Black Bear Diner Joe Battle — Restaurant in El Paso

I visited Black Bear Diner recently and left deeply disappointed by the management’s complete inability to lead, protect customers, or support their own staff. The front-line employees did everything right; the problem was the people in charge — untrained, passive, and damaging to both guests’ experience and employee morale.

Incident overview My family and I were seated when a loud confrontation erupted between another customer and management near our table. The arguing customer paced and shouted for several minutes, directly adjacent to where my children were eating, creating a stressful and unsafe atmosphere. Instead of intervening, management stood by and effectively encouraged the escalation by failing to act.

What the servers and host did well Servers were attentive, professional, and apologetic throughout, checking in and trying to reassure us despite the disruption. Host handled seating and timing gracefully and attempted to diffuse tension with calm words while still respecting our space. Front-line staff worked hard under pressure and did everything within their power to keep our visit normal.

Management failures No leadership or training: Management showed no signs of training in conflict de-escalation; they allowed an arguing customer to continue unchecked for an extended period. Poor judgment: Rather than moving the customer, escorting them out, or isolating the dispute away from diners, management let the situation happen in full view of families. Blaming staff: After the confrontation, management publicly took out frustration on the servers — reprimanding and shaming the employees who had been trying to manage the scene. Damage to guest experience: The lack of decisive action made my children visibly uncomfortable and ruined what should have been a casual family meal.

Impact on staff and customers Employees were put in an impossible position: defend customers they are paid to serve, or risk managerial ire. That dynamic breeds low morale and high turnover. Families and other patrons experienced anxiety and disruption because leadership chose passivity over protection. The impression left by management’s conduct was not just unprofessional — it signaled that customer safety and staff welfare are low priorities at this location.

Final verdict This visit showed a sharp contrast between the hardworking, courteous front-line team and a management group that is unprepared and uninterested in doing the job their titles imply. If Black Bear Diner wants to retain customers and competent staff, the company needs to overhaul how store managers are trained to handle conflicts and how they treat employees afterward. Until those changes happen, I cannot recommend this location to families or anyone seeking a calm dining experience.

This review reflects a concerning pattern of managerial negligence and will guide my decision to avoid returning or recommending this...

We had came for a family brunch for my mom's birthday we had great chats from other customers who gave beautiful reviews as we waited to be seated but as soon as we were seated is when all the troubles began. To begin we got a grilled chicken salad, chicken strips with a bowl of chili, and a open turkey sandwich. Tables who sat and ordered after us were served and once we hit the 30 minute mark we finally got up to check on what was the hold up only to receive our orders missing items or just plain wrong. The chicken strips in the nicest way possible are just frozen strips you can buy at Walmart and air fry still with the fries it was a solid 3/5. The Grilled chicken salad was beautiful but was missing the dressing for the salad and we had two different people come and ask what was the dressing after pointing out that we were missing it. The salad was a solid 5/5 once we had the dressing. As for the open faced turkey sandwich as we ordered this sandwich it promises turkey sandwich, mashed potatoes, and cranberry sauce on the plate but when the waitress took the order she asked if we wanted a side with the turkey sandwich to which we responded with some corn. But what we got was just turkey sandwich and corn after rereading the menu we called for the waitress who brought the manager and after discussing it with manager we were informed that what the waitress meant was that she was going to substitute our mashed potatoes for the corn. After clearing the initial confusion we were given the mashed potatoes and cranberry sauce but the mood for our meal was already killed. 4/5 due to these issues but they were fixed so Ill give some leeway. We are going to come back to try out the dinner menu but for now its a solid 3/5 due to these error made by the...

We waited about 30–45 minutes, which was fine since the place is still new. The benches outside were wet from the rain, and no one came to dry them. I went inside, asked for an old newspaper menu, and used it to wipe off a spot myself. I felt bad for an older couple who stood the entire time since the other benches were still soaked before they were called

Our server was friendly and did a great job. I ordered the Country Fried Steak and Eggs, and my daughter got the Kids Sprinkle Pancakes with hot chocolate. The coffee was fine, but the hot chocolate tasted like watered-down cocoa. Our server replaced it with orange juice, which unfortunately had a small fly or gnat floating in it — wings and all. My daughter was grossed out and pretty much done with the place after that.

The food was decent overall, though the hash browns were soggy missing something like cooked longer or just have to mix it with something. The real issue here isn’t the staff — it’s management. The manager needs to take more ownership of the customer experience. You’re the manager — it’s your job to make sure details like clean drinks, dry benches, and food quality are checked. And if it’s too much to handle alone, hire an assistant manager.

This visit was okay, but not close to the 5-star experience I had at the...