Dinosaur Bar-B-Que

Rudgers73

New York

4.13/5  rDev -0.7%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4 | selection: 3.5 | food: 4.5 | $$$

This place sits on the side of the Genessee River and, if you sit in the right booth, you can see some water flowing under you through the cracks in the floor. Cool place. Lots of stuff on the walls, dark, wierd signs, graffiti. The food is awesome as long as you like eating 3 animals at the same time (I do). They have 5-6 craft/micros on tap and the rotate in and out seasonally. Always busy so the service is lacking a bit. Selection is a bit limited, like I said before your choices are meat, meat, or meat. But it tastes so good...

Overall this place is a little pricey. Pitchers of beer are about $12 average. $3-4 pints, but you have to check it out if you're in the area.

10-12-2006 23:56:09 | More by Rudgers73

merc7186

New York

4.13/5  rDev -0.7%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4 | food: 4 | $$

I had been to this location of Dinosaur several times but never had reviewed it. My family deicded to stop here for lunch after going to the Strong Museum of Play.

A: Atmosphere is decent, not uptight by any means with a nice low key vibe.

Q: They have some decent taps and bottles, I settled on a Roc Brewing Golden Pale Ale but it was a miss...but thats my fault for picking something new.

S: Service everytime I go there is very attentive, even when they are busy, they seem to have a good handle on things, orders paced promptly and food arrives in a good amount of time.

S: They have a great selection of taps and bottles with a vast variety of styles, not bunched up on anything specific.

F: Decent, nice smokey flavor on the BBQ, good selection of sauces. I had the Smoked Pulled Pork which was well cooked, nice smokey flavor and sides were killer, the mac and cheese was a nice change.

V: Two Adults, One Child, Several Beers came out just under $40.

Overall, I come to Dinosur for the food and the craft beers are just a nice addition to a great place to eat.

06-03-2012 16:50:13 | More by merc7186

ProudBeerSnob

New York

3.9/5  rDev -6.3%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 3 | food: 5 | $$

Atmosphere: unique; a dive bar BBQ joint you can take the kids to.
Quality: ordered a Lake Placid UBU served cold bit not too cold in the ubiquitous pint glass.
Service: smart alecky wait staff who work to keep things moving as the place is almost always busy.
Selection: nothing outstanding, just a solid tap list. Could have used more porters, brown ales to go with the BBQ.
Food: this is what people come here for. I've never had a bad or even marginal meal here. Ordered the brisket sandwich with fried okra and collards. Delish. Passed on dessert but have had it before and it's great.

02-21-2012 23:01:49 | More by ProudBeerSnob

Billolick

New York

4.18/5  rDev +0.5%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4 | food: 4.5 | $$

Visited and feasted here several times during a one week Rochester stay. As a big fan of the Dinosaur BBQ empire here in NY state, this place was a no brainer go to place that did not disappoint. By the river, with some out door seating, it’s a multi room joint with the kitchen in full view as you enter. Great and friendly service, the take out girl remembered my name and my favorites after the first visit…love the BBQ and enjoyed several tasty locals brew options upon each visit. If in Rochester, the Dinosaur BBQ is a must visit BBQ and beer option

11-10-2011 23:55:23 | More by Billolick

LittleDon

Texas

4.28/5  rDev +2.9%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4 | food: 4 | $

A BBQ joint that would have a place in Memphis or Austin. Good food, good beer.

I was taken to the Dinosaur by a colleague who had already made a few visits to Rochester. Both of us appreciate a good beer and he wanted to make sure that I made it there since there was little chance that I'd be back to the area. We stopped in for lunch on a Thursday afternoon. The place was easy to find and there was little trouble find parking. The Dinosaur is housed in an old train station and the vibe is honky-tonk, old time BBQ joint (for those Houstonians reading this, think Goode's. We sat at the bar. Decent, but not overwhelming selection of drafts available. Enough locals to have plenty from which to choose. Service was very good. Bartender was familiar with the food and beer and was skilled at managing the customers (there's a fine line between being too attentive and not attentive enough). The food was reasonably good. I had a smoked pork sandwich with a brisket based soup and greens on the side. All very good. Prices were inexpensive. A fresh change from the bigger cities I have to service. Would I return? Good food, great beer, interesting atmosphere. In a heartbeat.

05-28-2011 21:50:22 | More by LittleDon

Stoutman88

New York

4.1/5  rDev -1.4%
vibe: 2.5 | quality: 4 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4 | $$

Visited December 30, 2010

This place was really dark and crowded. When I was seated I could barely read menus, and the waitress was drowned out by the noise. The atmosphere was the only negative I have of this place. Both quality and service was excelent. The selection of beer was good as well. I chose Genny for the simple fact I was in Rochester and it was an easy choice, not bad for an Adjunct Lager. Food was good, had Chicken and Ribs. I find BBQ better back home in Buffalo, but this is quite possibly the best food in Rochester.

01-17-2011 01:25:45 | More by Stoutman88

e11iott

New York

3.85/5  rDev -7.5%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 3 | selection: 4 | food: 5 | $$

Great location. Depending on when you go this is either a great biker bar and lots of nice bikes and leather with great barbecue, or great barbecue/smokehouse with people coming and going from the blue cross arena from a few blocks away, from a preformance. Either way the food I recommend to anyone, best barbecue in the western new york area. Is normally very busy, get there with plenty of time, the wait is worth it. Plenty of choices about 50 plus total. Verity that goes great with the food. Nice place to take out of town co-workers.

01-08-2011 00:40:10 | More by e11iott

alee42

Massachusetts

4.43/5  rDev +6.5%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5 | food: 5 | $$

I don't think there is a better place to sit down and have exceptional BBQ with a good beer. I've been to Dino several times now and every time I go there's always a new beer on tap. The waits are pretty bad on weekends at night, but for me it's a great opportunity to buy a pitcher of the lastest microbrew and stand outside next to the heaters. Last time I went I had a nice pint of the Goose 312 Urban wheat to start, and a pumpkin ale (forgot who makes it) with my beef brisket for dinner. The only problem I have with this place is that the service can be rather slow, but it's definitely worth the wait.

Go here if you love to eat a good barbecued Pig. It's the closest to quality southern-BBQ in all of Rochester.

12-21-2010 16:50:09 | More by alee42

Hoagie1973

New York

4.28/5  rDev +2.9%
vibe: 4 | quality: 5 | service: 4 | selection: 3.5 | food: 5 | $$$

I visit Dinosaur a couple times a year and it's always great. The decor is rustic like an old barn covered in various metal signs, flags, and various paraphernalia. Blues music (one of my favorite genres) playing constantly at comfortable volume levels so you can still carry on a conversation without getting a sore throat from yelling all night. The meat is unbelievable and every side I've tried has been excellent. Service is fast and friendly. Plenty of craft beer on tap and a nice bottle selection as well. Though they're frequently out of beers listed on the menu, which can be annoying.
It ain't cheap, but everything you consume is excellent. Live music on select nights as well.
A very cool, unpretentious place to hang and fill your gut with awesomeness.
One drawback (other than the beer menu) is that it's almost always packed on any night of the week and you could be waiting for a table for a while.

12-02-2010 14:55:29 | More by Hoagie1973

UTvolFAN16

North Carolina

4.08/5  rDev -1.9%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 3 | food: 4.5 | $

i have been to dinosaur barbeque twice now, they were about a year apart, and both times were great, the barbeque is better than some down here in the south witch is saying alot considering i am a barbeque nut. the plate are gigantic. the beer selection is ok, i do like the fact that alot of the beers they have are local. so there are usually beers that i try for the first time. so if you are around the city of rochester i would def. recommend stopping in and getting some damn good food and a few brews. i will go there everytime i come up to rochester!

10-14-2010 01:35:51 | More by UTvolFAN16