Black Bear Diner Rohnert Park — Restaurant in Rohnert Park

I took my elderly mom to have dinner the other night & Black Bear is close to her house & affordable for the quantity they serve. It was also cozy inside which was nice on that cold evening.

Mom enjoyed her fried prawns, fish & fries, & I had a veggie burger which I was very happy to see on the menu. The food was fine, but the best experience that evening was something other than the food. That something was a kind man named Victor who was behind the counter in charge of making sure all the orders were flowing smoothly out to the tables & for take out.

What I began to notice was how he spoke to his co-workers with that patient kindness & since we were sitting near the food counter, as I looked over at him at different times, even though he was busy multitasking he did so with what appeared to be an ease with some grace sprinkled in.

But the thing that was most beautiful to witness was that an older man came in for take out who seemed to frequent the place. When he saw Victor he smiled so big & Victor was generous with offering a welcome & his full attention with this customer. The thing that became obvious is that was like that with each person he made contact with. He was kind & spoke with that attentiveness which is true presence . That can be a rare thing to witness these days, but what I saw was his light and generosity of spirit in his presence & that is a gift he shared with me & I believe each person he connected with even if some weren’t aware of that presence.

I know I didn’t have to share this story, but I also know we have to continue to keep our eyes & hearts open for this light that is still very much alive & shining and also share ours in this world in those small & big ways because we never know how our light will affect others. Victor shared his brightly & my mom & I couldn’t ignore it! Oh, and we did share with him that we watched him do so & that allowed that light to shine even brighter. Thank you Victor for who you are and the kindness you gifted us.

And mad props to our server Adriana too who was sweet and rocked the green hair and sparkly earrings! Happy Holidays...

Just knocked my review from 4 stars to 2 stars for the pointless canned response to my review. The good: We visited on our way back home from one of our annual camping trips. I first want to say that the food was tasty. None of us were disappointed with the flavor of what we ordered and our server was nice and pleasant. The less than good: There wasn't a high volume of noise while we were there but I ordered the patty melt with a side salad and had to repeat that I wanted a salad with Bacon Ranch dressing multiple times before she got it. When I got my side salad it came with regular ranch. When I inquired I was told by our server that they didn't have any bacon ranch (which should have been communicated when I ordered). I used the ranch served me on my side salad. My daughter ordered the Crispy Chicken Cobb Salad. It came out without the hardboiled egg and WITH Bacon-Ranch dressing. One tub had a red R the other had a black R but both were bacon ranch that I was told they didn't have. My friend that was with us ordered a burger with bacon jam and sweet potato fries. My son ordered the Western burger with sweet potato fries. Our server brought out the burger with bacon jam and gave it to my son saying it was the Western burger. My son not being the most observant at times took her at her word and ate half of it. Our friend still didn't have his meal and asked the server what was going on and to confirm she said "yours was the Western burger, correct?" and he replied that he ordered the burger with bacon jam and S. P. fries. That's when we all realized she had given our friend's meal to our son. Finally our friend got his meal just a few minutes before the rest of us were done eating. Whether our server was just having an off day, or she was new, or communication between the kitchen and servers is poor, something has to change. There shouldn't have been so much confusion for a meal that didn't have any special...

I go to Black Bear Restaurant for the biscuits. Last Thursday I went for Breakfast and ordered hash browns with an omelet. For the bread I chose a biscuit. Seems simple enough. First I got a stink eye look because I was alone and asked for a table because I like to read while I am waiting. He wanted me to sit at the counter. There were tables available. Next the wait time to get my order taken was far too long. Finally when my food arrived the waiter told me that they were out of biscuits and it would be an hour before they had any more. Even biscuits from scratch should NOT take an hour to make and cook! Why did he wait until I got my food to tell me? So now I had to choose another kind of bread/toast to have and my food was getting cold waiting for it. When I went up to the cash register to pay for my meal - the Manager asked how everything was. I complained about the lack of biscuits which is a signature item for Black Bear and the reason that I go there. He offered to get me a biscuit to go. I really would have rather had one with my meal but I said ok. He rang up my meal and took my payment. He then went back into the kitchen to get my biscuit. He returned empty handed stating that he was sorry but it would be another 15 or 20 minutes before they had any biscuits! This restaurant is very poorly managed. I was talking to a friend of mine who lives in Rohnert Park and goes there occasionally but has stopped because she says every time they go there the restaurant is OUT of what they want to order to eat! Go at...