Hello ladies and gentlemen, I have recently returned from my favorite barbecue restaurant in New York City: Dinosaur’s. I have tried many different dishes there and like some more than others, which makes me wonder: what is the difference between my first-place choice, Dinosaur’s, and my very close second-place winner, Blue Smoke? Well, let’s get some of the obvious out of the way:
1. Dinosaur’s is an eternally crowded restaurant, with strange décor, in the middle of nowhere (in Harlem, which itself is not an isolated area; however the restaurant is on 130th street and 12th avenue). On the other hand, blue smoke is a fancier barbecue establishment easily accessible on 27th street between park and Lexington avenues.
2. Dinosaur’s allows you to create combination platters, with either two or three different meats (I pigged out and got 3 last time). Blue smoke only offers one item at a time, with the rare exception of a rib sampler and maybe one other such dish.
3. Blue smoke has better side dishes, however you pay for them separately while you get two free with your entrée at Dinosaur’s.
4. Blue smoke has a great selection of different ribs, while Dinosaur’s has only one kind, (oops I mean no offense to the Korean ribs, but I came to a barbecue establishment after all), but their one type of ribs happen to be very tasty.

Bottom line: you can’t go wrong with either one of these fabulous barbecue restaurants. If barbecue food is not for you, well… I guess you could order a salad, not my first choice but everyone is entitled to their own opinion (mine happens to be right, sorry).
The next thing that I will say might be a little controversial: I generally do not like cafeteria-style restaurants. You know what I mean: you stand in line, get to the counter, order your food get on yet another line to pay, then get your own napkins and utensils and sit down. I bring this up because I am noticing a trend towards creating new barbecue “restaurants” that are merely cafeterias: hill country, daisy Mays, and now the number 1 rated (according to Zagat’s) barbecue restaurant in the entire city, you guessed it, it’s a cafeteria too!
In closing, I apologize to any of you whom I have offended. In fact, if you prefer that I review a different kind of food, then please comment below. Next stop: Italian food, Yankees, college stuff, I have so much to talk about!
Let me know your thoughts, as always, take care.
Dan