Disneyland Hungry Bear Barbecue Jamboree Review

Disney’s Country Bears have seen a bit of a resurgence in 2024. Over in Walt Disney World, the bears got a whole new show, Country Bear Musical Jamboree. In Tokyo Disneyland, the beloved and long-running Country Bear Vacation Hoedown version of the show returned after a 4 year absence. Disneyland’s Country Bear Jamboree show has been gone for about 23 years now, but fans got a big surprise when Disney announced the park’s Hungry Bear Restaurant was being rethemed to feature the bears, as well as a whole new menu. How is the menu? Is it better than what was there before? Keep reading to find out.

Hungry Bear received a new name to reflect its new menu, Hungry Bear Barbecue Jamboree.

All signage has been updated to reflect the change. Other than that, not many other physical changes have taken place.

The wonderful sign that was added back when Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge opened in 2019 is still around. This is one of the best signs in all of Disneyland.

As a huge fan of Country Bear Jamboree, I appreciate deep cuts. Ursus H. Bear, which is the founder of the Country Bear Theater, is also now the founder and head “grr-ill master” of Hungry Bear.

Hungry Bear got a new prop from the show, Teddi Barra’s swing!

Portraits of each of the bears now adorn the walls of Hungry Bear. They’re the classic Marc Davis paintings of the bears, but with their new Musical Jamboree outfits add on.

This is such a nice addition.

The sign at the front counter is not new, but it looks as good as new. I’m glad they kept this one.

On to the food, first we have Smoked Angus Beef Burger with Pulled Pork. This is the standard Disneyland quick service burger, but slightly elevated thanks to golden aïoli, pickled red onions, bread & butter pickles, crispy onions, along with a slice of American cheese and a big scoop of pulled pork. While the burger patty is adequate, the pulled pork is quite good. It’s tasty, flavorful and perfectly cooked. The fries, which also come with the other entrees on the menu, are also great and a huge upgrade from the standard Disneyland quick service fries. They’re seasoned beer-battered steak fries. The downside? The price is high at $18.49. This is a few dollars more expensive than the other quick service burgers in the park, but it’s much better thanks to the pulled pork and steak fries.

The Smoked Beef Brisket Sandwich ($16.99) is topped with tangy BBQ sauce, pickled red onions and pickled jalapeños. I’m a big fan of brisket, so I wanted this item to be the best thing on the menu. Unfortunately the two times I’ve had this item since opening I’ve found the meat to be dry and served at room temperature. I’ve talked to several friends and people online who have the same experience. Hopefully Disney is able to figure out the logistics with item to have the meat served consistently warm and fresh.

There’s not much more to add about the Barbecue Pulled Pork Sandwich ($15.99), other than at this moment I consider it to be the best item on the menu.

The Smoked Barbecue Combo Platter gives you the option of selecting two meats out of four options: pork spareribs, pulled pork, sausage link, or beef brisket. I selected the ribs and sausage since no other entrees offer those options. The sausage has a nice little kick of spice and a satisfying snap when biting into it. The pork spareribs are decent. They’re not quite fall-off-the-bone, but tender enough to be enjoyable and they also have a great flavor. The $21.49 cost of the entree is a bit too high for the amount of food you receive. They should at least give you a side of fries with this one.

The Corn Ribs are topped with chile-lime aïoli, parmesan, crispy onions, cilantro and scallions. The corn ribs in the picture are of the side you can add to the combo platter for $5.49. They’re also available as an entree along with coleslaw and fries for $14.99. I would skip this one entirely. If you’re in the mood for corn, grab a whole corn on the cob from the cart in Disneyland’s central hub for just under $6. That one taste better and you get a whole cob.

There aren’t many Disneyland food items that I observe being universally loved. Hungry Bear’s Banana Pudding ($7.29) is one of them. This dessert is comprised of bananas, whipped cream, crushed wafer cookies, dulce de leche and Toffee. It’s delicious.

The Funnel Cake Fries ($6.49) are golden sticks of fried dough dusted with powdered sugar. They’re a little too greasy for my taste, but they are quite good. If you do order these you have to add on the banana caramel dipping sauce for an additional $1.49. It really takes it to the next level.

The Strawberry Shortcake Lemonade is technically a beverage, but I would consider it more of a dessert. The Sweet Cream Topping and Shortbread Crumbles make it quite heavy. It’s good, but also very sweet.

Three sauces are available for the various barbecued meats at Hungry Bear. I did not enjoy the Golden sauce, which was too sweet for my taste, but the Hot Smokey sauce has a great taste that pairs perfectly with the items on the menu. I do have one complaint about Hungry Bear Barbecue Jamboree, and that would be the music playlist. Before it opened, Disney said some Country Bear favorites would be on the list, and while it did receive seven songs from Musical Jamboree, there are no songs from the other three Country Bear shows. The song list is mostly made up of generic country songs. How is The Great Outdoors from Country Bear Vacation Hoedown not included on the list of songs at an outdoor barbecue restaurant? That seems like such a obvious choice.

Overall Hungry Bear Barbecue Jamboree is an upgrade in every way over the restaurant’s previous incarnation. The food is good, and the addition of Country Bears instantly makes anything 10 times better. While the barbecue isn’t as good as your local barbecue spot ran by some dude named “Big Steve,” it’s very good for theme park fast food, and a welcome addition to the park.

What do you think of Hungry Bear Barbecue Jamboree? What are you looking forward to trying? Let us know in the comments.