Dinosaur Bar-B-Que

Agave Mexican Restaurant. Incredible food! I recently moved here from Los Angeles where I lived for 45 years and this food was better than any I remember in LA. It’s a small, warm atmosphere with great service including friendly manner
of server and chef, who, by the way, studied at the cordon bleu in Mexico!
The restaurant is located on 96 in Bushnell Basin, Pittsford, NY. Its a gem.

Let’s begin with the atmosphere. It’s pretty much everything you would expect from a quality BBQ joint. From the dark wood interior to the blues playing over the sound system. There is no question when you walk in that you’re in a classic Q’ joint.
The service was impeccable. Originally seated at a table too small for our party and a rambunctious 2 yr. old. A veteran waitress immediately saw our predicament and moved us to a much more fitting table, that wasn’t even her’s. The waitress assigned to our table was top notch. Attentive without being over bearing.
Now let’s get down to what we’re all here for, THE FOOD!
I judge my Q’ joints on 4 criteria:
Beer.
Nice local beers on tap. If a place can’t support the locals, I see no reason for the locals to support it. So kudos for the local rotators!
Pulled pork. (If they can’t get this right, the may as well shut the doors.)
Top notch! Solid smoke flavor from first bite to last, without tasting like an ashtray. Never added any sauce, which is as good Q’ should be.
Mac and cheese. (The quintessential BBQ side)
Deep, rich, creamy. Most definitely the best mac and cheese I’ve had in ages. This alone was worth the price of the meal.
Cornbread. (The other classic side)
Honestly? Yeah, no. Sorry folks you missed it on this one. Execution was fine. Just way too sweet and cake like.
Side notes.
Tried a rib from my son-in-law’s plate. Good bite through. Excellent flavor profile. Deep beautiful smoke ring.
Had a wing from my wife’s plate. PERFECT! PERFECT! PERFECT! Smoke flavor throughout, moist, tender, and that char on the skin, OH THAT CHAR!
Finished with the most amazing peanut butter pie. I don’t usually get desert but this will long be a MUST HAVE.

I had the combo plate and tried the brisket, hot link, and wings. All were good, but the smoked wings were excellent. Sides were also on par with the rest of the meal. Nice selection of on tap beer. Wait staff were friendly.

Food is great and service was satisfactory. Too many people mingling in main reception area.

Love the food. The place is really particular. The bar is really busy from 5−7pm. Overall, I love the food. Mondays are not that busy.

Ok … Here I am am in Rochester N. Y
Fortunately, during the summer.
With almost 700 reviews and an average star rating of 4 ½ stars it’s DinosaurBar-​B-​Q tonight. This has got to be a sure thing. A slam drunk, a no brainier they say.
Got there at 6pm. It was busy but not overly so. Put our name down for a table. Hostess told us we could also eat in the bar if we liked. So off we went to the bar to try and find a table.
Eventually someone got up and left. It then took forever to get it cleaned off. Then got booted out of this table because people on the waiting list wanted it. Huh? Bar area isn’t open seating? Who would have thunk it.
Ok, now we got seated in the main dinning room at a nice table looking out on the river. But, tell me about the food not your table troubles. How was the Bar B Q?
Ordered the 3 meat plate of a ¼ chicken, ribs, and sausage. Came with two sides and a piece of cornbread. Asked for Mac & cheese and mashed potatoes and gravy. (see pic) Yes. This will fill you up.
It came on a plate big enough for everything without over crowding. Nice presentation overall.
My favorite was the sausage (never figured that would take 1^st place), then, the chicken. Moist chicken and great crispy skin. Lastly, the ribs. They are known for their ribs. And they were pretty good.
People love the sauce here and you can buy a jar before you leave if you would like to. Good sauce. Yes. Tomato based. Not to much vinegar or bitterness.
Dinner partner had the ribs and pulled pork and he thought it was excellent.
Personally I thought the Mac & cheese was very good. The mashed potatoes was just fair.
The atmosphere is a bit loud with the sound bouncing off the wood floors.
Overall the food was pretty good. I would come here again (but only in the summer though) .
Happy travel and dining to you all.

Hands down the best BBQ I have had outside of Tx.
I did an around the world type meal to get an overall picture. The ribs were excellent! Lots of smoke flavor, tender with just the slightest of pulls and they had a delicious rub on them. When BBQ doesn’t need sauce it is done correctly.
The brisket was superb. The only places I have had better brisket was Franklins in Austin and Coopers in llano Tx.
Smoked wings were delicious.
I seriously have only been to two BBQ places on the country that are better then this one. If you are ever in Rochester enhance your trip and stop in!!!

Great bbq at a great location. Parking is a pain, but worth it.
Ribs were great, steak was pretty good.
Also, live music and a cool ambience.

Let me start off by saying I’m not a big fan of BBQ sauce on my ribs and brisket. Central Texas BBQ is what I crave when I’m having BBQ. I want to taste the smoke and the meat. However, I’m game to try new BBQ joints.
For me, the BBQ sauce on the meats at this establishment were an unfortunate distraction. I felt like they were more interested in showcasing their sauces on the ribs and brisket rather than the meat itself. I have no idea if the ribs were smoked with oak, or cheery wood or hit with some apple juice. I felt like I mostly ate BBQ sauce. It’s really a shame. The brisket was moist and had a nice smoke ring. The ribs were cooked perfectly. If someone wants sauce, they already have the squeeze bottles on the tables. In my opinion, the meat would have been elevated without it. .
For sides I had the BBQ baked beans and the collared greens. I would get the greens again.
They had some local beers including Three Heads Brewing. Great vibe in the place. Lots of potential.

Holy cow, absolutely — hands down the best ribs I have had in a long time. The place just rocks, we had so much fun. Be aware of the long wait for a table, up to 1.5 hrs. Just saying.
Also, I am here to tell you, Sticky Lips sucks compared to Dinosaur. The locals are always debating, but I went to both and Sticky Lips was a major bust. Also, look at the number of reviews and stars, ‘nough said.

I, along with pretty much every other Bruce Springsteen fan, came here before Bruce’s February concert. This is really the only place within walking distance of the arena we could find. The place was PACKED almost to the point of overwhelming the staff. However, the staff really did a good job of handling the crush of fans who all seemed to show up at the same time. We were lucky enough to quickly find two seats and a ledge near the bar, set up our spot, and split the BBQ platter. More than enough for 2. The food was better than I expected. No complaints and nothing stood out as remarkable, so a perfect 3 star score is in order here.

Yes, yes and more yes!
Both of our sons attend RIT and D BBQ was immediately recommended. I’m glad we were warned to call ahead to make reservations! But to be quite honest, no matter because you can go to the bar, grab a drink and hang out until your party is called!
Let me just say, do not let a long wait keep you away. Either plan ahead and make a call, go earlier before they get busy, go on a slower night (Mon/​Tues are usually a lot slower) or hang out and try one of the many awesome beers on tap/​bottle at the bar while you wait. You will not regret it!
Everything is cooked to perfection and delicious! They make fried green tomatoes to rival the south, so make sure you order them. :)
Lost count of how many times we’ve eaten here since we make a point of doing it every time we go up to move kids in/​out, for breaks, and any other reason we’ve gone up. Is it wrong to be glad my young son will be at RIT another year (and hope for longer/​that he doesn’t transfer out as he’s been talking about) just so we can keep coming to this restaurant?! lol Fortunately, we’ve heard they opened a location up near us, in Stamford. One of these days we’ll drive down and give them a try.
My older son just graduated and we brought our 2 sons and my in-​laws here. We ordered the family meal that feeds 6 and upgraded the sides to pint size. We had 6 people in our party and everyone are big meat eaters and we still had more meat in that special order than we could eat. Upsizing to pint size ended up being more like 2 pints per side (the portions were enormous and could have fed 8 – 10, including the meat) by the time we were done. But i’m glad we did upsize because everything is so good, we love having the leftovers! Thankfully we had a fridge to put them in and a cooler for the drive home.
I mention this particular order because it’s something we had ignored in the past, but you get a really good variety of their meats and a lot of sides and it’s a huge savings over ordering separately — and you’ll have enough of all for everyone to get some of everything. So if you’re going with a party of 5 or more, definitely consider ordering «Family Stylin’ Bbq for $ 68.95. They say on the menu that it serves 4 – 6 people, but our experience was that it’s more like 6 – 8 people. Maybe 4 – 6 big men with huge appetites, otherwise for the average eater you can go for 6 people. I also should say, we did throw in 2 – 3 extra sides — too good to resist.
Their desserts are awesome, too. I don’t think they make their desserts in house, but the desserts are made locally and are fresh/​absolutely delicious!
Go, trust me, you will NOT regret it. Oh yeah, they also have live music on their busy nights and the bands are always awesome!

The long waits for a table have kept me away from Dinosaur for years but yesterday I had the opportunity to go when there were no crowds. Nothing like a Thursday evening at 5:30 to snag a table for four with no wait.
Our server was friendly and patient as we were chatting and not focused on ordering. As usual once we ordered our food was out in under 10 minutes. The half rack of ribs was very good and moist, no need to slather on extra sauce. The beef brisket was ok, not as good as at Marty’s on Park. The bbq bean side was good as was the spicy Cajun corn. The slaw was just eh and the corn bread was a bit dry but not bad.
With pork ribs it can be sometimes hit or miss, sometimes too dry (last couple times at Sticky Lips), so it was nice to get them just right. I’ll have to stop by again on slow nights like last night when there are no waits because the ribs sure are good here!

Just upgrading to five, as Dinosaur was more than generous for compensating me for the missing part of my order. Excellent customer service!

I wasn’t crazy about the parallel street parking on a busy bridge or smelling BBQ for 45 minutes while waiting for a seat but the food and service made up for the rocky start.
I swear, we had our food in under five minutes of ordering and it was definitely fresh.
My husband and I shared the sweetheart platter. The ribs literally fell off the bone. The mashed potatoes and gravy and the fries were great. Wasn’t crazy about the mac ‘n cheese, but 2 out of 3 ain’t bad. The boys shared their usual chicken tenders and fries with tasty house made ranch dressing.
Speaking of kids, it’s kid friendly but a picture of Marilyn Monroe in a swimsuit across from our booth, with the cheeky addition of a hand pointing at her bottom, prompted some questions from our slap happy children.
(No, that’s not where babies get pooped out of. They don’t get po… ugh, nevermind, color your dinosaurs.)
I had a flight of 4 beers, 4 oz. each, for a mere $ 5.50.
I would have expected Finger Lake wines, especially since there’s less attitude about wines from that region, but no such luck. Also, I like rosé wines with BBQ, and they didn’t have any. Fat Frog Pink from Montezuma would be perfect with their food. Just sayin.‘
I went easy on dinner to save room for this month’s featured cheesecake. It was Kahlua with white chocolate and whipped cream on the side, and a chocolate drizzle. So good. I don’t know if it’s made in house or if they have a local supplier, but it was wonderful.
Service was great. The restaurant was loud.

No, I had never been to Dinosaur Barbecue… I know everyone else in the world has. Finally!!! My friend had told me that I MUST try the fried green tomatoes, so I started with them. She was right: amazing! I couldn’t stop eating them but I had a whole dinner coming… Tres Ninos because I wanted to try as many things as I could.
My dinner had brisket, pulled pork and ribs along with macaroni and cheese, coleslaw and cornbread. The barbecue was yummy; the ribs were hands down, my favorite. Although I liked the other meats, I love me a good rib! (lip smacking sound for emphasis!) the macaroni and cheese was cheesy and spicy and I liked the flavor but I do wish they had baked it with a little crust. At first, I was disappointed with the coleslaw because it was cut in big chunks, however, it was light and creamy and seasoned just right so I changed my mind. The cornbread… Eh! Not my favorite…
Absolutely worth the trip. Next time, I’ll try the Buffalo restaurant and order ribs and fried green tomatoes… yummmm!

Sometimes Unilocal does me right and there are those times I just scratch my head.
Perhaps it was just an off night? We ordered a deluxe brisket dinner and it was just bad: Fatty and oily meat was just so unappetizing we could not finish half of it.
The other meal ordered was the St Louis ribs and brisket. The ribs were way over cooked, tough, chewy, and laden with fat and gristle. My brisket was better as it was mostly meat and was not oily but was a tad dry.
Their sauces are excellent!!!
Perhaps it was eating on the earlier side 6:30 and not getting fresh bbq? Still not an excuse.
The sides were also really mediocre. Corn bread was dry and flavorless. Macaroni salad was boiled pasta shells with mayonnaise and mustard… meh. Cole slaw was pretty good.
I also ordered a Mac and cheese and it was over salted and peppered. Couldn’t eat it.
The beer I wanted was sold out and the two beers we had were very mediocre and almost flat.
I really really love the atmosphere… such a cool divey vibe right on the river.
I personally would skip this place.

I’d been hearing about this place since moving to Rochester and finally checked it out. It was not too bad for Rochester but did not live up to the hype. I could tell when I walked up to the place when it did not have the typical smoked BBQ smell I’ve grown accustomed to when going to eat BBQ.
The location is pretty nice sitting right on the water so they definitely get kudos for that. The food smelled pretty decent once inside and they had a fairly simple menu that did not provide for many options as far as your order. I think Brisket might have been the only meat item that had several options in regards to how it was served and prepared. I ordered the NY Strip Steak, Fries, Black Beans and Rice. My steak did not have the flavor I’d expect it to have from a grill but it was okay. You can’t really go wrong with fries so I can’t say much about the fries but the black beans and rice was a bore to my taste buds. The service was fast and friendly.
All in all I was not impressed after hearing so much about this place. The food is good but not something I’d say you must try. If you are a fan of BBQ spots and not from Rochester I would not recommend coming here with high expectations. The food is average and not going to blow your mind as some locals might have you think. Parking is meter parking only during the weekdays and scarce as this place is located by a bridge. I would recommend going to Sticky Lips over this place.

I was here with family for a catered event. The place was packed but the upstairs was nice and spacious for our party. The staff was friendly but we could tell after a bit that the bartender was a bit overwhelmed with her inability to wash glasses, and with a limited liquor selection upstairs.
There was more than enough seating for our party, and the food was pretty spot on. Pulled pork was delicious, as was the mashed potatoes. The chicken was a bit overdone but the sauce on it was bomb.
After a while the server came back around and ensured that everyone knew we had enough for seconds. Our plates were even cleared for us, which was nice. The views out the top windows were cool– looking out over the dam at night. Overall this was a low key place with food and drinks that everyone could be happy with.

My go-​to restaurant whenever I’m in Rochester. Cool atmosphere, cool location right on the Genesee River, and absolutely awesome BBQ food.
I usually go for the combo so that I can get two or three things, and everything I’ve had has been tasty and done right. My favorites are the brisket and the pulled pork. Definitely recommend.

Un grand classique de Rochester!
La nourriture y est assez incroyable, l’ambiance biker aussi.
Il y a souvent un peu d’attente et il vaut donc mieux réserver.