Bear’s Smokehouse at the Stack is now open in New Haven, marking the barbecue group’s first restaurant outside of Hartford County.
The eatery at the DISTRICT innovation campus on James Street officially opened Nov. 5 by co-owners Jamie and Cheryl McDonald, known for the Bear’s Smokehouse restaurants in Hartford, South Windsor and Windsor and Blind Pig Pizzeria and Chango Rosa in Hartford.
“New Haven has been generating so much buzz for its vibrant food scene, so it was the obvious next step for the expansion of Bear’s Restaurant Group,” said Jamie McDonald. The project has been in the works for about two and a half years, he said.
Bear’s at the Stack will feature an in-house brewery in collaboration with Jason Sobocinski (Caseus, Ordinary, Black Hog Brewing), which will open later this year. The 6,700-square-foot restaurant offers indoor seating for 200 and a 6,000 square-foot biergarten adds an additional 250 seats, with partial covering and house fire pits and heaters to extend the outdoor season.
The favorites you know from greater Hartford are all on the menu in the Elm City: pulled pork, brisket, burnt ends, Texas sausage, kielbasa, pulled chicken and turkey, available by the pound and as sandwiches, entrees, combo platters. Baby back ribs are served in half or full-racks, or as part of combos. Side dishes include mac and cheese, BBQ beans, mashed sweet potato, collard greens, coleslaw and broccoli salad.
Appetizers include “moink balls” — Bear’s smoked meatballs wrapped in bacon — along with smoked wings, crispy ribs and fried pickles.
Bear’s at the Stack also serves Bear’s signature dishes: “mac attacks” with choice of meat atop macaroni and cheese; “bear attacks,” with the additional of cornbread to meat and mac; “Super Spud” with toppings piled on a baked potato, “macho nachos” and “Paw Paw’s poutine,” with cheese sauce atop hand-cut fries.
Appetizers, sides and desserts range from $2 to $12. Sandwiches are $9. Entrees are $14. Salads are $10 to $12. “Favorites” like mac attacks and nachos are $12 each. Two-meat combos are $16; three-meat combos are $19. Baby back ribs are $18 to $26. Meats by the pound are $15 to $21. Chicken meals are $12, including a choice of half chicken with two sides or a whole chicken (no sides.) A family meal, feeding 4 to 5 people, is $50.
McDonald said Bear’s would be working with New Haven’s Lamberti’s Italian Sausage to craft special house sausages for the restaurant, and they’ll also offer locally-made pretzels with beer cheese and occasional pizza specials.
The beverage program offers local and German beers on draft and in cans, featuring more house beers once the brewery opens. Creative cocktails incorporated barbecue influence (a Smoke Stack Manhattan with brisket fat-washed Old Forester bourbon; a bacon maple old-fashioned with bacon fat-Washed Pinhook rye whiskey) and others use beer, like the All About Our Coco Stout with Old Forester bourbon, Stillhouse coconut whiskey, Black Hog coffee milk stout, Licor 43 and simple syrup.
Bear’s Smokehouse at the Stack, 470 James St., New Haven, is open Sunday through Wednesday from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Thursday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. The restaurant also offers takeout, catering, food truck and on-site event options. 203-350-9060, bearsbbq.com.
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