Teddy Bear Restaurant

About the Business

Specialties

The Teddy Bear specializes in home-style cooking. We make all of our own pies from scratch on the premises. Customers have been known to drive up the hill just for a piece of pie. My mom Gladys has been making our pies since 1971. She continues to oversee the pie making, but has some much deserved help. Our soups, chili and machaca are all original Teddy Bear recipes. We serve old fashioned shakes and malts. We've added a number of items over the years. One of our latest is our homemade chicken pot pies made from scratch and baked fresh daily. You might have noticed that some of our items have a name attached. Some of our regular customers have come up with their own personal meals. (We'll try to make just about anything you want if we have the right ingredients). Some of their orders were so good we decided to add them to the menu.

History

Established in 1944.

The Teddy Bear Restaurant has a long history in Big Bear. The original location was about 100 yards up the street. A couple of years later a new building was built on the present location. The front, kitchen and bathroom are all original construction. The building was built to house a second story. Obviously this was never done, but it did make for an extra strong foundation. The Teddy Bear has been successful for 63 years and counting. There have been considerable changes since the original building was built, both in ownership as well as structural. The original owners were Eddie and Wilma Wingard. In 1973 they sold the restaurant to my parents, Gerald and Gladys Schweitzer. My wife and I purchased the business in 1991. My parents added the front entry in the 70's and back dining room in 1983. We added the deck in 1994. Due to ever increasing regulations, it looks like this will be all the expansion we are going to undertake.