Recently, I visited two restaurants considered landmarks in their respective towns: Caroline's Diner in Potsdam and Dinosaur Bar-b-que in Syracuse.
We had breakfast at Caroline's on a Friday, lunch the following day at Dinosaur.
CAROLINE'S DINER
124 MARKET ST.
POTSDAM
268-0109
A line of cars circled Dunkin' Donuts on outer Market Street early one morning.
Right next door, a little blue house disguised as Caroline's Diner looked pretty quiet in comparison. Until we pulled into the parking lot out back.
There must have been 25 cars there. How could all these people fit into that tiny restaurant? Or did everyone drive two cars?
Inside, we were surprised to find an open booth, so we grabbed it in a hurry.
And there was no lack of local businessmen, teachers and retirees engaged in discussions of everything from the price of gas to Hillary and Barack.
Sometimes I wonder if people go to eat at these local diners or go to solve the problems of the world.
Anyway, we were there to eat. And our waitress was there lickety-split to take our order. Hey, slow down, we're tourists, not regulars — we don't have the menu memorized.
A good diner waitress should be quick, especially to get customers off to work in the morning. But we weren't going to work. We were working.
The menu contained all the usual breakfast stuff — eggs all ways, all kinds of cereals, pancakes, french toast, omelets and more.
Coffee came in a flash, and food a few flashes later.
Ham and cheese omelet was a good portion. The cheese was runny and yummy, but the ham was a little overpowered with sodium nitrates and nitrites.
Thick, homemade toast was great.
A frequent item on the specials board, we were told, is the hash with toast and egg options.
The hash was very good, the right combination of corned beef, potatoes and seasonings. Scrambled eggs were fully cooked and slashed diner-style with a spatula just before being served. Buttered homemade toast, again, a winner.
At least three experienced, adult waitresses worked the room with carafes of coffee seemingly strapped to their arms. Coffee cups were filled as often as needed with absolutely no limit.
To try something from the lunch menu, I ordered an egg salad sandwich and a piece of pie to go.
The sandwich could have used a little mayo (probably my fault for not asking).
Chips served with it appeared to be from the bottom of a bag.
Despite a half-dozen pie choices on the blackboard, the only one available was pumpkin, and I think it had been around for a while. A blob of whipped topping would have helped, but I know that wouldn't have held up in the Styrofoam container until lunchtime.
Two breakfasts and a lunch to go came to $17 before tip.
Caroline's serves breakfast and lunch only, seven days a week.
DINOSAUR BAR-B-QUE
246 WILLOW ST.
SYRACUSE
476-4937
I'm probably the only person in Northern New York who's never been to the Dinosaur Bar-b-que in Syracuse. Finally, I made it there two Saturdays ago for lunch.
Three biker dudes opened the place on a whim 25 years ago. Since then, it has grown in to a Mecca for worshippers and lovers of barbecue.
My friend suggested we get there early, or there might be lines out the door. So we hit at 11:15. Waitresses in jeans and Dinosaur logo tank tops were gearing up for the crowds about to come. By noon, there was hardly a seat to be found in the place.
We don't own any biker garb, so we snuck in wearing T-shirts and baseball caps.
Shortly after noon, motorcycles began arriving en masse, their riders in leather contributing to the desired dining room atmosphere.
But everyone's welcome at the Dinosaur. Guys in suits took over a few tables.
A family with little kids sat at the table next to us.
Vegetarians will have to take their chances.
Greg, the only male waiter we could see, took care of us. Good care of us. With a beer menu that won't quit, we started with a pint of Bass ale and a mug of Dinosaur's own microbrew made by a local Syracuse brewery.
Greg was typical of the help at Dinosaur — friendly, upbeat, attentive, with a very positive attitude; he made timely deliveries and asked the right questions of us.
For food, we started with a "palate igniter" — fried green tomatoes, deep-fried with a crispy, crunchy batter, sprinkled with pecorino Romano cheese that we could smell as Greg placed them on our table, and a marvelous cayenne buttermilk ranch dipping sauce.
Getting into the meat of the matter was a little harder. There are bar-b-que pork ribs, pulled and sliced smoked meats, bar-b-que chicken, two and three meat combos, pork, beef or chicken bar-b-que sandwiches, bar-b-que "chuck" burgers, brisket plates and pork plates and much more.
We were going to order the Big Ass Pork Plate (smoked pork shoulder, hand-pulled and piled high), but weren't sure the paper could put that in print. So we played it safe and shared one of the house samplers: 1/4 chicken (leg and thigh) and 1/4 rack of ribs and took the add-on option of 1/4 pound of "drunken spicy shrimp."
Good-sized peel and eat shrimp, cooked in beer, Old Bay, cayenne, herbs and spices, are served cold with habanero cocktail sauce.
We were surprised that the meat on the ribs wasn't falling off the bone — a good bit of picking-them-up-in-your-hands-and-gnawing-on-them was required.
The real surprise was the chicken leg and thigh, the dark meat, which was super moist and flavorful and did fall off the bone.
None of the meat was slathered with sauce, as you might expect. You get to do your own slathering with the half-dozen Dinosaur sauces on the table. These popular sauces are now available in many area supermarkets.
The sides we tried were outstanding. Two came with the sampler, and we ordered two additional from the list of 16.
Beans are a given, and their sweet, mystery-spiced bar-b-que beans (there's meat in there) were awesome. Cole slaw was good, but didn't measure up to the beans. Tomato-cucumber salad was excellent, with fresh basil and a zippy vinaigrette.
Dirty rice, a side "special," was a killer, wet rice with sausage, shredded chicken and chicken livers (we had to ask). We could have made a main dish out of this, it was so gooood. Cornbread drizzled with honey comes with all the meals.
Some theme restaurants can be heavy on hype and short on food quality. Dinosaur Bar-b-que has it all together. Its success in Syracuse spilled over into Rochester where it opened in 1998. In 2004, it opened a Dinosaur in New York City. Hey, if you can make it there, you can make it anywhere.
Sorry, Frank.
A huge lunch for two came to $33, plus $12 for mandatory beer.
It's open 11 a.m. till midnight Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m. till 1 a.m. Friday and Saturday, noon to 10 p.m. Sunday.
TIDBITS
While traveling up the East Coast last week, I enjoyed two fabulous (yeah, I'd give 'em five forks) restaurants.
In Charlotte, N.C., I visited a bistro-style restaurant called 131 Main. A hip setting, refreshingly experienced wait staff and delectable eats like wild mushroom and artichoke soup, cast iron scallops over herb polenta cake, and cedar plank salmon with whole grain mustard butter. www.131-main.com
In little Horseheads, there's Tanino Ristorante, a gem of an Italian restaurant tucked away in a side-street strip mall. My veal saltimbocca was exceptional, served over wilted romaine. Homemade penne with vodka sauce was equally good. Wood-fired pizzas. Impressive wine list. Excellent service. www.taninoristorante.com
You can contact Walter E. Siebel via e-mail: wsiebel@wdt.net.
