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A beloved restaurant is closing its Brooklyn location later this spring.
Dinosaur Bar-B-Que will be closing its doors at its Union Street location after 15 years in the spot.
“It is with a heavy heart that we announce the closure of our beloved Brooklyn store later this spring,” the restaurant said in a statement posted to Instagram.
The restaurant noted that its lease has ended, and the building will now be demolished to make way for new apartments.
“Dinosaur Bar-B-Que Brooklyn has been more than just a restaurant. It’s been a place for friends, families, first dates, celebrations, and plenty of unforgettable nights in Gowanus,” their Facebook post read.
“But what really made this place special wasn’t just the building. It was the people,” the statement continued.
“While it’s never easy to say goodbye to a place like this, we are incredibly grateful for every guest, every regular, and every team member who helped make Dinosaur Bar-B-Que Brooklyn what it is.”
While there is no official final service date yet, Dinosaur-Bar-B-Que said they’ll inform patrons on social media as soon as they know.
“Come see us and help us send this place off the right way,” the restaurant said. “And this isn’t goodbye forever. You can still find us in Harlem and Upstate.”
“Brooklyn, thank you for 15 unforgettable years.”
Gift cards will be honored at the Brooklyn location through its final day of service and at all remaining locations thereafter.
The chain has another location in Harlem and four upstate in Syracuse, Rochester, Troy and Buffalo. Dinosaur once had 10 locations, including in Connecticut, New Jersey, Chicago and Baltimore, but all out-of-state outposts have since shuttered, according to Syracuse.com.
Dinosaur Bar-B-Que started in the early 1980s as a traveling concession stand serving bikers. Founder John Stage and his motorcycle friend Mike Rotella then opened the first physical location in Syracuse in 1988.
On social media, locals expressed their sadness toward the closing of the restaurant.
“It would be less painful if you knew a quality building was going to go up. But it’s going to be a soulless box, with no charm, and built with the cheapest available materials. Smh,” one person commented.
“It’s always for some unaffordable apartments here. How unfortunate,” a user wrote.
“That sound you hear is the life being sucked out of cool old Gowanus as fast as possible,” someone said on Facebook.
“It sucks. I feel it makes the neighborhood less desirable when all the businesses close and get replaced by luxury condos because why even live here when there’s nothing to do except go to work?” a Reddit user asked.
“Too many closures. The real NYC is being pushed out,” someone said. “The soul of the city is dying from greed.”
“The things that made Gowanus unique and special for people to want to come to are the things we are losing for these terrible, ridiculous-looking apartment buildings,” one added.
“May the canal and its ghosts swallow up the ugly forest of condos that have stolen the sky and our favorite cool places,” a user wrote. “May the richies wonder what it was that ever brought them here.”
The restaurant also asked people in the comments to share some of their memories, and many patrons chimed in with meaningful moments that happened at Dino.
“My uncle, who passed away, took me here when it first opened. This was when he was first diagnosed with cancer,” one person shared. “It was an amazing day with amazing food with my uncle. I miss him so much! Thank you for giving us a space to have such a beautiful memory.”
“Depression city… My daughter went to the children’s school not far from there and every last day of school the whole family would have a last day of school celebration dinner,” another wrote.
“First solid food my son ever ate was the mashed potatoes here.. we still go every month.. now all chicken he eats is ‘dinosaur BBQ chicken,’ ” a local said.
“My fkin heart is broken. The family meal takeout basically got my husband and me through COVID lockdowns,” one wrote.
“This is sad. This was a go-to place for many of my family celebrations. Thank you for everything. You’ll be missed,” another commented.
