BBQ Club loves Dinosaur BBQ + Hill Country 4ever
As I mentioned in this entry reviewing Justin Timberlake’s Southern Hospitality restaurant, BBQ Club is a monthly get-together of about a dozen of my friends at various New York City BBQ restaurants. Last night we hit up Dinosaur Bar-B-Que, and the month previous we went to Hill Country — both of which were pretty awesome for different reasons.
Dinosaur Bar-B-Que — way up on Manhattan’s west 131st Street — is out of the way for us Brooklynites, but a renowned spot we knew we had to get to at some point. The place was packed, especially for a restaurant so far out of the way on a Sunday night. In fact, I overheard the hostess tell a party of two that the wait could be anywhere from 45 minutes to 2 hours — so I’d suggest reserving a spot at OpenTable.com no matter what!
That said, none of us were surprised with how ridiculously good the food was. People were pretty down with the bar-b-que sauce, which recently won an EatingWell Smart Choice award. From ribs to pulled pork to mac and cheese, everybody left satisfied and happy (and wishing it didn’t take over an hour to get there so we could go every single day).
Texas-themed Hill Country — a New York magazine critic’s pick — is a closer option on Manhattan’s West 26th St. This restaurant is a super choice for large parties because of the way they charge: Each guest receives a little card to bring to the long counter of choices, at which you tell the server what you want (“two ribs and a side of mac and cheese,” for example) and they fill out the costs on your individual card to pay upon leaving. Thus, no need to stress over splitting the bill at the end! Genius, I say.
Some favorites at our table were the brisket (which you can order either moist or lean) and the sweet potato bourbon mash. Unlike me & my weirdly distorted idea of how much food I can fit in my body, I advise you to try & chill out on that first wide-eyed trip up to the counter; I personally over-stuffed myself full of brisket, ribs, and mac and cheese to the point of exhaustion.
