Great food and service. Open Christmas which made having lunch a great experience. A little bit of a wait, but definitely worth it

Everything was good. Went on Thanksgiving morning, food, staff everything was good. I would recommend.

Good food. Great service. We loved our food and the hospitality from the wait staff. Best burgers and onion rings we've had in a while.

Great food at a good price. Always a good experience when we eat a Black Bear. Great place for family meal on Thanksgiving too.

Yes, it was Fathers Day at 10am, however our party of 5 experienced subpar service from start to finish. The woman who sat us to take our drink orders of a coffee, 2 kids apple juices, an Arnold Palmer, and a sweet tea took 3 times before she got it correct, then she forgot the coffee not once, but twice. When the coffee was finally delivered to the table she slammed it down and very rudely asked for our order. We requested a fruit bowl right away for the kids, which was never brought to our table. After approximately 40 minutes our food came out and our drinks were finally refilled. The eggs on 2 plates were ice cold, the hash browns were ice coldo cold H Ppp read more

Nevaeh was amazing! I said my chocolate crème pie tasted weird and she tasted it and said it wasn't made the black bear way. She got me a new pie and made the experience great. I love black bear!! read more

Black Bear Diner - Homemade Chocolate Cream Pie (490 cals.) - Diners Near Me - El Cajon, California

Wow what a way to start the day! This place is really good. The portions are great sized and the chicken fried steak is tasty. We ordered 2 Chicken Fried Steak Breakfasts with a side of 1 pancake each, one with country potatoes, one with hash brown potatoes, and both with eggs. We also ordered coffee, cranberry juice, and water. They have fresh homemade desserts like personal lattice apple pie. I have to say that everything was cooked perfectly and tasted delicious. We will surely come back. read more

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Ben was our waiter. He did such a great job. We brought a cake a needed a lighter, his manager Victoria went to her car to grab us one. This team is so perfessional & helpful. While one grabbed the good the other quickly helped. The food was delicious & the service was outstanding. They were short staff too. One of the Mae managers was on them, i felt bad because they were working so hard as they always do. Thank you. read more

Arrived a little after 6, door was open and people were talking by the counter. We waited for at least 10 minutes standing in the front waiting for someone to help us! But no one showed up, we decided to leave. BLACK BEAR DINNER if your business hours say you open @6am have people at the front just in case people come in. read more

This was my first time ever coming to the diner to eat. It looked nice and clean, and wasn't super crowded. At first the experience was going well but once we got seated and assigned our waiter it's when it went south. They only came to check in on us twice but I noticed they went to other tables multiple times to check in on them and would just walk past us. Other waiters were more attentive to us. The food was bland and lacked taste. When it came down to get the tab they walked past us twice before giving us out check. I asked for the receipt and she never handed it to us. I would not come back here again nor recommend to anyone. read more

Order was wrong food was cold. Not a good experance. Wife ordered a sanwitch eith ry bread. Got white server argued with wife on type of bread it was read more

Black Bear has a HUGE menu, many options, friendly servers/staff.... They have a birthday club. Tons of locations. Not many diners in CA so it's a decent option. Unfortunately no organic options but maybe one day! read more

I love this place. I've ordered breakfast from them from Uber eats a couple of times. The food was still warm and yummy despite the time for it to be delivered. I was able to visit the Diner today and the customer service was superb. The front staff were attentive and was able to seat us as soon as we walked in. Our servers checked up on us frequently and our food came out quick. I personally love their thick bacon strips, hand squeezed oj and their pancakes. They have lots of desserts to choose from and I chose a banana cream pie that is prepared in a personal pie sized dish. I will definitely come back again for the customer service alone. Great job guys! read more

Black Bear Diner - Kid's menu - Diners Near Me - El Cajon, California

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Went here for my birthday this year back in late April! The food here is absolutely delicious and finger licking good! It's so beautiful from the inside and outside. The restaurant has a beautiful country side style theme to it which makes it unique and stand out a lot! Great restaurant to take pictures! Love the merchandise they sell as well! Customer service was good too! Highly recommend this place! read more

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i ordered the waffle chicken, it was cold and dry. It looked inedible, and was freezing cold inside. read more

Black Bear Diner - Diners Near Me - El Cajon, California

Food portions are HUGE. Service was bad but food is cheap and good and portions are huge. 100% would coke Back just for the food read more

Black Bear Diner - Stuffed Blackberry French Toast* (1050 cals.) - Diners Near Me - El Cajon, California

This was my first visit and from the spectacular service to the delicious food I was more than satisfied. Can't wait to go back.

We live black bear! We have one in Murrieta and it's the go to spot for some good ole country breakfast. And now there's one near my parents in El Cajon. So why not take some time off and go visit my peeps and take them to breakfast! It's a great place to have great food. And they feed you enough to nap the rest of the day! That's how we do it in the country If you feeling country, and need some home cooking, gallop on over and rustle up you some grub at black bear! Get your belly fully and the. Go take a nap! I'm sure you can use one. Pray! Eat! And love your peeps. Later! M&M read more

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My friends and I really enjoyed the food. Service was also great. The waiter was very attentive.

These people couldn't get a TO GO order correct if they were offered a million dollars. A bunch of what looked and sounded like kids on the phone. So unprofessional! Completely got my order wrong so I had to wait for it to be prepared. Burnt toast, thrown on top of eggs with undercooked potatoes. Unreal! Never again! read more

Waitress Izzybella restored my faith in customer service and the food being delicious was the cherry on top!

Ambiance is great! Was met by a black bear. He stopped by for a photo op. Service is fast and efficient Food was amazing. (Too good to remember to get pictures, but we had stuffed French toast and cinnamon French toast) read more

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I will file this in the category of "let Yelp be your guide" . I was hungry for breakfast and looking for something different and new and Black Bear popped up in both the sponsored and organic search. I tend to look past the "sponsored" ads and lean more toward local but this one caught my eye. Mostly 4-5 star reviews and a couple bad ones, I decided to venture in......and glad I did! Greeted right away by a friendly, I was given my choice of seating and decided on a small booth near the counter, where all the action is. The team was hustling with precision and efficiency seemingly with care. The server was nice and patiently guided me through the menu, as a 1st timer, being sure to point out popular items on the menu ( designated by the bear claw) and offering her own personal favorites. I decided to play it safe and order a classic - 2 eggs, bacon, hash browns, biscuit, and a side of gravy. The thick-cut bacon served crisp but not overdone and the "strip cut" hash browns were a nice break from traditional and served crispy brown on the outside and fresh and tender on the inside. The gravy was just ok but the biscuit was exceptional in fluffiness and flavor. I would rank the coffee as diner quality. Finally, I would like to comment on the theme and motif which I thought was a little out of place for San Diego, maybe not so much for east county but a little bit of a stretch which maybe is why it works? Nonetheless, I enjoyed my meal, service was excellent, ambiance friendly and warm, and while I was looking for something different, I found it here at Black Bear Diner. I plan to be back for lunch soon and a taste of one of the great looking pies! read more

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It a good food and services. So we enjoy our 13 peoples use a long table and the server was nice and check out our coffee to make sure.

Two times in one week and we still were thinking of going again on Saturday for the fish and chips and prime rib dinner. Yes, the food is that good. Comfort food at its finest. Early in the week our party ordered Beef Pot Roast dinners, Burger combo with giant onion rings, and fried chicken dinner. All delicious and generous portions. We took home leftovers. Our server was Ryan and he did a great job. He was also very courteous and attentive. Then we went back for Thanksgiving dinner. They don't take reservations and there were over 40 people scattered out front when we drove up to park. It was discouraging but I called the restaurant and asked about the wait time. The Hostess estimated about 35 to 45 minutes, so we decided to wait and submitted our name. Surprisingly it was actually about 30 minutes. They moved through that large back up very fast! We ordered 3 turkey meals and one ham dinner. All came with your usual mashed potatoes and gravy, dressing, soup or salad, cranberry jelly sauce, green beans and fluffy cornbread muffins. Again, everything was delicious and generously portioned. We took home leftovers. I forgot our waitress's name but she too was courteous and attentive. Ryan saw us and even came over to say hello. It's a big chain with over 50 restaurants across the US, mostly in the western part. It reminds me of the ones in Northern California and Tahoe. Very comfortable and home like setting. We will be back again. read more

This is the La-Z-Boy recliner of comfort breakfast foods. The restaurant has a really cozy cabin feel and the food was tasty and exactly what you need when you're looking for a hearty breakfast. When we arrived, they had a full house with a waiting list and yet the servers still managed to be attentive and kept coming around warming up coffee mugs with fresh coffee. read more

Regional chain restaurant with black bear theme serving hearty, basic chow. We stopped in early on a Friday and were among just a handful of customers. The huge menu had tons of combos with eggs, sausage, pancakes, French toast-all the classics. My wife enjoyed the fresh avocado toast and a couple of poached eggs while I enjoyed the classic French toast with a side of Italian sausage patties. We were pleased to be able to get fresh squeezed OJ as well. Portions are huge and the food as you expect-nothing fancy-just good chow. read more

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I love the cabin theme of this place and service was great! Breakfast portion was big - definitely recommend! read more

Black Bear Diner - Diners Near Me - El Cajon, California

This is Our second time visiting this chain. Our first was up by Big Bear Mountain. Was seated much faster at this one than our previous visit. Food was excellent and on point. Delicious and enough to take home for the next morning. Definitely come here for the RIGHT Bang for your BUCK! Or should I saw Bear? Four stars only cause our waitress was not attentive or had something against my family. I will say, Savanah SAVED the Day and a star for this rating. She came by and doubled check on us. Asked for multiple flavor creamer for our coffee, and our waitress brought only half n half. Then I asked Savanah for a straw, noticed the creamer and came back with hazelnut and vanilla. Then after getting our boxes our waitress said we would get a bag at the counter when we paid, but saw all other patrons get it with their box. Then Savanah was about to bring a bag with the logo on it and our waitress finally brought one with no logo. Really felt like she had something against me and my family. But if you go, ask to be seated in Savanah section cause she is a ROCK STAR! read more

Black Bear Diner - Your local newspaper menu. - Diners Near Me - El Cajon, California

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One star for the taste of water and having ice in our drink cup. And Mark the manager for trying so hard to make it right. We sooo wanted to like this place. We should have seen the signs. The universe was trying so hard to deter us from dining here. First we put our name on the waiting list. They quoted 20 min. So we waited 40 minutes and decided to ask what the eta was. They said another hour possibly. If we had known we wouldn't have waited. So we decided to leave and go grab fast food near by. After driving away 10 min later we get a text our table was ready. At this point we are starving so we headed back. As famous Julia Roberts quoted, "BIG MISTAKE, BIG!" First thing we noticed visually once entering was how disgustingly dirty the floors were. Tables were dirty and just felt gross. Again, the universe gave us a warning and yet we decided to give the place the benefit of the doubt. Server Samantha was okay. Not good, just barely okay. No personality, not welcoming and never smiled. She took our order and only checked in on us once through the whole ordeal. Never got our water filled or asked how our food was. So, we ordered salads with our meal. We saw some dark pepper like things on our salad... and this establishment is definitely not a fresh cracked pepper on your salad kind of place. After moving them around we realized they were dead and live fruit flies or gnats in our salads. After picking out 3 of them and killing them with our utensils, we didn't need to look for more. We waited to see if our server would come so we can tell her but we had to get her ourselves. Her response was "that's weird, do you want something else?" I said yes and asked for onion rings and apparently we had to pay extra if we opted to have onion rings instead of a salad. I quickly asked for the manager. Manager Mark promptly came over to ask what happened. We explained the flies and showed him on our napkin a family of dead flies. He quickly removed the napkin and said we can definitely have onion rings. Mark the manager was kind and showed compassion and tried to make it right. Food all I mean ALLLLL came out COLD! Not like warm like it was sitting in the fridge cold! Waitress again didn't come to check in on us so I had to get up and find the manager. We ordered Cod and shrimp, New York Steak, and BBQ ribs and tri tip. The gravy was cold no heat, mash potatoes were cold where the center was almost gritty crunch from being cold, Seasonal Veggies were broccoli that was cold as ice, steak ordered medium was cold not even luke warm, French fries were like 3 day old McDonald fries (just hard and cold). Mark tried so hard to make it right grabbing new mash potatoes that were actually warm. But it was just a sad experience. My grits felt like it was out for two days. Crusty dry along the edges and couldn't scoop with the spoon, it just got stuck and lifted as one whole. We ended up eating what we could and asked to get our check. Waitress was surprised we had barely ate our food. Once getting our check it was total of $70 and I bite my tongue and tipped the waitress 18% being I know being a server sometimes the things are out of your hands but she was not even good. But history of serving I try to be generous. After closing the check the manager Mark hurried over and tried to stop the tender as he wanted to give a discount for the bad experience. He was trying so hard to make it right and I give him credit where credit was due. Being a Manager when things go wrong it always falls on them. So I thanked him and he voided the transaction and advised to check if transaction doesn't fall off on 3 days and adjusted the bill accordingly. However I felt we barely ate and that the bill should have been comped. Especially with live and dead insects in our plates and cold dishes on all our order. But I still give the manager Mark credit for trying. I do hope for the sake of their business that this was a fluke. Sad that we happened to try out the place for the first time and it was one disaster after another. We tried multiple times to let them get it right without having to correct things but it just was a miss. The cooks really need to make sure they cook the food before serving, check for pest control in their foods, and just quality control. Waiters/waitresses should check in on their guests and refill their drinks. The manager should not have to run around and do everyone's job. So kudos to Mark. I know it wasn't easy for him tonight. We will not visit this establishment nor any Black Bear Diner in the future. We will never recommend, unless to our most hateful enemies and I don't even think I'm that cruel. read more

Black Bear Diner - Live gnats/fruit flies or some sort of insects in our salads. As a courtesy we killed a few. You can see them on our napkin. - Diners Near Me - El Cajon, California

Well had I not talked to the manager this would have been a 4-star review. After the meal, I paused for a moment to tell the manager I enjoyed the food and service. The manager acted to me as if she had more important things to do than be bothered by me. She in no way made me feel welcome wanted or appreciated. That cost BIg Bear Dinner a star by itself. We had Victoria, she was nice . When She brought out my friend's salad first , I said, " hold on now, I'm the Birthday boy, I should be served first!" She remembered that. At the end of the meal offered me a free dessert. I had the pot roast. it was good. I didn't particularly like the recipe they used, in that it wasn't what I expected. It wasn't like my mom made for me on my birthday. No points deducted there as that would not be fair, any more than me to expect an 18 year old fry cook to fry a perfect egg over easy. Coincidentally it was 18 years ago when I was 50 years old visiting Edmund OK that I as a 50 year old man realized I shouldn't expect an 18 year old kid to fry an egg as good as I can. Back to the review. Both mashed potatoes and gravy and green beans were all good not amazing special or spectacular as one would hope for on his 68th birthday.. Again I had an unfair expectation since it was my Birthday, I felt that for that it should have been as good as mom's. And again realizing this was an unfair expectation no points were deducted. I think I sort of sabotaged them because my friends were treating me. I didn't order Prime rib or anything too pricey. I probably should have got something my mom wouldn't have made for my birthday. I suggested Black Bear because I liked the one in Phoenix. To me Black Bear is a Special Occasion restaurant. I do like the El Cajon location. It's beautifully decorated, clean well maintained. It has plenty of menu options. I recommend BIg Bear Diner as a Special Occasion spot. A friend or mine said he took his wife to the one in Walnut CA and had the best Prime Rib they had ever eaten. I'll have to try that some time. I also want to try the fish fry some Friday. As a sidenote I thought the Huckleberry icecream was really good. It was nice that they sang happy birthday to me. read more

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Overall this place was absolutely adorable, and our waiter was super nice. Atmosphere 5/5 The decor in this restaurant was so cute, it was definitely very bear themed. They had some super cute clothes in the front for kids. Plenty of seating, the tables were spread out nicely too. Nothing was too close to anything. Service 5/5 Service was great, everyone was super friendly . Our waiter was attentive, helpful, and very friendly. Food came out decently quick considering the amount of people in the restaurant. Food 4/5 Food was good, definitely diner food. I got the bears choice with pancakes and bacon, my husband got the turkey club. My only complaint with my meal were the scrambled eggs. They were a little wet and very under seasoned. My husband and our son enjoyed the sandwich. read more

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Great eating experience. Friendly staff, they really do give you a lot of food so be ready to take a doggie bag , unless you're a super huge eater, but it was so worth it, the breakfast was excellent. The lunch menu was great so much to choose from definitely a place to come for a big brunch. Lots of food and the price is extremely reasonable. read more

Wonderful food, great service, they dont even bother you during your marathon girlfriend chat-it-up session! Love this place! Amazing Meatloaf and love their breakfast items. Still working thru menu! read more

I have only had an opportunity to visit this diner when I am on the West Coast. Both times have been for breakfast. Both times have been in the state of California. The service is always friendly and fast. Each time the breakfast was delicious. The servings are huge. On this particular visit I ordered biscuits with sausage gravy, eggs and bacon. More than enough to feed two people, my husband had waffle, eggs and bacon. His was really good too. Our server was friendly and took really good care of us. Each time I've had a chance to visit the diner. I always leave with a bottle of mama Byrne hot sauce. Their hot sauce is one of the best that I've had. read more

Black Bear Diner - Sausage 1 Biscuit & Country Gravy (680 cals./760 cals.) - Diners Near Me - El Cajon, California

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Today was only the second time I met my friend to eat at Black Bear. The first time I ordered breakfast. This evening we both ordered burgers. I was craving a bacon cheeseburger and this one didn't disappoint. It's placed on a toasted brioche bun - mine only had lettuce, mayo and ketchup, but it was pretty yummy! I upgraded to the sweet potato fries because this is one of the few places that offers them. The waitress brought us bacon ranch, which you have to try, it is heavenly! I was hesitant to dip my sweet potato fry into it but was glad I did. What a surprisingly delicious mix of flavors! I will definitely be back for this combo. Our waitress Maria was amazing and attentive and the cashier was very amicable. There were other servers who helped us even though we weren't at their table - now that is what I call service! read more

Black Bear Diner - Bear's Choice - Diners Near Me - El Cajon, California

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Sol was super friendly and the whole staff had great energy that was really uplifting!

The black bear diner in El Cajon is definitely a comfort food establishment. I am familiar with the black bear chain from central California and was happy that they set up shop in El Cajon. I've never been disappointed on the selection of variety of meals offered and our last visit was no exception. Customer service is great and our food was delicious delivered deliciously hot. I would recommend the black bear to families and friends and those visiting the area read more

Customer service was amazing. Our server was amazing and very accommodating to our orders. The food was fantastic. This time still needs a little bit more seasoning, but overall great place to have breakfast lunch or dinner. Big portions will always go there. read more

The food, the service, the overall vibe of the place is EXCELLENT! My family and church friends absolutely love this place. We have never been disappointed. read more