By Brian Engle

Last month I mentioned that I had two passions, cigars, and coffee. Well, I did neglect to mention my one remaining passion - Da' Blues. Yes that right, folks like Lighting Slim, Pine Top Perkins, Howling Wolf, Big Mama Thornton, and Muddy Waters are all names on my self as well as the more well know Blues anchors of Eric Clapton, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Jimmy Hendrix and how can we forget the King of the Blues - BB King.

One of my personal quests is to visit all of Blues Review Magazine's "The top twenty Blues Venues". Having been blessed with a job in which I travel extensively, I have already visited the majority of these top rated spots: Chicago's Buddy Guys Legends and Blues Chicago, Memphis' BB King's, New Orleans's House of Blues, and New York City's Manny's Car Wash. But what is this place in Syracuse, NY - The Dinasour Bar-B-Que? The Editor of the Blues Review rated "The Dinasour" as his favorite Blues spot and even proclaimed it having "the best Bar-B-Que I have ever had," coming from a Texan I had to take this compliment very seriously. The Dinosaur was my next quest!

My first glance on this highly touted Restaurant/Club was, in a single word, - A Shock!! Picture a 1930's Mississippi Juke Joint stuck in the middle of a city block and you begin to have an idea. Well now picture 50+ Harley's parked around the front and side and now you have a real good idea. My wife and I, together with another couple entered the restaurant and we were over come by volume of leather clothing, not to mention that there had to be 200 people jammed into a restaurant that maybe had seating for 100. We joined the crowed, made it 204 people, and placed our name on the seating list. Being novices we asked for a seat where we could see the show (Alligator Record's Kenny Neal). Well, it soon came to our attention that those other 200 folks were on the same list all vying for the 60 or so seats that are in the same room (the bar) as the stage. As beginner's luck would have it, we got a table with a view of the stage. The hard part now was to eat at the right pace so we wouldn't finish before the music started or else we would be ushered out of our seats to make room for the other cage smack'in Blues lov'in folks.

Our next shock came with our waitress, who had her family tree tattooed on her back, her whole back! As we looked around we began to realize that this type of "art" was quite common at "The Dinosaur". I placed my order with a little help from our tree adorned waitress, and then it happened, I caught the smell of a fine cigar. Yes, there it was, a Macanudo Portofino delicately perched in the mouth of a biker who looked as if he could bench press his "hog". A conversation quickly started as I now reached inside my sport coat pocket (yes I was over dressed) for my ever present bag of cigars. My new biker friend was happy to inform me that "The Dinasour" was cigar friendly and even had a humidor behind the bar. Wow, Blues, Bar-b-Que, and cigar friendly! I could learn to like this place! Our dinner arrived next, and when you order a full rack of ribs at The Dinosaur you had better be VERY hungry. I had a half of a pig on my plate! Dinner was, as Blues Review described, "the best bar-b-que I have ever had". The meat was perfectly cooked, the side of beans (the side dish that keeps giving) were good enough to have as the main entree, and the house's Dinosaur Bar-B-Que Sensuous Slathering Sauce was really to die for. Good news! They sell their sauces to-go. My refrigerator is never lacking a bottle of The Dinosaur's best.

We spent the next three hours listening to Kenny Neal amaze us with his "High Intensity" Blues which began with a 15 minute guitar solo where he took his cordless, decades-old, Teleacaster through the restaurant, outside, across the street, where he leaned on the hood of a car and went after it! This made for a night of satisfaction - hot music, great food, friendly people, good cigars, all in a small, not so well known, joint in Syracuse.

If you are looking for a Club Macanudo or a Grand Havana Room "The Dinasour" is not your place. However, if you are looking for a unique evening where you can listen to some of the best blues acts in the country, and have a cigar with the best cages that you will ever slam, then The Dinosaur Bar-B-Que is worth a try.

Dinosaur Bar-B-Que "A Genuine Honky Tonk Rib Joint"
246 W. Willow Street
Syracuse, NY 13202
(315) 476-4937

Monday - Saturday 11:00 AM - 2:00 AM
Sunday 4:00 PM - 12:00 AM

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