Had a great brunch experience here. We got seated in 5 mins. Our waiter was friendly, fast, and checked in on us consistently. My wife and I ordered two breakfasts and they were delicious and portions were large. I've never been to a black bear diner before, but I loved the bear theme. Having brunch here was a great start to the day. read more

Had good experience before years ago and went back. Food was average. Ordered basic Black Bear Diner breakfast meals (i.e. pancakes, chicken fried steak, etc). We found two hairs in our food that suspiciously matched the waitress's. However, the manager is gracious and will make good with you. Just don't trust the waitress with the really big gut. read more

Me and my family recently came to Monetary for a vacation and came here for a few days. This is an amazing restaurant for Breakfast and Dinner. You really get yours moneys worth with every single meal. The portions are massive and really well cooked. You can tell that they take a lot of time with every single meal. Also attention to detail is amazing. Even the ketchup bottle as a bear on it and everything sticks to brand. Finally, the workers are amazing and truly amazing that their job. The workers were kind and really cared about our well-being! Overall, this is a great family restaurant and I highly recommend to any family's or group for any time of day! It's really worth a trip and made our vacation a whole lot better! read more

This place was so yummy. We live in Central Texas and do not have them. Sure wish you would bring them to Texas

Two steps up for your local Denny's, but with way better burgers! The California Burger was overflowing with avocado, juicy meat and just messy! Messy Burger means gooood. Served with crispy fries and washed down with an Arnold Palmer made with fresh Lemonade is A-OK by me! read more

Always a good meal. Breakfast is always a good idea, and it's available all the time. Who doesn't love that? The biscuits are homemade and melt in your mouth. I'd say they are my new favorite breakfast side. read more

Step back into a Disneyland like atmosphere with black bears galore. Great food and reasonable prices. Very family friendly read more

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By far the best Black Bear Diner we've ever been to. We are visiting from Oregon and have been to the one in Shasta City, CA, and Medford, OR. Not impressed with either one at all so this was a risk while on vacation. But choices were limited because we wanted breakfast food at 7pm. This was great. Servers were friendly, restaurant was not crowded at all on a Sunday evening, food came quickly and was cooked as requested. We were checked on by our waiter at least 4 times during the hour we were there. We don't get that kind of service anywhere else. Really good experience all around. Thanks to this location and its staff we won't be giving up on this chain altogether just yet. If you're in the area and want good food without the crazy prices and crowds (especially with kids) give it a try! read more

Outstanding place. Wide array menu and huge portions of good food. Reasonably priced and friendly service. This is how it's supposed to be. read more

Black Bear Diner - Rustic decor - American Near Me - Monterey, California

On Tuesday night, my husband and I decided to grab dinner at this black bear diner. And let me tell you they give out big portions my husband got the chicken fried steak and he was very happy with the results. Myself I got the blacken salmon and i wasn't disappointed at all. We had a nice waitress name Crystal. She was very attentive and super friendly. On top of that she was cracking jokes with us. We notice that she was by herself and quite busy, but she still manage to give it her all. She made sure we had a nice pleasant experience. Kudos to her and black bear for this amazing experience. read more

Overall great! Very busy day so service was sketchy but won't hold it against them. All orders were right just took some time to get their attention. Food was very good and prices were right. My husband had the "Grizz" breakfast which was an enormous amount of food and all delicious. The sausage was just the way I like it. Me, my stepson, and his wife all got different burgers. All were delicious. His was Huge! Grand daughter got the chicken strips and liked them and the fries. She really loved grandpa's pancakes. Bill for all was $65 which is totally reasonable. Would definitely come back. read more

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I love this place! Such a cozy atmosphere and I've never had a bad meal there. It's also one of the only restaurants in the area that serves (good) sweet tea. read more

I decided to try this out tonight and decided on the meatloaf. It's horrible. Barely seasoned and the meat is fake looking. Also the side of soup I decided to get it chicken noodle. And it's definitely Campbell's chicken noodle soup. Which is ridiculous that they are serving that as there soup. They are probably spending more money buying the soup, when it would be much cheaper to just make it. Which is completely lazy if you ask me. Don't eat here and waste your money, there are other great places to eat in Monterey. read more

Black Bear Diner - Chicken noodle soup? Definitely Campbell's home style chicken noodle out of a can..... wow - American Near Me - Monterey, California

FOOD: Very disappointing! My husband and I ordered the Corned Beef Hash paired with either hash browns or country potatoes. The meat was so little and then just loaded with so much potatoes! Meat tasted bland also. My mom's Pesto Salmon was way too salty and she couldn't even finish it. Waffle tastes flat despite putting syrup and whipped cream. SERVICE: Quick and fast. Servers (Nereo and Ana) were very courteous. CLEANLINESS: Generally clean except that the ladies' restroom had a funky smell. read more

It's a diner. I wasn't expecting anything great. But the service and food were just that. My California omelette came as advertised, filled with plenty of thinly sliced mushrooms, avocado, and Jack cheese. Our server and the other staff I interacted with were friendly, welcoming, and helpful. Def going back. read more

Disappointe!! was so happy they finally opened for in house seating. Came in to order a take out anyway for my kids and they just ignored me standing there for 5 minute. Walked past me with orders-- didn't say just a minute or I'll be with you in a minute. One of my favorite breakfast places. It made me so sad read more

Excellent service!! Clean and neat!! Spacing in between tables observed. All servers wearing their masks appropriately. Thank you Donna for an awesome service!!! Highly recommended!! read more

I always stop by here for breakfast before I leave Monterey. Food is great, good size portions. But the service is phenomenal!!!! Keep up the great job. See ya guys next time. read more

So, I've tried to come back a few times since restrictions are over. BUT - I gave them the benefit of the doubt a couple of times with service issues because servers are hard to come by these days. However, I've come to the conclusion that the lack of servers (but is it really that?) and lack of decent, not spectacular, service is permanent. There honestly do seem to be a reasonable amount of employed BODIES around, but they rarely actually approach a table. You can't get your order taken, with staff clearly seeing you're waiting. They never come back to see if you want more soda, etc. They just rush around, but not to or from actual customers. I tried one last time about 10 days ago and ended up just walking out because while I sat for a good 10 min with employees seeing and ignoring me, no one looked like they were even thinking of taking my order. There's no point in me going back just to be annoyed and ignored again. This is their permanent post-COVID operational status. Other, similar places also have manpower issues but you can see them working their butts off. I honestly DON'T see that here. read more

Very inconsiderate to their guests. There was a large group of about 10 that had all available heat lamps surrounding their table. My family and the family next to us was forced to just freeze. We were told that they did have more lamps but were told the Chevron Gas station across the parking lot was out of propane. I find it absurd that Black Bear diner did not feel the need to make sure all customers were comfortable not just the ones they deemed worthy of a heat lamps. What human being would look at this picture and say this is okay? Pretty disgusting, so we left after we were told the gas station was out of propane. read more

Black Bear Diner - Only this party of 10 or so was allowed the heat lamps! - American Near Me - Monterey, California

This is the first Black Bear restaurant I went to. It got me hooked on this chain. Today, Oct 27, 2022, my wife went there and were we disappointed. I had the "slow roasted" pot roast, it had no taste, was cold, and no seasons. I would like to know what they call "slow roasted", 2 hours in a pot. The meat was not tender and it had very few vegetables in it. They were not cooked with the meat. I have been to a number of Black Bears and they are great when they first open but go down hill after that. Papa Near and his.corporation need to check this places out a while, say 6 to 12 months after the startup crew turns the restaurant over the franchise crew. I am very disappointed in the food chain. I will look for other places to eat on the future. read more

Well, It wasn't the standard expectation. California omelette: over cooked/flat and crepe like. My toast was not really toasted...it was hurried out of toaster. The patty melt we ordered well done came medium done. Anyway it was a drop in standard. read more

Totally gross. There was a used sugar packet in my hot chocolate. My bacon was burnt to a crisp and my hash browns weren't cooked through. Definitely won't be going back. read more

I sat and waited over 15 minutes while the whole time my order was sitting on counter-was told it wasn't ready yet and when I confronted them about it the lady asked if I wanted her to heat it up in the back or to re do it! We won't ever go there again and with the way way they spoke to me, I'll make sure to let everyone i know not to go there either! food wasn't that great I wouldn't even give them a one star rating read more

The service was great! All the waiters and waitress were very kind and were fast to attend us! And the food was phenomenal!! I've been to other black bear dinners and the food here topped them all! read more

I've eaten at Black Bear Diners before, breakfast is huge! Expect every portion size to be double what a normal person could eat (seriously share a meal with your spouse!). The decor is 'bear' centric and cozy. It brings up a pang of nostalgia for a cozy breakfast diner. read more

I wasn't sure what to think because it looks a bit like Frontierland, but it's super cute. My other hesitation is Black Bear seems to be known for their breakfast and we came for dinner. Our waitress was very accommodating and the food was great, especially for the price point. I had the pot pie and my husband had the NY Steak and we both left full and happy! read more

The worst thanksgiving meal ever .... did not get my order correct , even with pre fix minimal options , and they still got it incorrect ... this was done with the manager took our order ... black bear has been known for their large portions meal , not in this case , not at all ... all in all ... very disappointing meal and service... never again .... read more

due to covid no dine in. We requested food delivery. our food was cold. very little food compared to other black bears I have been to. My hash browns where burnt and only a little bit. The harty scrambled tasted worst than homemade food. We stayed at a hotel with no microwave so we requested PLEASE at least warm food. Almost al take out foods we have ordered due to covid are horrible! People are not caring how presentation looks or serve as they would at dine in. Everyone is being stingy when serving. I would not recommend ordering here. i should have taken a pic but I was super hungry and ate my food before I remembered to take one read more

I like this place a lot. I went there almost everyday when I was in a hotel a few blocks away. They serve breakfast all day, which is a major plus for me. The food and coffee are good. They have three different types of house brand hot sauce, two of which I really like. I think they even have other types of hot sauce, like Tabasco, if you ask. Service is fast and the staff is generally great. Even though it's a fairly large place and they do a lot of business the staff started recognizing me by the second or third time I went there. read more

Not the best place in town, but it's very reasonable for anyone looking for a diner. The portions are massive,

Black bear diner is never disappointing. Food was great! Our waitress, Crystal was very friendly and always on top of our service!!!

Really good food and black bear decor, but much like being in a mexican restaurant music...etc. Servers are nicely dressed and courteous, but forgot additional items asked for. So 4 star. read more

You won't be disappointed, the food here is really good, the coffee is delicious and the attention was good. Im coming back for sure.

Scrumptious Bacon Cheeseburgers especially love their onion rings. Great cooks and pleasant staff!

Went into this place at around 8:30 on a Sunday night, the server was nice . No small talk, straight to the point which isn't horrible. She was nice enough to let me order off of the kids menu as I'm cutting a lot of my caloric intake . I have been to the Black Bears in my area and this restaurant just didn't compete with them. My son ordered the cheese pizza and French fries - I have no complaints with his food. I ordered the kids tri tip with mashed potatoes and gravy and broccoli. The red skin mashed potatoes were pretty darn gross and the tri tip had very little flavor . A bit disappointed in this location. The restroom was clean though and my server was on top of refilling our water. read more

Started coming here for early breakfast. Friendly service and fast. Food comes out fast and is properly cooked.

My first time here and my expectations were unknown. I must say I was pleasantly surprised. From the moment we walked in we were greeted by the most pleasant person. The wait was not long for a table. Service was great. The food was fast and very good. (we had breakfast). All worked as a team. All pitched in cleaning tables, delivering food, and what ever was needed. Everyone was very nice and friendly which made for a very nice morning and a great breakfast. Yes..... I will most definitely be going back. This was a nicer dining experience then some higher end restaurants I've been to. Give it a try. read more

Awesome Place loved it great service I would definitely recommend this place to anybody going to town. They have great mimosas and Bloody Marys are good too they have a great kids menu and cinnamon roll French toast which I am a big fan of definitely would come back again probably next year when we come back to Monterey. read more

Black Bear Diner - American Near Me - Monterey, California

Great atmosphere, place, staff & food!! Way better than Salinas, spacious and cleaner. Left a good impression for first time visit. Ordered pot roast & taco salad. Verdict: thumbs up! Food is bigger than expected. Will be on my "to go" list! read more

Black Bear Diner - Taco salad. It's huge!!! - American Near Me - Monterey, California

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