Reviews of Bear's Smokehouse Express - South Windsor (Restaurant)

Mark Livingstone

Well the meats were fine. However I order to combination platters I got the sides for one but never got the sides for the other 1. They seemed a little lost

Autumn loves ronald and karina

Yummy food. Def go back.

John D'Aquila

Not as good as other locations, food portion for price, rediculously small

Jarrid Clifton

Amazing barbecue served quickly.

Francesca DeRosa

Great barbeque and prices. Always get the burnt ends and kielbasa

Chris Mickey

This place has great takeout

Dez M

Yummy,yummy,great food!!

Edward Kramer

Had a few guests over last night and decided to pick up some take-out from Bear's. Their bar-b-q is amazing and the portions are enormous. Obviously, the value is great. Couple the sensational food with a delightful staff, and you will have a terrific dining experience.

Jeff Timbro

So... The reason I give Bears Express 3 out of 5 stars is not because of the quality, it is not because of the staff. Both of those things are excellent. The food is magnificent and the staff is always extremely nice, helpful and overall make every visit a positive one. The reason I have to give it 3 out of 5 is because Bears Express is missing the food item that made me love Bears back when it was a tiny hole in the wall in Windsor. The wings. I love the wings. My friends and I would order there wings, usually 50-60 of them at a time, almost every week. The wings are the most delicious thing on their menu, in my opinion, and they are missing entirely from the South Windsor location. This brings me great sadness since I moved and Bears Express is near my new place but there are no wings to be had. Other than that you can expect the same quality of food here as the other two locations.

C. Gillotte

Fast, friendly and great food!

Anita Coullard Dziedzic

Best North East BBQ..

Eric Drinkard

The food is great and on point with the bears in Hartford but the service is bad. You have people working there who just don't care and are rude.

Ann Grano

Much smaller then the other locations but adore the rustic look

Frances Taylor

BBQ is top-notch especially the brisket it's beautiful. A little pricey about $25 for two and it's takeout. You can't go wrong here.

Zachary Uppling

Your search for amazing Bbq stops here or any one of their three locations. Bears express, while only offering seasonal outdoor seating, fully lives up to the quality I've grown to expect from this amazing group of restraunts. The prices are moderately expensive, but totaly worth it. As with their other restraunts cleanliness was superb. You can certainly tell the owners and staff love what they do and work very hard to make themselves the best. I have never had a bad experience at any of their locations. Would give 6 stars if possible.

Alex Kendall

Fantastic barbeque! My go-to is the brisket. You cannot go wrong with it. Always moist and delicious. My go-to side is their beans. They have a unique flavor and I love it. Service at this location is fast and friendly. Great for getting lunch during work. Only complaint is I feel it's a little pricey.

angrea stewart

The best can't go wrong

Daniel Mcguigan

I do not recommend getting the Bear sized sandwich UNLESS you are sharing. Beef Brisket Sandwich was huge. This is my best BBQ place to go to. Friendly staff. I have never tasted a brisket meal as juicy as this place. They gave me a tasting of their Turkey and it's on my next order. 2

Stephen Taffe

Fast and pleasant

Sue Feinberg

Everyone is super nice, food is always amazing, what more could you ask for?

Paul Powers

Best BBQ in CT.

Angelo Lambo

Always delicious. Nice to have a local takeout BBQ spot.

Daryn Boyd

Great spot for BBQ takeout either on the spot or picking up from online order.

Michael B. Pollack

Some of the best smoked meat around. Burnt ends are incredible, as are the ribs, the pulled pork and the wings. Everything is just really good and tasty.

Kenroux Photography

Tried it for the first time today after my coworkers raves about it for a while. Great taste and portions are not too bad. What you see in the picture is a 2 meat special fo $17 (Texas sausage and brisket) comes with 2 sides, I chose Mac & cheese and coleslaw. Mac is excellent but the coleslaw was not to my liking. Overall food wise great experience and will be going again.

Becca Hall

It's Bear's. Delicious. Walked in yesterday at 11:30 on the dot to pick up a large order that was to be ready at 11:30, and they were just stapling the bags as I walked in, ready to go. I was met with a smile and offered lots of various BBQ sauces. Great experience, and great food!

Kala Reid

Food was excellent, but customer service is lacking. Very rude lady who took our order.

Christopher L

Same delicious BBQ as you can get at the Hartford and Windsor locations, but geared more towards takeout. Location has a few picnic tables out front, but no indoor seating. A good option if you're on the run. Reasonably-priced, the menu offers apps, sandwiches, sides (try the collard greens!), platters, and family meal deals (meat-by-the-pound paired with a choice of sides). The mac n' cheese is pretty spectacular.

Kayla Elder

It was small

Matt C

Food is great and so was the service.

David Wolfe

Best BBQ in CT! This store stands up to the high standard of great food set by the other Bear's BBQ branches. They don't kid around when they say express either! My wife and j were in and out without a pickup order in less than 10mins. They have some nice picnic tables outside as well if you'd like to enjoy your food immediately instead of taking it away.

Karl M Williams

The best smoky juicy beef brisket

Nervous Rex

Smoked pulled pork BBQ and mac n cheese with cornbread. So good you want know why you haven't thought of this before?

Andrew Blue

Love the food here always great!

Kelly Miller

Omg nom

Nikki Ann Graddy

The food is good. This is the smaller express location, great for taking lunch to-go.

Mark Cranson

Good food way over priced.

Wil Morges

Good food

Gary Johnson

Great food Try the ribs and burner ends for sure

Jerrolyn Wheeler

The South Windsor store is great.

Jen Churchill

Always wonderful bbq, easy to stop and pick up! Thank you!

John Ludden

One of my favorite spots for bbq

Sandra Desrosiers

In most ways this is 5 stars, but poor management cost one star. Got there around 6:00p.m. They were out of ribs, burnt ends and kielbasa. This is not uncommon. poor planning on management's behalf. We ordered dry rubbed wings, no whole dry rubbed chicken as advertised on the web site, smoked Turkey, brisket, and pulled pork. Everything was delicious, [ the Turkey was pretty dry]...we also ordered moink balls, hubby loved them, I thought they were heavy on the pepper. The wings were cooked fresh but seemed to take more time than we expected to be there for a primarily to go place. However, the wings were so good the wait was forgiven. The staff were exceptional and genuinely the best part of the experience. Btw, they advertise pork bones for dogs but pork bones are not safe for dogs and that's probably something that should not be continued.

Arthur Jennings

Love their food, the service here is very slow and they were out of burnt ends and some of their sides at 5:45 PM ! How is that possible?

Dita Green

Great food

D. Mitchell Vivilecchia

Had a Bear Attack with pulled pork, very tasty. I fully expect to have taken a few years off my life just from the deliciousness alone.

Joe G

The brisket is amazing!

Wei Zeng

Great pulled pork. Juicy.

Sam H

I gave this place to chances and I think I'm calling it quits. After the first experience the workers didn't change their gloves when working with the pull pork to the pull chicken to the fries. I didn't want to make a big deal about it but I should have informed them I couldn't eat pork so it was Cross contaminating. So we went back a second time and while they changed their gloves I'm pretty my family and I got food poisoning. After spending $100 here I don't think it's worth it. The chicken was cold, and chewy had to throw it away. I will try their other chains but this one is a no go for me!!

81liljaybo

Good ass BBQ, now shut up and eat.

Denise Currier

Didn't get to eat there. Take out only. But my daughter's favorite place

Adam

They have a decent product, however for the price of their sandwiches, they could stand to throw in coleslaw instead of making it an upcharge. Also, considering this to be a food service operation, try to encourage your employees to wear belts and not sag their pants so that their underwear is showing to the customers. First and last time here.

John Osborn

Delicious food. High side prices for cafeteria-style service, but no shortage of customers on a Saturday night regardless. Staff attentive to customers, shows it's well-managed.

grizzleyman man

Always good food, consistent. Quick pick up/take out location with seating outside

Teddy Yo

Good barbecue. little expensive

Dana Goodale

Walked in, checked the menu, friendly greeting, pulled pork sandwich and Mac-n-cheese, perfect comfort food for a rain day!

Tre Morrison

Just go to hartford or Windsor. This location is nowhere close to as good

Carlos Carreño

Pretty awesome pulled pork sandwiches here

Tricia Yaw Magee

This location does not have the quality of the Windsor location or even the quality of the stand at the Xcel Center.

Nicholas V

Best bbq I've had in a long time the burnt ends are the best thing on the menu everything else is a close second. Great service, great atmosphere, excellent price, 10/10

Luigi C

Great staff, great food!!

Michael Cabelus

Bears is so good, it really speaks for itself. Highly recommend.

Dustin Brentlinger

Great food! The Mac and Cheese is the bomb!

Graham Kolar

I love the food! Never had a bad meal.

Christopher Coutu

Tasty enjoyable experience with delicious food. The various meals with meat over beans, cornbread or macaroni was delicious. My only negative is they could have fountain drink or something other then homer soda.

Scott B

Great food, friendly service and zero wait time when I was there

Art M

Take out location, but has tables outside. As 5 star as the other locations

Rebecca Meakin

The pulled pork was fabulous!

Steve C

Found this place on our way back from Boston to Fairfield County. Holy cow! The food was insanely good. It was about 100 degrees the day we visited and the seating is outdoors, but the food was so good we barely noticed. My beard smelled like hardwood smoke for a day and a half.

Chris Hammond

I will admit, it is nice to have a BBQ joint as an option in the area. The food is good, but it is a pricey menu. I must be bias to the places I have been down south where the same price per dish, got you way more food. The thing that keeps me coming back is the staff. They are always very welcoming and trying to keep the line moving as fast as possible. Certainly worth a try. They also have full service restaurants in Windsor and Hartford. This is a no indoor seating facility. Kind of a grab and go version with a stripped down menu.

France Lee

Limited menu offers most popular meal options. Fast and friendly service. Very busy at certain times. Al fresco dining only.

Stephen Burk

The Texas sausage is spicy, and juicy. Definitely good. The burnt ends though...simply fantastic. Fast service, and since its take out only ordering ahead and then stopping in on your way home or for lunch during work is super convenient. Excellent food and great service, highly recommended.

Peter Corrao

Bears good is good. Frequent Hartford regularly for our Friday office lunches. But the service and pick up at South Windsor is a joke. Simple as it seems to place an order for 3 pints of beans takes a half hour. Cash register operator doesn’t have a clue. The place is so unorganized. Makes me rethink all the Bears. No Thanks!!!!!! To many places want to have decent customer service. This isn’t one of them

Joe Sheehan

Great food

d barton

The meat was 1/2 fat the rest tasted good, the pecan pie tasted like it was a couple days stale, $20 for lunch no drink and still left hungry.

Richard Fortin

Food is great but they run out of stuff a lot.

Paula Mumley

Fabulous, GREAT FOOD!

Hunter Haubert

Not a sit down restaurant but has seats outside, great BBQ food for the area but can be a little salty.

Sterling S Mtr

Just imagine Homer Simpson drooling. That's good!

Aimee Huard

Excellent pulled pork and pulled chicken. The menu is nearly impossible to read though.

Bethanie Smith-Falling

I'm not sure what's going on here. Prices went up??? My bear attack, I never got asked if I wanted sauce in it

Jovani Reyes

Great service and foods and employe

Juan Estremera

Delicious

Thomas Langerak

This was the first Bear's I've been to. The food was a little rich for me but it was good. Barbecue take out is a great idea but it's nothing you're going to want to eat going down the road.

Jackreacher

Amazing food. Take out only but worth the stop

Rob Guilmette

Paid a lot of money for very little food and left hungry

Jesse G

Food is amazing,but who ever runs this place over here needs to get ahold of their employees cause your service sucked

Jonathan Birdsey

Absolutely fantastic tasting BBQ - a great place to stop for lunch - or call ahead for bigger dishes. My whole family enjoys it! Home made BBQ sauces with multiple flavors and heats to meet most everyone's pallet.

Jordan

No smoke flavor, fatty and dry burnt ends. My wife's beef ribs had no smoke flavor as well all that for $47 big waste of money.

Steven Morton

Very nice restaurant, clean all on one floor, easy in and out good food for good price. Quick service and pleasant atmosphere. Picnic tables outside under cover .

Barbara Labbe

Always wonderful!! ❤ Meats smoked to perfection!

Brian Maguire

What a freaking rip off! Just ordered food for New Year's Eve. Got the family combo that claims to feed at least 4 people. They were out of ribs but they said we'll just give you more of another meat. So two meats, we got pulled pork and burnt ends, with three sides for $50, plus $3 more for getting burnt ends, even though they were out of half the menu. The portions were tiny. There is no freaking way you are feeding 4 people with this. I could have gotten a smaller meal for less money and gotten more food at this same place. I have no idea what happened tonight. Then, get this, they charged us $10 for two pieces of corn bread and two sodas. $10 for two pieces of corn bread and two bottles of soda!! On top of the $53 for a "family meal" that barely fed two people. What a rip off!! Never again!! You people should be ashamedI! I feel like I was robbed!!

Julie G

Food is amazing here, employees are very friendly and the price is reasonable for the amount of food you get.

Getrdone Daugherty

The food here is awesome it's take out or eat outside at this one

Nathan Kilduff

Go here every week. Friendly staff and great BBQ

Jim Roach

Burnt ends are amazing!

Erin Pollander

Best BBQ in ct, bar none!

X H

Delish affordable take-out.

David Kampfman

Local but not cooked on the premises. Tastes authentic. Try the salad, which is very fresh, with the meat of your choice on the side. Excellent

Jose Vale da Serra

Sweet Meat

Jacob Anderson

Awesome food

Steve Gauthier

Great food!

Barbara Colorio

Great place did food crawl

Michelle Sessions

Unbelievably rude!! I have been going to the south windsor location about once a week since they opened. There are times when I will call and order ahead to pick up. I have never had an issue with this and done it without a problem at least 30 times. Today when I called the South Windsor location, the woman answering the phone was incredibly rude and told me she couldn't take my order via phone. I explained that this had been typical in the past and she snipped, "Ma'am, I don't know about that! You either have to come in or order online otherwise I can't help you!" She then hung up. If there was a change in policy, I will say okay but how you choose to communicate the changes matter! I will be crossing this place off the list of dinner choices. There are way too many places that understand customer service and customer loyalty!!! Unbelievably rude!

Jonathan Thulin

Really good BBQ. Highly recommended.

Brian Bean

I got no cornbread with my first family meal. It was good enough to go back again but they were unwilling to correct the error and an email to the manager went unanswered.

Benjamin Nti

Good food

Emily Volz

Quick and easy place to stop and get the same great Bear's BBQ served at the larger locations.

B K

Great BBQ, the best in the area. The brisket was delicious. Make sure to get the Mac and cheese.

Paul Sabrowski

Me and my buddies saw a commercial on Super Bowl Sunday and drove 25 minutes to pick up brisket, pulled pork and wings. The good was fantastic but Jon of us really enjoyed the sauced they provided - need more vinegar I think as they're really in the sweet side. Other than that I'd recommend and I'll be back any time I'm in that area again.

Sohail Chaudhry

Pick-up only and an excellent option for dinner. Obviously on the heavy side so can't frequent often, but very solid BBQ.

Rob Perez

Best bbq !! Love bears !

Cheryl Lincoln

Food is good, a bit pricey. I thought there was going to be some indoor seating, but there isn't. They do have some picnic tables outside.

Brian Dailey

Always delicious.

T Math

I love this place but the one of the older woman that works here is RUDE!

David Smith

If you haven't tried Bear's, you definitely need to do your family a favor. The food is amazing and you can easily have a easy family dinner or picnic with all of the sides in a matter of minutes. Love, love, love

Ian Antoine

Not D Best Bar B Q but Well Worth D Eating

Ms. Mee

Honestly this rating is just for South Windsor. I have been to all three locations but South Windsor never gets the order right. I ordered the potato Spud. There was no sour cream, onions or chives on my order. I had a teaspoon of macaroni and cheese and my potato was cold. The food is awesome but South Windsor needs too slow down and get it right before you lose customers

Sheila Bailey

Last week was our first time back to Bear’s Express in quite a few months due to a bad meal. We ordered the family of 4 meal and everything was excellent! (Well except for the collard greens which were so salty neither of us could eat them. This is one of the reasons we stopped going before). Anyway, ribs and brisket were excellent. Tonight my husband stopped by and got two brisket dinners. The brisket was so dry and tough! Bears is too expensive to be this hit or miss. We thought we were playing it safe since we didn’t order collards and loved the brisket last time. I think maybe they are adding too many businesses to keep up with quality control.

Etoria Kami

Totally disappointed!!! Ordered a 1/2 rack of Beef Rib/Collar Greens/Mac&Cheese/Corn Bread($2) & Hosmer Lemonade bottled drink. Over Priced, the young lady charged me $35.41 which according to the menu 1/2 rack is advertised at $18. I questioned her and she stated that Bear's only serve Meat on 1 big bone for $28.(Hhhmmmm) I could of traveled to Hartford visited a "REAL" Soul Food Restaurant and paid only $12 with triple the serving amount & tasting better. Never Again, ripped off!!

Terry Bukowski

Love the baby back ribs. The pulled pork sandwich was also very good. It is mostly a take out place, but they do have some picnic tables out so you can eat there, outside. They also have very good sides.

Ken Romeo

Food was alright bit the quality is slipping even more. We have been going to Bear's for years and over the past three it is slipping further and further into acceptable. We live about 25 minutes away from this location and won't go back to this one.

Robbie Leffler-Macon

Needs more employees

Steven J

Outstanding food, staff, and location. Need I say more?

buttercup baby

The meat was saucy

Jessica Grzegorek

They didn't have half the food on their menu.

Richard Orpheus

The meat is so good, it makes my heart hurt, metaphorically and literally.

Sharon Hwang

Love the burnt ends. Love getting their family pack deal and getting so much food. Very tasty and delicious.

stephanie wall

Great BBQ but service stinks and they run out of stuff all the time.

Brandon Bell

I'm from St Louis Missouri and this is some of the best bbq I have ever had. Very friendly and just great bbq

Lost TommyBoy

Delicious food, generous helpings, and friendly staff. Will definitely be returning the next time we are in town.

Curt Alfredo

The smoked bear is the best I ever had!

Michael Laferriere

Great food and location. However this is an 'express' location without tables. You can get great takeout here if you live in the area though. Bring napkins and your appetite!

Erica Larkin

The food was incredible, I wish I could give 10 stars! Best pulled pork. So sad I live 2+ hours away.The customer service was fantastic as well .

Steven Rothman

Love the Brisket

Mark Lillis

Bear's is awesome food. The express site is great for takeout.

Anna Papp

Over priced. Ribs were burned on both ends .

Lisa Cefaratti

Best BBQ in Connecticut!

Kimberly M

The ribs were very good! We hit wings for 50 cents on Wednesdays which was a really great deal. Meaty wings and nice variety of BBQ sauces.

Al Ferraro

Very pricey but very good

Kevin DiTaranto

Friendly staff and fast food preparation. Will definitely be back!

Ryan Lopez

Great bbq food

julie whitcher-ott

Oh my!!!! Food is Soo amazing

Stephanie Parnell

Taste is everything they need to step it up

D K

Good food but way over priced

grayson corpora

Absolutely Awesome!

Andy Maust

Fantastic food

Tim P

Best BBQ in New England

Sammi D

Great BBQ to go! The burnt ends are the best along with their Mac and cheese. Good prices and friendly folks

Charles Muller

If you love Bear's like I do and live nearby, this is the place for take out BBQ awesomeness.

Mike Duncan

Huge portions, great food. More on the expensive side though.

Tanya Simon

Bear Attack was good as usual. Wish there was table space inside to sit down on a rainy day loke today. Bigger menus would be nice.

Nimesle Aparicio

10 people waiting to get service from one person working during peak lunchtime, with! Lousy management if you ask me. Had to walk out along with 3 other frustrated people, totally ridiculous

Ray Barbour

Pretty pricey and small portions,but good food

Jon Ruiz

Good food

Michelle Furgerson

Nothing "express" about this place when someone in line orders 15 brisket sandwiches and sides for their whole company. Spent half my lunch break waiting. Ended up having to leave and get lunch elsewhere.

Tina Mathis

Tasty and very good service

Gordon Perkins

Perfect for when you want to get some smoked take out. Same Bear's quality in a nice convenient location.