I used to work at a restaurant in Pennsylvania before I move to San Francisco. When I walked into T-Rex Berkeley I felt like I was entering a hipper, cooler, more modern version of my old restaurant/bar… it smelled the same (kind of like an old tavern meets cleaning products meets smoking meat) and the menu layout was identical and used the same font (only the nerdy graphic designer in me would notice this).
T-Rex was definitely off to a great start once I saw the Hoegaarden on the beer list. They brought it back with an orange though (oops!)… oranges are for Franziskaner, lemons are for Hoe… most people don’t know that though (just like how you never drink Guinness from a can!) Anyway, we ordered alot of food, check it out:
These ribs were AWESOME. They were very flavorful and seasoned perfectly with just the right amount of spices. They came with both a sweet and a hot bbq sauce, both of which were really different from one another. I prefered a mix of the two – the sweet one was very sweet and tangy and the hot one had a more smokey peppery flavor. I haven’t had ribs in a long time so these really hit the spot. I didn’t eat the toast and I wasn’t so wild about the potato salad either, just wanted the meat…
Growing up, my stepdad grilled ribs and other goodies during the summer, so I have become a seasoned rib eater, and I’m not just saying this because he’s my stepdad – but alot of these bbq people have alot to live up to. I don’t know what he does to them, but they are so good that I can’t really order ribs anywhere else because they’re never as good as his. T-Rex ribs get an A.
Ooh, now onto the single side dish that I measure many of my favorite restaurant’s upon – the french fry. As you can see, these are thicker cut fries with skins ON. I’m no potato expert but I’m guessing they were freshly cut yukon gold potatoes? They were much starchier than normal russet potatoes and you could tell that the oil they were fried in was fairly new since they didn’t have the “fried”, “buttery” grease, it was “cleaner” grease if you know what I mean… This was the first of 2 fry orders. The first round came out a bit dry (but good enough that I ate most of them) – I think they were under a heatlamp too long… the second batch was much fresher but by then I was too full to eat anything else. The ketchup was also homemade and it had a nice kick to it. Good ketchup.
More brunch appetizers… the Maple Sugar Beignets with Espresso Custard (topped with fresh whipped cream). The beignets were to DIE for. I’m not really the queen of sweet tooth but I definitely could’ve eaten this whole order if I wasn’t sharing it with 2 other people. It was amazing and if you ever go to T-Rex you need to try them. Beignets are great – if you don’t know what they are, they’re a light fluffy dough, usually stuffed with something (chocolate, fruit, etc), but these were just the dough and you put the espresso custard on top (or just dip it). Definitely A++ on the beignets. 
Finally the main dishes. My friend and I decided to split 2 entrees. I ordered the “Tart of T-rex ham and gruyere cheese, carmelized onions and two over easy eggs and toast.” She ordered the “Pulled pork sandwich with bbq potato chips and cole slaw”
When I got my dish, I didn’t recognize it – I thought I was getting a tart? I was definitely expecting a puff pastry or some elaborate ham and cheese croissant-like dish… what I got was a flat disc of pastry, on top of the pastry was some ham, cheese, then the 2 eggs over easy. They forgot to give me toast, and I felt bad asking for it since the waiter already made a mistake and he was trying really hard to make up for it. So, the arugula salad made up for the missing toast. I don’t think I would order this dish again – it wasn’t bad but it didn’t blow me away like I thought it would. My suggestion – add something to give it a little crunch, or maybe put the entire thing inside a pastry? I know it’s supposed to be a tart but there was just something missing, sorry.
Holy KRAY-berries (my word for OMG OMG!!!) look at that Pork BBQ Sandie! I think out of all of the pork bbq I’ve ever eaten, this was probably the BEST. My friend said the sauce was too vinegar-y for her, but I thought it was perfect – the perfect amount of sweet and tangy without losing the flavor of the pork itself. And the bun was nice and soft and wasn’t one of those annoying crumbly ones that fall apart (or get really soggy). The chips were amazing too, nice light, sweet bbq flavor and they were thick-cut with alot of crunch, just the way I like ’em. By this point I was way too full to try the coleslaw.
As you can see from the above pics, T-Rex is a colorful, laid back place. It’s really nice, and they have a nice outdoor seating area upstairs as well as a little section upstairs with sofa’s/armchairs where you can eat and watch “the game” from one of their flatscreen tv’s. I will definitely return to T-Rex.
T-Rex BBQ
1300 Tenth Street (Cross St. Gilman)
Berkeley, CA 94710
(510) 527- 0099
