Good food, larger portions, reasonable prices, friendly service, what more can someone ask for? If you're in the mood for American food, look no further. read more

Upset! This review is for the employees who made my bf feel awful on his birthday! Black Bear Diner sent my bf a coupon for a free meal on his Birthday, so we came in to claim it. It's not required that we dine in or is it mandatory to make any other purchases. Besides, we don't eat meat on Wednesday's due to personal matters so we had our vegetarian food for today already. My bf was hoping to eat his birthday meal tomorrow. Regardless of the reason, we shouldn't have to be looked down upon or made to feel guilty for not dining in or making other purchases. However, instead of wishing my bf a Happy Birthday, the lady named Frances and her coworker Marlene made us feel horrible. Frances asked me twice, "So that's all you're getting?" And "So you're not getting anything else?". MArlene seemed surprised too whispering to Frances, "They're not getting anything else?". No we're not getting anything else today! What's wrong with that?! For all the junk emails we get throughout the year, getting one free meal on our birthday isn't that much! No one should have to feel uncomfortable and bad on their birthday! Don't treat people this way! Thanks for making my bf's birthday unforgettable! read more

Terrible. My wife and I went in there today, (New Years Eve), and it was not busy, but it was all downhill from there. Food was cold, coffee was not decaf, potatoes were not cooked. They should give up on their potato offerings and start over. Their version of hash browns is not appetizing even if they had been cooked. No check back on coffee, a small blessing in this case, but they seriously need to up their game. Been to a lot of BBD's and this one is consistently the worst. read more

One of our favorites.....if you're looking for comfort food, look no more. We have never been disappointed. Friendly attentive staff and amazing manager, Marlene. Give it a try! read more

I would have given 5 stars but I had to minus one for the horrible parking lot, super small for the amount of traffic it gets, and another minus for the terrible biscuits and gravy. I had the all meat omelette with spinach and cheese, pancakes, hashbrowns and sausage. Everything was amazing, some of the best pancakes I've ever had at a restaurant :) My only complaint was that the biscuits and gravy came to us cold (can you imagine cold lumpy gravy? GROSS!), and the biscuit itself was so dense that it was almost like a french bread loaf, not fluffy like a biscuit at all. For as much of a show they made out of it, and the portion size, I was very disappointed that the biscuit tasted terrible. Our servers were really nice and they were able to accomodate my friend who brought her toddler. I'll be coming back again but won't be ordering the biscuits and gravy! read more

The bread pudding is to die for! I get it to-go, and the staff helpfully writes warming instructions on the container. Great comfort food, HUGE portions. You will not leave hungry. Service can be slow at times. read more

Need some comfort food for the soul, then goto this place. The chicken fried steak is on hit!!

"The Bear" as what our family calls it is one of our favorite "go to" places. The serving size is big, food is down right homey. I love their tri-tip dip sandwich, breakfast entrees are great...Country Fried steak is my ultimate favorite. Their menu is nostalgic printed on copies of old edition newspaper (1950s). They have a huge menu from sandwiches, to meatloaf, to burgers. This place is a MUST try if you're looking for a local resto with homey feeling. read more

Black Bear always rocks - lots of food for the money and open all day so you get a great selection depending on your mood. This is a pretty small restaurant compared to others I've been too but the food was good. read more

Ok so Milpitas Black Bear is better than this location. Food was not fresh here.

Service was excellent, thank you Angelica! She is the best waitress, all staff get along & help each other. Large portions, we ate like a bear! read more

The breakfasts here are top notch, however the lunch menu needs improvement!! This is the second lunch Ive ordered from them and the second time I left feeling disappointed. My French Dip sandwich arrived soggy on the bottom so I sent it back. Once it arrived the second time, I noticed the meat used is very tough and sort of bland. This was confirmed by the watery au jus served as the side. Very little flavor as well. Since I primarily look for restaurants for lunch menu, I doubt if I'll come back to this place. read more

Delicious food, wonderful service! A great place for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Martin took great care of us. We thoroughly enjoyed the patty melt and chicken noodle soup, the corned beef hash and eggs, and especially the hucklebeary shake! We'll definitely be back. read more

I've now gone here for dinner a couple of times. Don't. It's so not worth it. Last night was the final straw. The service at night is terrible. After being seated we waited 15 minutes for anyone to come by our table. When the waitress finally showed up she asked if we were ready to order. Of course we were. It took forever for her to get there. I ordered a cheeseburger. It came out 25 minutes later. The burger and fries were cold. The waitress never came by to refill our drinks. She was terrible. Never again. The servers in the morning are so much better. I will not be going back for dinner ever again. read more

OMG i am writing this review because I am highly offended that this place was compared to Bills. This restaurant is not even on the same planet. I have given this place several chances and every time I end up sending my food back. The last couple times the bacon was burned, I don't even know how you serve that to people. I sent my scramble back last time because there was no flavor I couldn't even tell what I was eating, might as well have been plain tofu. I will never go back here. Service is so so. It is not worth the wait at all. But really there isn't any good choices in Gilroy for breakfast. read more

Went here for the first time. The wait was ok for a weekend..about 25 mins. Food was ok too. I had a bear clay (it's huge - literally the size of a bear's foot) I was excited to try the cinnamon roll french toast. Thankfully I got the smal, one. The dish was too much and the sugary icing on top would put anyone into a sugar enduced coma. read more

I've eaten here many times and am almost always thoroughly pleased. My favorite is the country fried steak (aka chicken fried steak) plus biscuits and gravy. Being Southern (think Dixie, not Latin America), I'm always on the lookout for good biscuits and gravy in the Bay Area. So far, this is about as good as I've found. If you go on the weekend morning, get there early. The place gets busy and there can be a long wait. read more

I came here with the boyfriend because we were starving while we were shopping at the outlets! And my oh my, it was crowded at 2pm on a Sunday. We ordered right away...I had to try the meatball sandiwch with onion rings and the bf got the 7 grain almond pancakes with eggs and sausage. The food took a bit long to arrive but it was probably because there was so many people. The meatball sandiwch was okay. But the onion rings....were fantastic!! I love onion rings that are huge and lightly breaded. Bf's pancakes were huge and tasty! They were a little thick. I think it would be perfect if they could thin the batter a little. Overall, I would come here again if I was around the area. I would like to try their breakfast menu next time like there corn beef hash! Also, the prices were decent for the amount of food you get. The ambience is also very cool with bears swarming the place! read more

Great tasting food, large portions for a good price. Service a little slow but very friendly. We go there a lot!

The quality of the Black Bear Diner really varies. Some days it is a five, others a two. Some of the menu items are out of this world (sweet cream pancakes, Bigfoot chicken fried steak) while others are just average. Service can be slow and wait staff could be better on drink refills. A few times I've sat near the kitchen and I've noticed lots of talking between the wait staff and cooks. It's usually about the food, but somewhere their is a communication problem. Waitresses yelling at cooks does not equal a relaxing dining experience. There is a nice homey feeling here and I would say it is worth a look. read more

I grew up eating Chicken Fried Steak, and I've had plenty of bad ones. But Black Bear has what is probably the best CFS in California. The fried chicken is good, too, as well as the black "beary" pie. They've added a smaller serving of the steak, which is good, because the portions are huge anyway. They've cut back on the selection of sides a bit, and it's a shame, because the vegetables aren't really that great. They really taste like peppers. And the mashed potatoes were insanely garlicky, even by Gilroy standards. The soup was "meh". I'd probably give the chicken fried steak and white gravy 5 stars, and everything else 2. read more

Stopped by Black Bear Diner on our way home from the Central California Coastal area. The portions were very generous for the hamburger, chicken breast sandwich and barbequed ribs. The ribs were a bit on the dry side and the side vegetables were over cooked, but the redskin mashed potatoes were very good and the burger and chicken sandwiches were fine. The server was very attentive and we would definitely return to try different things on the menu. read more

My hubby and I went here for lunch. Since they serve breakfast all day, I ordered the chicken fried steak and eggs and my hubby ordered the trip tip dip sandwich. He was very disappointed with his sandwich because there wasn't a whole lot of tri-trip. My chicken fried steak ang eggs was good and really like the hashbrowns. From what was coming out from the kitchen, it seems that you'll get the most bang for your buck by ordering a burger. read more

Yummy! We stopped here on the way to Monterey and again on the way home. Great breakfasts, burgers and chicken noodle soup. all seven of us were happy with our food. better than other options in the outlet area. read more

We went here for dinner after the holidays. I was so happy to see they served breakfast 24/7. My kind of place right there. The service was excellent & fast. The food was great and the prices were even better. I had the California Eggs Benedict. See you again soon Mr. bear. Lol. read more

Looking for comfort food and found it with the fried chicken. Crispy and juicy but not greasy. Fish and chips were good too my wife said. Good food. Good value. read more

I love this place! When travelling between Watsonville and San Jose or when coming home from a trip its a great place to stop. Food's good, service is second to none. read more

Went here for the first time today with the husband and baby. The wait to get a booth was long but that's just a sign the place is a good place to eat. Waitresses were nice and the layout made it easy for stroller access..in the less busier parts anyway. Prices were cheap, and quality was good. Love the eggs Benedict. Husband loved how the buscuits tasted fresh, and the country fried steak is to die for...i don't even really like country fried steak. My only complaint was my fruit was warm and cut odd. Other than that. Yuuum. read more

The Black Bear Diner here holds a sitgma with the locals, and for a while I wasn't on that band wagon until tonight after ordering their French Dip sandwich which I'd had there on a couple different occasions. The sandwich itself was on point flavor wise, but the au jus sauce was absolutely disgusting, the only thing I could compare it to was mop water completely devoid of flavor. When I'd asked them to fix it, they gave me another container of the same swill. Then on top of that they clearly didn't rinse the outsides of their potatoes very throughly before baking them because while eating the skin of my potato I ran into some very crunchy grit. You had one thing I liked for a while Black Bear, and you and to go and shit all over the bed. Goodbye forever. read more

Food was good. Service was slow, food took a long time to arrive. I believe they were understaffed. I had the chicken taco salad. It was very good. Daughter ate the ham and cheese omelette which was good, came with a big biscuit. My brother had the turkey burger with parmesan fries. Big size plates. read more

Loooove this place! Food is fresh, staff are friendly and attentive. Every visit to a Black Bear Diner is a pleasure.

Made an order over the phone: showed up and I had to wait a pretty long time because the kitchen was behind. The manager apologized given it was a busy time in the morning and gave me discount. Food tasted great, so it was worth the wait. read more

I love this restaurant it is my favorite Black Bear location (so far) I've only been to three. There decor is so cute and the food is the best. Beware they serve extra large portions even from the little less menu. So be prepared to take some home or have a fridge/micro in your hotel room. Grrrreat job guys! read more

I've been coming to this place every once in a while in the last 6 years. The first time I ate here, the food portions were HUGE, im a big guy and can finish almost anything and I was stuffed with enough food leftover to feed a 3rd world family. Now its a bit different, portions are not as large but it will satisfy you. Friendly staff and quick service. You might wanna come early to get signed in for a table on certain nights because theres usually a huge crowd chilling in the entrance. Grab there after dinner mints at the counter, they are to die for. read more

I can't believe I ate an entire one of their bear claws I feel like I'm going to die! I went there for lunch and bough one along with some lotion which smells great! The food and service were very good. read more

We stopped here at random (it just happened to be the first restaurant we found when we were ready to eat in the middle of a long drive. Had a late breakfast. Was not impressed. Staff was overwhelmed when 4 or 5 parties happened to walk in the door at the same time, and couldn't seem to manage the situation. Waiter was chewing gum, and not really paying attention. Food was mediocre. read more

Coffee is weak like tinted water. Portions are huge, but that means nothing if the food sucks. Service is fine

Got a denver omelet but it was not really a denver omelet. Big portions, good coffee and apple juice.

Love this place. Food was a little slow, but worth the wait. I love Black Bear!

The pork cutlets with cinnamon apples are excellent. My wife always enjoys the burger basket. Service was very good and prompt.