By Jill Terreri
Dinosaur Bar-B-Que's Franklin Street location will open in October, and will include some Buffalo-specific menu items, said Jay Williams, vice president of development for the company.
The popular restaurant with Syracuse roots won Planning Board approval this morning on its plans to open a 180-seat restaurant in a former film storage building south of W. Tupper Street. The restaurant is planning a 1,500-square-foot addition to the 6,000-square-foot building, which will mostly be used to house four smokers at the rear of the building.
"Same great food, and a little different menu for Buffalo," Williams said. "John Stage, the founder, changes and adjusts the menu a little bit, so there will be a little surprise on the menu here. A lot of the same stable foods that we do, but it will have a little twist in it."
Neighbor John Lattanzio, who owns 490 Pearl St. and Cabaret restaurant, told the board he was concerned about the barbeque smell that will waft to his property.
"These smokers are going to engulf my business," Lattanzio told the board.
The board asked Williams to build the smokestacks higher to mitigate any effects on the neighborhood, and Williams said that wouldn't be a problem, though he noted the restaurant operates in dense urban areas in Harlem and Brooklyn, and does not receive complaints at those locations.
The board also gave its approval to Wegmans, which is planning a 15,000-square-foot retail space at its North Buffalo location, on greenspace in between its parking lot and Amherst Street. The store's intent is to lease the space to a single tenant, which it intends to be a wine or liquor retailer.
North Council Member Joseph Golombek asked that the board table the project for another two weeks for further community input, but exasperated board members said Wegmans had already revised its store design to address community concerns and what the Grant-Amherst Business Association was proposing was unreasonable.
"This could go on and on," said Board Member Martha Lamparelli. "We could be sitting here for six more months."
The business association, which has said it wanted a more urban design, submitted its concerns to the board late yesterday, and proposed moving the building on the parcel and several other changes that would completely change the project, according to Wegmans officials.
"Any talk of moving the building is ridiculous," said Board Member Frank Manuele.
