Black Bear Diner

Despite the negative reviews on Yelp, my wife and I decided to give Black Bear Diner a try. It was a Wednesday night around 7:30pm and there were very few cars in the lot, usually not a good sign. Staff seemed to be busy and we had to wait for five minute to be seated. We almost left, as there were no other customers ahead of us. Glad we waited.

The advertisements read: old fashioned comfort food. That's what we wanted and that's what we got. We both had the Bigfoot Chicken Fried Steak. Someone posted saying the potatoes are instant, that's a lie! These are real red potatoes. Someone else posted about the gravy being sausage gravy. What we got was plain, good old country gravy with lots of pepper, no sausage.

The decor was nice, lodge style with plenty of bears to go around. The staff were great. The prices were good, although I thought the price for their bear-claws was a little high, until I saw one. It was the size of a small Buick! No kidding, it really is huge and fruit filled to boot.

Other than the seating being a little slow, we have no complaints and we can't wait to try there breakfast.

BTW: the music was 50's & 60's rock-n-roll and not so loud that you can't hear the person you're with.

I came here last Saturday with my mom on the way back home from Ocean Shores. She has been to the Federal Way location so I was up to try something new. There were 3 people in front of us waiting to be seated. The hostess came up and asked if any of us were on the list yet. Nope. This is the 1st time anyone was acknowledged of being there. Hmm Okay. Took maybe 5 mins to be seated which is really good for a Saturday.

They have a large menu and HUGE portions. I ordered the french dip and onion rings. Both were really good. I don't think you can really screw up a french dip though. It was served on a flaky, crusty roll which is my fave. Small portion on the onion rings, but I didn't need a lot. :)

Service was good, straight to the point and no messing around which I appreciate. Got an apple cobbler to go to share with the Hus and it was pretty good. Id be back again to try some breakfast for sure.

We went here twice in one week!! Took our family that was here from out of Town and they all loved it! They give you too much food! Which is Good! We went to eat around 11:00am and at 6pm we were still to full for dinner! Seriously and we are not small people. My favorite part is breakfast all day :) the staff are great and friendly too

Black Bear is working hard to win back my heart. They mailed out a half-off an entree coupon with an announcement of new management- and it got me back in. Food was much less greasy. Here's hoping it stays that way. Don't know if I'll be the one to find out though- too many better places in town.

Lots of food at a fair price. The portions are BIG. If you do not leave full then you might have other issues to deal with. I recommend the pot roast dinner. It was very good, hot and tasted like my grandmothers. It is comfort food done very well. The rating of 4 stars is related to the slow service we received, it was a little busy that night (Thursday), but she really never checked in on us before or during our meal.

Side note: the coconut cream pie is also VERY good.

The portions here really stand out. Definitely more bang for the buck. Otherwise it's just an above average diner with a cozy atmosphere.

I'd give it five stars, but the service I received during my last visit left something to be desired. I'm really not a difficult customer, but the waitress was sort of short with me when I pointed out that she got my order wrong. I may have accepted it as a miscommunication on my part had she not responded with what seemed like hostility.

Service has been pretty good outside of that one experience though. At times even exceptional. Don't let my story scare you away. If anything should scare you, it's the fact that the biscuits are the size of your head. If you're not careful, they may eat you before you eat them.

Really good food and huge proportions waiter was nice as well , I'll be eating hear again !

A must try is there huevos rancheros Benedict! !!!
5 stars on the food
Service was very prompt and on point, coffee cups were kept full.

The diner that time forgot! Or maybe, the diner that stole my time!

Have you ever waited so long for dinner that you wished you ordered breakfast, because the sun would rise before you ate!

We came to BBD on a cold and snowy night when our power went out. The place was busy, but not overwhelming. Apparently, the power went out for a lot of houses in the area.

There was a 5 minute wait to be seated. Not too bad for a cold lightless night. Then there was a 10 minute wait to be asked our drink preference. OK, now I was a bit annoyed but it was better than sitting home in a cold house with no warm food or lights.

Next, there was a 30 minute wait before someone took our order. I was beyond annoyed now. Especially since our server only had about 10-12 tables. Maybe it was the cold, but maybe, just maybe, this was incompetence or poor management.

My mother ordered the chicken fried steak (with soup). My wife ordered the turkey dinner, and I ordered the New York Steak (with salad). We waited almost 40 minutes for our salad and soup. Then we waited another 30 minutes for our food.

The food was average at best. The service was just terrible.

I spent approximately two hours of my life waiting on BBD food! I want my two hours back.

Went hungry, left disgusted.

Let me preface this by saying that our waitress was an absolute sweetheart. She was cheery, kind and efficient.

The food, however, was not cheap and was served in grotesquely huge portions. The menu, in my opinion, is lacking. Some breakfasts, sandwiches, homestyle dinners and salads. NO HEALTHY OPTIONS. Everything is fried, slathered in grease or gravy, served with fatty salad dressings or piled on with "all the fixin's! plus a biscuit that is larger than your face!"

The vegetarian options were limited and I went with the most healthy sounding option- a veggie omelet. It arrived in all of its greasy glory- twice the size of the plate itself and surrounded by homefries made out of 18 potatoes. This meal would serve 10 people, I kid you not. As my friend said "Leftovers for 8 days... 9 if you stretch it."

My friend liked her food, but it was also disgustingly huge. A proud omnivore, she ordered a chicken fried steak slathered in sausage gravy with mashed potatoes. She really enjoyed it but also felt disgusted after eating only a few bites of food.

I remembered this place being great from a visit I had a few years ago, but I don't remember whether or not that was influenced by other substances.

After reading it's been shut down for failed health inspections, I sure as heck am steering clear.

As one customer was heard saying: "No alcohol AND you're out of cornbread? WHAT IS THIS WORLD COMING TO?"

Well stated, random man. Well stated.