Dinosaur Bar-B-Que is a New York-based barbecue concept that got its start on the road in 1983.
It all leads back to a mobile concession stand and three business partners: John Stage, Mike Rotella and a guy who “would just go by Dino,” according to Stage, owner of Dinosaur Bar-B-Que. They called themselves dinosaurs because they listened to old blues and rode old Harleys. Together, they would serve barbecue rubbed sausages, peppers, onions and steak sandwiches at fairs, festivals, and motorcycle shows.
People really enjoyed the food, but once work led them to cross the Mason-Dixon line some customers started to say: ‘Wow, this is good... but it ain’t barbecue.’ Stage, who began working at 22-years-old, admitted he knew nothing about smoking meat having grown up in the state of New York. He was simply grilling, pouring barbecue sauce on meats and calling it barbecue.