Anyone who knows me knows that I am a foodie. I love to cook and if I wasn't a designer then I would take a shot at being a chef. Most people plan vacations around sightseeing - my wife and I plan our trips around restaurants.

The Dinosaur Bar-B-Q was started in 1983 by three bikers, bound together by the love of good food, a 55 gallon drum cut in half and for five years traveled motorcycle shows, fairs, and festivals up and down the east coast selling BBQ. In 1988, burnt out from the road, they settled into downtown Syracuse and opened up as a take out BBQ joint. By 1990 they doubled their space added a bar and the Dinosaur I love was born. I landed at college in Syracuse in 1991 and over the next four years Dinosaur was the backdrop for a lot of my best college memories. Give me amazing BBQ, a jukebox full of great blues and good friends and I am in heaven.

Since leaving college I have thought about the Dinosaur often, had cases of their sauce shipped to me in Texas, study their cookbook Dinosaur Bar-B-Que, An American Roadhouse and tried to figure out some way to get back for more. They have added locations in Rochester and most recently New York City at 131st street in Harlem. So the fates aligned and I recently went back to the city for my birthday and got to relive the glory days at their newest location and finally let my wife understand why I have been prattling on about this place for years. Check out the menu and if you are ever in Syracuse, Rochester or New York City do yourself a favor and have the best BBQ in the world. Then repeat the Dinosaur Good Eatin' Prayer with me - Get down on your knees and put up your paws, thank the good Lord for the use of your jaws.