The new downstairs seating area at Hungry Bear Barbecue Jamboree is starting to look like a place to eat. Disneyland crews have installed new lanterns along the lower level of the Bayou Country restaurant, and each one carries a little bear of its own.
There’s been a lot of progress on the new downstairs seating area coming to Hungry Bear Barbecue Jamboree at Disneyland!
— Matt Desmond (@DisneyScoopGuy) October 23, 2026
The work sits right below the restaurant’s upstairs deck, along the walkway that runs beside the Rivers of America. Photos from Friday show the lower level still very much a construction zone, with a long trench of dirt, plastic sheeting over part of the ground and work materials stacked under the deck. But new lantern posts are already standing, including a double-headed post with two lanterns side by side, and a low wooden rail and a stretch of stone edging are now in place on the lower level.
Bears On Every Lantern
The lanterns are the fun detail. Each has a curved panel at the top with a bear silhouette, and the images change from lantern to lantern. On one, a bear sits in the water while fish leap around it. On another, a bear climbs through the branches of a tree. Other designs show two bears on either side of a tree, a bear reaching for a fish along a stream and a bear sniffing a patch of flowers. Every lantern is topped with a tiny bear figure as a finial, and the warm bulbs inside sit behind seeded glass, so the light comes through soft and a little old-fashioned.
There’s different images of bears on the new lanterns that have been installed in the new downstairs seating area at Hungry Bear Barbecue Jamboree at Disneyland!
— Matt Desmond (@DisneyScoopGuy) October 23, 2026
It is the same kind of playful touch we saw when Hungry Bear Barbecue Jamboree’s makeover started with new lights. The bear theme is the whole point of the place, and the new fixtures lean into it.
A Bigger Space Than Before
This lower level has been a long project. Work began in May, when the planter on the ground floor was torn out under a permit to extend the outdoor dining area, and Disneyland told Mickey Visit at the time that the expansion would add more than 80 seats. Now the finishing pieces are going in.
Disneyland had told Mickey Visit the new seating would be finished later in the summer. That target has passed, and the resort has not announced a new opening date for the downstairs seating.
Eating At Hungry Bear Now
The restaurant has stayed open through the work, with guests up on the deck while crews worked below. You can check everything Hungry Bear Barbecue Jamboree serves today, with prices, on our Bayou Country menus page. Once the downstairs area opens, it should give the restaurant more room to spread out at mealtimes.
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