We were disappointed with this particular Black Bear. Been here before, and to other locations, with fairly satisfactory experiences, but this visit was way below par. Both ordered prime rib, baked potatoes, and side of fruit. The beef and potatoes were okay, but the fruit looked like it had been sitting around for a couple of days. One had a strawberry on the top that was way over ripe to the point of being almost rotten, and some of the other pieces of fruit were starting to show brown edges. It was late afternoon when there were very few customers, so service was good and the waitress was nice. However, a really good experienced waitress should always scan the food she is serving before taking it to the table. I'll chalk that up to inexperience, but management could be more attentive to training and supervising. . Upon leaving we brought the fruit issue to the manager and even showed it. The manager appeared rather indifferent, and just acknowledged our comments. Maybe Black Bear has become too large to be minding the store. (Just a thought.) Think we will skip Black Bear for a while and maybe try again in about a year. read more

Black bear diner has great service. The waitresses, and waiters are very friendly, and helpful, and help you with any questions you have. I love the woodsy theme in the restaurant. The food is very big. And you sure get your mo yes wort what you payed for. If you are traveling, or just wanting to go to black bear diner this is a great place with lots of hospitality read more

This is our go to home town pick, before anything. Anything we choose we are always pleased. The only fault that I personally do not care for, is their coffee, I believe I'm spoiled with my coffee from home. But I can't find any faults and nor will you at Merced's Black Bear Diner. read more

The cook named Jerry, is awesome! He takes pride in his work and the customers preferences,live family time here!

The portions are HUGE. They can feed like 4 people. A lot of the lunch items are good. However, breakfast was horrible. DO NOT order bacon if you like really crispy bacon. They tried to make me crispy bacon 4 times, and it was still soggy and gross. The dessert is very one-note as well. I'd much rather go to any of the bakeries downtown. I LOVE the fish and chips and boyfriend loves the burgers. The atmosphere is really cute, and it makes up for some of the flaws. However, I will not be going here often due to the distance and price. read more

The food here is pretty good. I would definitely go back. Comfort food. YUM!

Came here with a Few co workers, first off Wow! Portion is Huge!! food was pretty pricey. I didn't know that they were going to build me a Mountain of 5 thick layers of Pancake along with only 1 sausage & 2 bacon. You can say it was my first time there didn't know what I wanted. Hope to come back and try something else. read more

Came in tonight & it was everything I could have asked for! The service was overall good, our waitress was nice & assisting & made sure we got exactly what we wanted. As well as the host, he was very nice as well. We came in for dinner on a Friday night so obviously it was busy but it was not any longer than I expected it to be considering we had 3 steaks (all cooked perfectly well). A side note to mention...their broccoli was AMAZING. Every time I go to a restaurant I typically get broccoli & I have yet to find one that isn't cooked to much or not long enough or has a plastic taste...until now! I was very happy. I have no complaints whatsoever :) read more

Sausage gravy and biscuits were watered down and extremely salty. We found a hair in the food AFTER finishing it. Unimpressed. We're usually really positive people and we try to see the best of every situation however, service was just decent and the food was very disappointing. However, bathrooms were clean and seating was great. But we don't go there anymore, after finding the hair. Used to love it. They must've changed cooks or something. read more

I've been going to Black bear in Merced for years with a business group. This rating is for our waitress Stefani. She is the best. We arrive shortly after the restaurant opens and Stefani can see one my car pulls up and my coffee is on the table before I get to the Table. This is the same for all our group. And she keeps our coffee cups full. She knows the time everyone is here and it is time to take our orders. Although she is the only waitress on duty this early in the morning she looks to be very efficient with taking care of all the other customers in the restaurant I an not just our Group. read more

Terrible service. I felt that the waitress was treating us bad and I felt that she had some sort of hatred or disgust like if I was some sort of animal. We waited 30 minutes just to get our order taken and the restaurant was nearly empty. After our food was brought the waitress didn't even stop by until she gave us our bill. Thank you, you racist bitch. read more

I haven't had Black Bear in yearssss, but my partner decided that's what he wanted to order us for brunch today-- as a vegetarian, there's never many options for me when it comes to breakfast. So naturally, I skip over the breakfast menu & head for the sandwiches, to see what I could order without meat that would still be filling. I decided to go with their veggie burger & a salad, & I am so glad I did! The patty was made from peas, broccoli, spinach & some other veggies probably I'm not real sure lol but it was absolutely beautifully made! I'm almost positive those are made in house, they definitely weren't frozen patties so they were insanely moist & with the perfect bun it was *chefs kiss* perfecto. The side salad was also very nice, HUGE for sure, nice & fresh. I used my own Greek dressing at home, & a little bit of cracked pepper & it was awesome. My only complaint is that the salad & the burger were in the same box, which made the salad a lil warm lol. Other than that, everything was great! Thanks Black Bear!!!! read more

We ordered the chicken fried steak and eggs with home fries, the steaks and the home fries were soaked in old nasty grease , the gravy tasted like a tin can, the eggs were rubbery and a bad greasy taste to them no over medium eggs should look like they had air whipped into them tasted like greasy rubber after one bite I could not eat them, the coffee tasted like it was recycled twice nothing but hot water sure was not a coffee taste at all. for sure we will not be going back to them for any reason. 6 pm there might of been about 4 or 5 couples in this place so sad that should of told us not a good place to eat at. read more

Its usually sonetimes hit and miss mostly because they order ne the wrong item. But they fix it so its ok. Just would like it to be right the first time so that me and my partner can ear together. If your hungry then this place is good for you large servings available. read more

First time visiting black Bear Diner, I ordered the biscuits and gravy with bacon, the bacon was not even close to being done and was very greasy, the biscuit looked good but there wasn't even close to enough gravy. read more

I am in love with the pesto turkey sandwich! The service here is excellent and we always choose this place for when my family gets together.

They corrected their mistake and Scott is back!! My mother and I consider going to Black Bear Diner, going to eat with family. The atmosphere is warm and friendly and the food is wonderful. Now that Scott is back in management it feels all is right again!!! read more

Really like the Black Bear Diners. I think this is their newest. Gonna try to get to them all some day, gives us a good reason to road trip. Anyway, had the BBQ pork ribs with salad and baked potato. Good size portion and was tasty. Went with a couple of folks who had not been there before. Everyone enjoyed their meals. The server was very attentive and we enjoyed the experience. Good family atmosphere. read more

Great family restaurant. Just discovered the cinnamon roll French toast! Amazing!!! Friendly staff, Stephanie is a wonderful server!

We had lunch at Black Bear Diner on 9/22/14. We had an excellent experience. The servers were incredibly nice and prompt in taking our order. I had the grilled chicken taco salad. It was fabulous!! It was a huge salad in a crisp fried flour tortilla shell. On the bottom were refried beans. In the shell was lettuce, tomatoes, large portion of avocado, shredded cheese, jalapenos, green onions, black olives and full grilled chicken breast. I had the house made Ranch dressing. It was delicious. It was so fresh and enough to feed 4 people. This salad was an incredible value. I will order it again, for sure. My husband ordered the Black Bear burger with fries and strawberry shake. The shake was made with fresh strawberries and was huge. I highly recommend the Black Bear Diner. When we are travelling, we search for Black Bear Diner's because we have had great experiences there. read more

I had breakfast here this morning and I have no complaints. The Veggie omelet was great and the biscuit was ginormous. I have never seen a biscuit that big. Will definitely come back. Service was great too read more

Be coming here for years, love it here. Always clean, food comes out quick and cooked to perfection and staff is very friendly. Highly recommend you to come out and try this place, good family environment. read more

I ordered a club sandwich to go for my lunch at work. I opened my container and it was the saddest club sandwich I've ever seen! The sandwich had one piece of ham, one over cooked piece of bacon and literally a half of piece of turkey. Super disappointing! read more

My husbands favorite place to eat. Big portions. Good prices. Friendly staff. The chicken fried steak breakfast or dinner is his favorite choice. We have never had to wait too long to be seated. 99% of the time it's maybe a min wait. Music is oldies but goodies. read more

My family went to Black Bear Diner and had the greatest experience! Our waitress was Ashley! She was so professional and so nice to us! She made sure we had what we needed at all times! We definitely will be back because of her! If you want great service sit in her section!! read more

Kayla was a great and attentive server! Food was great, music was a good volume, restaurant was clean. :)

My daughter has worked at Black Bear Diner for the past 10 months so I have eaten there regularly, several times a month, sometimes weekly. Today was her last day and I can't say enough good things about Black Bear in Merced. The food is always excellent and the service is the best. The manger Scott and the whole staff are kind and efficient. Even though my daughter will not be working there anymore, I will continue to chose Black Bear as my go to place to eat in Merced. read more

Very dry biscuits and gravy. Obviously it was microwaved biscuits. On another occasion i ordered the waffle combo. It was the worst waffle i have ever had. It has this cleaver looking bear logo on it but it tastes like a sponge. My gf and I are just overall unsatisfied with the place and it no longer comes up in conversation on places to eat in Merced. read more

This restaurant is very kid friendly. Me and the family ate here for breakfast on a busy Sunday morning, and the staff kept up with crowd. The food was great I had the big bear platter and the wife had pancakes each dish was awesome great place to dine. read more

Super delicious breakfast and had the best time. Service was great, Vicky really was the best! Will definitely be going back!

Excellent service, Vicky was the best! She had great recommendations and the chicken strips with fries were amazing!

First time here after hearing about it from relatives.Took about 5 minutes to be seated though there were very few people here. Menus resemble newspapers. Friendly waitress but service slow. Got our drink and waitress came back ten minutes later and took our order. She came back five minutes later and had to ask me again what my order was, even though she had written it down. Around half an hour later we got our food. I figured with the wait the food would be hot. It was warm bordering on room temperature. My brother said his ribs were "rubbery" and my turkey had weird fatty deposits. My son said his steak lacked flavor. For the price we paid ($70+) for 3 people you would expect better. An all around disappointing experience. One star for a friendly but distracted waitress who seemed to prefer joking with her boss to serving customers. I know this is Merced so expectations weren't high but still disappointing. Avoid this place. read more

The food here is always good, I have never sent anything back and I have had a lot of the dishes. This is a good diner, I like it as much as the original in Mt. Shasta. You won't leave hungry and the wait staff do their job well. I would be a regular if I lived there and didn't have to watch calories. read more

My niece worked here and quit after seeing mold back by salad bar where waiters prepare and cook using bare hand to smear condiments on sandwiches. She questioned manager and he blew her off. She quit due to being afraid of serving customers contaminated food. read more

This my first visit and I was puzzled by the various reviews posted. Our service was very friendly, efficient and made sure everything was meeting our expectations. My Shasta scramble was excellent and my eyes bulged when my order of biscuits and gravy came out. The portions are huge and you get your money's worth for sure. The only knock was the fruit wss on the frozen side but then again it is the middle of winter. read more

This is a very very dirty restaurant! I would never expose my family to such filth. This was at one time a clean restaurant, what happened? If I would have used the restroom first I would left FAST!!!! Go to Denny's on 13th St. now that is a nice restaurant and good food. read more

After venturing into another place up the road (and leaving after waiting very long to be served at the counter) I found Black Bear Diner on google maps and headed over. The decor, the prompt greeting at the door, the ambience, music and upbeat and attentive staff, and of course the food were all top notch. I've been in the food and beverage industry for decades and have the utmost respect and admiration for the people behind these operations. My server Jordan was a delight. Well done my friends. read more

Got hook on there Sourdough Cheeseburger and Garlic Fries. Yummy!!!

Most of the food is good, enjoyable atmosphere and lots of refills. The fresh squeezed orange juice is good when they're in season. A touch pricey and the cooks fail at corn beef hash, but no complaints on the rest of the dishes I've tried. Would and have suggested this place to friends. Arguably the best breakfast in town read more

We meet family at this restaurant several times a year as it is a meeting spot in the middle (we each about drive 90 minutes one way). My experience this past weekend was really disappointing. I am not sure if our server was new but our service was terrible. Our food orders came out at different times. My son's order was wrong. The gravy on my biscuits with gravy was cold. Not warm but cold. When I told our waitress about it she offered to bring me some new gravy on the side. Since I was really hungry I accepted. I should have sent the order back. Our drinks were not refilled until we were completely out of water/soda and then we had to flag her down. My mother-in-law had to ask 3 times for water and extra napkins. But I will say she was johnnie on the spot when it came time for us to pay our bill. She let us know that it was time for her to leave and that we could settle our bill before she left. My Husband is quite generous and even with the bad service/food, she still received a 15% tip. We'll be meeting somewhere else from here on out. That is so disappointing since I really enjoyed their biscuits and gravy. read more