

Every year around the holidays the Food Dudes get together for a gift exchange while we do something we do really well…EAT. This year’s spot was the newly opened Dinosaur Bar-B-Que in Stamford, where we had plans to eat like it was our last meal on our final night of death row.

If you don’t know anything about Dinosaur Bar-B-Que, why don’t you? And what the hell is wrong with you?

The original Dino location opened in Syracuse, NY in 1998 and it was so awesome that other locations have since opened in Rochester, Troy, and Harlem. And the first out of New York locations were Newark, NJ and now, Stamford (THANK YOU). If that is not enough history for you, guess what? I don’t care. Look it up. We’re here for a reason, the grub.

Oh, you’re a vegetarian? You might want to bounce, like now.

OK, let’s do this! And the only way to do this the right way is a category breakdown.

First up…Appetizers!

Going in we already knew about the wings so in non-typical Food Dudes fashion, we only got a three piece honey BBQ. Lame, I know. But remember, we had a lot of eating to do. These wings were “IT.” The smoky flavor combined with the sweet honey BBQ sauce, then add in how the meat just came right off without having to gnaw off any bone fragments and the tender skin, EPIC! Their wings have other sauce options, and hotter ones, like sesame hoisin, the hot Wango Tango, the even hotter garlic chipotle, and the hottest of them all…Devil’s Duel. Trust me on the Devil’s Duel, it’s up there in heat from the habanero pepper, I keep a bottle in my pantry.

Next time, more than three wings will be ordered.

Our other app choice was the sausage, cheese & crackers. I liked this one a lot, especially for its snacking and sharing possibility (although I wanted the entire tray). The made in-house smoked hot link sausage is sliced and placed on a black pepper cracker with homemade pimento cheese and pickled onions. The sausage was so juicy and flavorful that I’m ordering it as an entrée choice on my next visit.

Sausage, cheese & crackers, would go perfect with a beer.

BBQ Plates

We knew going in that we all wanted ribs and were not willing to share or we would have all stabbed each other on the reach over like it was a wild game of five finger fillet. We wound up going with a pick two type deal; two meat choices, two sides, and a piece of moist honey cornbread. Since we all chose ribs as our first, we each went with something different for our second meat choice. I went with brisket, Rob decided on dark meat chicken, and Damion was all about pulled pork.

We all agreed that the ribs were some of our favorites in the area, even from a newcomer like Dinosaur. They had everything a rib is supposed to have; they were tender and didn’t require a locked jaw and rip motion, they were not heavily sauced, and they had that bark thing going on.

Now, the second meats. Did I like the pulled pork? Yes, and I’ll order it there very soon. The chicken? Yes, I’d order that up too. But listen, bro, I’m a brisket guy all the way. In fact, I like brisket better than ribs if it’s done right. And we have a winner! I’m really sticking my neck out by saying this, but Dino’s brisket was the best I’ve had. Ever. I saw the smoke ring, I tasted the wood, it cut nicely (although I clearly popped a few giant slices into my mouth), and I loved the pickled jalapenos that were served on top. I like spice and I loved this brisket.

Sides

When eating BBQ you need something creamy or sweet even. I wanted to order potato salad but once our waitress mentioned her favorite was the coleslaw, I started to lean in that direction. When she said the slaw is made fresh every 20 minutes, I was in too deep. This slaw had it all; right amount of vinegar to mayo ratio, and oh, so crisp! I could never go to Dinosaur Bar-B-Que and not get slaw now.

My second side was something I critique pretty harshly, mac & cheese. I liked Dino’s version, but I’m not head over heels. It was cheesy, and there was some spice, most likely from the pimento cheese. I’m still a throwback when it comes to good mac & cheese and I love the whole crispy breadcrumb topping and gooey cheddar and other cheeses. However, I would get it again after navigating my way around other sides.

Dessert

I was hoping for a Key lime pie choice but I was pleasantly surprised by Dino’s Lemon Icebox Pie. The lemon was mellow, which I loved, and the graham cracker crust was buttery. Total guilty pleasure and let’s face it, you need something sweet after all the meat. Insert dirty joke of your choice. FYI: Dinosaur Bar-B-Que makes all desserts in-house and we were told that nothing is frozen and everything is homemade.

Rob's apple cobbler pie. Sorry, I ate mine so fast it was a miracle I used a fork and not my hands.

Drinks?

Dinosaur Bar-B-Que has a nice selection of craft beers and a full bar that is fit for just stopping by for a snack and drinks with your buddies. We did not drink this time in an effort to pack down more food, but I’m sure we will in the future. I ended up getting fresh squeezed lemonade to counterbalance the salts/meat and all that food. Refills are free on certain drinks!

Overall Impression

Come on! Really?! If you don’t know how much I love this place by now, you weren’t paying attention. Funny enough I’m writing this a day before going back to Dinosaur Bar-B-Que for the second time in as many weeks. So see ya later, gym membership and being a part-time martial arts instructor! I’m perfectly happy in a smoky, fiery Heaven with a whole bunch of meat.