Black Bear Diner

When you have «From Scratch» within walking distance, you don’t need it. I guess people learned, as it is no longer open.

gross, gross gross
the waiter was scooping ice into our cups with his bare hands and to top it all off, he had sneezed into his hands moments before. didnt touch our drinks, obviously. he apparently was done with his shift and didn’t say anything and our current waitress was more interested in her boyfriend who came to visit than our food
Now I have been to other Black Bears and they arent like that, this is one is a horrible exception

After a hike in Big Sur, we stopped here on the way back to Monterey. The food was do-​able, large portions, a little bit on the expensive side for a coffee shop, but decent.
The salads were especially good, I’d give them 4 stars for the specialty salads. The house salad was $ 4 and it tasted good, but nothing special.
The interior was bright and clean and they sell one large ass bear claw. It had too much filling in it and I wouldn’t get it again. Just go to Red’s donuts for some doughy goodness.

The food here lives up to it’s name as in being diner food. Good, homestyle cooking that isn’t fancy, but tasty and comforting.
Breakfast is served all day so I had chicken fried steak and gravy for lunch. A platter topped with two eggs, home fries and a large chicken fried steak with country gravy along with a huge scratch biscuit. The chicken fried steak was tender and moist, made even tastier when dipped in the gravy.
The honey had the meatloaf sandwich which was served open faced style and covered with brown gravy and mashed potatoes on the side. It looked yummy too.
If you’re health conscious and watching your calories, plan on eating about a third of what is served, otherwise you’re really getting two or even three normal servings of food.
Service was prompt, drinks being refilled without asking.

I loveee this place. I might be biased because I used to work here, but the food is good, the décor is SO cute, and the staff is nice.
Items I’d reccommend:
Biscuits and gravy
Papa Bear Burger (most of the burgers are really good)
Side salads
Chocolate cream pie
The only downfall imo is the wait on Sunday mornings and the fact that they don’t take reservations unless it’s a huge party (if you have a party bigger than 10, you should call and let them know so they can have something set up for you!)

Black Bear is always a good standard old reliable. And it is especially good for breakfast — I am partial for omelets. But S.O. didn’t care for the sausage, said they were too fatty. I told S.O. to just stay away from meat altogether, since all meat is gross whether fatty or not, but she wasn’t paying attention.

This place makes my Lucky happy. A bear lover to the extreme, she was like a kid in a candy shop. So many bears, so little time! What a treat to start out our little trip. I was happy with a vegetarian avocado omelette and some red wine. First time I’ve had a drink before noon in years!

I love Bears.
And bacon.
And wine.
And my man.
And if you give me all those things in one place, darling, my head just might explode.
I’m not «into» bears in the biblical sense, so don’t think I’m crazy or call Peta on me. They make me happy. They entertain me. And they are endangered… so let’s give em some love.
I had the best BLT in a while, and well, it’s always happy hour somewhere in the world, so don’t besmirch me just bc I had some pinot with my english muffin (in a plastic cup with a BEAR on it nonetheless)
Everywhere I looked, bears. Bears on the menu (not to eat!), bears on my napkins. Bears on the curtains… shelves upon shelves of black bears before my eyes! Even the java station says «Coffee’s a bruin».
Come on, it’s so cheesetastic how can you not love it. It’s a diner. They server diner food and love. The waitresses were lovable and I didn’t even expect my road trip to start building memories here.
And now a treat for you, a random Chuck Norris fact of the day:
Thousands of years ago Chuck Norris came across a bear. It was so terrified that it fled north into the arctic. It was also so terrified that all of its decendents now have white hair.

Black Bear is awesome for what it is. Good food (and lots of it) in a campy atmosphere. Nothing is super amazing, but is all very good (except for there sirloin steaks). There is definitely a decline in service when they are busy (peak breakfast and lunch hours), but I perfer to go for late dinners.
Recommend: pancakes, burgers, catfish fingers and tri tip.

We ate here on a Sunday early afternoon around 11am. We were seated promptly and service was good.
We had the eggs benedict and joe’s scramble. Both plates were huge and tasty. They make their own hash browns, which look like a heap of fettucine because the hash browns are thicker than normal, like the width of fettucine. The food was tasty, service was good. If I’m in the area, I’d go back again.

Black Bear Diner is a welcome addition to the Carmel Valley scene. We stay at the Carmel Mission Inn Best Western just across the street and we love a little place in the Barnyard, From Scratch, for breakfast but they can get so very crowded and they are so very small — this makes a great option.
They have hearty breakfasts at moderate prices and the food is pretty good for a diner place. They are a small chain operation only in the West. We’ve stopped at other locations and have been very happy with them for breakfast and lunch. They are very reliable and reasonably priced.
Try their Corned Beef Hash. This is not anything that came out of a can! Their portions are generous. The bacon is lean and very good and the ham is more like a ham steak!
If you like your hash browns crispy, ask for them «extra crispy» and that’s the way they will come!
Jim

It was the only place open what Carmel considers late. The worst service, didn’t get a waitress for 10 minutes, also hostess fault and manager, didn’t get salad till after the meal.