Iconic 42-year-old BBQ chain has closed half its restaurants

Barbecue has become America's national food, even though the definition of the cuisine varies from state to state. There's no consensus on the best American barbecue, and people will fight over dry versus wet, cooking techniques, and whether white sauce deserves a place at the table.

"Barbecue, not apple pie, is the most truly American food," wrote author Jim Auchmutey in his book, "Smoke Lore: A Short History of Barbecue in America."

And while the cooking style has roots all over the world, he noted, it has become something truly American.

"Barbecue goes back to the earliest encounters between European explorers and indigenous populations in the New World. It involves almost every aspect of our history, from the colonial era to slavery to the settling of the West to the coming of immigrants to the Great Migration to the spread of the automobile and the more recent rediscovery of craft and tradition," he wrote.

Now, one of the United States' most successful barbecue chains, Dinosaur Bar-B-Que, has lost another location, cutting its footprint in half.

Dinosaur Bar-B-Que closing its Brooklyn location

Not every restaurant that closes shuts down because it lacks customers and sales. In the case of Dinosaur Bar-B-Que's Brooklyn location, which transformed a former tool and die shop into a successful eatery, the chain is not closing because people lost interest.

"It is with a heavy heart that we announce the closure of our beloved Brooklyn store later this spring. After 15 wonderful years, our lease has ended, and the building will be demolished to make way for new apartments," Dinosaur Bar-B-Que shared on its Facebook page.

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In many ways, the chain became a victim of its own success. Many Dinosaur Bar-B-Que locations transformed industrial and other non-restaurant spaces into successful eateries.

That helped transform the neighborhood, which made the space more valuable as apartments than as a restaurant. As a former New Yorker, that's a story that played out regularly as the businesses that made an area hip get priced out in favor of housing.

A brief history of Dinosaur Bar-B-Que

• Dinosaur Bar-B-Que was founded in 1983 as a mobile concession serving food at motorcycle events and festivals.
• The company opened its first permanent restaurant in 1988, which remains a flagship location, the chain added.
• Dinosaur Bar-B-Que built a reputation for Southern-style barbecue, house-made sauces, and a live music atmosphere tied to biker culture.
• The company also expanded into retail, selling branded BBQ sauces and rubs nationwide.
  Source: Dinosaur Barbecue
• The Stamford, Conn. location closed in 2023 after years of operation, reflecting broader challenges in high-cost markets, according to the Stamford Advocate.
• The chain's Newark restaurant also closed in 2023, part of a broader contraction in certain urban locations, NJ.com reported.
• These closures come as restaurant operators face rising costs for labor and key inputs like meat, along with shifting post-pandemic dining patterns, according to Nation's Restaurant News (NRN).

What's next for Dinosaur Bar-B-Que?

Having eaten at multiple Dinosaur Bar-B-Que locations, I'll say that the chain has been a victim of its own success. It was a pioneer in the space, which cleared a path for smaller, better operations to open.

Dinosaur Bar-B-Que offers decent barbecue for a large, chain restaurant, but I was never overly impressed in my many visits there. It was good for a chain, but even in the northeast, where barbecue does not have deep roots, many local places have opened, catering to BBQ traditions from all around the country.

“Barbecue is really a niche opportunity,” Ron Paul, then president of Technomic Inc. told NRN in 2010. “Is it a menu item or a concept? Does the American public need a place for just ribs when you can get baby-back ribs at Chili’s? It’s a self-limiting category, and we’ve seen that it’s tough to create a national chain.”

At its peak, Dinosaur Bar-B-Que had 10 locations, but with its closure in Brooklyn, that has dropped to five: Harlem, Syracuse, Rochester, Troy, and Buffalo.

John Stage, the man who started the chain, sold a 70% stake to Soros Strategic Partners back in 2008, NRN reported. That led to quick expansion, but the founder bought back a controlling interest in 2019.

He noted the upside and downside of having a big-money partner.

"Access to capital and resources is what’s gained. Culture and freedom to operate as you did in the past can be lost," he told Entrepreneur.

Since taking back control, Stage has focused on a back-to-basics approach.

"We’re focusing within and examining every detail internally to make the foundation as good as it can be. We don’t want to open new stores, but rather focus on what we have and how to make it all better without distractions," he said.

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