Black Bear — Restaurant in Bellingen

My wife ordered a Burrito Bowl for herself and two coffees from Black Bear Cafe and i had a pie from the Bakery next door as i didn't want a big meal and the waitress came outside to our table and said to come up to the counter when we're ready to order and i noticed her looking at my pie which was on our outside table and the cafe owner upon placing our coffee's on our table advised me i couldn't eat the pie on their premises, why didn't the waitress advise us before we ordered my wifes Burrito and our coffee's that i couldn't consume the pie on their premises instead of going back inside and informing the owner who also didn't tell us when we were ordering at the counter but left it until after we had paid for and were receiving our coffee's and my wife's meal that i wasn't allowed to eat my pie, after i left to have my pie elsewhere the owner very loudly proceeded to berate me to his only other customer in front of my wife whom was still sitting at our table eating her lunch, what a gentleman he is not, if people want to relax and enjoy their lunch avoid Black Bear Cafe! (What an outright liar you are), i did not shout and actually had to say it twice because you didn't hear me the first time i spoke but i actually said to you that i can see why you have no customers due to your pathetic attitude! The main issue here is that you didn't tell me i couldn't eat the pie on your premises until after you had taken our money! And as for your business failing i think your doing a good job there yourself and if your going to rebut what i have said tell the truth! Dear Mr Ed you still haven't answered why you greedily took our money for the food and drinks we ordered but didn't say i couldn't eat my pie on your footpath until after our food and drinks were served, maybe it was because your business is on the brink as we were your...

Have eaten may times a Black Bear and spent a considerable amount of money on a the way through from Armidale to Coffs Harbour over the years. I called Black Bear 28/11 seeking help with simply letting me know the name of a clothing shop a couple of doors up from them that I can’t find on google maps as I have recently left something I have purchase in this shop. Staff member refused to help. It was only a name of a shop I was after which would have taken 5 seconds to answer. Poor reflection of customer service. I have worked many years in busy cafes and would not have hesitated to answer this call.

Edit after reply from owner.

This is an interesting response which would have taken more than the 5 seconds it would have taken to simply let me know the name of the store which is not on Google as previously mentioned. Interestingly, every review that even slightly suggests below expectations posted for this place is met with hostility from the owner. I previously owned a small business in Sydney for 10 years with lines going out my door on a regular basis. Although I am fortunate as I did not receive any bad reviews, had I done so I would have taken the feedback on board and acknowledged that small businesses can not always get things right. I gave four stars for food and ambiance relating to my previous visits. Lets leave it there as realistically Black Bear is not open to feedback unless it’s all positive.

Thankfully I callled a different business in Bello at the same busy time and they were only to...

Waited about 43 minutes (* updated: ordered 12.42pm, meals arrived about 1.25pm, despite the owner claiming a different timeframe), which was fine for the parents but somewhat unappreciated by three kids. We would have gone somewhere else if we'd known three orders of kids pancakes ($33) take that long (*updated: the quality of the pancakes was on par with what we do at home, so it's a fair comparison). We were offered a few other people's orders in that time, so perhaps they were having a rough day in the kitchen.

The food was okay, the prices on the high side relative to quality for the cheeseburger ($22). The side order of chips was above average quantity, average quality. The young staff were pleasant and doing their best. They apologised for the wait.

Updated above in brackets. The owner's reaction to a factual and balanced three-star review is surprising and disappointing. There was nothing inaccurate in the review and I take umbrage at the suggestion it's anything other than reasonable on all fronts. Regarding pricing, the menu only provides a price and a description. The review merely comments on whether what was delivered is competitive with what others provide at the same price point. Normally owners just accept the feedback...