Everything To Know About The Bear Season 3

Seasons one and two of the hit TV series The Bear premiered in June 2022 and June 2023, respectively, but production on this show has always taken place during the cold, dreary months of late winter, and season three began filming in Chicago this week. We at The Takeout, along with Italian beef lovers and just about every Chicago food fanatic around, are already eager to enjoy the fruits of that labor.

Meanwhile, for the cast of The Bear, season two is still bearing plenty of fruit. The show and its stars have been cleaning up at award shows recently: accolades include an Emmy for Outstanding Comedy Series (for season one), a Golden Globe for Best Television Series, and a Critics Choice Award for Best Comedy Series, just to name a few.

Plus, Ayo Edebiri, who plays sous chef Sydney, and Jermey Allen White, who plays protagonist Carmy, have both won various individual awards for their performances, including Emmys, Golden Globes, and Screen Actors Guild Awards.

Although it's much too early for even a whiff of what will happen to the characters in upcoming episodes, there's still plenty to know about season 3 before it arrives. After all, any decent chef knows having your mise en place ready is the only way to start off a good service.

While season one depicted Carmy's struggles assuming leadership of The Original Beef of Chicagoland, season two focuses on the staff collectively trying to open up The Bear, an entirely new restaurant where the old spot once stood. The high-stress nature of the show, which casual viewers find fascinating to watch and many industry folk describe as "too real," continued in new ways in season two.

Carmy and the staff face construction woes, financial challenges, and, of course, personal struggles while preparing to launch the new restaurant, and the timeline for opening is drastically accelerated once family friend Cicero puts conditions on his loan. Carmy, for his part, tries to balance the responsibilities of opening the restaurant and developing its menu alongside Sydney while also trying to keep his new romantic relationship alive.

As Marcus stages overseas and Tina and Ebra attend culinary school, Sydney throws her focus into developing dishes for the new menu by visiting various restaurants throughout Chicago, including Michelin-starred Kasama. Meanwhile, "Cousin" Richie (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) gets a crash course in hospitality by staging at Chicago fine dining restaurant Ever and gets in the habit of wearing suits to work.

By the end of the season, it seems that Sydney and Richie, along with the rest of the staff, have truly risen to the occasion. Carmy, meanwhile, winds up locked in the walk-in cooler on The Bear's opening night, having a full-on meltdown that might have completely imploded his relationship not only with his new girlfriend, but also possibly Richie. And that was just the restaurant's family and friends soft opening.

This is pure speculation, but it's a reasonable guess that season three will pick up right where season two left off, with the restaurant celebrating its official grand opening as Carmy deals with the million-and-one things he always seems to be dealing with. Also, Carmy's sister, Natalie (aka Sugar), will probably be giving birth to her baby very early in season three, and the season two finale also implied that Marcus might soon be grieving a family loss that pulls him away from the restaurant.

Throughout all the stress of season two, audiences were nevertheless rewarded with some gorgeous extended shots of food. Pastry chef Marcus (Lionel Boyce) gets the opportunity to travel to Copenhagen and perfect his skills; Sydney travels across Chicago for inspiration as she builds The Bear's menu, and even Cousin Richie's stage at Ever includes a truly inspiring plating of a Chicago deep dish pizza.

Overall, though, the previous season showed the highs and lows of opening a new restaurant more than anything else. Season three, as Jeremy Allen White told Variety back in December, will showcase food more closely.

"For the second season, so much of it was about putting the restaurant together, so there wasn't that much cooking," White said. "But now, in the third season, I think we're going to go back to that functioning kitchen atmosphere that we had in the first."

White also mentioned that he'd be meeting with professional chefs in January to prepare a set menu that will appear in the restaurant in season three.

Filming for the show has started in Chicago, and some members of the cast have already been spotted around the city. Exact filming locations are not disclosed, but last season featured restaurants in the River North, West Loop, and Bucktown neighborhoods, among others. Filming should last several weeks.

The show is expected to drop on Hulu in June, WBEZ Chicago reports. The chairman of FX, which produces the show, also told Variety that season three will likely drop on Hulu as a full season all at once, not on a week by week basis as some other shows do.

That's all there is for now, but the dinner rush hasn't even truthfully started—so keep your eyes and ears open. Heard, Chef?

Season one and two of The Bear are available to stream now on Hulu.