We tried out the new Black Bear Diner where the old Shari's used to be, and it was such a fun surprise. The décor is adorable. Woodworked bears are tucked throughout the space without feeling overdone, and there's even an old jukebox in the corner next to a small shop selling merch. It feels cozy and playful at the same time. For food, we had the eggs Benedict with tomato, spinach, and bacon, served with fresh fruit and country potatoes. While my poached egg was a bit overcooked, more firm than runny, the overall flavor was still delicious and everything tasted fresh. We also ordered the bacon mac and cheese, and it may have been the best mac and cheese I've ever had at a restaurant. It was creamy, hot, perfectly seasoned, and pure comfort in a bowl. The portions are huge, just like they advertise. Service was excellent, prices were reasonable, and the whole experience felt welcoming and worth it. Dare I say... this might even be better than Shari's. We'll definitely be back. read more

Black Bear Diner Salem - Bacon Mac and cheese - Diners Near Me - Salem, Oregon

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Their first try had my scrambled eggs overcooked so much they were crunchy and the avocado was brown. The only thing right was the toast. The second try they got the eggs and avocado right but they put it in plain, untoasted bread. My husband had hashbrowns that were so dry and tasteless, it may as well have been shredded paper. We don't plan on going back. read more

This place used to be a Shari's, and is still new enough to be pretty busy. At least it was when I visited, around 2pm on a weekday. I had to wait for about 10 minutes for a booth. Service was very friendly, and patient with me as I was waiting for a friend who was running quite late. It is decorated in the chain's signature bear-centered, mountain lodge style. The menu is quite large, and I would say similar to Shari's, but with substantially fewer pie offerings and not really any appetizers (although you can get sides that would function more or less as appetizers). I was regularly checked in on, but not bothered, by the wait staff, and it was easy to flag someone down when I finally decided to order. I chose the Reuben sandwich with onion rings. The food arrived quite quickly. The sandwich was good, if not amazing. The portion sizes and amount of sandwich ingredients was a bit frugal, but the meat was flavorful. The onion rings (all 5 of them) were just okay. After my lunch companion arrived, and we had finished our entrees, we did try some desserts. We got the carrot cake and the brownie sundae. Both were good, if not spectacular. My food this visit was just okay, but the service was awesome. And I definitely want to come back to try their breakfasts. Those two facts bounced up my rating from three and half stars to four. read more

Black Bear Diner Salem - The Menu. - Diners Near Me - Salem, Oregon

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Food was good great portions, the ambiance was at a okay for me but the service took a lil long. Server wasn't too friendly and pushy a bit but the kitchen nailed it and ate all my food. Delicious food service a lil slow and server perhaps was having a bad day oh and also get an itemized ticket pay it upfront or else you'll be charged for service that weren't impressed with . Thank you read more

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We arrived on a Sunday evening at 7 PM. They weren't busy and we were greeted upon arrival. The place is very cute done very well. Everyone that worked there was friendly. That was a good start. My husband and I had not been to the black bear diner previously so we weren't quite sure what to expect. We were pleasantly surprised with the size of the menu and the choices that were available. Our waitress Jessica N. Was delightful and took our order brought our coffee and refilled promptly. She was very patient with us as we weren't familiar with the menu and so many choices to make. My husband chose the 10 ounce chicken fried steak. The plate and the servings were huge. My husband could only eat half of it brought the other half home but he thoroughly enjoyed it thought it was very well done. I ordered the salmon which generally comes with a serving of mashed potatoes and gravy. Not my first choice with a beautifully prepared piece of salmon so I ordered the baked potato loaded with the fresh vegetable choice of lightly steamed broccoli. The broccoli was cooked perfectly, which is hard to do and having it served hot as well. The baked potato and the salmon were delicious. I would definitely order that again the coffee was enjoyable as well. We decided not to order dessert as we were both full and could obviously not eat another bite. If you like southern comfort food, I would say this is the place to go. Next time, maybe I will order a salad from the menu. By 8 o'clock the place was pretty quiet several tables there but it was nice not to have a busy busy place on a Sunday night. Thank you, Jessica for making our first adventure to blackbear diner and A+ . We will be back maybe next time for breakfast. read more

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Well well! I finally made it to our local Black Bear Diner since it opened recently. The wait was to be expected, rhe food was hot and fresh. They paced the orders accordingly. Sorry no food pics, I was hangry.. My server Better was great and it was only her 2nd day waitresses.. My Host Joey & Michelle were very pleasant and all smiles. read more

(ICE) Food was disappointing, staff was not very attentive, the music was AWFUL, and my booth was sticky. Plus there was too much ICE in my drink. Gosh I hate too much ICE. My partner also said to me "Dang, that's a lot of ICE, how can I enjoy my drink if it's being overpowered by ICE?" I grew up in Corvallis and live in Salem. I will NEVER be back. Neither will any of my friends or family. read more

Our family loves bbd. Was so happy to see one opening a new location closer to us. I love that it was a former Shari's location, a place that will forever be close to my heart. Our server was phenomenal, he was so funny and kind. Food was excellent. I had eggs Benedict, my youngest had the bacon Mac n cheese and my oldest had an omelet, we were all happy with the food. Cannot wait to come back. read more

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This place was packed out. The staff were very polite. The service was great. The food came out promptly. It was good. The place was clean and had cool decor. read more

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I would really like to give this place 5 stars but just can't. The first 2 times we went in shortly after opening it was absolutely fantastic! The food was delicious and piping hot and our servers were the best. One of them even hugged me. We were so excited that we decided to take friends in and unfortunately it was not good. Took forever to even get coffee and then no refills. Our food took 40 minutes to arrive and it was too cold to eat. We sent it back and the server started crying that it wasn't her fault. All their trainers were gone and they just couldn't keep up. Finally got food that was warmer but still nothing like we got the first two times. We were embarrassed we had brought our friends there. We have eaten at many of these restaurants even the flag store in Shasta! Please, please don't give up on them, they're still in their start up stage. They'll be good again! read more

Wow, consistency (and awesome food) is the word. We have been to a number of Black Bear (BB) restaurants in different states, and the constant quality remains in all of them. Excellent food, large portions, excellent service, competitive price. We will be back for more great food. Come hungry and feed your bear appetite. The taco salads are enormous as the photo and video shows. My wife could not finish hers. I barely can eat it all when I order them. The house made salsa had a bite to it (hot) and a great Mexican flavor. If you like pollock fish, the "All you can eat" Friday special is the best choice. (See photo) The large proportion you can tell is real fish, not re-manufactured servings. The fish has a mild fishy taste. First piece was slightly over cooked, the 2 and 3rd servings were cooked just right. Yes, 2nd and 3rd servings of fries are available upon request. Otherwise, they just bring out the additional fish. Hush puppies that come with the fish are excellently cooked, crunchy on the outside, soft inside cornmeal. Perfect for adding butter and pancake syrup on them. For my taste, the coleslaw is worth the fish dinner, creamy sauce, not over dilly nor vinegar saturated. It's hard to find good slaw and BB Salem delivers to my taste preference. It's worth noting that we picked Halloween night, dinner hour to visit BB Salem. The wait time for a table for two people started out at 25 min. By the time we got our table, it was up to 40 min. When we were seated, our waitress was friendly and took the time required to take our order without us feeling rushed. Excellent customer service skills. Our food arrived quickly despite the high volume of customers. The restaurant was clean. If BB Salem popularity continues to grow, this establishment is going to be to small for the demand as we witnessed that night. The owners will need to seek out another location that can serve a larger population. read more

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So funny story and to the point ! We walked in thinking it was already open for business but nope, it was friends and family day (training day)! When I say we were embarrassed , we were embarrassed ! Long story short, staff was amazing , thoughtful and allowed us to join in on training day ! The food was delicious, Amanda the server was the sweetest and so was everyone else in the restaurant! Cute decor too! Will definitely return now that it's officially open read more

Black Bear Diner Salem - Sweet Cream Waffle - Diners Near Me - Salem, Oregon

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Mindy was our server and she was extremely helpful and we enjoyed her customer service. The food was amazing and just the right amount!! When we return we will ask for Mindy as she was the best! read more

Food and service were great! We got seated right away and Dalila took great care of us. She was very attentive and offered great customer service! Menu had a lot of options. I had the taco salad and it was massive and very good. Would recommend to any food lovers! read more

Breakfast was very good and the portions were too much for one meal. The server was attentive and friendly . Definitely will return read more

Black Bear Diner Salem - This is the best - Diners Near Me - Salem, Oregon

First time in this Black Bear Diner. Monday morning breakfast. Seated right away in the very back by the kitchen. Not a premium seat to be sure. First impressions: clean, not cluttered or noisy. Served drinks right away. Looked over at the condiment tray and noticed a good selection of sauces - most were EMPTY. Not a good sign. To me it looks like they were filled when they opened and never touched again. Tells me they don't care. It also tells me they are not clean. Salt and pepper shakers are the type you need to grind. Also a red flag for germs. Food was served in a timely manner. Requested eggs over easy. One broken yoke that was fully cooked, the other was also over cooked. Generous portion of hash browns. Way too much. Unnecessary portion. Toast was buttered but the butter was still thick and not melted. Cold. It was not a good first impression and lacked incentive to return. Failed to impress. read more

The atmosphere was very cute and nice in the inside! Along with the amount of food and fast service for such a great price! I would recommend if you're in the Salem area:) read more

Black Bear Diner Salem - Avocado Toast with Wide Strip-Cut Hash Browns and country BIGFOOT Chicken Fried Steak with 2 Biscuits & Gravy - Diners Near Me - Salem, Oregon

Service was fantastic and fast . Fresh energy and good customer service . Looking forward to come here more often. read more

Black Bear Diner Salem - Bacon Mac 'N Cheese Bowl - Diners Near Me - Salem, Oregon

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This was our first visit to Black Bear Diner. our lunch was very good and our waitress, Trish D. was wonderful , so friendly and efficient! We will be back to try breakfast soon. read more

The food was amazing the Christina the server was even better, very attentive, will definitely be coming back again. read more

Black Bear Diner Salem - Avocado toast with an egg and a side of fruit and sliced tomatoes, and the other plate is fish and chips. - Diners Near Me - Salem, Oregon

Food was almost inedible!! Fried chicken was cooked in burnt oil, no flavor, and way too salty. More coating than meat. Fries were way too salty too. The side dishes were good, but the main dishes were not great. On par with Dennys. Most entrees were frozen dishes from Sysco. Pastries were stale and had to use a steak knife to cut up. Dennys would have been better at half the price!!! Will NOT go back!! Service was very good though. read more

Went for dinner tonite (02062025) l asked if l could get a chili burger the waitress stated yes she was very nice and helpful . When my meal came l did not get a chili burger l got a hamburger with chili fries. I talked with the our waitress she would take care of it in a few she was back with a small bowl of chili and some more fries. I said l'm sorry but this is still not a chili burger. At this point l asked for the chicken strips. So do not try to get a Chili burger at the Black Bear read more

This is there third day open. Very busy but was super efficient getting guests seated. Sweet potato fries were excellent. It does take awhile to get the food but hopefully after a little time that will improve once they have worked all the kinks out. The servers don't seem to be assigned specific tables because were were asked by 4 different servers to take our order when we already had. Can't complain at all about the attentiveness at all. Lol Lol I will be coming back. read more

Great opening of the new restaurant. Excited to see a 'home cooking' type of restaurant in Salem since most have closed down. As busy as they were, the service was amazing. The ambiance is light and open. Nicely remodeled from Sharis. Good breakfasts. Will be back for dinner! read more

I was there Sunday. 30 minute wait. I felt sorry for a couple that waited a very long time for a table. They were forgotten. I went to the register and told them. They jumped in and got them a table. The parking was very bad. We finally found parking. Super good turkey club and fries. They had the best bacon ranch dressing. The Pepsi or coke was very watered down. The biscuits and gravy were so good. Good coffee. The waitress was really good to take our free breakfast coupons right away. I really liked that. I will be back. read more

Went there for dinner on Christmas Eve. First time food was delicious. Service was excellent. All in all. I will definitely come back. I had the blackened salmon was delicious. read more

Bright clean restaurant. Great food selection and lots of menu choices. Ample parking and a great location.

1) haver server check on clientele at least once! 2) at minimum, bring water! 3) at least apologize for lack of attention! I understand it gets busy during peak hours but at least the server could have tried! Bad service! read more

I've been here twice since opening. Last Friday 11/07 wasn't the best experience, my food came out wrong, but I could tell the waitress (Liz) was still learning the menu, she was a bit slow on the device... first red flag was she didn't ask how I wanted my eggs, food came out and I got no eggs at all... but really can't fault her much for being in the learning process still, plus issue was fixed. Yesterday, 11/10 I went back for lunch. Everything was perfect, 100x better than my last experience. A friendly waitress, food was timely, I finished my plate, no complaints. Only thing I noticed was the waitress is just a little slow on the handheld device when taking orders. read more

Decided to try Black Bear. Had been to a few without much fanfare. Doug was out waiter. Charming, knowledgeable and came by numerous times to make sure we didn't need anything - usually with the coffee pot in hand to top off our coffees. I ordered the California omelette. It was huge! A bit watery. My friend and I both really wanted a pancake instead of what was offered. Doug substituted it with no extra charge. We forgot to ask for water. Stopped one of the waitresses and said we realized she wasn't doing our table but could she let Doug know we would love some water when he had time. She said it was fine and she would bring us water. Less than 2 minutes later she was back with water and the coffee pot to top off our coffees. Wait staff such as Doug, and the huge portions are what will keep people coming back. read more

Portions greatly vary from day to day. Got cold fries, couldn't get waitress attention. One of us had an omelet, cheese wasn't even melted. Once the bill came, waitress was attentive. At that point I complained about cold fries. I had also ordered a $4.00 biscuit , I asked if they could deduct the cost of that since I didn't eat any fries. Waitress did do that. The next day I called the manager on duty. I explained what was wrong and he said he would talk to general manager and get back to me. Now a week later, still no response. Snafoo's can be understood, but when a manager chooses to ignore me after he told me he would call me back in a few days. I don't like being ignored. I have never left a written bad review, but I do not like being ignored!!!!!!! Dennys or sybils will be our next outing. read more

Gotta love black bear. Every location never misses. Great flavor and amazing service.

The food was great, came out fast. The customer service was awesome. I highly recommend a visit.

Had our first experience at Salem's Black Bear. All was good....had a slight wait, but they seated people quickly. Was about 10:30 and there was still a good sized breakfast crowd. Server was excellent and food arrived quick and hot. We had the mini volcano and the egg was down perfectly...and THOSE sweet cream pancakes are wonderful. Overall, great atmosphere, food, and servers! (My only complaint...is that with those gigantic, super fluffy pancakes...the amount of syrup that comes with the meal is not enough.... Needs to be more please). read more

We met friends for a 10am breakfast. They had a 10 minute wait, and had arrived early, so we got there after they had been seated. We had lucked out, finding a parking space in a very full lot. There were many people waiting inside and outside the restaurant. Our orders were taken promptly, and coffee refilled as needed, but we waited almost 40 minutes for our food to arrive. My eggs, bacon and french toast were absolutely cold, as were my friends. She never received the sourdough toast that was supposed to come with her meal. Shame on you, Black Bear Diner! read more

Bland food. Cold food. Small side portions. Disappointed. What a disappointment. Avoid this one, sadly.

I there on a very busy night (halloween) in full costume. My server, T, was incredible! He was not only funny but managed to keep his many tables happy including us. My partner and I got sandwiches, which were fantastic! The OJ and fries were incredible. read more

45 minutes for food that is on par with IHop or Denny's. Wait staff very attentive. Food way overpriced. Hard pass for us.

I ate at Black Bear Diner on their opening day. The service was impeccable! Delila was our waitress and she was the best! Very patient and friendly! She got our orders perfectly! Absolutely wonderful! Our food was delicious. I had pancakes, bacon and eggs. My cousins shared meatloaf and mashed potatoes and broccoli and salad. Yum! We loved having our picture taken with the bear. FUN! I will be back! Atmosphere was lively and everyone was enjoying themselves. read more

This was our second time eating at the Black Bear. Food has been so fantastic. It was our nephew's birthday and he had never been there so the three aunties took him there for dinner. Service was great, I wish I could remember her name, dark hair in a pony tail (she was wearing bear ears or something?) anyhow she was right on. Food was the way we wanted, service kept our coffees hot, pepsi was refilled and food was delivered fast. It is a clean place, no complaints. We will be coming back again. Yes sometimes you have to wait a few minutes for a table, but our wait has never been very long. I can't wait to go again. read more