Bear’s Grill & Spirits

Always enjoy the roast beef and hamburgers.

The BEAR GRILL’ed and had some SPIRITS
So while down in the Big Easy for Mardi Gras I wanted to make sure I devoured as much YUMMY DELICIOUS SOUTHERN FOOD as humanly possible while I was there because once I was gone it would be OVER!
So GOTEB-​June-​Bug and GOTEB-​Peaches and I stopped here after we flagged down a few fellow natives to ask where we could get a REAL GOOD poboy! If you have NEVA had a poboy it’s just a sad and unfortunate life you are living! A poboy (pronounced just as it looks) is usually a grilled or fried shrimp sandwich that will make you punch your great grandmother in the face if it made correctly because it is JUST THAT GOOD!
This place is NOT fancy but has GOOD FOOD! They are located in a strip mall so once we had the name I of course pulled out my trusty NOT so smart phone and found it on the nifty Unilocal app so we could get directions. They were pretty empty and only had a few peeps at tables. Most likely people were probably in NOLA about 45 mins away at some parade whooping it up at Mardi Gras! So we got to sit where ever we wanted.
The server brought us menus so we could see what we wanted. The ONLY down fall of this place was they were in the process of getting there liquor license so that meant no alcohol yet and would be stopping at a store later so we could make our own cocktails back in our room or at one of the DRIVE-​thru Daiquiri places! Yes I said DRIVE-​THRU (see Daiquiris and Cream review).
First we ordered drinks and the Cajun Cheese Fries which are a generous amount of french fries with shredded cheddar and Swiss cheese, crispy bacon crumbles and homemade buffalo sauce and served with homemade ranch dressing! We also got an order of onion rings with tartar sauce!
The onion rings were STOMP DOWN, seizure havin’, eye rollin’ in the back of your head DELICIOUS! What doesn’t taste good with bacon! They are some of ZZZZZ-​BEST fries I had EVVVVAAAA had in my life HANDS DOWN, NO DOUBT ABOUT IT! The Onion rings were SUPER DELISH and not over cooked, and DIDN’T have a ton of batter on them so you could actually taste the onion and the mild batter flavor! OMG! SUPER YUMMY!
GOTEB-​JB ordered a BBQ Roast Beef poboy which was roast beef covered and smothered dripping in the Bear’s signature BBQ sauce and dressed with lettuce, tomatoes, and pickles. GOTEB-​P ordered a fried shrimp poboy with cheddar cheese and bacon and dressed in lettuce, tomatoes and pickles. And I got the grilled shrimp poboy dressed with cheddar cheese and bacon and dressed in lettuce and pickles no tomatoes.
My first bite and I almost fell out my chair it was so FRICKIN DELICIOUS! How delicious was it you ask? Just FRICKIN FINGER LICKIN GOOD DELICIOUS! OMG! The bread on the poboy was SUPER DUPER SOFT and FRESH! The bread can make or break a poboy. I would totally have sold one of my friend’s kids but sadly they were not with us! BUMMER! Just kidding… but NOT! I’m drooling just remembering the YUMMY GOODNESS that was that poboy! OMG!
Lucky for me I could not finish it so I asked for a doggie-​bag to take the rest to go. My hotel room had a little kitchenette so I put it in the frig and the next morning when I was waking up from my drunken stupor of hotel blender cocktails I was famished so stepped over a couple people and I grabbed my pobpoy out the frig and nuked it in the microwave!
OMG, OMG, OMG! It was even better the next day now that all the flavors had a chance to run and marry together! I just sat in the middle of the bed with a knife and fork and gobbled the other half down! The smell of the DELICIOUSNESS must have waffled through the air and into the nostrils of GOTEB-​JB and GOTEB-​P because they woke up and nuked there food and commenced to chowing as well! We were all a HOT FRICKIN MESS but those sandwiches saved the morning!
I will CERTAINLY BE BACK for more SCRUMPTIOUS GOODNESS!
LONG LIVE BEAR’S!

Probably the best roast beef I have ever had. I don’t think it is possible to make one any better. Always tender and juicy. Bread is great.

Woohoo on the Roast beef po’boy and great onion rings… Go get you some!

Ate at Bear’s today — Had a roast beef po’boy, In my opinion the best around. Does anyone know if they franchise? I have seen other locations, but not sure. I think Uptown New Orleans needs one!

We went to this restaurant to get some good local eats. This was not the first time we have visited a Bears restaurant. In the past we had great experiences. This was the first time trying this location. The service was not pleasant. They had no beer and no wine even though the beer lights were lit up in store front. When asked if they had milk we were told no again. Because we were tied and it was late for our boys we stayed and ate. The food was good. The service made it uncomfortable.

I miss the old Bear’s on 190. It was next to Mandeville Daquiri’s, across from Fazzio’s. This Bear’s was spacious enough to watch a game & had a bar with cold brews on tap.
The newer (I use «newer» loosely. It’s been way past a year!) Bear’s just isn’t Bear’s to me anymore. *Not including the original Covington location.*
Why?
— From day 1 they’ve had neon beer signs in the windows. Also, a big (relative to the size of the place) bar to your immediate left.
— NO BEER OR SPIRITS of any sort are available. No explanation is offered in signage or otherwise.
I miss having a cool place to hang out, get a cold one & catch a game. I really do!
I’m certain there’s a story here…
If anyone knows? Please, do tell!!!
The food is still good!!! I miss the ambiance, character, characters & cold ones though.

The new location of Bear’s is not as good as the old location.
While driving down Hwy 22 a while back, I noticed the Bear’s sign in front of an old restaurant, and realized they had moved from their former location. The new location is further from my house, but it is easier to get into and out of. Since Bear’s has always had great sandwiches, I stopped in for dinner.
The first thing that struck me is that the new place seems smaller than the old place. That may not be true, but it sure seemed smaller. We were seated at a table very close to the front doors. Behind one of the chairs was a rack of some kind which prevented the chair from moving back very far. That, in addition to the placement right by the door made this possibly the worst seat in the house.
We ordered the gravy fries and roast beef poorboy. The food was not as I had remembered. While still good, it wasn’t as good as the old location, but it does still rank as a darn good sandwich.
The roast beef is homemade and somewhat shredded on the sandwich instead of sliced. It seems to hold more gravy than sliced beef which makes it even better. They do pile on a massive amount of roast beef so order accordingly. If you normally eat a whole at most places, order a half here. It will be more than enough food.
The gravy fries are different than other locations. They come with a heaping pile of roast beef atop the fries. So much roast beef, that you could probably make an entire large poor boy with it. The fries come with ranch on the side.
Another difference at the new location is the service. At the old spot I always had great service. On the night I visited, I had awful service. Our server was slow to refill drinks, bring napkins and anything else we needed. It was almost as if she forgot us on several occasions.
In summary, the new location needs to work out the kinks. If it weren’t for my longstanding love of their poor boys, my last experience would have been two stars. The poor service combined with the weird seating made us have a bad time. Hopefully they improve considerably in the next few months.

Love this place, quick great po-​boys Roast Beef po-​boy is great as all ways but I enjoy the New Orleans burger… it’s a hamburger then topped with roast beef on the burger so it’s Ike two sandwiches melded together… and messy as hell too!

OK, so the service wasn’t bad this time.
The last time I went here, about a year ago, my family got up and left because it was so bad. This time we went with a group of 12. I was expecting the worse with a group this large.
I ordered the large fried shrimp poboy. I find it strange that they give you french fries with the small poboys but not the large. They should, for the price that they charge.
Anyway, the poboy was real good. I would go so far as to say that it was the best poboy on the northshore, but it was good. They don’t go easy on the shrimp. It was piled high and overflowing. And these were not the tiny shrimp that you find in take out fried rice either.
Service was excellent. Our waitress took care of our every need in a timely manner.
I may actually visit Bears again in the future based on this last experience.

Really, you only need to remember one thing here — the po-​boy.
Yes, the best po-​boy on the North Shore. My Unilocal friends are being honest here — the roast beef po-​boy is the bomb. Awesome. Totally rocks. Yeah, that good.
You want more you say? OK, then try the Ferdie — Bear’s version of Mother’s original with roast beef, gravy, and ham. Is it better than the simple roast beef? Could be. Once again, falls into the «awesome, totally rocks» category.
Other items unfortunately are hit or miss. Fried seafood is good but not the best. Fries, etc. are rather standard. (But really, with the roast beef po-​boy as good as it is, who cares?)
I will however add that the beer is good and cold. Prices are reasonable and the service friendly. It’s basically a bar that serves a kick-​ass po-​boy. That, in book, makes this place just fine.

Among the best roast beef po-​boys I’ve had. Enough said.