While most people focus on the best rides at Disneyland when visiting the park, my obsession has long been the food. I’m always looking for the best food at Disneyland, but having been to the park regularly, I almost always know where to go. This is why I was so surprised on my last visit when a place that I would have ranked near the bottom has now found itself near the top.
Several months ago, the Hungry Bear Restaurant at DIsneyland’s Critter Country closed down, and it recently reopened as the Hungry Bear BBQ Jamboree. I finally had a chance to eat there when I was close by checking out Tiana’s Bayou Adventure which just opened in the park, and I was thrilled to have some great food there.
Few Theme Park Quick Service Restaurants Really Impress Me
To start, I should say that part of my lack of love for the old Hungry Bear is that it’s rare that theme park quick-service restaurants impress me at all. When I’m in a theme park, I’m either grabbing food that I can eat while I walk, like a Frontierland breakfast chimichanga or a cup of Dole Whip, or I would like to sit at a table where a waiter takes my order and I can have a relaxing meal. Quick-service restaurants are too slow in the first case, and too fast in the other.
I also find the quick service menus to be largely uninspired. There’s some really creative and amazing food to be found at Disneyland or other theme parks, but it's usually found in either high-end meals or creative snacks and desserts. At quick-service locations, you tend to find pretty traditional sandwiches, burgers and the like. I can eat that food anywhere. If I’m going to pay theme park prices for food, it better be special in creativity, if not in taste.
When I do hit quick service locations, I treat them like grab-n-go-style locations. Mobile ordering was invented so that I could walk into Docking Bay 7 and grab a Cold Brew Black Caf without having to stand in line.
The Hungry Bear Restaurant Just Did Nothing Special
I couldn’t tell you exactly when the last time I ate at the Hungry Bear Restaurant was, but I can tell you I found the experience underwhelming. The menu could have come from just about any chain restaurant, with sandwiches, burgers and steaks, and not a steakhouse steak. These are things I can get basically anywhere else at Disneyland and at equal or better quality.
On top of that, the Hungry Bear’s location, near the dead end of Critter Country, meant that unless I was going to ride Splash Mountain (now Tiana’s Bayou Adventure), there was little reason to bother going that way. The food itself certainly wasn’t enough of a draw.
I had certainly heard good things about the Hungry Bear BBQ Jamboree, but I wasn’t really prepared for things to turn out as good as they did.
The Hungry Bear BBQ Jamboree Is Different And Delicious
The Hungry Bear BBQ Jamboree calls back to the former neighbor of the restaurant, the Country Bear Jamboree. There is music from both versions of the show, both the original Country Bear Jamboree and the Disney songs by way of country music version that can be found at Magic Kingdom today. Props and other artistic flourishes can be found around the building, but as any restaurant should be, the star is the food.
It’s amazing what a complete redesign of an entire menu can do for a restaurant. Instead of simply sandwiches and burgers, the menu has gone full barbecue, with the spotlight dish being on a smoked barbecue combo platter that includes choices of pulled pork, beef brisket, pork spareribs or sausage link. Sandwiches using the pulled pork or beef brisket are also available.
Since I wasn’t sure I could eat an entire barbecue platter, I grabbed the brisket sandwich, with beer batter fries, a strawberry shortcake lemonade and the brand-new banana pudding. Needless to say, I thought everything was quite good.
I’m not saying Hungry Bear is better than your favorite local BBQ joint, but it’s quite a step above what had been there before. The brisket was tender, the BBQ sauce was tangy and not too sweet (something that tends to happen with theme park food across the board), and I devoured the sandwich.
The Strawberry Shortcake Lemonade, one of the signature drinks at the location, was fun. Not entirely dissimilar to my Galaxy’s Edge Black Caf, it has a layer of sweet cream on top that holds shortcake crumbs and strawberry dust, adding a bit of complexity and texture to a classic strawberry lemonade.
I’m not the first to sing the praises of the banana pudding, but I also won’t be the last. It consists of layers of crushed wafer cookies, dulce de leche and bananas, each separated by whip cream and topped with crunchy toffee chips. This will be a dessert I mobile order regularly going forward.
Barbecue is just something that’s been missing from Disneyland since Big Thunder Ranch closed to make way for Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge (reportedly the coleslaw at Hungry Bear is the same recipe as what used to be at Big Thunder). It’s nice to have it back and to have it be so good.
I’m Still Not Sold On Quick Service, But Hungry Bear BBQ Is Worth The Time
Hungry Bear Barbecue Jamboree hasn’t completely changed my tune on quick-service at theme parks. If I’m going to sit at a table and eat a full meal in a theme park resort, I’d still like to do it in a more relaxed atmosphere. Running around a theme park can be stressful, so taking those periods of relaxation is key, and something quick service doesn’t often provide.
However, if I am visiting a Disneyland quick service location for anything more than a quick snack, it’s probably going to be Hungry Bear going forward. It’s got some delicious food and it’s probably the best quick-service menu at Disneyland right now.
