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Black Bear Diner Salinas

3.6 (478 reviews)
Closed • 6:30 am - 10:00 pm

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BLACK BEAR DINER SALINAS ATMOSPHERE

What's the vibe?
Moderate noise
Casual
Outdoor seating
Good for kids

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Recommended Reviews - Black Bear Diner Salinas

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Ruben
Martha J.

Came in on a Monday morning with my mom and it was pretty busy but the wait wasn't horrible. I got the Ruben Sandwich with extra sauerkraut. It was pretty good and they even gave me a little extra on the side. That was really cool of them and I really appreciated it. Still (at least personally), I don't know that looking at it the thought would be "wow! That's a lot of sauerkraut!" (I told them to put more on after looking at it and having that thought lol). I would've put more on if I had been making it for myself. The fries were solid. My mom got the Chili, I forgot to take a picture of it but it had some nice sprinklings of stuff on top which made it look pretty. She did think it could be spicier, but there's hot sauces on the table so that helped. A few more gluten free options would make her happy though. Our server was nice and attentive.

Fish and Chips  Pot Roast Melt Blackened Salmon
Kristy S.

I've been to a Black Bear in the Bay Area and this Salinas location can't compare. I put my name down on a list and they mentioned it'll be a 45 min-1 hour wait. After 45 minutes, I checked back in and they were able to get us a table. They didn't call our names and there were plenty of tables available that time. Therefore they just completely forgot because we would've been waiting longer for no reason if I didn't ask. The menu has less options and the portions are smaller. The pot roast melt was $20+ and it came with a spoonful size amount of meat. Very disappointing! Fish and chips also was a small amount of 3 tiny fried fish fillets. The blackened salmon tasted like hospital food. I would recommend just getting breakfast here as the breakfast food was the only thing that came out good. Don't waste your time or money here.... Everything on the picture came out to $100, never again!

My father's Volcano
Caroline B.

Food is great after blood test Service 15 to 20 minute wait for to go, recommended to dine in. Music nice to listen to. It was a rainy day made it feel like it was good "to go" have meal to take home. Lights and natural light was bright enough. Crowded lobby area, no benches outside for bigger groups.

Western Western BBQ Burger with Homemade Crispy Onions* OUR Biggest - The GRIZZ

The Food was perfect everything was delicious Staff was great , constantly checking on us , restaurant was clean and organized Greeted and seated quickly!!

Berania was a very friendly waitress. She did an awesome job waiting on us. We had the best service when we went there to eat dinner. When you have good food and excellent waiters and waitresses it makes it so much more enjoyable to wanna return and enjoy another meal. Thank you again to Berania for your kindness and friendliness, and we hope to have you again sometime when we dine there again.

My BLACK Coffee With Sugar..!!

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2 years ago

Great food! Our waitress was so helpful and attentive. Love that they serve breakfast all day.

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1 year ago

Terrible service, served my party of 10 and forgot to give one of our family member's their food. Didn't check in on us once either.

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Page 2 of 12

Ask the Community - Black Bear Diner Salinas

Is breakfast available all day?

Yes!

Do they serve gluten-free pancakes or gluten-free waffles?

Does this location have a little gift shop?

Hi Monica B - yes! All of our diners have some little and some not so little gift shops in them :)

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First Awakenings

First Awakenings

4.2(1k reviews)
2.2 mi
•$$

I only ordered a fruit bowl, but what I got was a bunch of…read moregrapes, 4 smaller pieces of pineapple, and a diced banana. They threw in a 1 sliced strawberry. $12 dollars

Sadly I'm going to be the bearer of bad news and say that First Awakenings is highly overrated. I…read moregrew up in Salinas and always remember this place being busy and thought of in high regard by pretty much all the locals. Being back in town, I had to give it a try after 15+ years being away. What a let down honestly. We were seated right away which was appreciated. It was about 10am on a Wednesday and we arrived just before the big rush it seemed. To drink, we ordered waters and orange juice and coffee. A whole coffee carafe was left on our table which was a bit of a surprise and the orange juice as advertised tasted freshly squeezed. Before ordering our food, my husband began asking the waiter about gluten free pancakes or waffles (since such was advertised online in a review from 11yrs ago) and before he could even finish the question the waiter cut him off to explain all the pancake and waffle options. My husband kindly asked again and was told they didn't have any specific gluten free options. That's ok, he ordered their Bacado omelette and instead of toast on the side he asked for a side of fruit. I ordered their Cinnamon Bread French Toast and a side of 1 scrambled egg and 1 sausage. I was told the sausage only comes in 2 or 4, and so I chose 2. When the food arrived, I immediately thought this all looks ok. And the taste was just the same. The omelette was not fluffy like you'd expect a highly rated restaurant omelette to be. The side of fruit came in a condiment cup and had 1 grape as well as 3 pieces of other fruit. The hash browns were sad looking, pretty pale and absolutely no crunch. My husband even added salt which was sad and rare to watch him do. My French toast was ok, kind of soggy and didn't have any caramelization or crunch on the outside whatsoever. It's definitely cinnamon toast vs a cinnamon roll French toast and was nothing special. The sausage was the best part which says a lot. I wouldn't come back here because there's infinitely better options minutes away.

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First Awakenings
First Awakenings
First Awakenings - Bacon skillet with carnitas added

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Bacon skillet with carnitas added

Daddy's City Diner - Filipino breakfast - comes with tocino brisket, langonisa, eggs and fried rice.

Daddy's City Diner

4.2(410 reviews)
7.2 mi
•$$

Came on a Monday morning around 9:30, there was only one customer (shocking). Service was fast…read more Placed our order and food came out fresh and quick. They had music playing but not too loud. Waitress continued to check on us through out the meal. The kids pancake was as thick as other restaurants short stack. Bacon was cooked crispy (good in our opinion). My fried rice and linguica was delicious. Eggs cooked perfectly. Wish the linguica was a bit warmer but it was still good. I chose a biscuit and I'm so glad I did, it was huge, tasted fresh and the butter it comes with??? WOW!!!! It was sooo good. My husband's plate of fried rice with ham, bacon and another meat was massive!!!! He wasn't even hungry until dinner. Will we return? Absolutely!!!

Out of towners here. Came because there was a parking lot and the food looked pretty good online!…read more Came in and it's a seat yourself situation. We found a table and ordered. Waiter and all of the dates we interacted with were very nice. Food was good, country potatoes were boiled and not fried and not seasoned great, but everything else was diner style and tasted good. Here's the issue on why I'm giving 3 stars: it was Sunday brunch, which I know can be busy and hectic and crazy. They had no host and so when people were coming in when the tables were full, the seating situation was managed poorly. The staff tried to tag team but it didn't work out super well and some people got sat before others who came earlier, simply because they were waiting outside. It was just kind of crazy and personally I think a hostess is an important position you can't just not have. I highly recommend when the diner is at capacity to have a staff member stop what they are doing and focus solely on the hostess stand.

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Daddy's City Diner
Daddy's City Diner - Ultimate Omelette added spam inside, with pancakes on the side. This omelette was HUGE picture doesn't do it justice

Ultimate Omelette added spam inside, with pancakes on the side. This omelette was HUGE picture doesn't do it justice

Daddy's City Diner - Kids' breakfast - pancake with chocolate chips, bacon, and over medium egg

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Kids' breakfast - pancake with chocolate chips, bacon, and over medium egg

Portobello's - Rib eye

Portobello's

3.8(282 reviews)
2.2 mi
•$$

I stopped by Portabello's for a Sunday brunch and overall, I had a very nice experience. We were…read moreseated right away and provided menus promptly, which is always a good start. We ordered avocado toast, French toast, banana pecan pancake, house potatoes, and an Aperol spritzer. My avocado toast was served on a single very thick piece of bread, which had a very generous amount of avocado smash and was topped off with this delightful and fresh arugula salad. I added an over easy egg for an extra charge that was the perfect balance. The house salad was simple with butter lettuce, cherry tomatoes, radish, cucumber, with a light lemon house dressing that brought the salad together. It was refreshing. The French toast is pretty standard. Nothing that particularly stood out. The banana pecan pancake was delicious and shared with everyone at the table. The house potatoes were extra crispy on the outside but soft on the inside, which I found particularly satisfying. Overall, we had a pleasant experience and found Portabello's to be a good brunch spot in Salinas. The service was fast, the food portions were big, the food tasted fresh, and it was a nice ambiance. I would definitely return for the avocado toast and potatoes. Side note - I noticed Caesar Salad was misspelled on the menu as "Caeser"

Mother's Day breakfast was 65$ dollars for food that is regularly 25$. Maybe the 65$ was for…read moreunlimited mimosas lol NOPE!!!!!!! 65 dollars for mid food and horrible music. Don't recommend this place at all.

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Portobello's
Portobello's - The most delicious dinner ever!

The most delicious dinner ever!

Portobello's

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Black Bear Diner Salinas - diners - Updated May 2026

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