Black Bear Diner Fresno — Restaurant in Fresno

Once Our Favorite Spot—Now Sadly Disappointed

For years, I would have given Black Bear Diner a solid five stars without hesitation. The food was great, the service was warm and attentive, and it had that cozy, family-friendly atmosphere that made it our go-to restaurant. It even became part of our family traditions—we rented out the back room so both of my boys could celebrate their birthday lunches there with family. It was always the winner of our “where to eat” car game.

Unfortunately, over the last 6 to 9 months, things have really taken a turn for the worse. We’ve continued giving Black Bear chance after chance, hoping for the experience we used to love—but after six consistently rough visits, I feel it’s time to be honest.

We’ve dealt with iced drinks being spilled with barely an apology (“it happens sometimes”), incorrect orders, food being sent to the wrong tables, and a steady decline in service and attention to detail. While removing the fried chicken (my favorite) was disappointing, the final straw for me was tonight: our orders were incorrect, and one item we specifically ordered was forgotten entirely—only brought out over 15 minutes later, after we had already finished our main course. To make matters worse, the waitress initially insisted we had ordered incorrectly. It was only after I reminded her of the details of our order that she acknowledged the mistake. She did apply a discount, but honestly, I don’t care about the monetary compensation—what matters to me is the quality of the experience, and that has been consistently declining.

I understand that mistakes happen, especially in a busy restaurant. But when those mistakes become the norm, it’s hard to justify spending $80 on a family meal that leaves us frustrated or disappointed. Sadly, tonight’s visit was no exception.

With a heavy heart, I’m lowering my rating to two stars. We’ll be looking elsewhere for a family restaurant where we can feel good about spending our...

Very disturbing visit. This was actually my first and last visit to this establishment. The hostess was very kind and seated us pretty quick. We ordered some beverages and was informed that the waiter guy would be with us shortly. My fiance went to use the restroom. Everything seemed normal until i realized we had been sitting there for 20 minutes and no one even attempted to take our order or bring our drinks. I quickly found the hostess and asked her why we were not able to order. Mind you, the restaurant wasn't busy. Maybe 4 or 5 parties present. I stand at the front counter and I see the young lady secretly asking the waiter about our table. I noticed the waiter was the same guy helping everyone in the restaurant besides us! I then went back my table and told my fiance that we were leaving. It had been almost 30 minutes now. I waited at the front desk to speak with the manager. Then I noticed the same young man that was supposed to be our waiter was huddled up with a tall guy seeming to plead his case. I knew that had to be the manager he was speaking with. It was. The tall guy comes over and introduced himself as the manager. As I'm trying to explain myself he inform me that it was shift change and that was the reason we were not served or attended to. This was NOT the case. The same waiter helped the party behind us several times while we waited patiently. I only notice noticed the time when a Hispanic couple walked in and instantly received service. I hate to pull the race card, but we were the only black couple in attendance and it really showed. I wouldn't recommend this restaurant to anyone! Seems like kids are running the business. Everyone should be treated the same. 👎👎👎 I give it 3 thumbs down! Sorry for inconveniencing your...

We showed on my Birthday Month In May 24, 2019 Friday we Met Hector our Waiter was Respectful High Regards and Efficiency Superb We Also Met Nicola Manager In Her Beautiful Blue Ensemble Inner wear Her Demeanor was non Superficial She is as Kind and Considerate Traits instilling In Her Employees This Diner Black Bear Diner Is the Best in the San Joaquin Valley We’re Happy we Met Hector Hopefully Someone In the higher Management will consider to put a High Notch In Hector’s File Amen We Came Many Times After ( 1. ) HECTOR ( 2. ) BRITTANY ( 3. ) NATALIE ( 4. ) JERRY ( 5. ) LORENA ( 6. ) SUPERB - EFFICIENTLY - TEDIOUSLY INCLINED STEVEN ( 7. ) MANAGER SUPERVISOR NICOLA CLARK & JOSE RIOS not all in the same day all who is Mentioned deserves to be recognized and applauded appropriately we tried many Items in the Menu and the chef Knows how to make some tasty meals our last meal June 16, 2019 Dessert Triple Brownie Chocolate Sundae And extra scoop of chocolate ice cream $5.99 + 1.99 = $7.98 I Should Have taken a picture The Big Burger is a 10 Oz Meat Known As The Bob Big Boy we dolled it up Regular price $13.49 with Dolly price $2.49 = $15.98 This Restaurant My Wife Lori Loves But it’s 3 rd In Her Book Again TODAY MONDAY JUNE 17, 2019 We Are Back 1:15 pm With Waitress { ALLISON} Today WE ORDERED THE BEAR CLAW FRENCH TOAST $10.39 X 2 = $20.58 With Big Bear X-tra’s $ 4.99 Ham Slice 6 Oz Steak and $1.99 2 Eggs over Medium The FRENCH Toast comes with Bowl Of Fruit Grapes, Melon , and Strawberries with orange slices and garnished lettuces For Lori White Polar Bear + Albert California Brown Bear and our Favorite The Famous Rocket Bear Today was AMEN HALLELUJAH ALMIGHTY JESUS OUR WAITRESS ALLISON IS EXPEDIENT RESPECTFUL COMPASSIONATE SMILING...