University News

December 12, 2024 | Mike Enright '88 (CLAS), University Communications

Bear’s Smokehouse BBQ To Open in Student Union Food Court

Bear's BBQ has earned the type of name recognition in Connecticut and the Hartford area typically reserved for legacy businesses that have been operating for decades

Exterior view of Front Street crossing with Bears and Infinity Hall in background. UConn Hartford campus.

Exterior view of Front Street crossing with Bears and Infinity Hall in background. UConn Hartford campus. (Sean Flynn)

Bear’s Smokehouse BBQ, which operates several restaurants along with locations at numerous UConn athletic venues, will soon open a new location in the UConn Student Union’s Food Court.

The Board of Trustees on Wednesday approved a five-year lease with the company to open in the location currently occupied by One Plate, Two Plates. The space will be renovated for Bear’s to open early in the spring 2025 semester.

Since opening its first location in 2013, Bear’s BBQ has earned the type of name recognition in Connecticut and the Hartford area typically reserved for legacy businesses that have been operating for decades.  

Bear’s Smokehouse BBQ is co-owned by Jamie McDonald and Cheryl Antoncic. Antoncic, a native of Windsor Locks, and McDonald, a Kansas City native, recognized an opportunity to bring outstanding Kansas City-style barbecue to Connecticut. 

“Our partnership with the University of Connecticut and UConn Athletics started in 2015 and has continued to evolve over the last nine years bringing delicious Kansas City-style BBQ to UConn sports fans on and off campus,” says Antoncic. “We are very excited for our new location in the Student Union, allowing us to integrate further into the UConn community with students and staff on a daily basis.” 

Bear’s operates four Bear’s BBQ locations in Connecticut and two in Asheville, North Carolina. They also have food trucks, a full-service catering division, as well satellite locations at places such as Pratt & Whitney Stadium in East Hartford, and Gampel Pavilion and the Toscano Family Ice Forum at UConn Storrs. 

Alongside their brick-and-mortar locations, the Bear’s Foundation is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization founded in 2020 by Bear’s Smokehouse LLC.  The Foundation seeks to further the restaurant group’s mission of serving the communities in which they are located and bringing awareness to important issues affecting society on local and national levels.  Such issues include mental health, animal welfare, conservation of natural resources, and protection of wildlife.