Hungry Bear Restaurant -- Dinner -- Quick Service -- Disneyland
*This gluten free dining experience took place in October 2017.
Dinner at Hungry Bear Restaurant
Hungry Bear Restaurant is a quick service location in Critter Country in Disneyland. We stopped by Hungry Bear for dinner on our last night at Disneyland before going to Mickey's Halloween Party, a special ticketed event in the park. I had my heart set on dinner at Rancho del Zocalo that night. But, unfortunately, we didn't realized it closed early, and we missed the restaurant's operating hours by about 5 minutes. Talk about a bummer. Because we were further back in the park, we decided to go to a quick service restaurant that wasn't too far and that both Brandon and I would eat at. Hungry Bear, it was!
Atmosphere
Hungry Bear's atmosphere is super charming. It completely fits the Critter Country theme and has a rustic feel to it. It reminds me a lot of some of the areas in Ft. Wilderness or even the Wilderness Lodge resorts at Disney World.
Even at the ordering area, the restaurant keeps the theme going with all your favorite country bears.
There's also a lot of ample seating at Hungry Bear. Since the park was closing, and the Halloween Party was starting soon, the crowds were really low. This made for a nice easy-going dinner.
The Food
Hungry Bear Restaurant does have an allergy-friendly menu. I decided to get a burger, since that seemed like a good bet. But, before ordering, I did try to talk to a manager to see if I could get a modified version of their special Bison Blue Cheese Burger which had candied bacon on it. I'm a sucker for candied bacon, so I was just hoping I could get a regular burger with the bacon added. Unfortunately, I was told this was not possible -- even though they couldn't tell me what the gluten offending ingredients were in the sandwich. Honestly, I think they just didn't want to modify my order, so I ended up just getting the cheeseburger on a gluten free bun.
Both Brandon and I agreed that the burgers at Hungry Bear were a serious step up from the burgers we normally get at Walt Disney World quick service locations. These were thicker and had a lot more flavor in them, which was nice. The burger I ordered can also be made dairy free by omitting the cheese.The French fries were solid -- standard Disney fries. But, it was nice to have a hearty meal that filled us up for the night. Neither one of us thought it was our best meal of the trip, but we didn't think it was awful given it was basic burgers and fries.
Overall
We'd definitely go back again, if we didn't have any other options. We both thought it was decent but that there are so many other quick service locations in the park with more variety. Still, there's nothing wrong with a good burger and some fries when you're craving them. Hungry Bear Restaurant definitely fits the bill nicely on that. I'm still sad I couldn't get candied bacon. But, as we learned from our trip; Disneyland seems a bit less willing to modify dishes when you dine at restaurants.Have you been to Hungry Bear Restaurant? What did you think of the lunch and dinner options there?