Bear's Smokehouse BBQ

Best of Weddings (2x).

We travel within an hour from any of our Bear's location

About this vendor

Bear’s Smokehouse BBQ is the perfect choice for couples looking to bring bold flavor and relaxed sophistication to their wedding celebration. Specializing in authentic Kansas City–style barbecue, Bear’s Smokehouse delivers slow-smoked meats, rich sauces, and unforgettable comfort food that your guests will be raving about long after the last dance. Whether you’re planning an elegant barn wedding, a laid-back outdoor celebration, or a modern reception, Bear’s Smokehouse offers full-service catering tailored to your vision. From tender brisket and fall-off-the-bone ribs to pulled pork, and classic BBQ sides, every dish is crafted with care using time-honored smoking techniques and high-quality ingredients. The Bear’s Smokehouse team is known for its friendly, professional service and seamless execution, ensuring your big day runs smoothly from setup to final bite. Couples can customize menus to fit their style, guest count, and dietary needs, making it easy to create a wedding meal that feels personal and memorable. If you’re dreaming of a wedding that’s delicious, crowd-pleasing, and uniquely you, Bear’s Smokehouse BBQ brings the flavor, experience, and hospitality to make your celebration truly special.

Details

Business Attributes

Veteran-owned Business
Woman-owned Business

Cuisine

American
BBQ

Dietary Options

Dairy Free
Gluten Free
Nut Free
Vegan
Vegetarian

Food & Catering

Buffet
Catering Clean Up
Chef Stations
Family Style
Food Trucks
Menu Tastings

Awards and Affiliations

2-Time 'Best of Weddings'

2023.2022.

out of 5.0

30 reviews

Search reviews

Katie S

Bears Smokehouse BBQ catered our October 2025 wedding and they were incredible! The staff that provided the day of service were kind and attentive. The staff made sure that we both...

were fed well by providing us with appetizers and mains directly from the prep kitchen at our venue to make sure we were able to try everything 3 times over without missing out on the fun of the wedding. The food was absolutely amazing. Our guests RAVED about all of the food and could not stop talking about it being the best wedding food they’ve had. We were more than full after our meal with leftovers! Even our other vendors thanked us for not serving traditional wedding food and enjoyed themselves. They were very easy to work with and their packages are very customizable to meet any budget. We would hire them again and again! Highly recommend for any large event!!!

Caitlin W

Bear's was excellent to work with. Picking our food and drink menu was simple and I was excellent that they had vegetarian and vegan options. They on site staff were excellent and ...

worked well with our venue and month of coordinator. I would recommend Bear's to anyone either know getting married in the future.

Stacy L

We had Bears for our daughters wedding. Food was wonderful and the staff went above and beyond. Great food and staff, highly recommend.

Megan H

Bears made it incredibly easy to cater our wedding! We had 200 guests at a private residence, and the team didn't need any infrastructure. They brought everything, including staff,...

and made it so easy. The food is delicious, and everything looks high-end. They have a ton of options and packages to choose from for a personalized experience. We'd highly recommend working with them!

Nora D

Bears's BBQ was the perfect choice for our wedding. The food was delicious, and is was super easy to get in contact with them during the planning process. They were very friendly, ...

organized, and helpful with every little detail. Would 100% recommend to anyone.

Maggie M

Bears was incredibly communicative throughout the whole process. Multiple phone call meetings and really personalized our quotes. On the day of the truck driver went out of his way...

to get my husband and I some food. We had a second food truck as well and they did a little collab! So accommodating and we got SO many compliments on the food! Would recommend a million times over!

Alexandra B

We had Bears BBQ cater our wedding on April 19th. Finding a caterer for the wedding was such a huge undertaking and to say I was overwhelmed would be an understatement! But when we...

finally found bears, they were amazing. I was impressed from the moment they sent over their catering info. It was so clear, professional, and laid out nicely. Then they set up periodic check in calls leading up to the wedding which was so nice since I didnt have to sit and think of "what was next" they just did it for me. Then finally the day of, they came in, set up, and were SO FLEXIBLE. We were super ahead of our schedule and when we asked if we could move up dinner they said "we will make whatever you need happen". Then finally at the end of the night, they found me, said they were packed up and leaving, and it was seamless. I didnt get the names of the people that were helping at our wedding but every single one of them was beyond polite, helpful and welcoming. The set up of the buffet was also clean and polished and just overall amazing. Thank you so much Bears BBQ!! You guys were so amazing and we appreciate your part in making our day amazing! OH and everyone loved the food!!!

Megan S

Bears bbq in Asheville NC is amazing. We have gone to the downtown location numerous times to eat and decided to have them cater our wedding. Everything always taste amazing whethe...

r its at their location or being catered. The staff is so friendly. The atmosphere is wonderful and so fun. We were so happy with their service at our wedding. All around great food, and great service

Bridget S

We had a great experience with Bear's Smokehouse BBQ. The food was great and everyone enjoyed it! The caterers were friendly and professional. We highly recommend!

Danielle M

Bear's was a hit at our wedding! People raved about it for days. Highly recommend working with them, they were professional, prompt and no-fuss. I'm so happy we found them. Thank y...

ou!

Anne L

Bears was incredible for us with catering our wedding! They had plenty of experience managing events like this. We didn’t have to do a thing on the day-of - they set everything up,...

cleared up, and even brought us special plates when we were too busy greeting people to grab food. The BBQ was delicious and got so many compliments from guests. The groom’s brother went back for fifths on the berry cobbler. Cassie was so helpful with planning our stations and having everything handled. Catering our wedding with Bears was a fantastic choice!

Dejanique P

We used bears as our catering for our wedding and everyone loved it! Everyone went up for seconds and thirds all night! Highly recommend working with Bears & Dana!

Samantha B

We used Bears for our wedding caterer in October. The entire process was smooth. When we went to meet with bears to talk about having them at our wedding they treated with a sample...

of all their options and the caterer manager was so welcoming and helpful. Payments were easy to do online and they had quick response times. All of our guests loved the food. Would definitely recommend to any one

Jennifer J

Provided excellent service at my barn wedding everyone loved the food. Would use them again.

Kristine F

After we tasted Bear’s BBQ we knew that we couldn’t have anything else at our wedding. The food was outstanding, the staff serving was prompt, kind, and professional. We LOVED our ...

food, and our guests did too! Working with Sydney was amazing! She is so friendly and patient, has wonderful ideas and suggestions, and helped make our experience amazing! Thank you so much!

Teresa P

Yum - just yum. We used the Bear's catering out of Asheville for our wedding, and everything was incredible. The catering team was so great to work with, from helping figure out ho...

w much food we needed, to helping make decisions on what to serve. People are still raving about how amazing the food was.

Leah V

We used the new heaven ct services for our wedding. It was on of the best catering services that I have experienced. The staff was very friendly and helpful. They did tasks they di...

d not have to do, however they wanted to make our lives just a little easy. The food was excellent, very fresh and cooked perfected. Highly recommend!

Brittany F

We used the Bear's Smokehouse BBQ located in Asheville, NC to cater our welcome dinner. Their original location is in CT, but they also have a location in Asheville. They were extr...

emely prompt answering all our questions and made adjustments as needed to our order. They helped us build a custom package for our event that included meat eaters and vegans alike. Everything was delicious, and the vegans LOVED the impossible meatloaf. We opted for delivery and full service because of COVID concerns and the staff was wonderful - prompt, courteous and very communicative. At the end of the night they packed up all our delicious leftovers and we enjoyed our BBQ after the wedding weekend - it was perfect because we didn't have to cook!

Amy B

We had Bear's Smokehouse BBQ at our wedding this past weekend and everything was amazing from food to service. All of our guests raved about the food and how much better it was tha...

n traditional wedding food. Sydney was so easy to work with and was super responsive during the planning process. We highly recommend them!

Angie B

Bear's did an incredible job catering our wedding. The food was absolutely delicious, and they were really accommodating in providing a vegan entree option and doing a cheese and v...

eggie platter as apps for cocktail hour. Sydney was really helpful over email, and the catering staff that came on the wedding day were so friendly and an absolute delight - they even made a point of coming over to us at the reception to make sure we were happy with everything and to congratulate us on our marriage, which was really thoughtful. Would 100% recommend them for any event.

Linda K

Everyone at our wedding loved Bears!! it was a hit, they were professional and on time to the wedding. They were handing out food left and right in a timely manner. No one had to w...

ait more than 5 minutes for their food to be served. Bears had left overs which we were able to take at the end of the night. My favorite was their Mac and cheese, it was AMAZING. The staff in order to book the food truck were friendly and responded right away to questions and emails.

Lori T

We knew we wanted BBQ for our rustic wedding and our venue had suggested we try Bears. We went for a tasting and we were instantly sold on Bears. The hardest decision was deciding ...

which items to choose. Sydney was amazing with communication, flexibility and support throughout! Our guests raved about the food said it was the best food they had ever had at a wedding and several went up for second , third and even fourth helpings!! We will continue to visit Bears even after our wedding!

Torrie C

From the start Bears exceeded our expectations by constantly staying in contact with us to make sure everything was the way we wanted it. They were extremely friendly and helpful w...

ith putting our food order together. The day of the wedding, they worked with our wedding venue to set everything up. When it was time for dinner, all of our guess were raving about how good the food was. It didn’t stop there, even after the wedding people were still talking about the food and how it was “the best BBQ they have ever had.” We can’t thank Bears enough for the wonderful job they did. We highly recommend them for all and any events. They truly made our wedding day special.

Emily J

We had bears cater our wedding and they did a spectacular job. The food was amazing and the staff was outstanding! They were so friendly, clean and fun! We had a great experience a...

nd the amount of food we received for our amount of people was incredible. 10/10 recommend

Samantha M

Both the food and service were fantastic! Everything was delicious and they were easy to work with during the planning process. They helped tailor their services to what we needed ...

based on our specific selections and the venue. They were efficient and friendly on both our wedding day as well as throughout the planning process. We would definitely recommend for catering and are also looking forward to many more trips to the restaurant for their awesome BBQ!

Mel M

We are so happy that we chose Bear's catering for our wedding in New Haven, CT in 2019. The whole process was extremely easy and stress-free. Bear's catering menu was flexible, all...

owing us to customize the food exactly as we wanted. The food was amazing and we got so many complements on it from our wedding guests. When planning our wedding, we really wanted fresh oysters during cocktail hour but this was not on Bear's catering menu at the time - they went above and beyond to source and provide oysters for us at a very reasonable price. In addition, we loved that we were able to order food by the pound rather than by person. We highly recommend the burnt ends, brisket, and mac & cheese!

Megan S

Bear BBQ provided my family and friends with the Best BBQ meal they have ever had. The BBQ servers that were at my wedding were incredibly kind to my guests and went out of their ...

to make us all feel important. Would highly recommend to any bride to be looking for a delicious meal for their family

Chelsea K

Great food, great service!!!!

Rita S

After our initial big wedding was canceled we decided to do a small outdoor bbq Covid wedding. After one conversation with Sydney, I knew right away that I wanted to work with this...

vendor. Very responsive, knowledgeable & was able to create a menu that worked for our needs & budget. Day of staff were amazing. Friendly, engaged, & even went above & beyond to help. All anyone who was in attendance that day speak of is how delicious the food was & how it was genius to hire Bears for catering. Highly recommend them to anyone!

Jack F

We used Bear’s to cater our front yard wedding in June 2020. Food was amazing, as always. They were on time and extremely helpful. Highly recommended

Contact

454 Ellington Rd, South Windsor, CT | We travel within an hour from any of our Bear's location