The latest Dinosaur Bar-B-Que location in Buffalo, NY is slatted to open February 12th. Optima Design is proud to be a part of the improvement of downtown Buffalo’s theater district by contributing civil site design and structural design to the new Dinosaur Bar-B-Que restaurant on Franklin Street.

The building was formally a Universal International film vault and Syracuse.com reports, “workers uncovered the marble logo under the ugly 1970s-era exterior they ripped down during construction.” The marble facade was then kept and incorporated into the design of the restaurant. “You start with the bones of the building, and the building really tells you what it wants to be,” company founder John Stage told The Buffalo News. “It’s not the easiest way to build, but it’s a lot of fun.”

Syracuse.com elaborates that, “in addition to the Syracuse original, [Dinosaur Bar-B-Que] has locations in Rochester, Troy, Harlem, Brooklyn, Newark, and Stamford. All were built from older, existing structures. The Syracuse location had been the N&H tavern for decades, and once housed a Cadillac dealership. The Rochester site was a former train station overlooking the Genesee River, the Brooklyn restaurant had been a tool and die shop, and the Newark location had many prior uses, including a boxing club where Ruben ‘Hurricane’ Carter once trained.”

Optima Design is excited to be a part of the development of downtown Buffalo in a way that preserves the city’s character.