Bear Diner — Restaurant in Delaware

Bear Diner only get two stars because the server and manager were pleasant enough. It's a shame because I really LOVE a good diner. I've been known to drive to New Jersey just to try different diners. I have taken my family to eat here a few times before, though it's been several years. It was only middle-of-the-road then, but the most recent meal wasn't even quite that good.

Our poor server struggled to keep up with her tables -- her 4 tables -- with two people at each. No way a server shouldn't be able to handle eight customers. As a former server, bartender, and manager, that points to a lack of proper training.

We went on a Wednesday for the weekly, advertised all you can eat chicken & dumplings special. They accepted our orders, but after our first serving, we were informed we could have only one more medium-sized bowl...that they were out. (Did I mention 8 customers?)

Fortunately, two bowls were enough. Chicken & dumplings are one of my favorite comfort meals, but these just weren't very good. Mind you, my family hails from Maryland's Eastern shore, where chicken and dumplings dinners are commonplace -- restaurants, fire halls, fraternal organizations, church dinners, etc... Such a disappointment!

The chicken was shredded and overcooked to the point that, although it was served in a watery broth, the chicken was dry and tough.

The "broth" wasn't at all creamy or thick, but was watery and flavorless. Traditionally, a little flour is cooked with the broth to help thicken it. That would have helped.

Also, traditionally, chicken & dumplings would receive much of it's flavor from the mirepoix -- diced carrots, celery, and onions, cooked slowly without browning. Occasionally, I have also seen diced potatoes. No vegetables of any kind were included.

When adding dumplings to the broth, one must add them slowly to help keep them from sticking together and becoming a messy blob of gooey dumplingness. Some (but certainly not all) of the dumplings were stuck together, my dining companion were worse than mine.

When cooking this meal, salt & pepper are your friend. This showed no evidence that either had been introduced. My dining companion has all but eliminated salt from the diet, but had to add salt this meal.

As a note, I wanted a drink with sugar or caffeine -- it was dinnertime, after all, and I try not to drink caffeine after lunch. Decaf coffee or tea would have worked, as would diet caffeine free soda, lemonade, diet juice, anything of the sort... I've even seen Crystal light or Dasani flavored waters offered at some places. Thank goodness I like tap water.

We have decided to give Bear Diner a chance for breakfast, but, sadly, won't return for chicken & dumplings...

Disappointing Experience – Won’t Be Back

We pulled up to Bear Diner in Bear, DE and my first thought was yikes. My wife tried to be optimistic, saying “you pay for ambiance, maybe the food will be good.” I don’t mind paying for ambiance, but this place didn’t look promising.

Inside, we were seated quickly in a booth. The restaurant looked clean, but old, and the booth seat had a spring poking into me. Our server Stephanie came over and took our coffee order. Before the coffee even arrived, another waitress, Wendy, came by, played with our small dog, and asked if we were ready to order. We told her Stephanie had already taken it. Without a word, Wendy spun on her heels and walked away. The interaction felt awkward and unprofessional.

The coffee was not good. I ordered chicken and waffles, but the chicken tenders looked and tasted like they came straight from a freezer bag. My wife found a hair in her eggs, and they only took $2 off her meal for that. I returned my chicken and ordered what she had instead, but the hotcakes tasted like they’d been frozen and reheated – spongy, with no fresh flavor. The syrup came in small containers, which might be for cleanliness or cost-saving, but the brand they used tasted bad.

The only thing I can say was edible was the sausage. The bacon was nothing to brag about. We left disappointed. Because they barely adjusted the bill for the hair in my wife’s food, we didn’t tip much – and that’s a shame, because our waitress wasn’t the problem.

Sometimes looks aren’t deceiving. We will...

I have been driving past this diner for years when heading down past Harrington to visit some relatives or on the way to Sandy Cove and thought it might be worth checking them out even though it is not in a place I find myself at dinner time all that often. The opportunity finally came when I was shopping with my daughter and grandson when she said she was hungry. Since I get tired of going to the overpriced chain restaurants I googled diners and this one came up and even though it was about 8 miles away from where I was looked like it was my best choice. I was a little concerned though when I saw an empty parking lot an hour and a half before closing on a Thursday night not sure if they were even open or such a bad place that no one was there. We decided to find out anyway since our next choice was to just head towards home and stop at Cracker Barrel. Upon entering we were greeted with a welcome attitude by a young lady who was also going to be serving us and she assured us it was not a problem since they were going to be there anyway and that we were still a half hour before they would stop seating anyone. Since this is getting long I will finish it up by saying it was a nice experience, diner was clean, prices were okay and the food we ordered though not as good as homemade it was better than a lot of other places I have been to. If you're hungry and looking for a place to eat...