First time going to Chico Black Bear Diner and it will be the last time. We tried to be seated the hostess told us it would be 15 mins, she also was unfriendly and seemed bothered to be at work. The entire restaurant was empty expect 3 people at bar counter and 2 tables being occupied. The lobby had several people waiting on tables. They could of sat people down and handed them a menu or drink until they were ready to take orders, plus it would of kept customers in restaurant instead of walking out with no service. I noticed 3 other parties waiting on tables left from lack of customer service. This restaurant won't last long with running its business like this. read more

There was no wait at lunch time June 11, 2024. The server was proficient and the iced tea was quick and cold. We ordered and it took awhile to get our food, a tuna melt and chicken wrap sandwich. I appreciate the effort of the server who appeared to be the only person on the floor wearing all the hats as table cleaner, host, cashier, and food server. We were trying to see if she was also the cook. Now for the bad news. The fries were low quality and poorly prepared. The fries tasted as if they sat out for hours and then were quickly fried a second time. The tuna melt was roughly slapped together as if the chef had never actually eaten tuna salad. There were large chunks of dry tuna and then pockets of dressing and chewy (in a bad way) onion or celery. The coleslaw was lacking in sweet and tangy with no crunch. The coleslaw tasted like it was left out of the refrigerator too early in the day. Besides the heroic server, this experience was negative and disappointing. This comes from a long time fan of Black Bear Diner in Chico. read more

So dissatisfied will no be returning wish this was a joke...my over medium eggs were also runny... waitresses forget to offer coffee and rarely come by the tables read more

Black Bear Diner Chico - Pancake - Diners Near Me - Chico, California

We used to love to come here, but lately the food has really gone down hill.y Reuben sandwich had potatoes in it instead of sauerkraut. I think it was made with leftover corned beef hash. The service and manager are great, but I think they need a new cook. read more

Great place to have a meal with friends! Not only is the food delicious, but the portions are big! The service is great, friendly & helpful! And don't forget to get dessert!!! read more

Only 3 couples in the restaurant when we got there. Still had to wait half an hour for our food. Food was so-so. My husband and I both got sick about an hour after we got home. We both had eggs and sausage. Won't eat there again. Oh, and it is expensive. read more

Good old-fashioned food. My server was very attentive, checked on us constantly. Definitely recommend this place. read more

Myself, to my siblings and two children sat in the corner of Booth and ordered our food. After waiting way too long we had to order to go and I asked the server if the gravy was in the bag she claimed that it was but after arriving home determined it was not. So I called the restaurant and spoke to the standing manager who he said Chandler would call me when he got back from vacation but that never happened. Psychology 10 times dealing with this until you stays with Chandler and he alleged that he would send me food vouchers times three be the male but none of those arrived because they are not sent and I was lied to!. Once we arrived at home saw that the poached egg was broken and settling in the bottom with a bunch of water. I left a $26 tip for some meager food and the bill was only $74. Chandler the other manager failed miserably..I have stage 4 cancer and was going through radiation treatment so it was very difficult for me to swallow foods that's why I eat poached eggs and that's why I need the gravy to attempt to get it down. It could be easily have had a feeling that we service delivered the gravy and poached egg as we live approximately 10 miles away but we have children to watch and I was unable to drive because of my health condition. The last time I called to speak with Chandler and try to speak with a district manager Chandler's assistant was extremely rude to me to myself and my siblings will never ever return to Chico black bear diner! read more

Black Bear Diner Chico - Chandler was advised about the issues I had but after multiple phone calls and lies he never sent the food vouchers like he said he would! - Diners Near Me - Chico, California

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Chico location is very dirty. Food is all microwaved the staff is underpaid and new management is extremely rude. Don't be surprised when they get shut down for a health inspection. If the food is not heated up in the microwave it's heated up in the steam table read more

We had breakfast and it was really good and very hot! Service was great. Our server, Sammie was so friendly and attentive. She was the only waitress at the time and did a great job. Restaurant was clean and cozy Hats iff to Sammie for her amazing customer service! read more

The chicken noodle soup taste like progresso soup from the can, so extremely disappointed with the soup! I ordered the soup and salad the salad dressing was ice cold and very good, but I had a lot of old wilted salad pieces I had to pick out, the corn bread muffin was very good. And the prices at this restaurant are extremely high!! read more

Black Bear's Back I tried the new Black Bear diner just opened in Chico CA. It was yummy. My server Nina was great. Very attentive to my needs and delightful to chat with. I had simple scrambled eggs bacon and French toast. Everything was hot when I got it. Other restive tried and my food was cold. But not here. Can't wait to go back and try something else. It was quite busy but I still got severed in a timely manner. read more

Our food was absolutely great. The Huckleberry lemonade was delicious!!! Our waiter was very friendly; as well as everyone else we incountered. The decor 100%! I love Black Bear Diner and I am very excited to have one in Chico, CA. read more

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Holly is such an amazing server. Her hosting was incredible and made us fill like we were all a big family. She was so kind and so funny. Thank you Holly! read more

We have had takeout a few times. They are on time with pickup. Food is not consistent. Not as good as their other locations that we have been to. read more

Extremely friendly staff with some really good food. I highly recommend this place and definitely come hungry as portions are extremely large. read more

Service, staff and food was great! Not much else to say other than, if you're looking for food options in this area, definitely come here!

Can't expect much more from Black Bear. Massive portions as always. Food was hot and fresh. Went in after seeing a bunch of bad reviews just to see how bad it really was. It wasn't. A lot of the servers there were young. It was slow, went in about 330. I could have used a little more attentiveness, but that will come in time once they learn that's how they're going to make their money. Everyone has been complaining about the prices. It was under $50 for two of us. Two entrees, two drinks and I also ordered a dinner salad to go with my meal. Where else are you going to go and pay under $50 for a dinner of two? It was clean inside and out. No complaints here on pricing or cleanliness. I gave 4 Stars only because I got my dinner salad at the same time as my entree. This is a huge pet peeve of mine anywhere as I always ask for my salad first. The reasoning is having to hurry and finish my salad while I watch my hot plate of food get cold. Again, servers were young, but they'll get there. read more

This afternoon we came to the restaurant and waited 45 minutes for cold and over salted food. We were told they are understaffed like all other places in town and that's why it was so long. The issue is if your cook can't prepare food in a timely manner, you shouldn't be seating the whole restaurant. Never again....and it is too bad because we loved the one in paradise. read more

4/7/2023 I always take the side of the customer versus the cook when something(s) need severe attention specially food. We returned one more time to Black Bear Diner to try their Friday All You Can Eat Fish, since this Easter Friday bans meat, and I have developed a certain kind of respect for the tradition. Happy Easter, Chico! Fish plate, $18+? 3 deep (deep!) fried fish, cole slaw, fries, hush puppies, tartar sauce. On paper it looked good that's why we went. What arrived had one common denominator: overly salty. The batter for the fish, the fries, the hush puppies, is that what they're called? Aggressively salty, almost like a boycott against the whole group. Had to discard the batter/overly fried crust, and save the little fish inside. The first 3 hush puppies were almost black, and therefore dry solid. Travis?, our fine server, replaced the neglectful fry, and brought 3 in better status. Fries untouchables sodium driven. My friendly partner ordered the Clam Chowder, which was thick but not a winner recipe. Was accompanied by what the first time was an outstanding corn bread, this time around stale, old, the opposite. We arrived around 7:10 PM, and the place was way below full. The staff I have found to be very nice and efficient. My criticism is for what is coming out of the kitchen, for as far as fried fish is concerned it was a terrible show. How hard is to find a willing, prideful chef/cook in Chico? Potentially speaking The Black Bear could be filled to capacity if they only could sustain the pace and quality of all items in the menu. Is not mean spirited on my part, but food thrown away is a defeat of sorts for this and all food places. Why some places are always crowded, while others are dormant! Better to sell fewer items cooked to perfection than allow mediocre fare. 1.5 Stars. read more

Black Bear Diner Chico - Whatever their name fried to the point of no return. Ugly dark, ultra dried inside. - Diners Near Me - Chico, California

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If I could have given them no stars I would have. The orders weren't right. Our food tasted old and cold. We couldn't believe it was that hard to make the food we ordered since it's pretty basic. We will never go back there again read more

Had to wait almost an hour to receive our food, which was just ok. They weren't crowded, either. No one came to apologize. Terrible customer service. Food isn't worth the wait. read more

My first time in the Chico location. The food was great and the service was outstanding. I will be back.

Hi had a craving for coconut cream pie, so I thought I better call and make sure they have it before heading there. Very happy she said there were 2 pieces available Yay! I let her know we were almost there if she could put them aside. She said oh yeah. Well we get here and guess what? No coconut cream pie no one new who I spoke to and I didn't get a name (my bad). I know not getting coconut cream isn't to bad but it is when you call ahead 3 min away. Well they compensated me with two chocolate peppermint pies. My husband had breakfast he ordered the omelette with country potato's. I had sweet potato fries. Well my husband received his toast when we were getting our check. The potatoes weren't great, very toasted almost burnt. Oh there's no pic of the coconut cream pie ( the whole reason for going)' you say! They didn't have any. I really don't think we will come back anytime soon. This was the second time here. What they did have was a lot of reasons this was wrong or this was wrong. The customer service was really good but we can't eat customer service. They really need a new cook because the one they have cooks with no flavor. Let's put it this way In and Out fries are better than the Black Bears country potatoes read more

Black Bear Diner Chico - Sweet Potato Fries - Diners Near Me - Chico, California

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The food took forever, and when we finally got it, it was soggy. The waiter never checked in on us, or gave us an idea of when our food would be out. The place was not even that full. It's all about customer service! Don't make your customers feel invisible!! Make EYE contact with your patrons, it makes it easier to deal with them waiting. read more

Look, I like Black Bear Diner, I actually do. I had been to the one in Paradise and the one in Weed which I believe is the original one. Both are good and reasonably priced. But when this one opened in Chico I was shocked at the prices. BBD has good diner food, it's not high end. The prices they are charging at this location is a joke and are more expensive than a large city would charge. I just don't know why they did that. If they are going to charge 1.5 times what they usually do, I just won't be coming here despite it being just down the street. read more

we have visited the Black Bear Diner twice both for breakfast. Our order of Eggs Benedict arrived and the egg yolks were absolutely hard! The eggs were so hard it was impossible to cut through them-both orders were exactly overdone and consistently awful. The second visit was even worse. we ordered scrambled eggs, hash browns and sausage. The sausage was delicious every thing else was extremely greasy, I mean dripping with grease. the second breakfast had bacon with scrambled eggs and hash browns. The bacon, eggs and hash browns were dripping with grease. This will be the absolute last time that I visit the Black Bear Diner in Chico. If you plan on charging top dollar for your food make sure that you can cook it perfectly. That explains why the restaurant was empty at 7AM on a Friday morning. what a waste of a great restaurant space. read more

My husband and I thought we would try this restaurant out and we probably will never return. We were there at 11:30 on Saturday morning. It took us 10 minutes to get seated. The cashier was also the hostess. She never looked at us until she moved over to the hostess station. Good customer service could have helped but she didn't have any. "I"ll be with you in just a minute," would have gone a long way. When we got seated the waitress was instantly there. She took our order in a timely manner and then we waited, and waited, and waited....... We waited for a full 30 minutes for chicken fried steak and a bacon cheeseburger salad. REALLY? The food was great. The service was lousy! This was not a busy place. No sort of lunch rush at all. That made it all the more disappointing. How sad! We would have been good customers. read more

Hubby and I along with our neighbors went to the new Black Bear Diner in Chico last night. Let's just say we will not be back. Hubs ordered the TRI tip with shrimp. 3 small slices of meat and three of the smallest shrimp I've ever seen. I ordered the fish and chips. The fish was so over cooked that it was tough. My neighbor ordered the ribs with shrimp. He liked the ribs. He had the same opinion of the shrimp. His daughter ordered the pot roast with a side of broccoli florets. The broccoli had seen better days. The broccoli had black spots on it and it was not pepper. We asked for refills on our drinks but they never came. We should of stayed in Paradise CA and ate a better dinner at any of the restaurants we have here on the Ridge. Unless Black Bear improves greatly, I'll spend my money on the Ridge. read more

We gave the Chico Black Bear Diner three tries. The first time it was only open a month. We excused the lukewarm pot roast and mashed potatoes. The next time was five weeks later. It wasn't bad and just pretty average. However, the third time wasn't the charm. My son and granddaughter were served in a pretty timely fashion; however, I waited an additional eight minutes to get my entree. Doesn't seem like long until you're sitting and watching others eat. My son had a "brinner" and his hash browns came looking good but had a slick layer of grease on the bottom. My granddaughter had pot roast and seemed to enjoy it. My dinner salad was 90% iceberg lettuce with three cucumber slices and grated carrot on top. Very bland. My entree didn't make the grade despite the wait. If your food isn't coming out all together, you need to be informed why. This is obviously a cook's error due to timing. I was a cook. I know this. The servers were polite and friendly. That's a plus. If I was them I'd look for another job at a downtown restaurant. Bigger tips and closer to their student homes. read more

I have always loved BBD but the one here in chico is a joke. Went in for desert with three others last night. Blackberry cobbler and pumpkin cheesecake were ordered. Took FOREVER to get service ( the place was not busy). Cheesecake was frozen solid and inedible. Asked the waitress if they had a thawed piece and she was so stoned out of her mind that she couldn't hold any type of conversation. I asked for the manager and they never came out. Cobbler was decent and can't complain about it. The wait times and service here is ridiculous and with the prices they charge, unfortunately I don't know how long they will last in chico if they don't make a huge change. read more

I love the quality of the food there. The service was top line everything is great. My only complaint is that it is about 15% too much for me. So with tip, even though the food was great, I still feel like I got taught a lesson. If I could afford it, I would eat there every day. read more

Love to see another Black Bear. Had one in my home town and now get to come get some nostalgia.

The corned beef was dry. Hash browns were undercooked. Overpriced dinner food. Slow to get the food out.

We were excited for the Black Bear Diner restaurant to open. We have gone there for an early dinner and for breakfast. Each time the staff in general is very friendly and polite. But when we went for dinner we wanted to sit in a booth and the booths were full according to the employee. I asked how long it would take to clean a booth and she said five minutes. The dirty booths didn't have any dishes plates or anything on them they were just empty. So we waited for her to offer to clean a table. She did not. The food was good for dinner and the breakfast the eggs Benedict was good but the sauce was a little different. But it was fine. What we did realize was that when we were there for breakfast that the prices on our two menus were different on each menu. One said 1899 for a breakfast and the other one said 2099. So I looked online at the website and it said 1899. It must've been for the eggs Benedict, but not sure. I realize that prices have gone up and I realize that the first week or two there are always a few things to fix. I was in the service industry for 37 years. So I know. It's a great location and it's a great atmosphere. But I wonder who is managing the restaurant. I really would like to see the restaurant make it. But the only way I would go back is if the prices were lowered a bit. And that I could sit where I would like to sit. When I request a booth I would like to sit in a booth if it's available. If it's dirty then clean it instead of going back to a conversation with your coworker. We will give it one more try. And hopefully a few things will be resolved there. Good luck we are hoping for the best for you. read more

Love me some Black Bear Diner!! Coffees hot and I'm ready to take your breakfast order :) read more

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Went there the 1st night... what a disappointment! They screwed up on everything... I will not be returning

it's sad to serve such great diner food but to have such terrible service doing it. I have eaten at dozens of BBDs - this was by far the worst service I have ever experienced at a BBD. When you charge somebody 4.00 bucks for a cup of coffee. I would think you would keep there mug full? read more

I ordered a Turkey dinner. When the dinner came to the table, I did a double take. Each piece of the turkey was at least an inch thick maybe even more than an inch it wasn't what I expected, and not that tender. Previously the food has been really good. I've eaten many times at the Paradise Black Bear Diner before the 2018 fire and had turkey dinners many times and the turkey was sliced normal. read more

Decided to take my gf to black bear chico ca today for breakfast. The restaurant was NOT at all busy. The waiter was polite. About half way through my hashbrowns i noticed something metallic and found this large very sharp metal shaving in my food ..... i brought it in and showed the one of the employees and they said someone would come talk to me.... I waited 15mins NOBODY came to talk to me or even say sorry. at this point I'm scared I've ingested metal shavings and my appetite is ruined. I just got my check, tipped the waiter and left....... But i am seriously never ever eating at another black bear dinner again and u shouldn't either. i wont tell you were to eat but i can tell you there is 100 places better than here. ......, I'm seriously considering going to the hospital to check my intestines for metal...... i will never eat food i dont prepare myself again .....smh. Look in the spoon in the photos provided. 05/29/23 Thanks black bear! read more

Black Bear Diner Chico - Thick sharp metal shavings - Diners Near Me - Chico, California

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