Wanted to try a nearby Breakfast place, and found Black Bear Diner. Super cool place to go with friendly staff and pleasant atmosphere. The menus were a cool and neat idea, and the food was good and almost too much to eat in one sitting. Highly recommend the Biscuits and Gravy! Thank you. read more

Today was a reminder as to why I quit going here. The service was fine, but the food & cashiers are terrible. My biscuit was not only dry, but crunchy even with the room temperature gravy on it, the hash browns floating in grease, my son's hamburger bun was cold & stale. Then trying to pay the bill the cashiers called the 2 women that were behind us in line to ring them up first. When my son said he had been waiting awhile, the cashier told him, " well I called her up first, so she's next." That it, I will NEVER go back there. I stopped going there because of these very things, but after a year & a half, I had hoped maybe things were good like it used to be, but it's worse. I used to visit twice a week for the steak & eggs, but then I started getting curled up fat dry as shoe leather, & raw eggs. Now even these cashiers have bad attitudes. read more

I orders the fish tacos. Probably not the comfort food that makes people come in. Their beer selection amounts to only bud and coors

Poor service, some head waitress yelling at everyone and a large owner/manager rushing from place-to-place with no reason made for a bad atmosphere. Then they screwed up comfort food -- a chili burger with fries and a chocolate lava dessert. Even grease would have made it taste better but there was no juice at all. I suspect the patty was freezer burned from the unpleasant aftertaste. The dessert also seemed like it had not been stored right. There was no "lava" in the cake, it was just a dry, bitter tasting cake with some chocolate sauce and ice cream on top. I would have been happier with the ice cream and chocolate sauce, and they could have kept the cake. I've had bad food before, but the whole experience -- having to ask several times for a coffee refill and listening to the head waitress talk about tip skimming to a new employee -- guaranteed that I'll never return. read more

The Best chicken fried steak and gravy! Our server Jacob was attentive and pleasant. Did not give a 5 because my tortilla soup was very lukewarm, but I was hungry so I ate it anyway. The accompanying muffin was excellent. read more

I've been going to this place for breakfast for awhile now. All I can say excellent staff! I sit at the counter and watch how hard working this team is. From the back kitchen to servers awesome! The food is always great and cooked perfectly. I've had most of the breakfast menu. You can't lose with this place. Highly suggest Modesto BBD!! read more

Our grandkids love us to take them to the Black Bear, as they love their chicken strips and French fries. Our 6 year old loves the cornbread and ordered that first. We were told that the store is "trying out a new biscuit"..something like the Red Lobster serves. Well the new biscuit was so hard, I could not cut it with a knife. Hope they take that off the menu and replace the cornbread, as it is delicious. My hamburger was delicious---best one I have had for years! We have never had a bad meal at the Black Bear. There service is excellent and the diner always clean with pleasant employees. The price is good for a diner, having huge portions. No one leaves hungry! read more

I remember this place being great! Huge portions delicious food, not so much this visit. Came in for breakfast my first order was wrong plus over cooked omelet and undercooked potatoes, second time around omelet was better but still lacking. And potatoes were still undercooked. Probably could have went to ihop for cheaper and the same quality. read more

Huge portions for the money, however.. The waitress was really slow and un-organized, the food was a little cold when it came out. We had to give her a few hints. read more

Food was excellent. Our waitress Paula Meler was so nice and funny. We had a great time with her. We couldn't stop laughing.

We got here and we seat the bat couple minutes later a couple seat next to us and we waiting for our order and the people that got after us got their order first how is that, we see new waiters always busy my hubby likes bear I do too but their been lacking a lot to serve customers read more

This is my second visit here, but I'm not from Modesto. I'm here visiting for the summer and I've tried a few breakfast places. My spouse is here working, so she's familiar with all of the local restaurants. Anyway, I had the French toast plate with eggs and sausage links. Black bear makes their own sausage links and these are really good. They use butter, not margarine, so that's a bonus in my book as I absolutely hate margarine! I have been known to carry butter on my purse, people. This is serious! I digress... The French toast was freshly battered, cinnamony and soaked into the bread just right. The platter is served with 4 half slices, but it could have been a bit warmer (I judged this by my butter melting time) . Syrup is warmed and served in little individual cups,which I appreciate because who needs all of those community syrup cooties? Not me! The eggs were standard, nothing special. Both times we've had great service. We had a cute guy with a very blog de mohawk that did an excellent job today. I am pleased and there's butter in my belly, so I will return! Thanks, black bear! I only have brown bear emojis, but I'm sure you get the sentiment:) read more

Black Bear Diner Modesto - Diner style - Diners Near Me - Modesto, California

I really don't understand why eveybody doesn't eat here all the time. Had their prime rib special - $12.99, which included a salad and corn muffin, followed by the entree of green beans, loaded baked potato and a genrous cut of medium rare prime rib. And as is typical for a Black Bear diner, served by a friendly server. Yum, yum, yum. I wish they'd come to Florida. read more

Great service. Food was good and allowed me to modify to make it healthier. They offer a nutritional guide with calories. Pleased with the experience. They have free wifi although it is limited and the administrator blocks Many words including health and calories :-/ read more

I always give a place two tries. Wasn't happy either time. Over priced, poor quality and just not impressed. Large portions don't impress me, good food is what I'm after. read more

First time at black bear.... and it was great! Our waitress Maria was amazing. The food was delicious. We skipped going to Texas Road house because they were packed...I'm so glad we did too!!! Highly recommended!! read more

Good was messed up. But server fixed it. Seems like their good flavors are off these days. Pancakes are their best itiam.

Absolutely appalled by the service and quality of our meal. Our server paid little to no attention to our table of two, and the food was burnt and raw at the same time. We ordered over medium eggs...they came to the table with a dark crispy edge that resembled fried chicken, but were completely raw inside. I'm 8 weeks pregnant, so even looking at them made me feel ill. It did not help that my $5.00 fresh squeezed orange juice was warm...when I asked the server for some ice, she completely disregarded the request and after 15-20 minutes, my fiancé ultimately got up and requested a cup of ice from the bar. Also, the sausage, bacon and potatoes were cold but we were starving so we ate quick. I am giving two stars for the two wonderful and accommodating employees we spoke with after the meal. Unfortunately, I did not get the beautiful hostesses name, but Dean (who I'm assuming is a manager) treated us with so much respect and understood our complaints. We are NOT the type to complain, EVER. The place was busy, we get it. I am so appreciative for Dean for the fantastic customer service, thank you for understanding! read more

This was was a let down. There were so many menu items to chose from and I think my husband and I probably picked the wrong ones. I ordered a club and he ordered a Western Burger. There was a lot of bread compared to meat and toppings. Once again, it was rather pricey. It felt like I was in Denny's, but this place was trying to be something more. read more

I just had a really good breakfast here. I usually try to stay away from chain restaurants, but I had a MoBee gift certificate to use, so breakfast it was! Glad I went! Large 3 egg vegi. omelet, lots of crispy hash browns, and a mammoth biscuit were very good. Coffee was so-so, but hot and fresh. Prices were average for this area. Service was VERY fast and friendly. In the search for the best breakfast in Mo town, Black Bear is a thumbs up! read more

Good service , good decent food . Prices really good for tons of food . And good food . Nice clean restaurant . Staff helpful and caring. Good job read more

Omg so delicious! The pineapple pancakes are a dream! Little chunks of the fruit hidden inside soft, fluffy pancakes read more

My first impression of the Black Bear Diner was that on the surface it was the typical tchotchke laden country inspired hell hole and was quickly proven wrong. The typical tchotchke laden hell hole usually has good food, the same cannot be said for the Black Bear. I was first put off when my associate and I entered the restaurant and were promptly overlooked so that the hostess could seat the couple that walked in behind us first. It was a rainy fall day and when we were shown to our table it was right under a vent and the ac was on so high I could practically see my breathe. I tried to remedy the situation by ordering a cup of hot coffee and was pleased at first when the mug was placed in front of me. They give you a large steaming cup but it was so strong that I used all of the creamer placed in front of me and it still tasted like dirt and grounds. I eventually had to trade my coffee for hot chocolate that still had chunks of powder in it. The next problem arose when we decided to order breakfast, rather than explain the menu the waitress left us with this stupid newspaper that we were left to figure out actually contained the menu. Now I don't know about you but until I've had my morning coffee I don't want to have to play Indiana Jones and have to decode the damn menu, and you've read what a lovely experience the coffee was. We finally ordered our food, I had the omelet with potatoes and toast and my toast arrived burnt, the eggs runny and yet all of the ham inside seemed burnt and the consistency of jerky. They only thing that was decent were the potatoes which I suspect were protected from the burning process by the freezer burn I detected. I was looking forward to trying the Black Bear because there are few good places for breakfast in town but this place rates no better then a skid row Denny's. Good breakfast restaurants may be few and far between in Modesto but I've learned that I'll stick to them in the future rather than experiment with the chains that are ever flocking to town. read more

Very nice hometown feel. So far have gone 3 times and each time the service was great, food was delicious, and portions were big. Definitely coming back again before I leave town read more

Great service & food. What I really appreciated was that don't hold back on spicing their food (flavor wise; not hot - except for the scramble Bowl with jalapeños that I got). Yummy.! read more

We had purchased a Groupon for this diner. Four of us meet there last evening after a meeting. The waitress was very nice and did everything on her part correctly. However, when we ordered our salads they were out of blue cheese dressing??? Then when the meals came the veggies were way over cooked, looking like they had been sitting on the plate for at least 2-3 hours. They tasted even worse than they looked. One of us ordered chicken fried steak; if there was meat in there it certainly was disguised with coating! and, then the gravy on top! But, the biggest offence was.... we were eating our meal, the waitress had not even brought us our tag and the bus boy started vacuuming in the section next to where we were sitting. When we went to the counter to pay the bill, the man who was working the register asked how everything was. We asked if he was the manager, to which he replied he was one. I then said to him that it would have been much more enjoyable if they weren't vacuuming while we were eating. To which he replied nothing... absolutely NOTHING! He gave us our change and we left. Good enough! Were done eating at that location. read more

First time to Black Bear Diner, foods are ok,(although French Fry s/b crispier) but service sucks, we basically had to ask for everything we should be given had we been at other restaurants, napkin, refills on the drinks, it was obvious, they need extra helpers catering to customers. read more

Let me start off by saying our waitress was great and made sure our experience was as good as it could be, she kept checking with us and made sure our drinks didn't go dry. The problem was the chef, he/she must have been new. Out of three dinners two were undercooked (pancakes still liquid inside, prime rib that was cold, and I don't mean not warm but actually cold to the touch). Others around us were having the same problems with their orders. My son's replacement pancakes were fine but my replacement prime rib was only warm to the touch; still not good in my book but at least edible. I hope he/she gets better as this place is now on a regular route for us and I would like to be a regular. This place is on the way to our friends so I'll be trying it again in hope that a better chef is working (from our 1/16/2012 visit). read more

Love this place. Good feel good food. Priced just right. Every time I'm in Modesto it's a must stop.

Made my way up to Modesto for a friends wedding. The group that I was with suggested to have dinner at the Black Bear Dinner. Other than my friend's wedding this was probably the high light of my trip to Modesto. The service and food was excellent. My friends had the steak dinner and I had the stuff wrapped chicken breast. The serving was huge, we had to ask for a box for left overs. After we ate we had trouble with the check, the manager stepped in and fixed the problem for us and even offer us complimentary desserts for our trouble. I would definitely come back again. read more

Everytime we come here, the staff is running around like crazy because there isnt enough people to help out get refills or drop off food. Servers are nice, I think that if they staff more than 4 servers on a sunday things would run smoother, and food wouldnt come to you luke warm to cold. read more

We ordered breakfast for dinner. Terrible choice. Eggs tasted like they are from a carton. Biscuits were too hard and dry to eat. Potatoes were bland. Service from our waitress was nonexistent. read more

Came here with a friend for dinner. Had a french dipped beef sandwich that was huge but lacked some flavor. menus are like a newspaper. Dennys is better read more

This was the very first time I've been there, what a pleasant establishment. Food was good, portions were above average and the price was on the low end of average. Service was fantastic, all in all it was a fun and affordable evening. We had a party of 14 and just showed up with no reservation on a Saturday night. They had us seated in less than a half hour, quite impressive. Unlike many restaurants they didn't seem to be in a rush to get rid of us. As we chatted after eating the waitress came by and served the kids ice cream sundaes. I will be back many times in the future! read more

If it's one message I had to deliver it would be to eat here for breakfast, pass on dinner time. Their breakfast consistently hits the mark, especially for the corned beef breakfast. Boy, oh boy, that's some tasty corned beef! Service, overall, doesn't let me down and they're friendly. Dinner, on the other hand, can never hold me to satisfactory. Don't get me wrong, the servers always have a smile on their face and know how to treat their guest. As far as the dinner menu goes, there's nothing special about it. 3 Stars read more

I love this place. I come here 1 to 2 times a week for dinner. Maria is my waitress she is always in a good mood and happy, fast service with her. I don't have nothing bad to say. read more

Simple yet satisfying homestyle breakfasts. I've had the pleasure of dining here for both breakfast and dinner, and all of their food items are reasonably priced; generously portioned; hearty; and simply delicious! I normally get heartburn when I eat out, but it seems like Black Bear uses quality ingredients because I haven't had any digestive problems with their food. The service is outstanding. From the moment you enter the door, everyone makes you feel at home. Kid-friendly environment too! P.S. must try the pumpkin-pecan pie with a side of ice cream! amazing read more

2 stars for being clean and having good service. DISGUSTING food! I've eating at many black bears but this one is not good. I ordered eggs Benedict. It came out with the eggs fully cooked and my potatoes were undercooked. My daughters Benedict was the same. Took both plates back and when they came back the hash browns were better and the eggs were cooked better but the Benedict was covered in parsley. It was all you could taste. Even after eating I was pulling parsley out of my teeth. Yuck!! The waffle I ordered was super dense. I won't be back unless the chef that was cooking is trained properly. Bathroom stall didn't lock. read more

Great food, great atmosphere, great service, and lots of food. We had a party of fourteen 7 adults and 7 children ages 2-11 we went on a saturday night around 7pm so they told us we had to wait 25mins we actually waited less than that and the service was great fast and friendly. It was my first time eating there, they give you a lot of food to where you are so stuffed when you leave and its very reasonably priced as well. Great place read more

Really nice restaurant! Seems pricey but it's cheap for the fact that they give large amount of food. Customer service is great, they always there and very nice. I come here a lot and love each visit. They have a huge menu, a lot to choose from. The Bob's Big Burger is awesome and so is there steaks. Want a big breakfast? Get The Grizz, you won't regret it. Nice place for a group of friends and family. read more