Black Bear Diner American Fork — Restaurant in American Fork

Let me start out by saying that my review was withheld because of an experience I had in January. I will try to summarize quickly.

We went here for my wife's birthday. She loves Black Bear. We usually go to the one in West Jordan but have occasioned the one in Orem. Originally we were introduced to it in Walnut Creek, CA.

The experience for my wife's birthday was completely unacceptable. They messed up 5 of 7 orders, argued about some of that, and failed to provide the promised discount from talking to the manager. Food was missing. Other food was overcooked. It was bad food and bad service. I wrote corporate about it.

A week later I received a reply from the manager of this location. He said we could come in and dine for free. I decided, since the location was new, to hold off and see if they could overcome their growing pains.

When we finally returned last Saturday (and I am providing my review and star rating on THAT experience not the one in January) things were better.

We had found out that the previous manager whom I had talked to no longer worked there. I was not surprised. What did surprise me is that the new manager honored the previous managers commitment. So, we did eat for free this last time. You may keep that in mind when you read the rest of the review.

We were sat in Tony's section. He showed up to the table with the manager. We showed the voucher/email to the manager and he said he would honor it. But, before he left our table he explained to the waiter exactly what to do with our bill at the end so that it would not be messed up. Seeing that level of communication to staff weighed heavily on my rating.

I have attached photos of what we ordered. Salmon with 2 servings of veggies and the Chicken & Waffles plate. Both were exactly as ordered. Both tasted great. I'm not sure what else to say. Obviously this is diner food. Black Bear is a diner. It is one of our favorite diners, but still a diner.

The service was better this time. Tony took his time, even when just passing, to update us on when our food was coming out. He checked on our drinks multiple times. He asked us how we were doing each time he walked by.

The thing about the service is, this latest time, they were even MORE busy than the first time we went.

Tony also said they brought him in from another location. This leads me to believe that the previous manager had issues and they brought people in to fix them. That is not insider information just what I gather.

To close, I think this location suffered from a lot of pains after opening. They were not up to Black Bear standards. Those issues have been fixed and they are now running smoothly and providing the kind of experience I expect with Black Bear no matter which location in the...

First time customer. Last time too. Came here for a nice Christmas lunch. Walked in the door. No line. Seated immediately. I was asked if I needed a high chair for my baby. I said yes. He never brought it. I had to go get it myself. No biggie. I started with a sweet tea and was brought water with a hint of color in it. I intended to ask the waitress about it but after taking our drink order it took her so long to come back the ice had melted. So I just replaced it with a soda. Which I wanted to avoid. So far was still having an okay time. But then I ordered the prime rib dinner and the wife ordered the turkey dinner. Both of us received the coldest of sides and sad excuse for stuffing. The turkey was okay. I tried it. But my prime rib never showed. Instead I has been brought a rump of roast beef. I've attached pictures. No part of this was prime. It was hard, cold and dried up. Smelled and looked like arbys roast beef. I was just gonna have my waitress replace it . But she never ever came back. Literally. She took our drink order and our food order. The only 2 times she ever came to my table. 40 minutes pass and I had accidently nibbled through this plate of dead, horrible and cold food. Then instead of my waitress coming she sends out what looks like the dish washer to hand me my bill. This I where I finally complained. I called the manager. He didn't even know what to say. Don't blame him. It was a fkd situation. All and all place looked good. But The food, host, waiter and dishwasher guy really ruined my day. It looked like a restaurant that's the only part of this review you get a star for. This place is awful. Dont go. It's missing all the rest of the details that make a restaurant. My wife has wanted me to try black bear dinner since i moved here 3 years ago. You really embarrassed her with this sad excuse for service.

I left and didn't ask for anything to compensate. It was Christmas. But I will leave an honest review. Bad food.worse service. Do not suggest this...

My son and I decided to start a new tradition of meeting every Sunday for brunch at this restaurant. After a few visits we noticed one server in particular was exceptionally cheerful, friendly and positive. And her service was amazing. So we started waiting however long it took to be seated in her section. 10-20 minutes was typical on a busy Sunday morning. But recently something changed and even though we could see tables available in or near her section, we were told these were reserved. I was surprised. I didn't know you could make reservations. So I called to make a reservation for the next Sunday. The manager answered 10 feet away from me and told me they didn't take reservations. So it turns out, even though there was an empty table (one that seats 2, and one that seats 4. Total of 6). They were 'reserving' these internally in case a family of 6 came in. We waited an hour and 10 minutes. Apparently they were waiting for a table that seats 2 to come available. It's a tiny table. I didn't say anything because we had in fact asked to wait for our favorite server. Then the manager brought our food out. Regular omelette orders with waffle sides. The four plates barely fit and we're hanging off the edges. So I remarked that if only we were at a bigger table our plates wouldn't be in danger of falling off. He responded, "I didn't know you were going to order so much food". I reminded him that we eat here every Sunday and had done for the last 10 months. He responded that he works every Sunday and doesn't remember seeing us. Bingo. I see the issue now. Currently looking for a new location for a good brunch location in Utah or Salt Lake County. If you've read this far, thank you. Where do you like to...