Black Bear Diner Lake Havasu — Restaurant in Lake Havasu City

Went for lunch at 1:30 pm today. Not too crowded. Ordered a patty melt which arrived with lots of thousand island dressing. I told the waiter that a patty melt does not come with thousand island dressing. He immediately argued with me that patty melts always came that way. I requested the menu and showed him that there was no mention of dressing in the menu description. He took the sandwich back and then served me a new one without dressing but with raw onions. As I was hungry, I proceeded to eat the second sandwich. He asked me later how it was and I told him it was Ok but I preferred grilled onions on my patty melt. "they're not grilled?".was his only response. I did show him the raw onions on my sandwich. As I was paying the bill, I told the cashier about the thousand island dressing and the raw onions and he had a similar response; "they weren't grilled?". I told him I had been eating patty melts for over 50 years and never had one served with raw onions and thousand island dressing. Anyway I was finishing up the transaction on the pad using my finger to push the button to end it and had to press the pad a few times to which the cashier told me it was going to cost me more because I was going to break his machine and that I should have been using the plastic pen. I am enclosing a recipe for a patty melt so these guys will know what I am referring too. The rudeness of these 2 "men" has led to my decision to never eat at this restaurant again and to share this experience with all of my friends and acquaintances in this town where I have lived for the past 13 years. Classic Patty Melt Switch up your burger game and make a patty melt for dinner (or lunch) this week. Layer caramelized onions, Swiss cheese, and a perfectly thin burger patty between toasted bread for the BEST patty melt ever! NICK EVANS Updated July 03, 2021 Nick Evans 53 Ratings 19 Comments JUMP TO RECIPE Pin Share Email

The best patty melt sliced in half and stacked on top of each other. The sandwich is crispy with melted cheese, caramelized onions and beef patties visible. Nick Evans Dinner for Two Becomes a Breeze with These Recipes FEATURED IN:

When I go to a diner, I almost always order a classic patty melt. There are a few variations on this sandwich, but the version I made here is what I consider the most authentic diner-worthy version.

FEATURED VIDEO How to Caramelize Onions A good, classic patty melt has a crispy crunchy bread, melted cheese, a thin beef patty, and salty and slightly sweet onions. It’s a perfect flavor and texture combo!

It’s a hearty sandwich, for sure, and is pure comfort food in my opinion.

It’s one of those sandwiches that I don’t really consider making at home very often, but then when I do make it I ask myself why I don’t make it more often?! It’s just absolutely delicious and the perfect mix of a grilled cheese and a good burger.

What Is a Patty Melt? In its most basic form, a patty melt is a thin beef patty cooked between two pieces of toasted bread with cheese and onions. I suppose the onions are optional, but I consider them pretty important to a true patty...

I honestly did not want to write this review since we are frequent patrons of Black Bear Diner in Lake Havasu, and truly wanted to cut them a break since it was Thanksgiving. But seeing as how I am a master reviewer with well over 300 reviews, and over 8 million readers to date, and several people have told me it is my job, here goes. We already knew what to expect since it was Thanksgiving day. We put our name in at 11:15 a.m. and went and sat in the car until I received a text exactly 1 hour later. We were seated, and our waitress came shortly. The place was an absolute madhouse. She took our order and about 15 minutes later we received our soup cornbread, side salad, and a little berry pie to go. Up until that Point everything things were looking good, but it was all downhill from there. Since they had a special Thanksgiving menu with only three items (the turkey dinner, ham dinner, and prime rib dinner), we assumed they would have an ample Supply ready to go in anticipation for a huge Thanksgiving crowd. We were sorely mistaken. We waited as patiently as anyone could wait. 45 minutes passed, and by this time we we're starting to become quite frustrated and finally lost our appetites. I asked our waitress two or three times if our dinner would be up soon. She told me she would let us know when it was getting close. After 1 hour I could see they had not even started to cook our meals yet. At this point we just wanted out up there at any cost. I am a very patient customer and will bend over backwards to be polite. But I felt I had to get out of there, and try to salvage what was left of thanksgiving. I finally walked up to the counter and asked her to please just cancel our dinner and bring us the bill. I went to attempt to pay at the counter, and could not even do that because it was so chaotic. I went back, handed our waitress $20 for a $12 ticket, told her to keep the change, grabbed the Berry pie, and ran out the door. The total time from putting our name in to getting out with no dinner was exactly 2 hours and 15 minutes. I am sorry to say this, but it was not only the worst Thanksgiving dining experience, but the worst restaurant experience I have ever had in my life, and we go out to eat literally hundreds of times every year. Shortly thereafter, we decided to eat the berry pie, and it too was absolutely horrible. It was not even cooked and the crust was as hard as a rock. Needless to say we will never forget this Thanksgiving nightmare, nor will we ever patronize Black Bear Diner on a holiday again. I truly hope in the future, the management comes up with a much better game plan for the holiday crowds. Thank you for...

To the staff of black bear diner in Havasu. It's a honor to give you all an uplifting and amazing review of five stars. My wife and I had been coming to the black bear diner since we moved here almost 11 years. My wife passed away in September of 2021to COVID and I battled cancer in 2024 but the diner has always been there for me. And even today as I sit here at this counter enjoying my apple pie and coffee. I say to you Sabrina thank you so much for your amazing presence and hospitality. You have heart of gold and it shows especially when you smile at me and you Jessica for helping me in my times while writing my stories in my books even when I was troubled you told me to keep working on. I do hope all your wishes come true. Leslie you rock with speed and kindness but above all else your greetings are truly warm on ones heart. I always feel welcome. KK thank you for saying grace with me while I was praying over my food you have a passionate spirit and your husband and his crew are the best cooks ever.. And you Ariana you have never left me down or left me unhappy with your service. The way you took care of my father on his visit on his birthday left a smile on his face that is pictured in my head forever. And last Matt you and your staff and your kindness is what keeps the magic of the diner full of life along with the Juke Box music too of course. You have a gift don't let anyone tell you different... And Thomas keep up the good work. To sit at this counter is a magical life story and I urge all to come and experience it. To the members of black bear diner thank you and God bless all of...