Dinosaur Bar-B-Que

Reviews 4

MA

Marc Levy

The fact that this place is so busy is a good indicator of how hard it is to get decent BBQ in this part of the country. This was my 3rd visit to this place, 1st time was a private party, 2nd time I was turned away because they had no space, 3rd time was on 2/22/15. I had a 5:30PM Reservation for six people that was made almost 2 weeks in advance. We were all at there and ready to be seated at 5:25PM, but were told it would be "just a couple of minutes". After standing there for about 15 min, my phone rang. As I picked it up, one of the waitresses started PUSHING me with her tray and yelling "EXCUSE ME", very rude. At that point, the hostess moved us to the back of the bar area to continue to wait for our table. We could see one empty table for 4 in the back section of the restaurant, but it was too small for us. We waited another 20 min. At about 6:20, the hostess came and told us the table was ready, and brought us to this tiny table for 4. I explained we had a 5:30 reservation for 6, and would like a table we can fit at. I was told to take the table, or wait another 20-30 min. Frustrated, and hungry- we took the table. The table was dirty, the floor was buckled on one side of the table, and people kept tripping over it (risking them falling ON us), the ceiling was also damaged, with missing wood and broken Sheetrock. We then notice that the other half of the restaurant is EMPTY. The waitress finally comes over, big smile, friendly, made me think the evening was going to turn around.. but, NOPE. "Sorry guys, we are out of ribs and pulled pork". *WHAT*?! They JUST ran out, and were running low on Brisket so we better order quickly. Waitress even pointed out that if we got a table at 5:30, we could have gotten what we came for. About that time, the table for 6 next to us got up and left, but before we could move another group was seated at it (a group that came in after us, and did not have a reservation)- So much for another 20-30 min. The food finally came out, and at best it was edible. The portions were tiny (especially considering the outrageous prices), my brisket had a huge wad of fat right in the middle of it making the experience complete. For all of the people raving about how good this place is, I am going to guess you were there on a better night (as far as service goes), but clearly have no idea what real smoked barbeque is supposed to taste like. If you like rude service, and crappy food this is a place you will not want to miss!

RA

Raylor stille

The place looks very nice. Seats are very comfortable. Now lets go to the food issue because that is what i went there for. chicken: If you go to this place, please do not order chicken. Their chicken is not bbq-ed as they advertise it on their menu. You can tell by the texture of the chicken once you open it. In addition, they also served us a cold, colder than room temperature, chicken with bbq sauce over it. It was completely tasteless and you had to use their bottles of sauce in order to eat the heated parts. Both the wing and the leg were cold to the touch. Ribs: Their bbq ribs were good, but again, it felt like it was in a fridge and then heated on a micro wave. the food came out extremly fast and of course we now know the reason why. Their food is not prepared by order and it is simply taken out of a colder storage room and re heat it. An example was the wing and leg. They were colder than the room temperature. We made a comment to the server towards the end and he said "you could have told me earlier, i would have changed it" We did not bother because we did not want to get another frozen chicken . Drink: Further, i have a four year old and i happened to order an ice tea for him. They brought in this mini cup of ice tea and charged us $2.50. Really? $2.50 for a kids mini cup ice tea with ICE. it was not even topped off. If i had ordered a full glass of ice tea it would have cost the same. How is this even legal? Very disappointed with my first and likely last visit unless i go there to get a drink and chat with friends. Food will not be part of my next visit. last thing, when someone eats Ribs, specially bbq ribs, they should provide us with wet towels or wipes of some sort to get rid of the sauce and smell. I just got home and i washed my hands with soap and they still smell like their bbq sauce. In addition, Ive been to place just down the road in ironbound who do not skimp on service and its cheaper and a lot better. Their bar looked very nice and i cannot comment on their alcoholic beverages. If you are looking for a fast meal and have a few drinks and do not mind the process of their food, than this is your place to go. They have free parking at the edison parking located on market st and mulberry st. Make sure to give the server the ticket as soon as you arrive.

TY

Tyler Lund

I dont know how to review Dinosaur because of the 6 or so times Ive been, half were terrible and half were great. The terrible ones tended to be during hockey games though so Ill mostly ignore them for this review. Ill briefly mention the bad ones first. Once, we stood waiting to get the hostess attention for 15 minutes only to be told we needed to get a reservation from a different hostess who had meanwhile taken about 20 more reservations ahead of us. We ended up going to the pickup portion and had great sandwiches. Another time we were continually told wed be seated in 5-10 minutes for an hour before running out of time before a game. The times when we actually got seated or when we went when there wasnt a hockey game, things went much better. The best service we had was still the first week they opened when our server was incredibly attentive and offered tons of suggestions. Other times, service was pretty slow and our servers did not come by very often. I appreciate the food being made fresh to order, but waiting 40 minutes for ribs is excessive The food makes up for the spotty service though. The wings are totally incredible. I could do with a little more meat on the bones and crispier texture, but the wide variety of sauces and seasonings make up for it. The wango tango habenero sauces is my favorite and I kept bringing more home. The brisket is decent, but a little dry. I prefer the bleu cheese smothered sandwich to the brisket plate. The ribs were very good as well. The beer selection is pretty good too and features a bunch of craft beer, including some NJ local beer on tap.

CH

Christine Yup

Dinosaur Bar-B-Que is great. Its even more impressive when you take into consideration one, the amount of visitors they have in an evening and, two, this is one of the very few places that serve proper BBQ in the tri-state area. The food here is really good, whether you get the ribs, brisket, or chicken youll be quite satisfied with the seasoning and sauces. Also, the sides arent anything to be ignored. The most authentic, imo, are the sweet potatoes. Room for improvement, the collard greens. Finally, drinks are pretty good but, like most places, they played it safe with the spiciness of their infused drinks, specifically the jalapeno margarita. The service is great, the staff is super attentive and always just around the corner to fill your drinks or take another order of macncheese. Also, great to come here in groups as the staff doesnt have an issue splitting the bill.