Black Bear Diner

Wow. Hash browns not cooked well. Corned beef shredded and tasted funny. Plastic still left on pot roast. Even crackers with soup were stale! Don’t think I will be back. (Granted, $ 13 taken off bill). Not a good experience at all! (Waitress very nice however)

First my waiter is rude as hell. And don’t listen too what we say. They brought my child a piece of cheese in a bowl for his cheeseburger because they didn’t put it on his bird is it was halfway delted did I ask for scrambled eggs not a quite whole eggs to bring me Jack you I didn’t for. There was a young lady there that was very sweet and she was try to help me as much as she can there was a manager there that he was 20% off your bill leave this to say not happy

Very unsatisfactory food here. Third time here and very poor the past two times. Went for breakfast and server was not very nice Also bacon, pancakes and over easy eggs undercooked. Not the best when you can see runny egg whites from over easy eggs. Pancakes weren’t hot at all. Bacon not crispy.

No Stop! Don’t Do it!.. Denny’s right across the street way better food. The food was so bad I didn’t even eat it.

So it was my first time here.
It reminds me of a Denny’s but the food is better & I love the bear décor all over the place. Super cute!
For a Saturday night it wasn’t that busy, we got seated as soon as we walked in.
They have booths & regular tables & all the décor was so country & bears in every which way you look. I loved it. lol. I love bears :)
I ordered the California Omelette which is a 3-​egg omelette with avocado, mushrooms and jack cheese with a side of red potatoes.
I must have been starving because I finished the entire thing, a rarity for me.
The potatoes were rested on diced green and red peppers, don’t know if I was suppose to eat it together but I didn’t since it was pretty raw and I like my veggies sauteed. Yeah, I am that picky sometimes. So sue me :)
We paid up front where they have a pretty good selection of pies, mini personal pie sizes too. ADORBS!
All in all, not too bad. They’re open late so that’s a plus :)

This is an old school diner type spot that does everything right. Delicious and fresh food, friendly service all at amazing prices.
Perfect eggs benedict. I loved their hash brown… crispy on top and delicious.

The food was okay. The servers are who took my rating to a 4 star. As busy as they are, ours checked in with us to make sure we were alright, and checked on our food too (it didn’t come in the average amount of time).

My favorite place for breakfast at a chain restaurant in California. Check out their website for west coast places. I love the black ice tea and the wait staff is usually friendly. The average check is low because of the food choices. My wife gets the Asian salad and I get breakfast all day. I eat at the counter if busy so we don’t have to wait in line.

Terrible. Terrible. Terrible.
I came with friends on 1÷8÷2016, one of them ordered tri tip platter, and asked for medium rare… when it came out. it was well done.
Another one of my friend ordered a turkey sandwich, asked for chips, but they gave him French fries. He did let the server know the mistake, but he wasn’t really apologetic to us. Just kind of brushed it off.
I, on the other hand, ordered a classic egg benedicts.
It took a bit to receive it, but when I did. I was really disappointed because the egg was over cooked and not runny… I love my poached eggs. It’s my favorite. I wanted red potatoes, but they gave me hash browns. What is wrong with customer services and the cooks? The service, they weren’t attentive 95% of the time. Such a shame. We flagged down the server, told him that the eggs are well over done and wasn’t what I ordered. He seemed stunned and said, «ok, It is known that the eggs are overcooked. etc.» I lost my appetite and just wanted a refund.
I don’t think I’m going to come back to this diner. At all. Such a disappointment. I love breakfast food and was hoping this was good enough. I rather stick to dennys or ihop. At least their food is good enough and service is well.

I ordered the Parmesan chicken. It was absolutely terrible. I have a feeling they just used a sandwich slice of American cheese and melted it on to a Costco chicken patty. And the side of pasta was just cold red sauce dumped on noodles. I really don’t recommend. Customer service is poor as well. I asked for a few sides of dressing/​additional items and never got them. Our drinks were never refilled either. I felt bad, but I didn’t even tip because I had such a poor experience here. I usually don’t leave bad reviews, but I had to share this.

Date: 12/​18/​2015 Time: 1:22 PM 57° Cloudy
My husband and I saw this Black Bear Diner two weeks ago when we were in the neighborhood at the time. We did not stop in because the surrounding areas had plenty of traffic and people. In other words, it was too crowded to our liking.
Today we decided to stop in for lunch. I really did not know what to expect from this casual chained restaurant. It’s the holiday season, it’s our first time dining here and the restaurant is adorned with Christmas lights and Christmas tree — quite festive. The ambiance from the front waiting area to the dining area has black bears carved into the lacquered woodwork, shelves filled with an assortment of teddy bears and a jukebox on display.
Surprisingly, on a Friday afternoon, they were not terribly busy. We walked in and in less than five minutes we were escorted to our table. Little did we know the menu was printed on an old newspaper format — inside all the interesting and fun facts of the City of Emeryville in 1976 on the front and back pages.
Black Bear Diner serves breakfast, lunch and dinner — comfy food of a typical family diner — any time of the day. Their portions are generous, to the point that one entrée and a side dish are enough to serve two people. Be prepare to get a «doggie» bag for one’s unfinished meal.
I started lunch with an Arnie Palmer, which was a decent standard. It was okay (3 stars), but I had better elsewhere. Corona beer and a 10-​ounce rib eye steak with the typical mashed red potatoes/​gravy and steamed broccoli and clam chowder soup were my husband’s lunch selection. I could only surmise that his meal was enjoyable since I heard no complaints from him. I opted for the fish ‘n chips with a side of cole slaw — three pieces of lightly batter fried cod fillets, French fries and creamy cole slaw. The fish was slightly crispy and hard around the edges; otherwise, it was moist and edible.
Although the rating of the meals is at a 3.5 stars, I am rounding up to a 4 stars on account of Olga’s bread pudding for dessert. The bread pudding was delish — four thick, moist, warm slices of bread with hints of vanilla and heavy cream, drenched in a pecan praline sauce and topped with whipped cream and enough for two people.
We left with full stomach, «doggie» bags and two orders of their chicken Caesar salad. We should have just ordered one, instead of two. For our next visit to this restaurant, I will be ordering one of my favs — chicken pot pie. I can hardly wait for that scrumptious chicken pot pie… oh yum! It’s also worth checking to see if a senior menu is in the offering.

first time being here for my birthday dinner was an ok experience came with a party of 13 and waited for few mins the waitress was nice no complaint on that. So everyone order and i think they like their food lol.
My daughter had the chicken club sandwich came with onion rings, & cookie & cream milk shake, she said it was good ;)
My boyfriend got the lovers meat loaf with mash potatoes & soup of the day including the biscuit –he says biscuit was yummy & the soup of the day was good but the lover’s meat loaf was dry.
I had the b.l.a.s.t the b.l.a.s.t was
it was moist and just enough touch of mayo the onion rings were large good size wasn’t over cook or undercooked it was in my eyes perfect with the ranch i got on the side.
We will be back in the near future

This restaurant is pretty good. The service staff is friendly and food comes out in a timely manner. The portions are pretty big but are a good value overall. The décor around the restaurant is all black bear related has a mountain lodge type of feeling to it. The atmosphere is warm and comforting especially on cold days. Great place to visit if you’re in the mood for traditional American food.

I had the Western BBQ burger with a salad and a soda. The cheese was shredded, not a slice, and was only partially melted. The meat lacked taste and came apart towards the end. The entire thing was soggy. The salad was just average. The soda was flat.
The waitstaff was friendly, the décor cute, and the seating comfortable. But this was all a lure, for the meal was highway robbery.

First time coming here this morning for brunch.
The Food:
Had the California Omelette with a side of hash browns and a biscuit. Now, I don’t normally eat carbs, nor have I been a huge biscuit fan, but the biscuits here were DELICIOUS! They were large, fluffy, light, and buttery. Omelette was average, and the avocado was sub-​par. The hash browns weren’t that brown or crispy, nothing special (and as expected). The biscuit was my favorite part of my meal.
The Service:
Sunday morning around 10:00am, put our name on a list and waited 10 – 15 minutes, which is pretty typical for a Sunday morning diner experience. We were sat and the server came to take our order shortly after. Food came out about 10 – 15 minutes after. Overall service was good!
If you’re looking for your standard American diner food and you’re on a budget, I would recommend coming here.

This BBD was disappointing. :(
My family and I enjoy eating at BBD, but this one will be one we won’t come back to. Reading Jen W.‘s review definitely sounds like our experience.
I brought my 4 kids here for dinner at their request after we hung out in the city with my cousin as we waited for my husband at the Cal game. The seating hostess was very friendly and greeted us with a huge smile – always a plus. Since I have one in a car seat, she offered to put us in a corner booth so that I could have more room for the kids and put the car seat at the edge of the bench where I was sitting. She promptly brought out the stand so that I could put the car seat on it and let us know that our waitress would be with us shortly.
It took about 25 minutes for our waitress to come greet us to take our drink order. She took 20 minutes to bring us our drinks, then went to go take orders from a bigger group who was seated after us before taking our order. It took 35 – 40 minutes for our food to come! I wanted to get up and leave, but my kids were so hungry. :(Even worse, we didn’t have an silverware, and it took her another 15 minutes to get us some because she went to take care of other tables. She gave us 2 sets from the table behind us when she brought out food, yes, and I gave them instantly to my younger two kids. It was just sad.
The food was good, not as great as what we usually expect from BBD (Suisun & Vacaville locations), but man was it sad that breakfast wasn’t up to par.
I don’t recommend this location at all. Man oh man…

This is this worst Black Bear Diner I have ever been to. Quality… or the lack thereof… was terrible both times I decided to come here. Every BBD that I’ve ever been to (over 5 locations) is always busy. This was the first time that I actually felt it. Service was terrible. The time it takes to get a server to your table from the moment you sit down is extremely long. Coffee is never refilled unless you flag someone down and waive your arms with an empty coffee cup in your hand. Food is served cold which just means your food is sitting at the window. The food is terrible. What happened to the amazing pancakes that I remembered from other locations?
Pancakes have been burnt twice. The sausage was shriveled. I ordered a club sandwich this time to avoid breakfast items. How can you mess up a club sandwich? Oh… you serve them with cold fries. Great. The server was supposed to bring mustard. It never happened. She went on break and never came back.
I would never recommend this location to anyone. Sadly, the Denny’s down the street is better than this spot. 1 sad star.

This place is like a typical dinner… Just average. The food is ok, i don’t really like this place but my dad loves it. The few times ive went the staff is always polite and they serve us quick. The menu is pretty big too which is always nice since there’s plenty of options! I personally wont come here on my own, i would rather go to an iHop!

First visit to any BBD was in Emeryville CA. The service was average. We were seated right away but took a few minutes longer than expected to get our drink order. Not a huge deal. Waitress was nice sometimes hard to understand her with her thick accent. After order was taken it took about 10 – 12 minutes to get our food. I ordered the Pot Roast which was cooked to PERFECTION but RUINED by the cheap NOT HOME MADE gravy. I had to scrape the gravy off of the entrée. The portion sizes are insane BIG. We had enough for leftovers the next day. The deserts looked amazing but we were just too full to get one.
Overall not a bad experience just not a 4 star experience either.
Did not visit restrooms while we were there.

Every time I come to this place they disappoint me but my kids love it.
Today I ordered a western bbq burger, my daughter ordered try tip and my son Mac n Cheese.
My daughters mashed potatoes were cold, my burger was so cold, the cheese didn’t melt. Eww.
My sons Mac was piping hot.
We are the only ones in here and there is no excuse for the inconsistency of temperatures AT ALL. Every time I come here, my food is cold. Ugh.