Black Bear Diner Davis — Restaurant in Davis

I knew that Black Bear Diner was probably not going to be a good experience, but it was very convenient to my hotel, so I went in for a breakfast that I hoped was better than the hotel's offerings.

The employees were kind and efficient, but the rest was awful, and my BBD experience caused me some existential despair. Everything was the cheapest possible thing that could be foisted on the masses to maximize profit. I am so tired of greed- and profit-driven rich people ruining every possible small pleasure for the average person.

The eggs were the best of the meal, but I suspect that the advertised 'two eggs' was really a small scoop of egg goo from a bucket in the kitchen. The portion size was far too small to be two real eggs.

The waffle was smooshy and underdone, with far too much (artificial, surely) vanilla in it. The small pleasure of using the baked-in waffle squares for syrup apportionment was taken from me as the entire center section of the waffle is one giant square with the restaurant logo baked in. Yay, advertising in our food. Awesome.

The bacon was the worst of it. It tasted like it'd been cooked many hours ago and had been sitting in a cold, grease-soaked tin ever since, waiting to be served. It was black and crusty and inedible.

The butter for the waffle was a tasteless, tiny square in a plastic container, so cold that it was useless on the lukewarm waffle. And don't you love how we can all contribute more plastic to the landfills with these single-serving things? I bet they make an additional nickel on each customer doing it this way. Screw the peasants! MOAR PROFIT!!! Same problem with the coffee creamer. No real half-and-half, just the little doses of chemical goo in those little plastic peel-and-pour cups. Gross. Cheap white sugar, too. No Sugar in the Raw for you!

Private equity firm GreyLion, owns BBD, so that says a lot about the obvious screw-the-customer cost cutting with every penny pinched to maximize...

My family and I paid a visit on Friday, January 5th for dinner. First thing was when we entered, we noticed the party before us and after us were greeted...we were not. The table we were taken had just been cleaned and it was extremely wet...I had asked if they table could be dried and I was handed a stack of napkins to do it myself.

The lad who was our waiter did a decent job of serving us.

After the meal, my wife asked about the lack of greeting, the waiter became offended (with a smile)...I noticed this voice tone increased and while he apologized for the "bad service", his approach was to include everybody within earshot to become part of the drama he had created. Our table became very uncomfortable from the stares from other guests.

Again, this encounter had nothing to do with poor service but why we weren't afforded the same courtesy as other guests...and I still left the 20% tip...

The way I see it...the act of walking into a business to spend money, takes a conscious set of decisions and deliberate actions to arrive at your door...that in itself deserves some considerations by the business to express appreciation for choosing them as the place to spend money. The simple act of acknowledgement and a quick "thank you for coming" statement goes a long way towards guaranteeing another visit IMHO.

The lad who served us may be a bit immature in this actions. His attempt to embarress us was uncalled for.

I appreciate all who read...

Come here hungry and you’re treated right. Big portions. Friendly service. No one cares about your GPA — just whether your coffee’s full. Black Bear Diner is built on something UC Davis lost a long time ago: common sense, warmth, and value.

UC Davis, on the other hand, is one of the most aggressively marketed schools on the West Coast. The branding is slick — sustainability, innovation, diversity — but once you're in, the story changes. The reality? A bureaucratic machine that too often punishes ambition. If you’re independent, outspoken, or too smart, you’ll learn fast: you're not being nurtured — you’re being contained.

Professors may block your growth, and TAs might treat you like a problem instead of a peer. It’s a campus that values compliance over creativity. Worse? The numbers back it up. According to U.S. News, the median salary after 10 years of enrolling is only $54K — which is shocking considering the cost and reputation they try to sell. The return on investment is low, especially for a school that acts like it’s top-tier Ivy-adjacent.

The truth is: UC Davis is a decent school for average students who stay in line. But if you're bright, driven, and thinking independently? It’ll either ignore you or try to fix you.

Five stars to Black Bear Diner — for honesty, value, and delivering what it promises. Davis might have the college, but this diner is the real...