Visited the new N Davis location today in the Westridge Center. Beautiful remodel. Staff was super-attentive, especially my server, Noel. As a nine year employee, she is emblematic of Black Bear's values. What a great operation this. Even though it was a soft opening, the food was prompt, delicious and portions were amazing. Great 1st day, team! I look forward to visiting again, but moreover, I wish you the utmost success! -Dave Olsen read more

I can't make up my mind--either one star for the food and service, or five for the speed at which the staff will run off with your wallet and run up your credit cards. After waiting half an hour for a milkshake I was seriously jonesing for, I got it (it was really good), but my wallet didn't follow me out. At 1:30 in the morning somebody started to charge up my cards (who else but cooky off his shift is running around at that hour?). I recommend: milkshake, but hand bring only enough cash to pay for it. read more

Good service. Good food. This is a regular stop for me when I'm going south. read more

Good food, reasonable price, service varies. SERVICE: it depends in the server's mood. It's not our first time there but definitely first time for a server who took our drink orders and other items as she walked away. A family member was afraid to ask for anything else she needed. Other servers filled in the gaps for our request for water and incomplete orders. Our server never checked on us after she delivered the food except when she delivered the ticket. The Restaurant is big enough where they can afford to lose few regular customers. read more

My husband and I had not been here for a couple of years, but decided to give it another try. It was a great experience! From the moment we entered the door, we received the very best service. Our server, Jacob, was prompt, courteous, and informative. My Benedict dish was made with fresh spinach and mushrooms and was served with fresh fruit. My husband loved the delicious sausage patties and eggs sunny side up. We both wish we had room to sample the luscious-looking deserts in the glass case. Maybe next time. Oh yes, there will be a next time. With a cashier, seater, waiter and assistants who really welcome customers and have pride in themselves, I will gladly bring my business to them. Thank you for giving Salinas a restaurant to be proud of! read more

A nice and delicious diner!! The salads were tasty and they use a really good bun for the burger. Yum! Someone in our party got ham with their meal and it was good too! But another great part of the meal was the pancakes. I don't know what they put in it but I couldn't stop eating them!! Our kids got sundaes with their meals and the sweet server brought a tray of toppings for them to choose from. The kids were in heaven! Everything we ordered was delicious!! Very nice staff and clean! This place is a keeper! read more

Ordered the corned beef hash. When it arrived it was a big plate with a lot of food. The corned beef wasn't prepared the way I usually have it but I'm on the West coast willing to give it a try. Dug in and not to only was the corned beef cold but so were the potatoes AND scrambled eggs? The big biscuit was the only hot item on the plate. I told the waitress and she had them heat up my food... Of course in the microwave. The eggs became hard and dry of course and so did some of the corned beef. Oh well, maybe if I had gone to the one in Monterey?? No worries I know it won't happen again. read more

Don't come at 3-4 pm on a Saturday the staff is very slow and would rather chat than serve food

So after having some difficulties ordering via the website, we decided to call the restaurant direct. Brianna not only helped us work around the website issues, but she sent us a lovely appointed and a slice of chocolate cake to make it right. I hope the management treats her well, because customer service touches like this make a huge difference, especially now. read more

Definitely my favorite place for a big delicious meal! Food is great and the service rocks. The manager Melinda is awesome! She really takes great care of us! Def will be back! read more

I visited on a saturday morning with a group of 15. We were brought to our table quickly. Within minutes our waitress Rebekah had greeted us and taken our drink order. She was incredible at how efficiently she served us. She brought our food quickly and was very attentive. Her excellent level of service made our experience wonderful. read more

It was alright it's prolly good food when you're hella faded ... The chicken waffels was kinda confusing it was cooked good it was an herb crusted chicken maybe it should be a home style fry ....anyways the homies eggs were stone cold ...the wife's club was a club can't fuck that up..... Live 2 eat or eat 2 live..... read more

The black bear diner in salinas is my favorite spot to eat. Good service and never any food issues. And shout out to Melinda J. For being a great manager and employee! read more

I've always found Black Bear to have mediocre food but it's the service that has me irked today. We walk in and it's got to be at least 50 degrees inside. A good 5-7 degrees colder than outside. So we decide why not stay? We aren't from around here and aren't sure quite where else to go anyway. We start to order and are told they are out of potatoes... Really potatoes? At this point we decide to leave. Well unfortunately out waitress decided to put half an order in so now we are stuck waiting for food we didn't want in a restaurant that closely resembles a freezer. Well fine and well until the food arrives. Two eggs over easy? No no, not today sir. It's two eggs cooked however the chef wanted to cook them and served with a side of unapologetic waitress. Well I'm happy we don't live around here because thankfully for us we never have to come back again. read more

Place was pretty good. Loved the old time menus and the waiters were very kind and friendly. The service was fast and the food was good. I got the meat lovers omelette and with the exception of the ham (tasted canned) , it was great. The bacon, egg and sausage were amazing. It came with hash browns and a huge biscuit. The biscuit was warm and a little doughy, just how I like it. Bill was $30 for two after the tip, kinda pricey for my liking but with huge portion sizes, the price is fair. read more

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

We decided to try the place out since they moved. The portions are not the same size as they used to be and the food/service was definitely lacking. I order the fish and chips with fries and slaw. My husband ordered the chicken strips with ranch dressing. Mine came out with a double fries and no slaw. His came out without the dipping sauce (ranch or bbq). After we finally flagged down someone to get us some dressing, she told him the ranch had bacon in it and if he was ok with it. His chicken was also overcooked and 1/2 of the fries were overcooked. After we got the bill, my husband looked at it and mine said dbl fries which I did not order and his did not even have any dipping sauce listed on it. We have had better service and portions at other BBD's. read more

Went here on Sunday around 1pm, the wait was about 10 minutes before we were seated. Our server Juan was very polite and attentive. I ordered the taco salad with grilled chicken and avocado and omg the salad was HUGE plus very tasty! Overall we had a great experience, food was brought out smoothly and everyone including our 3 kids enjoyed their food. read more

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Was very dissatisfied with the food, service was great but I ordered a simple blt and my bread was burned, not to mention it took over 20 minutes to get and my fries were cold and looked raw, like I said the service is awesome and I hope if I return that the food is as good as I know it to be and not like this visit read more

We had a party of 14 come in, with a reservation, and there was a snafu...it was never put on the restaurant calendar so we were seemingly out of luck on a busy evening (6/6/19). Manager Melinda was a rockstar, though. She and her crew came together to solve the problem and got us all seated and served promptly..our group offered to move through our meal a little quicker and they were able to seat another group who had a bit later reservation. Melinda and all those who served us had awesome attitudes and great service character. As always, the food was hot, excellent, and plentiful. Just another reason we continue to go to this restaurant...great people and great food. Thank you, Melinda! read more

Honestly the best and quickest service I've received in my 26 years of life. The place was quite busy and we were seated in only a few minutes. Our server (who's name I can't remember "Radolf?" And quite handsome) took our order quite fast. Our food arrived a faster then when we've gone to a busy fast food restaurant. The food was as expected from black bear. read more

Well.. I love this place I'm just disappointed.. we walked in .. no greet.. we waited no one said anything to us and other ppl walked in and sat them right away. My boyfriend went to the front to ask for a table he got ignored! So we left weren't having it. I'd say get a HOST! SHIT GET a few . :/ read more

I love the black bear diner! The food is great and there pies are a must have. They have the cutest little gift shop for your little ones.

The service was good but the food was horrible, ordered pancakes scrambled eggs and bacon , pancakes where fine but the scrambled eggs where watery and the bacon was cold . read more

People don't waste your time & money here.... It used to be a good blackbear diner when it was on Laurel drive & when they first moved to this new location. It is sooo bad now, never will I go back, first clue the windows were all dirty, the entrance glass door was smudgy with prints & grime all over, the tables and floors were a hit & miss, now most the help looked like teenagers I couldn't see a older person there, no one seemed in charged. Now the food I ordered chicken fried steak & eggs, the potatoes were undercooked and a definite sour taste... I flagged our waiter down bc he NEVER checked back with us, he just shrugged and mumbled something, no one ever came over to talk with us. The toast was cold and barely any butter, my eggs look and tasted off a whitish color like they added milk! I couldn't eat this thought I would be sick later if I did. So good bye to another long standing place that used to be good. No one has pride in anything anymore... by the way to you all just standing around in there, if you got time to lean you got time to clean, and hopefully you will, it could be a start of a big improvement. read more

Server Kristel was fantastic! I will be coming back to this restaurant because of her service.

Food was good,not great, but it was hot. However, the service was amazing. After driving a long distance we were smiled at and felt very welcomed. Our server Reynaldo was kind and accommodating and waitress Morgan came over to talk and to help me with my phone. How wonderful to have the type of service I would find in a small mountain community full of bears right in Salinas! Definately coming back! read more

I grew up in this Area and to be Honest I never went out and eat. So now I'm all grown up and I live in So Cal so I came in to town because I have family still in Salinas. So we decided to make a stop before arriving at my moms house we had been driving for about 7hrs so we where hungry we wanted to have a feast. Pancakes , American Potatoes, eggs and Bacon everything was pretty delicious not big fan of the pancakes but it was ok. Service was alright not the best it could had been better read more

Stopped by B.B.D. in Salinas for breakfast coming home from a car show. We found that the old location was vacant but a placard on the window had the new location. Nice new restraunt, staff helpful and friendly, food was plentiful and good. The order was not 100 percent as the eggs ordered were runny and I wanted overheard. No problem as it is new and I am sure will be corrected when they get used to the new facility. The Bakersfield one is good also. read more

We had an awesome waitress I wish I remembered her name, she was younger and in college, her name started with an M. The food was hot, fresh, delicious and big portions. Lots of people greeted us when we walked and and wanted to make sure we were taken care of. read more

Went on a Wednesday night, around 6pm. The place was fairly busy; not packed, not dead. After being seated, it took quite a while to get a server to come around. We rarely saw her at all, over the hour and a half that it took to sit down, order, wait for the food, eat, pay and leave. We got one drink refill just before we left. The food must have been subpar considering how well received this place is by other reviewers. Bland and overcooked would describe the entire contents of my plate. Tri-tip, fried shrimp, mashed potatoes, and veggies I don't see myself returning. Very poor service and bad food. read more

Morgan was our waitress and she was amazing ! She was very interactive with our family and my 3 year old ! Food was so good !!!

I took my friends here for breakfast which was their first time at Black Bear Diner. Well they sat us down and took a while to take our order but we didn't really mind, once they took our order we waited for a long while for our food to be brought to out us. Once our food finally came out it was all cold the only thing that was warm was my biscuit...and to top that off they got two of our orders wrong. My friends and I wanted to tell them our food was cold but we didn't want to wait even longer for them to bring us a new plate so we kept it to ourselves. I was very disappointed at the service and the quality of the food. read more

This is the worst restaurant ever!!! Waiting 20 mins for a waitress to come take our order and then another 30 mins to get a plate of cold eggs and potatoesIt was early on a Sunday morning and the restaurant was only half full. They even messed up the bill by not running the CC even though they had it for 5 mins. They brought the receipt and card back to the table with nothing for my husband to signIf there was a negative star rating the Black Bear Diner in Salinas would be a negative 3 or 4. No one there knew much about running a restaurant. Please run away as fast as you can. I'm pretty sure that I will have food poisoning in a couple hours, which is what everyone wants on their Sunday off. read more

Sadie did a great job the food was delicious. Place was very clean and we enjoyed our experience. Will definitely be back thank you.

Yesterday my boyfriend and I were traveling back home to Los Angeles when I suggested we stop at Black Bear Diner in Salinas because he had never been. We were coming back from a trip in San Francisco and the weather wasnt too great, we were hungry and tired with a long drive still ahead of us. We walked in and were sat immediately by a very friendly woman named Krystal. She was warm, friendly and smiling from ear to ear, not to mention she wore a Big Yellow Hawaiian flower in her hair. I told her my boyfriend had never been there and she took the time to make a few meal suggestions and cracked a few jokes or 2. We ended up ordering a Taco salad with chicken as well as a Hobo Omelette. The food came out piping hot, she brought extra napkins and refilled our drinks without having to be reminded. She also checked on us 2 more times after we received our food and suggested some hot coffee for the road. As we left she told us to drive safe and take it slow on the road. Not only was the food great but the service waa even better. Being a server myself I definitely appreciate a friendly server in a pleasant and cozy atmosphere! Way to go Krystal. People like you make the world a brighter place..We will definitely be back on our next trip to the Bay Area.. BLACK BEAR ROCKS read more

The food was great but te service not so much I understand when you have new people they kinda don't know what to do, but other than that we loved the food... read more

Came here for thanksgiving dinner with the family. We all ordered the same turkey dinner plate. I tried to order fried chicken but they told me they were sold out. Funny thing is I looked across the room to see several people eating fried chicken once I was finished with my meal, so after they had told me they were out. I decided to let it go because it was thanksgiving. Then the waiter consistently forgot about basic things that we requested such as utensils to eat, straws and napkins. When the food came, only a few plates came with stuffing and cranberry while others didn't. It seemed like they were hoping we wouldn't notice the stuffing missing from some of the plates, as well as some of us not getting the cornbread. The vegetables tasted frozen and we live in the "salad bowl of the world!" Just ridiculous things like that, with easy solutions but it seems as if they don't care enough to fix them. The plates were almost 20 dollars, I would suggest you spend your money elsewhere read more

The place was packed mom and I got a spot at the bar and were served in 10 minutes!!! Big thumbs up for customer service here and the manager who pushed to get all orders in and out! New Years to all at the Salinas Black Bear Diner!! read more

Over the years, I have expected good food, decent service from the various locations of this eatery chain. However, my visit was plagued with uncaring service, food service errors that should never be encountered by a customer and a filthy booth/table. From the ignored request for fresh decaf coffee for my elderly mother, to the burger I ordered being brought to my table completely wrong even though the receipt delivered before the food indicated I ordered correctly, to the filthy booth seats that I had to clean with water and napkins, to the overcooked food, I will not be back. The waitress that served me was rude, uncaring, never followed up with me after the correct food was brought to my table by another server, as she decided to take her break by sitting at another table with friends, eating her lunch in the middle of it all. The female manager meanwhile spends her time BS'g with regular customers, instead of focusing on what is coming out of her kitchen is hot, prepared correctly, not overcooked or left sitting in the kitchen window for 15 minutes while my waitress was busy eating her meal, that I waited for over an hour for. read more

Great music, love me some oldies.. Chicken noodle soup was a perfect portion for the appetizer and the pork ribs were good, from what I gathered they have their regulars and keep em' coming back. Justin was a very nice helpful young man. Oh and the ice cream was just right, hit the spot. read more

Black Bear Diner Salinas - What a blast, to Read into the past - Diners Near Me - Salinas, California

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