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DINOSAUR BARBECUE JOINTS SAVOR SWEET SUCCESS

By Neil Janowitz

“They got it,” is the first thing Paul G. W. Fetscher said when he was asked about Dinosaur Bar-B-Que, a trio of ramshackle-looking food-and-music joints throughout New York state that ooze as much atmosphere as barbecue sauce. “It’s clear that the owners are passionate about food and music,” Fetscher, the president of Great American Brokerage and restaurantexpert.com, said. “That’s what makes Dinosaur a win-win situation.”

What comes across when Fetscher speaks about Dinosaur is the type of admiration usually reserved for seasoned, formally trained restaurateurs. Which isn’t to say that John Stage, founder, owner andpresident, doesn’t possess those qualities. He just took an atypical path to acquiring them. Stage, who says his early career consisted of assorted odd jobs, embarked on his culinary journey with Dinosaur Concessions, a roving food stand, in 1983.

“I started out traveling up and down the East Coast to festivals, fairs and motorcycle shows,” said Stage. “At first it was Italian sausages and steak sandwiches, then I moved into more barbecue-themed stuff in the mid-’80s.” When life on the road became too exhausting, Stage decided to stay put in Syracuse, N.Y. — where he lived at the time — and turn Dinosaur Concessions into an area barbecue restaurant.

The Syracuse location of Dinosaur Bar-B-Que, which opened in 1988, established the aesthetics and ambience that future sites would adopt. Its influences were clearly culled from Stage’s time on the road, with a roadhouse feel featuring brick-and-wood facades, vintage concert posters, antique tin signage and assorted accoutrements of a similar theme. It doesn’t have the repetitious, faux-vintage décor that has become the staple of restaurants like TGI Fridays and the like; rather, Dinosaur restaurants look and feel genuine.

Of course, when it comes to creating that type of ambience, nothing helps more than the two staples Fetscher mentioned: food and music. The menu, which is almost universally praised, offers an expertly prepared assortment of barbecue classics like chicken, ribs and pulled pork, all available with a broad variety of sides and drinks from the extensive bar. The events calendar rarely has a vacancy, with rocking blues musicians taking the stage nightly in all three locations. And for diners who want to take the experience home, Dinosaur offers a line of home-cooking products — most notably its branded barbecue sauce, which helped it gain a foothold in grocery stores “up and down the East Coast, and a little out West,” according to Stage.

Stage says that an appreciation for barbecue extends across all social and economic boundaries, so it’s hard to characterize the company’s demographic — particularly at the New York City restaurant, which is located in Harlem. But Jerry Watkins, vice president of marketing and development for Farash Corp., which owns Dinosaur’s Rochester building, offered a more detailed assessment. “They bring in everyone from the suit-and-tie crowd to blue-collar workers to the elderly,” he said. “And it’s more than just bands and booze on a Friday.” That’s precisely the type of environment Watkins envisioned when Dinosaur first approached him in 1998 asking to go into his building. “The site in Rochester is on the fringe of town, and we’ve gotten a lot of people with big dreams that are out after six months,” said Watkins. “But when I got out to Syracuse and saw that location, which was also away from the downtown, any skepticism I had disappeared. They took this rough-looking facility and made it into a homey, livable place.”

Not once since that agreement was signed has either party looked back. “When word got out that Dinosaur was coming to town, people began mailing the newspapers and asking when it was going to open,” said Watkins. “They had a following before even getting into town.” Now after being in business for nine years, the only possible downside — the smoke — isn’t even a downside, according to Watkins. “The smoke … from the barbecues isn’t the perfect smell to have,” he said. “But really, it’s not an abrasive smell. It’s more of an indication that you’re getting close. Not something you’d expect near a downtown.” Watkins says that type of vibe has helped set Dinosaur apart on the Rochester scene. “I couldn’t name any competition in the area,” he said.

And now that the New York City venue, which opened in 2004, has grown to become arguably the restaurant’s most visible and popular location yet, the owners — Stage, along with Larry Luckwaldt and his ex-wife, Nancy Luckwaldt — are eyeing their next move. Larry Luckwaldt, who was a liquor salesman before joining the Dinosaur crew in 1991 to shore up its bar business, says the company has grown every year it has been in business, with double-digit gains over the past few years. (He declined to disclose exact sales figures.)

Stage adds that the plan is to use that leverage to expand, but prudently. “When the mood strikes, we expand,” he said. “If we’re ready and things are right, we’ll do it. We just want to maintain our quality.” Part of that quality is the off-the-beaten-path locales that have come to define Dinosaur. Stage says their buildings range in size from 6,000 to 7,300 square feet, and that they look for “raw” buildings with interesting architecture. Ideally, they like an emerging area of a larger city, and all of the locations will be company-owned. Stage and Larry Luckwaldt anticipate making a push for a fourth joint within the year.

That’s an appropriate timeline, according to Fetscher. “I’d hate to see them expand just for the sake of expanding,” he said. “Right now, Dinosaur is famous for not being famous. It’s more of a cult thing, and should remain that way — the type of place you want to show visitors when they come to town. Like an In-and-Out Burger type of vibe. People look forward to traveling to L.A. because of that restaurant. It wouldn’t have the same cachet if it were found off the Jersey turnpike.”

What Fetscher also warns about is expansion into unreceptive territory — namely, places with established barbecue identities. “Barbecue is regional,” he explained. “Every person, in every area, has their own.”

But as long as Dinosaur stays true to its roots, Fetscher says he is confident it can have a great run in this region. “One of the strengths of having these regional restaurants is that they can stay true to themselves and not worry about Wall Street trends,” he observed. “There are enough viable downtowns between Washington, D.C., and Maine to open, say, 20 stores. But they must continue to find those edgy, emerging parts of town.” Fetscher adds that the “rebuilding” feeling of Dinosaur’s stores fits perfectly with slowly gentrifying areas, thereby resulting in what is ultimately its strongest attribute: authenticity.

“Most barbecue joints, because of the smokiness and shoestring operations, are forced to open on the wrong side of the tracks, in the bad parts of town,” Fetscher noted. “Dinosaur actually seeks those areas out to capture that atmosphere, and they perfectly emulate the types of buildings you’d find.” And, Festcher points out, it retains the spirit that drove people to Harlem in the first place: music. “It’s so well planned that it’s even authentic to the neighborhood,” he said laughing. “Knowing how history has a way of rewriting itself, I won’t be surprised if people forget how new Dinosaur is and start telling their friends, ‘I saw Duke Ellington play there 40 years ago.’ ”