Black Bear Diner

I am a frequent customer of black bear diners as I travel a lot. I will never come back to this location. (1) with me and my daughter along with 4 other customers they must have known because all the servers stood around talking at to one of the tables. (2) when they finally got around to taking our order which was 20 mins later. Then the food came out which seemed like other 20 mins for the Southern scramble breakfast and a kids tri tip, they didn’t bring out the whole order. (3) she said it’ll be right up. So after we finished with only having one drink in 40 mins the manager I can only guess because she was in a different colored shirt came up after again every server standing around talking, asked if I need a refill I said yes and how about the rest of my kids order… So then they bring it out and it’s all burnt. Then having the server lie right to your face and say «oh her meal came with an ice cream and sorry about the wait I got stuck up front.» Really the place is empty I watched you the whole time stand their and talk. Again just wanted to point out this location needs a lot of work or servers that care about the customers. I will never stop at This location and wouldn’t want anyone else to be treated like this! Stay away from here!

Food was excellent. Our waitress Paula Meler was so nice and funny. We had a great time with her. We couldn’t stop laughing.

Driving through this city to visit my brother and stopped here to eat on a Saturday night. Everything was great from the wait time to the service and the amount of time it took to get our food. Huge portions for a great price. Food was awesome as was the service. Definitely recommend this place.

This is my second visit here, but I’m not from Modesto. I’m here visiting for the summer and I’ve tried a few breakfast places. My spouse is here working, so she’s familiar with all of the local restaurants. Anyway, I had the French toast plate with eggs and sausage links. Black bear makes their own sausage links and these are really good. They use butter, not margarine, so that’s a bonus in my book as I absolutely hate margarine! I have been known to carry butter on my purse, people. This is serious! I digress… The French toast was freshly battered, cinnamony and soaked into the bread just right. The platter is served with 4 half slices, but it could have been a bit warmer (I judged this by my butter melting time). Syrup is warmed and served in little individual cups, which I appreciate because who needs all of those community syrup cooties? Not me! The eggs were standard, nothing special. Both times we’ve had great service. We had a cute guy with a very blog de mohawk that did an excellent job today. I am pleased and there’s butter in my belly, so I will return! Thanks, black bear! I only have brown bear emojis, but I’m sure you get the sentiment:)

My go to breakfast place next to ihop. Very friendly staff and they have the best homemade breakfast sausage links in Modesto.

Black Bear diner is not what it use to be. It use to be really good home cooking but I have to say it has gone downhill… the last time we went for breakfast, the waitress came over and said can I get you coffee or orange juice? My husband said he would take a coffee. The waitress ended up bringing an orange juice too. We did not ask for it but figured, oh well… we are eating breakfast, we will just keep it. Imagine our surprise when the bill came and the glass of orange juice was $ 5.00!!! I was so mad, I was thinking a couple dollars but FIVE? And I didn’t even ask for it? What a rip off. How many people does that happen to? Not sure if I will make a return visit…

Got seated right away, not busy at all. Got our drinks fairly fast. Waited over 10 minutes to have our order taken. By then, other guests that arrived after us have already ordered their food. Our waitress, along with three other waitresses, were too busy taking care of a party of eight, making sure that they were promptly taken care of, while everyone else that was in their station waited. If they were not at that particular table, they were gossiping in the corner. Needless to say, we will not be back. Instead we went to My Garden Café down the street, much better service.

Waited 40 minutes for our food of our party’s food was wrong and the third plate wasn’t even brought out and the waitress was full of nothing but sass. It’s not like it was even a busy morning breakfast rush there were tons of open tables. Worst service I’ve ever received ever.

I’ve eaten here a bunch of times but have only recently discovered their delicious chicken strips. Hands down, the most appetizing chicken strips I’ve ever had. If you’re a fan, be sure to order them.

LOVE LOVE LOVE this place! If I had theoeny I’d be there much more often! DELICIOUS HUGE portions of great food and the servers have always been wonderful! HIGHLY recommend!

Poor quality of food, French fries are cold, no one coming to ask if we needed anything. Slow service. The burger had so much lettuce on it I should have ordered a salad. Very disappointed with the food.

Well first, being in the Army, we’ve eating at a lot of places and a lot of different kind/​styles of food. But the Black Bear Diner in Modesto, has to be a favorite for quantity and quality. Our awesome server Serena was more than welcoming… She was full of spirit and joy when she greeted us at 7pm. Having worked ALL day, she was the light of our life.
The food was great but what made our night, was Serena. Catering to our military appetites and the need for great conversation, she is the reason we will be back.
Rad Rick.

Everything is really good
And people here are really friendly
I really like here

We love this place. I know they are sort of a chain, but this is the only one I have ever tried so I base my rating on this location alone.
There really isn’t much to say. The portions are huge and very tasty. I have Chicken Fried Steak breakfast and it was perfect and enough really for 2 people.
My wife had a burger that she said was quite good as well. As far as diners go, this one is a keeper.

I should warn everyone not to eat here, the cooks working in the kitchen looked like they didn’t know what they were doing and didn’t care if they did something wrong. I didn’t want to come here because I expected it to be like an iHop or Denny’s, but my friend wanted to try this place for dinner so we came.
The first thing I noticed when walking in here was the carpet. It was nasty and filled with stains. I could smell the mold growing under there.
I got really disgusted that I didn’t really eat the food I ordered. I got the ribs, but only had one bite and gave the rest to my friend. The ribs were really dry and I could tell they were old. Mashed potatoes weren’t that great, but I did like the fries and our server was nice. I wouldn’t ever come back here though.

The food is delicious, they do their absolute best to accommodate your dietary needs, the customer service is impeccable, the atmosphere delightful!
Their portions are plenty and no matter which meal your here to eat, it’ll always be an amazing treat!
#LOVEITHERE!

Food was ok, just like every diner. Didn’t like the biscuit, too dry. Service was good, waiter was attentive.

My husband and I stopped on for breakfast on a Sunday morning. It was pretty busy, but we only had to wait 10 minutes for a table. The restaurant is clean and welcoming and the staff was friendly.
The food was good, I had a California omelet and my husband had the chicken fried steak. The portions were enormous. I had read other reviews on Unilocal but they did not prepare me for how much food they give you. My omelet was loaded with cheese, mushrooms, and avocado. The hash browns were really good, crunchy without being greasy. I opted for a biscuit with my omelet. Those things should come with a warning! They are huge! This may be our new breakfast spot.

I hope you’re hungry! Huge portions! Great food! Buy a personal pie for later!
I wish I lived closer to this joint! I am definitely coming back!
The pancakes are very tasty!
The bisquits and gravy are to die for! Fresh squeezed orange juice! Even my Arnold Palmer was delicious!
You can’t go wrong eating here!

It was a Sunday afternoon when we had to drive from Fresno back to Sacramento. My dad, boyfriend and I decided we were hungry and started looking for a restaurant. Ending up in Modesto, I couldn’t believe how hard it was to find a place to eat that wasn’t crowded and not a fast food joint. My boyfriend suggested trying out a Black Bear Diner that he had heard about from reading some Unilocal reviews.
Maybe my android phone is not as smart as I was hoping, because when I searched on Unilocal for a nearby Black Bear Diner, the map guide did not give us an indication as to where it was, even though it had to be close to our vicinity. The built in GPS showed us driving along the freeway, but no star or flag letting me know where the diner was. After giving up, we took an exit in hopes of just finding any restaurant. Just as we were about to go to Olive Garden, I looked past them and spotted the Black Bear Diner in the same shopping center! I guess old fashion instincts sometimes are better than the latest electronic gadgets!
Lucky for us, the place wasn’t crowded at all and upon entering, we were greeted and seated right away by friendly staff. The menus given to us were printed on paper that represented a newspaper. They had an impressive selection of American style food to choose from for every appetite. Joe K ordered a side salad that could have easily been a large dinner salad, along with chicken fried steak, mashed red potatoes and green beans. He enjoyed his meal, but didn’t care for the green beans. I had turkey breast with gravy, mashed red potatoes and mixed vegetables. I too enjoyed dinner, but the veggies could have been steamed a little longer. My dad also liked his chicken fried steak dinner, but since they serve a lot of food, he was unable to finish his plate. His choice of cornbread and butter came with dinner. Prices were very reasonable for the generous servings given.
We were pleasantly full, and while the dessert menu was definitely tempting, we just couldn’t conquer the bear sized portions and I wondered if this is how a bear would feel getting ready to hibernate for winter. Now I’m looking forward to trying one of these diners in the Sacramento area!