Take the unhappy reviews with a grain of salt. Very glad we decided to go regardless of these! This location is beautiful & clean inside & out. Food was fantastic. Table service was efficient, friendly & on point (thanks Jackie). read more

See all

I don't usally eat at these places, im a small business foody, but I was working around the area and stayed the night. Getting into my hotel I see this black bear dinner and was like, what the hell, so I come in and this places looks great. I like the country feel and atmosphere of this place. I had order the black salmon dinner, with a soup and corn bread. This salmon was cooked really well and I love the flavors of the seasonings. The soft boil vegetables were seasoned too and that was a nice touch that goes with the salmon, also, can't forget about the country gravy mashed potatoes yummy! The gentleman that has served me has been nothing but welcoming and double checking when it came to my order! I can't stress it enough when other attendees don't make sure you have your order right. I wanna give my praise to my server J.C., as I am typing this he still checks on me if I need anything else. Plus, he waiting till I was done chewing before he asked me anything. That's a plus for me I will be coming back here everytime I come up here from orange county! Also i wanna give thanks to the cook who made my food! Thank you for a great dinner! read more

Black Bear Diner Gilroy - Blacked salmon - Diners Near Me - Gilroy, California

See all

While the food is always great, our waitress was outstanding. Thank you, Alo!!! Her personality and service are truly outstanding. She made our experience here delightful. read more

Recently moved to Gilroy and thought I would give the Black Bear Diner a try. The one in my prior hometown was excellent. Sadly, this one does not live up to that standard. Positives: Plenty of parking, seated right away, portion size was large, and service was top notch. Negatives: The food. I ordered the steak and eggs breakfast. The steak was the toughest, worst tasting steak I have ever been served. I had to literally saw through the meat and chew time was absurd. The biscuit served with the meal was ultra dry. The hash browns had a few crispy pieces but over all was barely warm and mostly soggy. The sunny side up eggs had one broken yolk (these eggs were not over-easy, so not sure how the yolk broke). I would give the food a 1 rating and the service a 5 rating. Not sure I would try this location again. read more

First stop before the outlets. Came in for breakfast and it was not bad. Daughter and hubby shared chicken fried steak breakfast and it was CFS was good. Other black bear diner the CFS portion is much bigger nevertheless it was nice thickness that it wouldn't be dried. I got steak and eggs was disappointed on my steak as I said medium but came out well and tough. I didn't want to send it back. The pancake saved me. It was nice and fluffy the way I like it. Also the sweet potato fries were good. First time to this location and it's nice size restaurant and no wait on a Saturday at 10am. read more

See all

The food remains good. They haven't changed the sauce lol. However, it takes forever to order and get the food. Maybe they need more employees. read more

See all

Food portion are generous, big plates and lots of food. Food is tasty, this is our go to when traveling. Service is excellent, we came on a week night and were seated right away. Ambiance is cozy, everything has bear decor, very cozy and cute. read more

Black Bear Diner Gilroy - Shasta Veggie Scramble, waffle - Diners Near Me - Gilroy, California

Possibly the best black bear in the business I'm from Bakersfield CA, and we have a black bear dinner here too. It's not the "Best"... so when my people said let's go to black bear to get the day started I gave a side eye and thought twice. I relented and went along for the ride and I can't tell you how glad I am that I did. The food was so good, service was so amazing. The food came out super fast and was extra fresh. Pancakes were very good and everything I ordered was exactly what I expected but better. I almost want to go the black bear dinner here in town again to give them a second try.... Or maybe I'll just keep coming to this one when I'm in the area. Ambiance was also very chill here so even more reason to return. Not busy at all read more

See all

Service was fast and friendly and food was also hot and good. The cinnamon French toast was delicious! Definitely recommend!! read more

Black Bear Diner Gilroy - Pick one combo - Diners Near Me - Gilroy, California

Food: Mac and Cheese and grilled cheese for the kids. They ate it all and enjoyed it. I had the blackened salmon, blackened seared to perfection by one of the managers (Mike). Wife had the Slow Roasted Pork Roast. She really enjoyed it. We finished off with Berry Pie À la Mode and the boys had chocolate cream pie. As with Dinner, delicious. Service: Stellar, outstanding, not enough words to describe how they were. Greg was fantastic attentive, very nice. Ambiance: Standard BB Diner atmosphere. Restaurant was very clean. I've been going to BB Diners all over California. I was not about to come here because of the awful reviews. I'm glad I came here. Mike, Greg and the entire crew were very helpful, friendly and nice. read more

Black Bear Diner Gilroy - Blackened Salmon, Pork Slow-Cooked Pot Roast, Mac and Kraft Mac & Cheese (270 cals.) and Grilled Cheese (580 cals.) - Diners Near Me - Gilroy, California

We walked in and waited to be seated for a few moments before a man walked up to the counter and told us to sit at the third booth on the left. He seemed far more interested in the personal conversation he was having with another coworker than seeing to us. He didn't even look at us as he set menus on the table. This was our first time to a Black Bear Diner. We didn't realize at first that the old wrinkled newspaper they set down with the laminated specials menu was the full menu. The waitress who served our table was very nice and attentive. She answered any questions we had and came over just often enough for us. About the food. I ordered the homemade chicken pot pie and mashed potatoes with gravy. My husband ordered the BLT with fries. The potatoes were smashed reds and they were delicious and creamy. They came with brown gravy which was also good. The pot pie had a yummy filling. Chicken, herbs, Peas, onions, mushrooms, and carrots. But the crust,which thankfully was only on top, was horrible. Chewy, tough, and over cooked. I suggest not eating it. The fries also tasted pretty good. They had a crisp coating and were salted nicely. The BLT was okay. The flavor was nice, but the bacon was chewy. Over all not a bad experience, and the proximity to the Best Western can't be beat. read more

See all

The food was pretty standard for black bear diner. Our waitress was nice as well and our food came out fairly quick and very hot. The 2 star review is for the manager they had working today 04/05/2026 around 5:30 pm and a little after. He was pretty rude to the employees and micromanaging. Also, he told another manager that the cooks needed to clock out at 9 but couldn't leave until 9:15 because they needed to do other things. It's infuriating to think of employees having I do any work or stay any longer with no pay on top of a manager that talks down to them and obviously micro manages. I hope management gets better soon read more

Stop by here on the way home since it was right off the 101. Portions are large. Menu has so many items to pick from so it can get overwhelming on what to order. There so many good foods that I was craving. I ended up getting their daily special. Got the spicy chicken pasta. The flavor was on par and definitely spicy. The dish came hot as you can continue to see the steam from the noodles while your eat your meal. The service was descent for a dinner for 3pm in the afternoon as it's definitely a weird time to be eat. The restaurant had some sports memorabilia and bear decorations. Will probably come back to stop for food on my next road trip down south if I'm hungry read more

Black Bear Diner Gilroy - Diners Near Me - Gilroy, California

Decent service, fast and ready, the food is delicious although a little pricey. Being coming here for years

I've been to several Black Bear Diners throughout Northern California. This is my favorite one. Main reason is their specials. I hadn't seen so many specials at other locations. And they even had some food not on the menu. I was gonna get the skirt steak that was on the special menu. But our waiter Willie told me about their ribeye that's not on the menu. So I got that, and boy, oh boy, it was delicious: perfectly cooked to medium: expertly seasoned. Plus their own Gilroy's garlic butter. That steak just melted in my mouth. Just perfection. We had a party of 7, with multiple kiddos, and Willie took care of us. Checking on us frequently. The restaurant was well kept. We will be coming back for sure. read more

Black Bear Diner Gilroy - Special Ribeye with garlic butter. - Diners Near Me - Gilroy, California

Early Saturday morning requires a big meal for this couple. The warm employees, quick service, ambiance, music, items for sale(food items, slippers, t-shirts and more) hot coffee that keeps coming, big portions and excellent prices. My favorite is the create your own plate; two eggs, two bacons and ginormous biscuits with gravy, hubbies; two eggs, home potatoes and delicious whole wheat toast. Families come in with their littles and it's always an amazing time. We love ya! Can't wait to come back!! read more

Great service and great food. Love the atmosphere and jukebox music. Service crew is always great and extra friendly.

Stayed in town for a week and ate her every morning and night! Omar at night and Miguel in the morning, solid food and excellent service. We really enjoyed coming to this spot and all the humans!!! read more

Craving something small and breakfast- like, and remembering a hot fresh cinnamon roll that i had from this restaurant about a decade ago, stopped in on my road trip. The star is for the iced tea. The cinnamon roll was awful. Hard, stale and dry with a slimy glaze. It was microwaved into q petrified mess, impossible to penetrate or pierce with a fork. Seated near the toilets, across from the cashiers where equally stale looking pies were on display.. This place used to be very good...I also ordered wrong. The sound effects of my video say it all. read more

Has gone downhill unfortunately, quality of food is not what it was . We used to love this place !

The Black Bear Diner is a traditional diner with generous portions that full you up. They have THE BEST taco salad ever! Best of all, everything is affordable. read more

Food is very generous portions, Filling and good.Clean dinning room. Minimal wait time.

This was our first visit to any Black Bear Diner. Our family of four was on vacation and we chose to have dinner at the diner. The service was wonderful. The atmosphere was inviting and comfortable. The food was aesthetically pleasing and delicious. My pickiest eater ate nearly everything on their plate. We would visit this franchise of restaurants again. read more

We just left Black Bear Diner in Gilroy, CA, and unfortunately our experience was very disappointing. I ordered a bacon cheeseburger with American cheese only (extra American), cooked medium-well. When my burger arrived, it clearly had cheddar cheese mixed with American. I let the waiter know, explaining that I don't like cheddar cheese at all. The waiter took the burger back, but returned with the same burger, insisting the cook said it was only American cheese. I opened the burger and showed him that it was clearly cheddar mixed with American. He took it back again. At that point, they scraped off the cheese from the original burger and slapped two cold slices of American cheese on it. I said it was okay and that I didn't want anything anymore. While the rest of my party was eating, the waiter came back apologizing and genuinely trying to make things right. He offered to have the cook remake the burger, which I appreciated. However, when it came out, the cook gave me what was clearly a kid's burger instead of the adult burger -- no mayo, no seasoning, no flavor. The size difference alone was obvious. I tried to eat it, but after one bite, it was just sad and flavorless. To make things worse, my daughter ordered a to-go breakfast with no cheddar cheese, and when it arrived, it had cheddar cheese all over it. At that point, it was clear the cook either wasn't listening or didn't care. Replacing an adult burger with a child's burger was the final straw for us. When we went to pay, we could hear the cooks talking about my complaints, which was uncomfortable and unprofessional. That said, I want to be clear: the waiter did his absolute best. He was polite, apologetic, and genuinely tried to fix the situation, but it felt like he was being given a hard time by the kitchen. I didn't ask for anything special -- I just wanted a bacon American cheeseburger. Sadly, this visit missed the mark completely. I hope management addresses the communication issues between the kitchen and serving staff, because the service deserved better support. read more

The food was amazing. The service was excellent our waiter Greg aka Big G was awesome!!! we got so stuffed so of course we had to take dessert to go lol Next time you're in the area, stop by blackbear diner and ask for Greg aka Big G he will take care of you. read more

Black Bear Diner Gilroy - Yummmm - Diners Near Me - Gilroy, California

See all

My favorite comfort restaurant. I have been coming here since I was a kid and now I'm bringing my child here. The menu is huge, from breakfast to dinner. Every meal I had was never disappointing. The service is friendly and attentive. I will forever be a black beer lover. read more

Black Bear Diner Gilroy - Diners Near Me - Gilroy, California

Went hear for dinner on a saturday. The place was 80% full. We got seated after 10 mins of being at the waiting area. We were starving so we wanted to order right away but no server welcomed us even after 10 mins of waiting after we got seated. I had to stop another server from a different section to ask if we can order. He said he was not in our section so he had to come back to get our orders. The wait time after we placed our orders and the time we got our food was approximately 10mins. Not bad. Food quality - 2 of 4 orders were the tri tip and i ordered medium. It was so dry. No juice, no flavor. Onion rings were good but food quality in general did not meet expectation. The place was also very cold. We had to get out right away because we were freezing. +One star for our server and the onion rings. read more

Black Bear Diner Gilroy - Tri tip full meal - Diners Near Me - Gilroy, California

Hubby & I left the City last Tuesday morning bright and early heading to Monterey. On the way down we decided to stop for breakfast. What's opened near Gilroy? Not too many businesses, but we found Black Bear Diner on Yelp. Black Bear Diner opened at 7am. That'll work. We actually waited in the car at 6:50am. The lights were amber color and hard to determine if opened yet. Peeked over after 7am and saw movement. Ok, guess they're open for business. We were the first two diners. We were greeted immediately. Sit anywhere. Given two newsprint menus. I went with two pancakes, two eggs, and two strips of bacon. Hubby got corned beef and hash brown with two eggs, and toast. Our orders were fast. My pancakes were huge. One was still somewhat on the doughy side. No problem. One was enough. Attentive service. And coffee refilled several times. read more

Black Bear Diner Gilroy - Two pancakes, two eggs, two strips bacon - Diners Near Me - Gilroy, California

See all

We were staying one night in Gilroy and after a long day hunting turkeys this spring we did not have the energy to go out further from our hotel for dinner. Black Bear was next door so we walked here. The food was average, service was great. Staff were friendly, manager was really nice. I'd go again if I was staying next door. read more

We went before the crowd on a Saturday morning. The coffee was good, the food was good-typical diner menu, with plenty of options for our large family, including children. Prices are fair and our service was very good. read more

This is one of our favorite breakfast spots here in Gilroy. I bring my family for breakfast Because the food is amazing. The portions are huge which is why we love to come here. The service is great. Expect to wait a bit when it gets busy, but once seated the service is quick and the food doesn't take long. Everything comes out hot and picture perfect. Also perfect for the holiday season if you enjoy a homey ambience. The best plate is the NY steak and eggs. read more

See all

This place was located on our way home in Gilroy. We decided to stop because the same restaurant will be opening in our city in a few weeks! It was similar to a Dennys vibe to me. My girls had chocolate chip pancakes with a side of bacon and chocolate milk. I had avocado toast with 2 sunny side up eggs and fruit and water. My husband had an omelet with coffee. The place looks clean. It was busy, but the waitress was nice. You get the bill at your table and then get up to pay at the counter before you leave. The restrooms were clean as well. read more

See all

Typical diner with a juke box if you want to play a song you like. They had fast and nice service. The portions are HUGE, but there is a section for smaller plates if you are not too hungry. I went with a breakfast meal - pancakes, eggs, and bacon. The pancake is delicious, but when you lift it to put butter it breaks apart. Thick cut bacon is delicious and they make the eggs perfectly to your order. We also decided to get a plate of half sweet potato and half regular fries. The fries are just okay, but the sweet potato ones are delicious! Bathroom: the handicap stall was out of order and it doesn't have a changing table for babies. read more

Black Bear Diner Gilroy - Chocolate chip pancakes, sunny side up egg, and thick cut bacon. - Diners Near Me - Gilroy, California

We've been to a few Black Bear diners. They are always a good choice for breakfast. Today, we had an omelet and the chicken fried steak Benedict, as well as oreo cheesecake. All we delicious and had very large portions. We have potatoes and a biscuit as leftovers. Service was quick and friendly. Booths are a bit oddly constructed, so one side has less space than the other. They could use a bit more space between the booth seats and the tables. read more

Trash. Made us wait for our whole party to arrive. I wanted to grab a table so I could get some coffee going. Didn't even ask if we wanted to be seated as a courtesy. read more

You know you're in trouble when you take your first bite of mashed potatoes and it's not even warm, you really don't want to eat anymore because you are nervous you will get sick. We have eaten here many times before over the last 20 years with maybe not 5 stars but 4. This time we ordered the pot roast with mashed potatoes and vegetables. Sadly, the plate did not look appealing when it came to the table, the potatoes were close to cold and all I could think of was they came off someone else's leftovers...... the pot roast(mystery meat) didn't appear to be real meat, was rubbery, and odd shaped as well as being barely warm, carrots/celery were raw; though the green beans were hotter than heck! Our party ordered kids sprinkle pancakes that looked good but were raw inside. Our waiter never came back to fill our waters; we had to ask multiple times, and he only brought one new water back tho 4 of us were out. Please temp your food before it goes out and pay attention to detail. No toothpicks available at this location, byotp. read more

Worst Club Sandwich ever. Burnt bread. One measly piece of turkey. Turkey is wafer thin. Lettuce tasted dirty. Picked the lettuce off. Could only stand one quarter of the sandwich. Terrible! read more

Black Bear Diner Gilroy - Club Sandwich. - Diners Near Me - Gilroy, California

Large portions of tasty food. Waitstaff was right on it. Black Bear theme is constant through all locations.

I am giving one star because I have to. The tri tip was horrible. I got three small pieces and I could not bite into them. They were like rubber and no lean meat at all. I could not get my steak knife to cut them. The broccoli was very salty. The server was never around to address the issue. We decided to leave and pay the check. When the cashier asked how my meal was, I explained and he simply said, you should of told the server. I responded how if he was never available. He charged me and acted like he was busy. Will definitely not be returning. read more

We ate dinner and breakfast here this is always a good go to Bear diners are pretty constant. I love the music they play it seems like it puts everyone in a better mood you always walk out singing.. everyone that works here are super nice and friendly. I had the special for dinner it was the chicken lemon pepper it was a little dry but it was still good.. when we came for breakfast the country fried steak packaged a little flavor but I would rather have lack of the over seasoned. Of course here we are I front of the bears. read more

See all